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| Indonesia President Joko Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla arrive at a ceremony to celebrate Indonesia's 74th Independence Day at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, August 17, 2019. (File photo by=REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan) |
[아시아뉴스통신=레악카나 기자] Indonesia will celebrate its 75th Independence Day on a smaller scale this year as it is still grappling to contain the spread of COVID-19, said State Secretary Pratikno on Monday (Jul 6).
The country's Independence Day falls on Aug 17. “Indonesia’s Independence Day was planned to be big this year. We’re a big country, we cannot lose to other countries. “But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, everything has changed … We had to work hard to adjust the programmes which we had planned and so the international carnival has been cancelled,” Mr Pratikno, who is in charge of administrative support for the office of president, said. The carnival would originally involve the international community and dozens of countries, he added.
Celebrations will still take place this year, albeit in a modest way with strict health protocols. Most of the events will be moved online, the state secretary said. Only the president, vice president and a few officials on duty will be present, while ministers and state officials will attend the function virtually. "We will introduce a new tradition at the ceremony. When the national anthem 'Indonesia Raya' is played, we invite the Indonesian people to stop their activities and stand up straight solemnly," Mr Pratikno said.
