An Indonesian, Two Thais, and A Papua New Guinean

I didn’t ask to be born an Indonesian. But I didn’t ask to be born any other national, either. It just happened that I was born from a womb of an Indonesian woman, sired by an Indonesian man, and shed my first teardrop onto Indonesian soil.

Being an Indonesian, I’m acutely aware that I don’t have many things to be proud of. I’m not going to further depress you all by going through an exhaustive list of "Why I am not proud to be an Indonesian", but let me share you a story that happened almost two years ago.

I was doing some sightseeing in Pattaya Park Tower Observation Deck, the tallest building in Pattaya back then, I believed. The sun was shining and the wind was gentle. I was indulging myself by gazing at the beauty of the Jomtien Beach, when the corner of my eyes spotted another homemade beauty: two cute girls with Thai complexion, all smiles and giggles while arguing whether or not they have the courage to board the Tower Jump and slide down 170 meters to the ground.

I hovered in the vicinity, made my move, and casually said hello. To make a long story short (not to I imply that I needed lots of time to woo the girls, mind you), here how the conversation went:

Girl 1: So what’s your name again?
Casanova in-the-making: It’s [censored]
Girl 2: You come here alone?
Casanova in-the-making: Yeah, but now I’m not alone anymore. [Grin]
Girl 1 + Girl 2: [Giggling]
Casanova in-the-making: [Smile nonchalantly]
Girl 2: Where are you from, [censored]?
Casanova: Whoa, and I was supposed to be the aggressive party here! Guess where I come from? [with air of self-assurance]
Girl 2: I know I know, you must be a Malaysian!
Casanova: Wrong…[Laugh], but you’re almost right about the region. Give it another try.
Girl 1: Phillippines?
Disappointed Casanova: [Dismayed] Not even close. Come on, there are not so many possibilities.
Girl 2: Singapore?
Disappointed Casanova: Noo!
Girl 2: Brunei? Cambodia? Laos?
Vexed Casanova: [Annoyed] No, no. Come on, you girls surely could do better than that. I’m not from Mars, you know. [And you surely are not from Venus, mes petites]
Girl 1: [Frowning] I could not think of any other country.
Girl 2: I give up. Why don’t you just tell us?
Confessing Cassanova: [Dumbfounded] Mmm..yeah..I’m from Indonesia
Girl 1: Indonesia? [With why-I-didn't-think-of-that look]
Girl 2: Oh I know that. It’s near Malaysia, right!
Former Casanova: [Rapidly losing interest] Yeah, that’s where I come from. [Awkward silence] So, you two going to jump or what?
Girl 2: I almost forgot about that. Well, I guess we will. And you?
Mortal human: Not me, I’m too old for that. You two go ahead. Have fun, okay?
Girl 2: Okay…bye!
A sullen Indonesian: Byee…

[Disclaimer: Some lines in the conversation above have been exaggerated, as usual. Try copycating my Casanova technique, and you’ll find out that the Tower Jump is not the fastest way to hit the ground.]

Having found out that my great country was not as great as I thought, I board the elevator and took my leave with a disturbed feeling. I kept telling myself that those girls needed to plug themselves into this so-called wired world, or maybe they were in dire need of a mental defibrillation to cure their ignorance. Still, I could not help but feeling sorry for my country for its lack of image and share of mind.

Ah well, ‘tis the inescapable reality and I guess we Indonesians have only ourselves to blame. Actually, I’d almost forgotten about the incident ‘till I read the news about a Papua New Guinean who wrote a song for the aforementioned Forgotten Land. Bewilderment and reminiscence got the best of me as I ponder about two foreigners who hardly knew my country, another foreigner who managed to write a song for it, and yours truly who didn't even have time to sing his own national anthem.

I’ll rest my case there, and for now just let me wish my fellow countrymen/women a Happy Independence Day. May the future be brighter for all of us and may I never write such a patriotism-induced post like this again.