Post by karinadesilva on Feb 2, 2011 14:50:11 GMT
• N egara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia
Name --- Pertiwi Candrakusuma
Nation --- Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (Unitary Nation of Indonesia)
Aliases --- Indonesia, NKRI, RI, Oost-Indische (but she’ll kill you if you call her by that name in the present), Malay Archipelago
Apparent age --- 19
Actual age --- From proto-nation: ~1300 years
From nation: 102 years
Gender --- Female
|-|-The External-|-|
Eye color --- dark brown
Hair color --- black
Height --- ~160 cm
Weight --- 54 kg
Skin tone --- tanned
Defining features --- Indonesia’s eyes always glimmered with warmth and joy, picturing all the dream etched on the back of her mind, albeit not as bright as it used to be when she was younger and more naïve. She didn’t have as many scars as most other countries who gone through hundreds of vicious battles over freedom, glory, or whatever reason that made men and countries raised blades against one another, but she, too, had had her share of bloodshed. There were long lash scars on her back that she got from the times she spent under Japan’s rule. Both her hands were calloused due to centuries of hard labor that had gone on longer than she could bear. There was also a rather large burnt scar on her upper left arm and shoulder from one of the many struggles against Netherlands in 1825 and lesser cuts that had started to fade at other parts.
Her skin was slightly dark to begin with, like most of the Malayan race that inhabited her land, and it looked even darker most of the time due to the time spent working under the sun. Her hair was kept long—sometimes braided, sometimes worn loose—the way the more conventional women like it, complimented with a tiny jasmine garland, her signature flower, behind one ear. She was also rarely seen without her bamboo spear, the one weapon that had always witnessed her battles, albeit being rather ineffective.
Additional features --- Indonesia has a rather small posture despite owning such vast land. After all, she rarely ever bothered to care for herself. But you’d be surprised of what that small body could do. She was used to heavy work, lifting crates twice her own size, all kind of farming jobs and housework, she could do most of it on her own. Well, she did learn to do everything through ordeals worse than what you could imagine.
She always wore her prided kebaya—traditional tunic-like outfit—usually her favorite white one with red embroidery, or the golden, more complicated one for formal occasions, paired up with batik cloth wrapped around her waist. As things advanced, she started to wear pants, though. It’s more comfortable, especially when she had to work.
|-|-The Internal-|-|
Personality --- Indonesia was very cheerful and optimistic. Even though she doesn't feel like it, she always tries her best to SEEM so. She believed it would make her look stronger than she actually was, and that if she could just see the bright side of everything, nothing’s going to go wrong. That one principle of hers had betrayed her more than a hundred times, but her conviction never faltered. She always stood up again and walked on, rarely ever dwelling on one failure. It’s also not strange if some other countries find this trait of hers rather annoying.
She was also a bit of a rebel and totally hates being restricted. Plus she doesn't like being dependent to others, and wouldn't do it unless it was the last resort, she knew how it was to be unable to stand for herself and chose her own fate and she doesn't intend to go through it again. She preferred to stand on her own power, side by side with other countries with similar ideals. However, in the present day, she’s beginning to find it hard to keep it up.
Pertiwi was quite stubborn, and once she's set her mind, it's almost impossible to change it. Sometimes, this stubbornness was what led to a grave mistake. She also had the tendency to act first and think later, and not listening to what other told her. Yes, she’s very reckless and never thought that far ahead. As long as she could live in the moment, the future could go to hell. The way she thinks was just that simple, which often brought her to doom.
She was used to hard work, but she always finds it hard to attend to her appointments on time and never loses something to say about it. There was always a reason to be late. She also could always find a way to get away with anything.
Indonesia could be quite young for a nation, but she’s undoubtedly resilient. She had been tortured by numerous great disasters and trials, but giving up just wouldn’t do for her. And she would never cease believing that her dream to be a great nation acknowledge by the whole world would come true.
Likes ---
• Freedom
• Sweet and Spicy food
• Flowers, especially jasmine and orchid
• Weird, rare reptiles—they’re just adorable
• Soap opera, especially ones with sappy romance, pitiful heroines, lost child, and a lot of coincidences.
• Farming, especially when it’s harvest time and she could enjoy it ONLY with her people.
• Appreciation
• Napping
• Holidays
• Peace
Dislikes ---
•
•
• Being restricted.
• Being rejected.
• Being forgotten.
• Having to keep quiet.
• People who won’t speak their mind.
• Expensive stuff
• Discrimination
• People who step on other’s dreams
• Hypocrites
• War
Fears ---
• Another tsunami or volcano eruption or earthquake or anything of that sort.
• Being colonized again/Having to wholly depend on other nations, thus losing her freedom.
• World War III
Lesser known facts ---
• She often questioned herself, her choices, her decisions, but never before it’s too late. She often felt like she was going downhill every moment in the present, but she often shrugged it off, telling herself nothing bad was going to happen, lying to herself.
• She felt slightly bitter towards the UN, believing that they were intentionally being unfair to her and everything. When she had to receive help from IMF per her superior’s order just a few years ago, she was quite reluctant to do so.
• She had a passion for weird, rare animals, especially reptiles.
Goals ---
• Being a great nation that’s acknowledged by the whole world.
• Stopping deforestation and become the greenest land again—kind of hoping it would give her something to brag about.
• Becoming free of any sort of dependence toward other countries (Such as import, debts, etc.), although it seemed to be so far away.
|-|-The Past-|-|
History ---
• 7th century AD: The first kingdom that covered most of Indonesian archipelago, Srivijaya, was established.
• 13th century AD: Srivijaya fell in a war, taken over by the Kingdom of Majapahit whose mission was to unite the whole Indonesian archipelago and most of Southeast Asia.
• 1511: Majapahit had long declined and fell. Indonesia now was divided into smaller kingdoms with Islamic influence. Portugal was the first to find the abundance of rare spices sought by most nations in Europe growing in Indonesia and managed to get the people’s trust to let him monopolize the sales of all the crops.
• 1521: Spain arrived in Indonesia and tried to replace Portugal and gain the trade monopoly on Indonesia’s spices. Both sides ‘used’ the small kingdoms in Indonesia who happened to have bad relationship with one another to fight their war over the spices.
• 1534: Spain and Portugal ended their conflict in Indonesia by signing the Saragosa Agreement. It was decided that Spain should leave Indonesia and take Philippines while Portugal remained in Indonesia. However, the Indonesian kingdoms had realized that Portugal was only taking advantage of them and decided to rebel.
• 1602: The struggle against Portugal was still going on. Netherlands stumbled upon Indonesia and decided to ‘help’. Portugal lost the fight, starting the era of Netherlands’s colonialism in Indonesia. VOC, a Holland trade company that now held the monopoly over the produces on Indonesia was established. Most kingdoms in Indonesia did not like the way the foreigners were taking advantage of them and fought. However, most of their efforts failed miserably.
• 1811: After England defeated France that was under Napoleon’s rule, the colonies of Netherlands (which was conquered by France) also became under England’s control, including Indonesia.
• 1816: England left and Netherlands returned once again, creating new policies for Indonesian farmers concerning their lands and produces which would benefit both them and the Netherlands who was broke after the war. However, the application was not as it was expected to be, with the Holland officers exploiting the new policy to their own personal benefits.
• 1908: The year of Indonesia National Awakening. A group of Holland activists suggested that it’s time to pay back the Indonesians for what they had done to help Netherlands in the form of education, immigration, and irrigation. The ‘education’ part had given raise to Indonesian intellectual communities who later formed political organizations and also led the political approach for Indonesia’s independence as a whole nation.
• 1942: During the World War II, Japan took over Indonesia and promised that they would get their independence if they helped Japan in the war. However, once again the Indonesians’ kindness was once again exploited for wrong purposes.
• 1945: Japan gave up to the Allied Force. Indonesia took this chance to proclaim her independence. However, the Allied Force—as well as Netherlands—didn’t acknowledge this and came to claim Indonesia’s land. Angered, the Indonesians took aggressive moves as well as negotiations against them and strengthened their stance as an independent nation.
• 1949: After numerous fights and foiled treaties, it was decided in a conference with Netherlands in Den Haag that Indonesia was a federation country and part of a union with the Netherlands.
• 1950: The people of Indonesia decided that the couldn’t keep going as a federation and foiled the treaty with Netherlands about the Indo-Netherlands Union and returned to the original state as a Unitarian country. Despite the unstable political and economic condition, they refused to depend on other countries.
• 1955: Indonesia hosted Asia-Africa Conference with the newly independent countries from all over Asia and Africa, forming an alliance that went against the cold war and colonialism.
• 1965: The tragic rebellion by the communist faction in Indonesia occurred. High-ranked officers in Indonesia’s army were assassinated. An operation to uproot this rebellion was a bloody one.
• 1967: Indonesia became one of the five countries who founded the ASEAN organization.
•1966: After a change of leadership, Indonesia began to make dramatic advancement as a new nation. However, reality wasn’t as sweet as everyone had hoped it to be. The development had to be achieved through years of dictatorship and without any freedom to even utter their thoughts, which was pretty depressing.
• 1998: The monetary crisis in South East Asia and the instability of the government gave the Indonesians a chance to rebel against the dictatorship that loomed over them for decades. The reformation era began. Since then, Indonesia began to mend itself on its own, working hard to realize the ideal democratic nation she had always longed to be. Indonesia became more active in helping with international and global issues, as well as reconnecting diplomatic relationship with other countries.
• The Present: There have been several issues going on in Indonesia. It has been victim to volcanic eruption twice and there was still the unfinished case of corruption within the tax system, and the fight with Malaysia, yeah… But Indonesia was still an optimist as always, especially with the SEA Games coming round~~
|-|-The Style-|-|
Roleplay example ---
Surabaya, September 19, 1945
How dare he?!
Indonesia squinted at the blinding sunlight. Those eyes were fixed on a piece of cloth fluttering on a pole way up there, on the roof of Yamato Hotel. That day was a raging inferno, but she did not flinch. The heat was not unusual to her anymore; she had lived with it for centuries. However, the blaze in her soul was a hundred times hotter and fiercer.
How dare he?
Indonesia was still glaring at that waving flag with burning with hatred, as if her stare alone could set it to fire. That accursed flag had just been raised not too long ago, but Indonesia knew that it had nothing to do in her homeland. That flag was not red and white as she first expected it to be, but there was a line of blue that spoiled the harmony.
How dare he?! Who did he think he was?
A tanned hand fell on Indonesia’s shoulder, trying to calm her down. Indonesia found an officer of army looking at her with concern. That officer was young, but his face showed composure and wisdom. Indonesia knew deep down he was nervous, he was one o the less lucky soldiers appointed to get into that accursed hotel and negotiate with her, and she knew that deep down, he was as angry as she was.
“Don’t worry, we’ll definitely show him his place.”
They marched into the hotel and down the hotel into the conference room. Indonesia opened the double door before the footman could get it for her. She had wanted to storm in and yell at the western jerk that should be waiting inside. However, she had to enter gracefully, making sure he could feel that he was in HER home and at HER mercy. She had to show him that she was no longer the stupid girl he used to know, who could only hide behind his coattail. She, too, had changed, and the new Indonesia would not stand still watching her pride as a nation being stomped down.
Indonesia saw him standing beside the window, smoking, accompanied by several Dutch officers. His brows met in a frown and his lips were arrogantly curved downwards. The looks on his face showed his thought that seeing Indonesia didn’t worth his time. The younger girl looked back at him deviously, determined to make him regret offending her so.
“I believe you have no business here, Sir,” Indonesia’s tone was overly civil.
His frown deepened, as if he didn’t understand what she meant, and that everything was as it should be until Indonesia came in.
“Your flag has no right to stand in my territory. This is a free nation, belonged to me and my people. You don’t even have the right to step a foot on this land.”
He didn’t flinch.
“Accept the truth. We are no longer your colony. Take down that flag at once.”
He turned away and gave her his back, waving his hand, instructing her to leave.
“Holland, YOU!” Indonesia raised her fist, ready to charge. She didn’t have her spear or any weapon at all, but she had to smack some sense into his head. She had to make it clear that he could not make her bend to his will anymore. All the emotion and hatred she felt towards him welled up in Indonesia’s eyes. Three centuries ago, it was all adoration and compassion, but three hundred years were a long time, long enough to turn all the admiration towards a savior into a loathing for a bully, a colonizer.
“WATCH OUT!”
The young soldier who came with Indonesia pushed her towards the door while some other boys lunged at the few Dutch who were aiming their guns at her. A fight broke out. The hotel room soon became a battlefield except for the two nations who remained immobile—Indonesia was wide-eyed, staring at her former patron who was only glancing at her arrogantly from the edge of his sight, a few drops of tear betrayed the defense she had been building with so much effort to shut the other man out. Anger was overflowing from her soul.
Indonesia watched her men helpless fighting armed soldiers with bare hands, trying to seize the opponents’ weapons and strangle them. She bit her lips, stomped her feet and fled the conference room. She ran out and up the emergency stair, fueled by none other than hatred and humiliation. She kept going up until she reached the top, pushing the trapdoor open with force and stepped out, finding herself under the pale blue sky that stretched above her homeland. She walked further on the flat roof of Yamato hotel, approaching the piece of cloth she despised so much. It was hung on a steel pole as tall as her—a Holland flag, shamelessly standing on Indonesian building, riding on Indonesian wind. Indonesia reached out for the edge of the cloth and violently ripped off the blue that did nothing but ruining the balance of red and white, then threw away the ripped tatter as far as the breeze would take it, away from the Indonesian land. Indonesia lifted her head, shrugging off the remnants of her tears. She stood proudly beside the waving flag that had got its pride back in the form of red bravery and white holiness, and yelled at her people down there who were looking up at her with hopeful eyes.
“FOR FREE INDONESIA!!!”
|-|-The Player-|-|
Username --- karinadesilva
Age --- 16
Time zone --- GMT +7 (Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta)
