Agus Martowardojo explained that the issuance of 11 new rupiah notes of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) with 12 images of national heroes contained five meanings.
Agus explained that the first meaning is the fulfillment of the requirements in the physical money of the Republic of Indonesia in accordance with the Currency Law Number 7 of 2011, one of which is that there is the phrase NKRI.
“The inclusion of the phrase NKRI has a philosophical meaning as a symbol of Indonesian sovereignty,” Agus said on Monday (19/12/2016), as reported by Antara. The launch and circulation of 11 new Indonesian banknotes on Monday also coincided with National Defense Day.
The second meaning, said Agus, is the use of Indonesian rupiah currency as the only payment instrument currency in Indonesian territory.
“The use of foreign currency is not in line with the spirit of nationalism. The violation is punishable and sanctionable, except for transactions permitted by law,” he said.
The third meaning is the responsibility of Bank Indonesia as the authority that issues and circulates rupiah currency, so that rupiah currency is always available and sufficient for the needs of Indonesian public transactions.
Fourth, rupiah money must be maintained and cared for by the Indonesian people properly, because rupiah money is a symbol of state sovereignty.
“People need to leave bad habits such as wetting, doodling, stepping, and folding,” Agus said.
While the fifth meaning is the presence of images of heroes, which are accompanied by cultural characteristics of various regions in Indonesia.
“On the rupiah bills there are images such as regional dances, natural beauty, images of heroes. The image of the hero is a form of tribute to the nation’s kusuma hero,” he said.
