Indonesia is celebrating its 75th independence day today at August 17, 2020. This year is quite different since there is no lustrous celebrations like traditional competitions, festivals, or parades like what Indonesians do every year before the Coronavirus pandemic emerged. However, the Indonesian bank that produce banknotes and money made a big announcement through its Twitter account, announcing that Indonesian Government along with Bank Indonesia (BI) issued a new banknote, the 75,000 Rupiah banknote. This is such a celebration, to have a 75,000 Rupiah banknote in Indonesia's 75th anniversary of its independence day.

The front side of the 75,000 banknote mainly displays the two of founding fathers of Indonesia. They are Ir. Soekarno - who was the first Indonesian President, and Moh. Hatta - who was the first ever vice president. The back side of the banknote displays a portrait of nine children of Indonesia wearing their traditional costumes from various provinces. Above them, there is a map of Indonesia with gold colour.

There is one interesting thing going with the release of the new 75,000 Rupiah banknote, which is the secondary icons existing besides the main portraits portrayed in the banknotes. They are the pictures of Moda Raya Terpadu (MRT) Jakarta, Youtefa Bridge, and Trans-Java road toll. The BI Governor, Perry Warjiyo, argues that these pictures are the portrayal of latest Indonesian infrastructure development.

This is also in line with the current president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who has been called as "The father of infrastructure", since the main of his projects is developing infrastructures across the country. These three pictures are all his projects. Assumingly, he wants to make a political legacy to be remembered of, so he put it to the new banknote. However, this is not a new phenomenon in the political fields. The government or presidents in some countries have also done this. Andrew Champagne in his book At the Intersection of Place Branding and Political Branding mentions Canada, United Kingdom (UK), and Argentina as examples.

Source: https://www.pinterpolitik.com/jokowi-dan-politik-uang-rp-75-ribu