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H I S T O R Y   &   C O M M E M O R A T I O N |  Indonesia Calls! (Op-ed, The Jakarta Post, 2023) |  Decolonizing Research (Op-ed, The Jakarta Post, 2022) |  Prime Minister Rutte has apologized. What next? (Op-ed, The Jakarta Post 2022) |  Dutch perspective on Indonesian Independence (2021) |  Uwa's story: almost slaughtered by the Dutch (2021) |  Cerita Aki: sekilas Pengalaman dalam Perang Kemerdekaan 1945-1949 (2021) |  Aki's story: experience in brief during the 1945-1949 War of Independence (2021) |  Review of the movie "de Oost" (2021) |  A Day in a Year of Dependence (2021)   |  Annotation to A day in a Year of Dependence (2021) |  2020: a Year of Historical Significance (Op-ed, The Jakarta Post, 2020) |  1920-2020: Satu Abad Pendidikan Tinggi Teknik di Indonesia (2020) |  Speech delivered on the Otto Soemarwoto Award ceremony (2017) |  Beyond Beautiful Indies (2016) |  Indah melebihi kecantikan Hindia (Op-ed, Bogor Today, 2016) |  RI’s Independence Day - A

The blog (original) version of the article below has a different title and last paragraph from the op-ed version published today  in The Jakarta Post on 28 October 2023. On a Friday night in the romantic city of Leiden, relieved from a hectic week, I was making a warm tea in the kitchen, when I heard the national anthem , Indonesia Raya , in the background. “It’s coming from TV, isn’t it?”, my wife wondered. "Let me check it for you, dear", I walked hastily to the living room. Indeed, on TV there wa s a row of youth standing singing, “... marilah kita berseru, Indonesia bersatu ...”, the same melody and lyrics that never fail to move my heart to sing along, on any occasion anywhere. The scene was taken in the Youth Pledge Museum in Jakarta , where the historical Soempah Pemoeda took place on the 28th of October 1928.  It is remarkable to watch it broadcast on a Dutch public channel, as part of a new documentary series Indonesia roept! (Indonesia calls!). It remind