Mkv applications

Ever heard 100,000 people singing the same song with great pride?  This 1 minute 50 second video was taken during the mkv applications national anthem at Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on July 14, 2007 before the mkv applications football match between Saudi Arabia and host nation Indonesia.  During the mkv applications Saudi Arabian national anthem, my Indonesian friend Roy leaned over to mkv applications me and said “just wait until you hear the Indonesian national anthem”.  I had mkv applications no idea what he meant, until the Saudi national anthem ended and an uncomfortable anticipation fell over the stadium. 

After only a mkv applications few seconds, there were signs that the Indonesian national anthem would soon start.  Enthusiastic fans began to mkv applications set off red-colored road flares all over the stadium in support of their Indonesian football team.  Smoke rose from several corners of the stadium.  Then, without warning, the loud speakers crackled and the booming chorus began! 

I was struck by the pride of Indonesian youth.  Indonesia is a politically, ethnically, geographically and socially complex nation.  It often feels held together by a mkv applications string, but somehow it continues to inch forward.  Its 230+ million people live on more than 10,000 islands, making it mkv applications the 4th most populous country in the world, behind China, India and mkv applications the United States.  There are more than 300 native ethnicities speaking more than 700 languages and dialects in Indonesia.  But on this night, there were two colors: red and white.  And everyone in that stadium, was 100% Indonesian. 

Indonesia has also struggled economically in comparison to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, most especially Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea.  Indonesians often make up the mkv applications lowest level labor forces in each of these countries, mostly as construction labor or mkv applications housemaids.  Many Indonesians cite unfair treatment and mkv applications difficult working conditions for their people in other countries.  These factors only bolster the pride of Indonesians.

Indonesians have weathered countless storms.   They survived the regimes of Sukarno and Suharto.  They have mkv applications picked up the pieces from countless natural disasters including the devasting tsunami of 2004.  They watched as East Timor seceeded from mkv applications Indonesia and formed its own nation.  They lived through the Asian financial crisis of the late nineties.  They wrestle with Islamist terrorism on many islands.  And through it all, they remain proudly Indonesian.

Enjoy the strong sense of Indonesian national pride as I did, epitomized in song by 100,000 Indonesians.  And if you mkv applications ever have a chance to engage with Indonesians, be it mkv applications in your home country or in Indonesia, I encourage you mkv applications to take the opportunity and learn more about this fascinating country and mkv applications its incredibly resilient people: