A Lovable Indonesia

This is a humble presentation to invite everyone to embrace and communicate a lovable Indonesia. It is a videologue with photos of Indonesia’s natural wonders and sincere people woven by a narrative and background music.

This videologue was assembled in an amateur fashion with a hope that those who are more competent to professionally develop it further.

Rotterdam, 28 October 2007,
Michael C. Putrawenas

Indonesia. A land of wonders, a sea of sensations. A spectacular display of nature at its finest. A grand gesture of warmth and kindness of the more than 200 million lives that call Indonesia home. An astounding assortment of rich history and genuine desire for a brighter future.

With more than 17,000 islands stretched between its borders, Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago covers an area of almost two million square kilometers. It supports the world’s second highest biodiversity from its deep ocean, exotic rainforest to its majestic mountains.

Indonesians are a mélange of literally thousands of tribes and ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language and cultural heritage. A proud testament to their sincere determination to unite is a single common language, Bahasa Indonesia, wholeheartedly accepted and spoken by Indonesians.

Indonesia’s land and sea are witnesses of a rich and perplexing history. Ancient kingdoms ruled the days and made the subjects both prosper and suffer. Monumental achievements and mayhem have been bringing about contrasting colors. For centuries, foreign powers dominated the country-in-the-making. They built and exploited: a contrast exhibit of development and oppression of its people.

The dawn of the 20th century saw the emergence of collective will of those living across the archipelago, across ethnic boundaries, and across religious beliefs to become subjects no more. Strong cultural ties gave birth to a unique ethos, distinct from the dominant ones elsewhere: an ethos of togetherness, serenity, and warmth. These created a common dream, an Indonesian dream, of a country and a nation that protects and provides prosperity and bliss to each and every one of its people.

Today’s Indonesia is a never-ending painting of its history and the struggle to reach the dream on a canvas of natural beauty. Its painters are its people: the dreamers who are also the workers. Sincere smiles that crown their faces amidst daily hardships are reflections of the crave to make Indonesia always a better place to be.

Indonesia is about a vast and ravishing nature. It is about hundreds of millions of radiant people and cultures. It is about millenniums of history and thriving hope for the future.

This is why Indonesia is so lovable. Lovable Indonesia.

Text by Michael Putrawenas