ABSTRACT
Indonesia is a country which glories in its nationalist past, exemplified by various days of commemoration; above all, that which marks the proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945. Independence from Dutch colonial rule was acknowledged internationally from 27 December 1949, but it is the earlier date of the onset of national revolution that is treated as the Republic’s founding moment and the beginning of nation-statehood. When, in May 1998, an Indonesian student movement sought to sustain the momentum of their challenge to the personalised rule of President Suharto, they selected a day of nationalist significance for renewing their political protest. On 20 May 1908, a handful of reformist Javanese intellectuals had founded an organisation that they called Budi Utomo or ‘Noble Endeavour’. As much cultural as political, Budi Utomo made a minimal impact on the Dutch colonial regime but it has come to be accepted as the first stirring of Indonesian nationalism. Accordingly, 20 May has been celebrated every year in Indonesia as National Awakening Day.
