Colonialism in Indonesia<\/p>\n
The wonderfully expressive letters of Mrs. Sumarsono contrast
\ngreatly with Mr. de Jong's rather desultory one complete with red
\nherrings (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 22, 1994).<\/p>\n
Every empire, Mr. de Jong, quite literally, has skeletons in
\nits cupboard. Although there are many facets of my country of
\nwhich I am proud, I have no desire to be drawn into becoming an
\napologist for the British Empire, particularly since it has no
\nrelevance to a non-comparative account of Dutch conduct in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
I simply wish to help set the record straight, for even today
\nthe true account of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia is suppressed
\nin Holland. However, to those who review the evidence, it is
\nabundantly clear that the Dutch, during their time here, were
\nprimarily concerned with exploitation through the blatant and
\noften cruel maintenance of privilege in a whole variety of areas.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, undoubtedly, there were many courageous
\nindividuals who proved to be exceptions to the rule. It is
\ncurious, is it not, that those races and nations which lay claim
\nto being superior are also the very ones which, out of
\ninsecurity, erect barriers of privilege, prejudice and
\ndiscrimination to protect themselves? One would have thought that
\nbeing superior, in itself, would bestow sufficient confidence and
\nadvantages to obviate the need for such contrived impediments
\ndesigned to thwart lesser beings. Apparently it does not, thus,
\ngiving the lie to claims of intrinsic racial pre-eminence. The
\nsame applies to castes, classes, etc.<\/p>\n
Even in this supposedly enlightened age a few Dutch nationals
\nare still capable of going into the most tortuous of mental
\nspins, twists and somersaults before landing in their own
\ncomfortable safety-net which reassures them as to their
\nbenevolence and the quality of their education because, they
\nclaim, those who ultimately freed Indonesia were educated in
\ntheir `top-notch' HBS institutes.<\/p>\n
One could, however, look at it differently and reflect that a
\nhigh level of innate ability was demonstrated, in that it
\nrequired only very restricted access to a reasonably high
\nstandard of education for just one generation of Indonesians to
\ntopple the centuries-old, well-entrenched colonial system of
\nundue privilege. The privilege-preserving practices of other
\ncolonial empires also ultimately failed for, as I have tried to
\nshow, such practices are fatally flawed through being based on
\nfalse premises. Trouble yourself not Mr. de Jong, for it may be
\nthat those who you say frown upon mixed-race marriages, still
\nhave that difficult lesson to learn.<\/p>\n
FRANK RICHARDSON<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/colonialism-in-indonesia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }