Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Indonesia : 63rd Independence Day

Merdeka!




That means, "free" or "freedom" in some context. Well if you are wondering why am I so excited about it, it is because we - Indonesian - have just celebrate our independence day. Which took place on August 17th.

Yeah, it's few days back. But this is the only time I have the chance to share about me, my country and our independence day. Being a 63-yrs old country, for me, is not supposed to mean anything. But being a soon-to-be-25-years-old citizen is questionable, for I'm not really sure about myself. Have I give something for this country?

Mostly, people demand things, such as comfort, GNP rate, or workers' rate to be raised, and so on - towards the government. But do people realize that they are citizens as well? The same individual who have obligation to support and develop their country?

Okay, for you who live outside Indonesia, paying taxes probably is common things you do periodically. But here, having / registered for tax is something extraordinary! No one avoid tax, since its' existence itself is questionable. "Do we have to?". But me, hey .. I do pay attention to this issue. Not because I have a company that I run (which obviously pay taxes), but also because I am aware how development can be achieved by involving citizens. Well, I can't help it when it comes to road construction, or traffic management. But if my money can help it, I'd like to help.

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