Sahur Menu on the First Day (Merdeka): Fried Rice

In receiving and utilizing foreign cultures, we must base ourselves and stand as a nation with character, capable of using every new item from wherever it comes to be useful and to facilitate the way to achieve a safe and happy life. Leave behind or set aside customs that are no longer appropriate and hinder our progress. Embrace new items from any nation that can enrich our life treasury. "Fried rice" made with national rice will taste better and be more beneficial for our health if fried with butter from Western culture, rather than with rancid national coconut oil. Fried rice with butter is a product of new culture, a blend of Indonesian culture with Western technology, enriching human life. (Dewantara: 1969)

Suwardi Suryaningrat's (Ki Hajar Dewantara) close introduction to Western culture during his time in exile strengthened his belief that adopting positive foreign elements would enrich one's own culture without losing its national identity. This principle was firmly held, and he always urged us not to hesitate to incorporate foreign materials and cultures, regardless of their origin. However, it must be remembered that with these new materials, our people can elevate their lives by developing what we already possess or enriching in the sense of adding what we do not yet have. We must not merely imitate (copy). These new materials must be "processed" or "cooked" to become new, delicious food that enhances the health of the people in a cultural sense. (Depdikbud: 1989)

Speaking of fried rice, it is important to note that the culinary dish that coincided with the most decisive event for the birth of the Indonesian nation is fried rice. During the drafting of the proclamation text at the residence of Rear Admiral Tadashi Maeda on August 16-17, 1945, which coincidentally fell on the 8-9 of Ramadan 1364 Hijri. The meeting of the figures attended by 40-50 people to jointly oversee the process of drafting the proclamation text that would become a declaration of Indonesia's independence. A staff member of Admiral Tadashi Maeda, Satsuki Mishima, was assigned that night to oversee the event, managing everything needed by Sukarno, Moh. Hatta, and other figures that night.

There were several needs fulfilled for the smooth running of that secret meeting, such as the typewriter needed by Sayuti Melik to type the proclamation text, which was borrowed by Satsuki Mishima from a German Navy officer, Major Herman Kandeler. When the drafting event was about to conclude at 4 AM, Satsuki Mishima took the initiative to prepare fried rice, serving sardines and bread for the figures who would have sahur. Thus, can it be said that the official food of Indonesians after independence is fried rice?

What if the Philosophy of Fried Rice was indeed born at the residence of Admiral Tadashi Maeda when Ki Hajar Dewantara, who was present at the event, was served fried rice during sahur? An implicit message from Ki Hajar Dewantara reads the phenomenon and undergoes the process second by second towards independence, starting from the sessions of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence to the meeting at Admiral Tadashi Maeda's house. Just like fried rice, which is concocted with various spices and has many variations to satisfy taste and ward off hunger, the figures present during the drafting of the proclamation text also have diverse origins, ethnicities, ideologies, religions, and backgrounds but share the same goal of an Independent Indonesia. The mixture of rice with spices resembles the dynamic and slightly tense discussion situation for a shared perception of independence.

In the future, if given the opportunity to have sahur with fried rice, always remember that with each spoonful of rice, there is a blend of spirit and taste of freedom within it.

References

Aini, Nur. Ki Hajar Dewantara (1889-1959): His Struggle and Contributions to Education. Thesis. Department of History and Islamic Civilization. Faculty of Adab and Humanities. Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University. Jakarta: 2008

Department of Education and Culture. Directorate General of Culture. Directorate of History and Traditional Values. Ki Hajar Dewantara. Jakarta: 1989.

Dewantara, Ki Hadjar. Works of Ki Hadjar Dewantara, Part 1 (Education). Majelis Luhur Taman Siswa. Yogyakarta: 1969.

Indra, Muhammad Ridhwan & Sophian Marthabaya. Events Surrounding the Proclamation of 17-8-1945