SURABAYA - A city is not only built by roads, buildings, and public services. Cities also grow from memories of the people who have ever been formed in them. The memory is important, when a generation begins to be more familiar with the flow of short videos than the long story about how his nation stands.
The launch of the book "Bung Karno: Aku Arek Suroboyo" by the Surabaya City Government, not long ago, reopened a knot of history that has long been covered by a more popular narrative. Soekarno, the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, was born in Surabaya on June 6, 1901. This city is not just a point on the birth document, but the initial space that helped shape his character, social experience, and national imagination.
The book written by Purnawan Basundoro, Samidi, Yayan Indrayana, and Kukuh Yudha Karnanta, as reported by Antara, was presented at the right time. He did not stop at the effort to correct knowledge about the birthplace of a proclaimer. Furthermore, this book offers an opportunity for Surabaya to read itself through the footsteps of a child named Koesno Sosrodihardjo who would later be known as Bung Karno.
Until now, the figure of Soekarno has often appeared in a very large form. He is the reader of the proclamation text, the Pancasila digger, the president, the orator, and the leader of the anti-colonial movement. All of that is true, but the big figure often feels far away for schoolchildren if it is not met with everyday spaces that shape it.
That is where the importance of the local approach lies. National history does not lose its wisdom when it is told from a city. In fact, history is easier to understand because children can see that the big ideas of the nation are born from a real environment, from families, schools, social interactions, village roads, and social struggles around them.
The exhibition "I Am Suroboyo" which was held in the basement of Surabaya Square in June 2026, previously also presented photos, archives, films, and traces of Soekarno's life in the City of Heroes. This series shows that the management of history does not always have to take place in the classroom. History can be present as a public experience that invites citizens to look back at their city with curiosity.
Learning is meaningful.
The Surabaya City Government's plan to make the book a learning material for elementary and junior high school students should be read as an opportunity, as well as homework. The opportunity is clear. History lessons can be closer to the experiences of Surabaya children. They not only know Bung Karno as a figure in the pages of the national book, but as a figure who has a connection with the city where they live.
However, the success of this policy is not determined by the number of class hours or the number of books distributed. The real challenge lies in the way history is taught. If books are only positioned as new memorization material, then the spirit can be lost, before reaching young readers.
History lessons are often considered far away because they are filled with dates, names, and events that must be remembered. In fact, history is essentially a story about human choices in the face of their time.
Bung Karno can be studied not only through his birthday or speeches, but also through questions close to the life of students. How does a young child build the courage to think? Why is unity important in the midst of differences? How can the idea of social justice be translated into daily actions?
The national curriculum provides space for educational units to develop learning that is appropriate for the local context. The applicable curriculum regulation also emphasizes the importance of flexibility and strengthening competencies according to the needs of learners and the character of the region. This is the space that Surabaya can use to present local history, without making it an additional burden that is rigid.
Therefore, the book "Bung Karno: Aku Arek Suroboyo" is more appropriately treated as an entrance, not as the only teaching material. Teachers can develop it through a project to trace the city's historical traces, archival discussions, museum visits, reading biographies, theater performances, to writing essays by students.
Children can be invited to read Surabaya not only as a city of trade, industry, and services, but also as a meeting space for ideas. They can trace how the port city brings together diverse backgrounds, languages, interests, and ideals. From there, the value of diversity does not exist as a slogan, but as a social reality that needs to be cared for.
This approach is important because historical education is not just a matter of remembering the past. Historical education is a practice of reading the present. When students understand that independence is born from the meeting of ideas, courage, and joint work, they can also see that the problems of the city today require the same character.
The Legacy of Life
A good history book does not invite its readers to stop at pride. It invites its readers to ask about responsibility. Surabaya can be proud as the birthplace of Soekarno, but that pride only makes sense when it is translated into an effort to present the values he fought for.
The value does not always have to be realized in a large ceremony. The spirit of unity can grow through a school that is safe for all children. The idea of social justice can come through public services that reach vulnerable citizens.
The dream of independence can be translated through the strengthening of small businesses, the skills of the younger generation, and village innovation. Meanwhile, the courage to think can be nurtured through a healthy dialogue space in schools and the community.
This is where Surabaya has the opportunity to make history as a source of development energy. Bung Karno's footsteps can be linked to the strengthening of literacy, the preservation of cultural heritage, the development of child-friendly museums, and historical tourism that benefits the surrounding community. History is not enough to be stored in the filing cabinet. History needs to be brought to life in an ecosystem that makes residents feel they own it.
The next step needs to be directed at providing an easily accessible digital version, learning guides for teachers, and accompanying activities, such as local history research competitions and writing city stories by students. In that way, books not only circulate as printed objects, but grow into a cross-generational conversation.
Surabaya has started by returning one piece of history to its place. A bigger task is to ensure that the fragment does not stop as an affirmation of the city's identity. From the birthplace of a proclaimer, young generations need to learn that Indonesia was not built by memorization, but by the courage to care for memories, appreciate differences, and work for a common future.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
