Confused with history

Still with the spirit of independence day, and the fact that I'm home alone and got nothing to do, I was thinking about some heroic stories from Indonesia's independence day history.

One, the only one indeed, that came in mind was the Battle of Aru Sea. It is the one whose diorama I still remember after my visit to the Satria Mandala museum, thanks to Mas Aroengbinang.

It's truly heroic. One of three Indonesia's warships (MTB, motor torpedo boat,-type) decided to let itself to be a target so that the other two could run away from two Dutch destroyers' attack. The ship, KRI Macan Tutul, eventually got hit and sank.

Googling for more information about the incident, however, led me to some variations from the story I learned back in the elementary school. The version in Wikipedia seems to be the most updated one.

It says, the decision was for all ships to return and sail away. KRI Macan Tutul, unfortunately, got a problem and kept making right turn. (Another version is going straight to the two destroyers.)

Holy moly! What's happened? What has really happened?

Sigh...

Well, the heroes are still heroes. They fought for their country, and they deserved to become heroes. Not only the high-ranked officers. But all who contributed - physically, mentally, or with any other means.

But hell, why histories are tweaked? Were they genuine mistakes? Were they versions of the writers (being subjective)?

If a-century-ago histories are not that accurate, what about those from thousands years ago?

Yes, like today's religions.

I guess the truth is out there... we just want to believe...


Other interesting websites that discuss Indonesia's history are Anusapati (check an entry on heroism) and Beni's Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia.

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A visit to Satria Mandala

I finally was able to keep my word to Aroengbinang to visit the Satria Mandala museum, during my mudik last week. It's been at least 20 years since the last time I visited, and nothing looks to have changed. Okay, my memory isn't so great, but the Rp. 2500 entrance fee is probably a good indication.

Aroengbinang's post tells all about the museum, so I only put a picture of Anya and Ben excited to see a real tank (though not as cool as the ones in the Transformers).

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Kokomo

Certain things click just like that to some (memorable) events in the past. Whether nice or ugly.

Heard on the radio yesterday - Kokomo by the Beach Boys from the soundtrack of Cocktail is one of them, back to some years in high school, with significant involvement from Sheque. No details to be shared :)

"We'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow..."

PS. Elisabeth Shue was hot, by the way.

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Main root of capitalism?

A valuable lesson, I guess. But on the other hand, and at the same time, it could turn the religious people into capitalist... or turn capitalism into a religion. Someone has summarized the story below: "pennies are a message from heaven... pick it up!"

.......

A man and his wife were invited to spend the weekend at his employer's home. She was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the water-way, and cars costing more than her house. The first day and evening went well, and she was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the wealthy live.

The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. The wife knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely. As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of his guests.

He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. She wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny along with a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, them put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure.

How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up? Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it," he said. "Read what is says."

She read the words, "United State of America."

"No, not that; read further."

"One cent?"

"No, keep reading."

"In God we Trust?"

"Yes!"

"And?"

"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust him. Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

.......

Here's the official history of "In God we Trust" in the U.S. coins from the Department of Treasury...

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