Day 9: Off to Luxembourg!

Today we bid farewell to the Netherlands and hopped on a bus to Luxembourg. It was raining and we got stuck in traffic, so that kind of sucked. Still, it wasn’t all bad: I got to do some arranging for a show I’m writing for Cal Band, and I watched Borat for the first time! Can’t say I liked that movie, but at least I can say I watched it now. On the other hand, I learned the actor is also going to be playing Freddie Mercury in some future film about Queen, and I'm totally down to go see that whenever it comes out.

Very nice!

We stopped in Bronbeek to visit the Center of Commemoration of the Repatriation of the Netherlands Indies. There, we received lectures from various speakers about the relationship between the Dutch and Indonesia.

The building was a present from King William III and contains small monuments that remind us of the struggle during WWII. The Indies Commemoration Center focuses on relaying and increasing the knowledge of the history of events in the Netherlands and East Indies during the Second World War. Indonesia and the Netherlands kind of broke apart in January 1942 with the invasion of the Japanese. It does make sense when you consider the Dutch treatment of Indonesia during the cultivation period. When the Japanese invaded Indonesia, the Dutch Indonesians were regarded as Asians at first. However, the Dutch Indonesians would deny this, calling themselves Europeans. Around 100,000 of the 320,000 Dutch Indonesians were interred during Japanese occupation, and the number of deaths only increased during the last year of this.

On August 15 1945, World War II ends with the surrender of Japan. Indonesia becomes independent, but the Netherlands is reluctant to acknowledge this at first. So begins alternating periods of rest and conflict between the two nations. During this transitional period, there was a lot of violence brought on by the Indonesian natives against the Dutch Indonesians. Around 300,000 Dutch Indonesians wanted repatriation and Dutch citizenship to move back to the Netherlands. There was no place for them in Indonesia anymore once Indonesia declared independence, after all. The Dutch were not pleased at this, seeing the Dutch Indonesians as a "burden" as they began to move in. They adapted to Dutch society through the labor force, but conflict was still not entirely absent from the Netherlands. Integration between the two is usually considered successful for all intensive purposes, but was that really the case? Many within the Dutch Indonesian society considered leaving, and thus they scattered all over the world. The Dutch Indonesian identity is therefore usually associated with diaspora as well.

"Kesasar" is the Malaysian word meaning "lost", and is a word incorporated into the Indonesian vernacular. The identity of the Dutch Indonesians is often considered lost due to many being forbidden to speak Indonesian in a Netherlands household. Many held the philosophy that, "God made the white, the brown, and the black, but the Devil made the half-cast." Indo-Dutch formed less than 1% of the Indonesian population; 2% are from the Far East, while the rest are indigenous Indonesians.

In 1988, the first attempt was made to found a place for education on the Indonesian Dutch community. This was the first of three, with the final attempt becoming successful in August 2009. The Indisch Herinneringscentrum has sections throughout regarding the 350 years of history between the Netherlands and Indonesia, with education being the primary goal in mind. Many of the projects focus on the generations of Dutch Indonesians after WWII, when "Indo-Dutch" was becoming more of a cultural identity. A recurring topic is dialogue and the encouragement of story transmission throughout the community.

Aanpassen is a project based on the dialogue among the Indo-Dutch within and outside Dutch society. There is no intention for scientific basis, as the project is for the people rather than about the people. The project is also a monument, as those interviewed from Aanpassen would often be telling their complete story for the first time. The first generation was approached first, gaining 15 interviews as a result. There was then a jump from the first generation to the third, as the bond appeared to be stronger than with the generation in beween. There was a mutual session on identity among third generation people between the ages of 10 and 30. Nine people were finally chosen for the second generation. It was very difficult to find people of this generation who were willing to talk about this, though. No oral history was used for the people of the second generation, instead opting for prescreening of people's profiles.

As Gary Younge said, "We have a choice about which identities to give the floor to; but at specific moments, they may also choose us." Many people tend to speak of colonial history in a simplistic black and white sort of way. Instead, they should be thought of as a complex community with strong ties to both colonizers and the natives.

After the lectures, we were treated to Dutch Indonesian food, or rijsttafel. Believe me, nothing is better after a constant diet of sandwiches and bread.

OM NOM NOM.

After that, we visited the museum within the Indisch Herinneringscentrum. Then we got back on the bus for the rest of the way to Luxembourg.

We're here! :)

Good night, world.