One of the effective ways to connect with the past in many countries is the use of traditional dress and costumes. This is because the aforementioned clothes can show the identity of people and how they live at that time. Moreover, other ways for the citizens to link with the history of a country are the celebration of certain national events and visiting historical buildings.
To begin with, there are two ways of traditional clothes in reminding the citizens of the past. Firstly, they show how particular ethnicity is unique compared to other ethnic groups. Indonesia, for example, that consists of various ethnicities and cultures has different kinds of traditional clothes for each tribe. Regarding this, Butonese people from Southeast Sulawesi’s traditional costume that accentuates the head jewelry looks completely different from simple Kebaya, the costume of Javanese people. Secondly, the costumes can convey how certain tribe lived in the past. It can be shown through the colors of or the amount of jewelry used with the clothes. For instance, Buton tribe has more than one traditional clothes, which shows the social status of people wearing them in the past.
There are two other factors that are considered effective in linking the citizens with the past. The first is the celebration of certain past events. An example of this is the ceremonial event of the Independence Day to commemorate how people in the past fought for the sake of their country’s freedom. Consequently, today’s generation can have a sense of responsibility to maintain their freedom from modern colonization. Second, the people nowadays can visit historical buildings. They can go to particular areas, such as forts or museums that keep ancient properties from the past. This can also improve their knowledge on how certain things were used. They could also reflect on how far their country has improved or changed from the situations in the past.
In conclusion, traditional costumes can maintain the connection of past and present of a country. Having said that, other ways to maintain the previously stated connection could be the celebration of past events and the visit to historical areas.
