Asian Studies Review. ISSN 1035-7823 Volume 24 Number 3 September 2000 © Asian Studies Association of Australia 2000. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. SUMPAH PEMUDA: THE MAKING AND MEANING OF A SYMBOL OF INDONESIAN NATIONHOOD KEITH FOULCHER 1 University of Sydney One of the most familiar markers of twentieth-century Indonesian nationalist history is the Sumpah Pemuda, the threefold declaration of unity of nation, home- land and language, made at a congress of nationalist youth organisations in Jakarta at the end of October 1928. The anniversary of this declaration is now observed in Indonesia as a national day, and large-scale commemorations, designed to remind Indonesian youth of their historical destiny, are held each year under government patronage that extends right up to presidential level. The oath has come to be associated in particular with the affirmation of Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) as a national language, and the occasion is regularly marked by special attention to the historical development of the language, its use and standard- isation. In both academic and popular writing, variations of the assertion that “Indonesian was declared the national language at a conference of Indonesian youth on 28 October 1928” are widespread (Abas 1987, 38; Herbert and Milner 1989, 125). Again and again, we find the formula “one nation, one homeland, one language” described as the “sacred pledge” sworn by delegates to the 1928 con- gress, the oath of unity bequeathed to all subsequent generations of Indonesian youth. Addressing a massed crowd of Indonesian youth in the Senayan Sports Stadium in Jakarta, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the declaration in 1978, President Soeharto prefaced his remarks on the historical role of Indonesian youth with the following words: Tepat 50 Tahun yang lalu, di Jakarta ini, lahirlah Sumpah Pemuda yang sangat terkenal: – mengaku berbangsa satu, Bangsa Indonesia; – mengaku bertanah air satu, Tanah Air Indonesia; – mengaku berbahasa satu, Bahasa Indonesia. 2 The Congress of Indonesian Youth in October 1928 was indeed a significant occasion, and the declaration that subsequently came to be known as the Sumpah