Colonial Java: How trouble came to paradise
\n
\nBruce Emond
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
-------------------------------------------------
\nThe Thugs, the Curtain Thief and the Sugar Lord: Power,
\nPolitics and Culture in Colonial Java
\nOnghokham, Metafor Publishing, 2003
\nxiv + 338 pp
\nRp 135,000
\n-------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
It takes skill to be able to dig beyond the dry facts of history
\nand bring to life a distant time and place for latter
\ngenerations.<\/p>\n
A great historian is not necessarily a great writer, often
\ntripping himself up by studiously conveying historical detail
\nwithout furnishing it with the deft penmanship or attention to
\nthe human side of history to keep the interest of readers.<\/p>\n
In tackling the intricate nature of colonialism in Java from
\nthe 19th century to Indonesia's independence, Onghokham's
\ncollection of essays provides a richly textured exploration of
\nthe period. Insightful without being pedantic, learned but not
\noverbearing, the book is full of humorous anecdotes while never
\nshirking the factual responsibility of the historian.<\/p>\n
The author is gifted a colorful cast of characters in
\nexamining the uneasy relationship between the local Javanese
\npryayi (local regional administrators) and their Dutch colonial
\noverlords, the latter -- frequently left bothered and bewildered
\nby the activities of the local populace -- dependent on the
\nformer to take care of business.<\/p>\n
In refuting the glorified colonial image of a backward native
\npopulation contentedly tending their fields while the \"betters\"
\nkept a watch over them, Onghokham reveals cultural miscues,
\nmissteps and increasing discord in 19th century Java. By the time
\nthe Dutch administration realized there was trouble in paradise,
\nwith Queen Wilhelmina declaring the Netherlands' \"debt of honor\"
\nto the Javanese in 1905, it was already too late.<\/p>\n
The title of the first, arguably most interesting essay, The
\nInscrutable and the Paranoid, perfectly conveys the divide
\nbetween the two groups. Onghokham clearly relishes this tale that
\npitted the Dutch against what they considered the uppity Javanese
\nregent of Madiun, Brotodiningrat.<\/p>\n
Not one to play nice with the Europeans, Brotodiningrat,
\nsupremely self-confident, wanted things his way. He chafed when
\none of the Dutch residents dismissed the regents as nothing more
\nthan spies, believing that he and his peers were actually in
\ncontrol.<\/p>\n
Brotodiningrat set about stirring things up when a new
\nresident not to his liking arrived in Madiun in the 1890s. Their
\nrelationship descended into oneupmanship, power plays and open
\nhostility (when admonished that his letters were not respectful
\nenough, he retorted, \"[It's] because I'm no old woman\"), reaching
\nits nadir with the theft of a curtain from the resident's home in
\n1899.<\/p>\n
It was no ordinary curtain, mind you: \"It had covered the
\nwindow by which the resident sat, often in pajamas for his
\ncoffee, and the theft of the curtain, which infringed on the
\nprivacy and affronted the dignity of the highest official in the
\narea, seemed clearly to be a demonstration against European
\nrule,\" Onghokham writes.<\/p>\n
Although the theft was initially blamed on a petty thief, the
\nincensed resident suspected Brotodiningrat, and his campaign
\nagainst him led to the regent being dispatched to West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Even then, Brotodiningrat refused to toe the line, sending
\nappeals to Queen Wilhelmina and using the developing arena of the
\nmedia to plead his cause. He was eventually allowed to return to
\nYogyakarta on Java, but he was to be a thorn in the side of the
\ncolonists for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n
The Brotodiningrat affair, and the earlier revolt against
\npayment of taxes in Patik, Ponorogo, also part of Madiun regency,
\nshowed the tenuous hold on power of the Dutch, with the forces of
\nchange moving inexorably -- although not to be realized for
\nanother half century -- of independence.<\/p>\n
There are also essays on the use of jago (thugs) for the
\nregents' own devices, the rise of the particularly Indonesian
\ntype of Chinese involvement in capitalism (through the story of
\nthe sugar lord of the title) and economic development.<\/p>\n
Onghokham argues persuasively against the usual statement of
\n350 years of Dutch colonialism, noting the resistance in Aceh and
\nBali and that the East Indies were only one in 1910, and that
\ncolonialism only began in Java in 1830.<\/p>\n
A great gourmet and gourmand, Onghokham also includes an essay
\non tempeh's contribution to building the nation as a readily
\navailable source of protein when animal sources had been
\nexhausted, and well as one rijstafel, the buffet of dishes which
\nthe Dutch gorged on as part of their colonial tour of duty
\n(Onghokham notes how the Javanese looked down at the Dutch choice
\nof fried bananas as a buffet mainstay, considering it a lowly
\nfruit because it was available all year round).<\/p>\n
Individually, each essay is thought-provoking and interesting,
\nalthough the reader will come across the problem of repetition in
\ninformation, probably due to the essays being written at
\ndifferent times (the definition of the cultivation system is
\nrepeated at least three times in different essays, for example).
\nIn at least two essays, there are also the clumsy transitions \"In
\nthis paper ...\"<\/p>\n
The most enduring impression, however, is the contemporary
\nparallels -- the use of thugs by powerholders to get their way,
\nthe populace's belief in charismatic leadership, officials
\ncarefully sizing up their options for their own personal
\nbenefits. History repeats itself indeed.<\/p>",
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