Expressing Nationalism and Patriotism

 By  Akhmad Zamroni

Source: http://www.etalase.jakartafamilia.com

Nationalism and patriotism are not situational and conditional; that is, it can only be applied or implemented in certain circumstances, for example during the colonial period and war. Nationalism and patriotism apply to all ages and can be applied in all circumstances. Both can also be applied in all places and environments.

Nationalism and patriotism apply to all citizens. All members of society are responsible for having and implementing nationalism and patriotism. With their respective positions and roles, every citizen is required to apply nationalism and patriotism in accordance with the situations and conditions faced so that the existence, integrity and survival of our nation and state are maintained and progress and welfare can be achieved together.

We are obliged to emulate the leaders of freedom fighters and founders of the nation and state who have clearly shown great nationalism and patriotism in order to create and uphold the Indonesian nation and state which is independent, sovereign, dignified, just and advanced. With their nationalism and patriotism, they succeeded in gaining independence and establishing the Indonesian nation and state. They leave the nation and state to us to maintain their existence, integrity and survival and seek justice, progress and prosperity.

We, as the next generation, have never felt firsthand the weight of the struggle for independence and founding the nation and state. Right now we just live to enjoy the beauty and comfort of independence. We just need to run a series of development programs to achieve progress in various fields of life.

How can we ensure that development can proceed well and produce the progress we dream of? Nationalism and patriotism are the keys. During this development period, the spirit of nationalism as well as love and willingness to sacrifice for the country can be manifested in various forms of behavior and actions. In our position and in our respective environment, we can express nationalism and patriotism in various ways.

Students and youth, as future successors and leaders of the nation and state, are the people who must be active and creative in implementing nationalism and patriotism. The neglect of students and youth from the responsibility to implement nationalism and patriotism in the development process will backfire which is very unfavorable for themselves. If development fails due to the lack or absence of nationalism and patriotism, they themselves will be the ones who will bear the heaviest consequences because they are the ones who will live a long life for the future.

The opportunity to express nationalism and patriotism is wide open before us. Various areas of life and the environment in which we live call us to passionately express nationalism and patriotism. We no longer live in a period of colonialism and war. Expressions of nationalism and patriotism can be manifested through various attitudes and actions in daily routine life at home, school, office, neighborhood, and so on. Following are some examples of attitudes and actions in implementing nationalism and patriotism.

v     The real “battle” event for students is the world of education and teaching. Successful students are students who excel in their field of study at school. The high achievement of students in education will later deliver and place them in an important position in development to achieve various advances. Thus, as a form of expression of nationalism and patriotism, students are required to be diligent in studying and practicing subjects in school, reading and writing a lot, diligently following developments in science and technology, being honest, and being polite and respectful.

v    In the vicinity of where we live, various community activities are commonly carried out, including youth activities through the youth organization. Most of the activities carried out are generally useful activities, such as night patrols to maintain environmental security, community service cleaning the roads, social services, helping residents who are having a celebration, and RT and RW meetings to plan joint activities. In fact, such village activities are part of development (in small and limited units). So, people and youth who have nationalism and patriotism will actively participate in activities carried out by the community in their village.

v    To finance development, the government needs a lot of funds. Apart from exploiting natural resources, development funds are obtained from tax collection. Citizens who claim to be nationalist and patriotic will continue to pay taxes regularly without having to be chased or threatened.

v     To carry out development smoothly, we need conducive situations and conditions. Security, order and stability must always be guaranteed. Citizens who have nationalism and patriotism will take an active part in the efforts to maintain environmental security and order and comply with the rules and regulations in force. In a state of emergency or danger due to threats from within or from outside (attacks from other countries), every citizen must be ready to participate in efforts to defend the state.

v    In international forums, there are often competitions between countries in various fields, such as sports competitions, arts festivals, and subject Olympics (especially mathematics and science). To realize the love for the nation and state, we can try to become one of the participants who represent the country. If we are elected as representatives of the country to participate in the competition, we must appear fair and sporty and try our best to become winners and champions.

v    Indonesia is rich in various types of arts and culture, such as folk music and songs, regional dances, traditional fine arts, traditional ceremonies, and traditional houses and clothing. Most of the arts and culture typical of the region have high value, which many even admire and imitate and some other nations claim as their own (for example, batik, reog, and pendet dance which is claimed by one of the neighboring countries as their own). As citizens, we must care and participate actively in state programs aimed at saving and preserving the nation's cultural arts.

v To meet the various needs of the community, various kinds of consumer goods have been produced domestically. Meanwhile, due to the introduction of free trade, our domestic market has also begun to be flooded with goods produced by foreign countries. To reflect the attitudes of nationalism and patriotism, we should prefer and use domestically produced goods in an effort to meet various needs.