The Great Strides of Indonesia

Kompas/Priyombodo

A student takes photos of a diorama at the Youth Pledge Museum in Jakarta on Tuesday (27/10/2020). The museum on Jl. Kramat Raya has seen its visitor numbers grow ahead of Youth Pledge Day, which falls on 28 Oct. The museum held a flag ceremony and a photo exhibition of Sartono, a democracy fighter, to commemorate Youth Pledge Day.

“Before the twentieth century, there was no Indonesia and thus no Indonesians”, wrote RE Elson in the beginning of The Idea of Indonesia: A History (2008).

This book was translated into Indonesian as The Idea of Indonesia: Sejarah Pemikiran dan Gagasan (2009). Mohammad Hatta, in his article in De Socialist, 8 December 1928, published in the collected works, Mohammad Hatta: Politik, Kebangsaan, Ekonomi (Mohammad Hatta: Politics, Nationalism, Economy, 1926-1977), with a foreword by Daniel Dhakidae, indicated that Indonesia for the first time appeared as a scientific term.