67 Years of Freedom

 To my beloved sister Ani Sunjaya and your heroic grandfather Bung Karno,

“Hanya suatu bangsa cukup berani untuk mengambil nasib ke dalam tangannya sendiri akan dapat berdiri dalam kekuatan.”
– Bung Karno (Pejuang & Presiden bangsa Indonesia) Jakarta, 17 Agustus 1945.

As you spoke these words, you imagined
that one day we would stand tall in unity
on a green soil that would perpetually be ours,
free of fear, sorrow, and ignorance.

You gazed to a sky covered in red and white,
the shade of courage and purity,
in hope that we would be free people –
brave to shine as our true selves.

Your fight for freedom is a priceless inheritance,
that we will guard and carry on with our body and soul,
until every possibilities you once dreamed
become our very being.

A Posse Ad Esse (from possibilities to being)

With all my heart, Melissa

P. S.
These pictures were taken from Imam Bonjol no. 1 in Menteng, Jakarta – an Art Deco styled mansion built in 1920 by a European architect. It was once a home of young admiral Takashi Maeda during Japanese occupation in Indonesia. Bung Karno and Bung Hatta, along with twenty seven other Indonesian revolutionists met with Lieutenant Maeda in the night of August 16, 1945 to discuss and write the declaration of independence for Indonesia.