Finding Indonesian environment at 'Kampung Melayu' in Leiden<\/p>\n
By Ida Indawati Khouw<\/p>\n
LEIDEN, The Netherlands (JP): When an Indonesian gets homesick
\nwhile in the "country of windmills", the best thing he could
\nprobably do is visit the International Student House in Leiden.<\/p>\n
Although it is an "international" boarding house, the ambience
\nis very much Indonesian, maybe because Indonesian students
\naccount for the majority of the occupants.<\/p>\n
Indonesian food is easy to find; contemporary and traditional
\nsongs can be heard and people speaking Bahasa Indonesia are at
\nevery corner. And the unique familial spirit is strong -- all
\nwhich makes the atmosphere very much "Indonesian."<\/p>\n
The four-story flat, located at Stationplein 242, is actually
\nprovided for students from all over the world, but Indonesian
\nstudents have transformed the building into a "Kampung Melayu"
\n(Malay kampong), as the complex is dubbed.<\/p>\n
Indonesians account for the majority of residents from a
\nsingle national group, occupying 17 out of the 52 rooms.<\/p>\n
The small city of Leiden, about 15 minutes by train from
\nAmsterdam, has over a century's history of being the center of
\nIndonesian studies in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
It was here that Indische Vereeniging (the Society of the
\nIndies) was founded in October 1908. The association was then
\nrenamed Perhimpoenan Indonesia, a political association of
\nIndonesian students in the Netherlands seeking an independent
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The best time to experience the Indonesian atmosphere is on
\nthe weekends, especially when a farewell party is held for a
\ndeparting buddy or when a fellow countryman celebrates his or her
\nbirthday. Usually they go Dutch, partying until early in the
\nmorning.<\/p>\n
The weekend party is usually held in the room of a student.
\nIndonesian food is served and party goers sing popular Indonesian
\nsongs, dance and chat.<\/p>\n
One of the regular party goers is a an indo (Eurasian) man
\npopularly called Oom (Uncle) Ed. He is even willing to finance
\nthe events.<\/p>\n
Some non-Indonesian students in the house also join in and
\nenjoy the parties.<\/p>\n
"Maybe there are also those who don't like our habits. There
\nis a foreign friend who shows her dislike for us by always
\ncriticizing Indonesian food as being too oily," said Alai Nadjib,
\na student majoring in Islamic Studies at Leiden University.<\/p>\n
Indonesian values, such as family spirit are upheld. So
\nwhen Alai once forgot to bring her wallet when she went shopping
\nat a nearby supermarket, she just called Yuun Oppusunggu, a
\nstudent of law, to come and help her.<\/p>\n
On another occasion, an army of the flat's occupants went to
\nSchiphol airport to help two friends who were going back to
\nIndonesia, to see them off, although there had been a farewell
\nparty.<\/p>\n
"It is very typically Indonesian, their feeling of being one
\nfamily when they are abroad. Such a feeling maybe won't exist
\namong us (Dutch people) when we meet each other abroad," said
\ncurator of the Amsterdam Historich Museum Lodewijk Wagenaar, who
\nis also an expert on Onrust island of Jakarta bay.<\/p>\n
Thus, Indonesians usually "dominate" the kitchens on each
\nfloor where jokes, casual conversation and even serious
\ndiscussions are heard all the time.<\/p>\n
The kitchen also transforms into a meeting room every time
\nIndonesian scholars, artists, activists or other public figures
\nvisit the Netherlands. Among well-known figures who dropped by
\nthe house lately were psychologist and expert on gender issues
\nSaparinah Sadli, artist Sujiwo Tedjo, anti-AIDS activist and gay
\ncampaigner Dede Oetomo, woman activists Ita Fathia Nadia and
\nYanti Muchtar and two Acehnese activists Agus Wandi and Suraiya.<\/p>\n
"Sometimes scholars come to visit who happen to be in the
\nNetherlands like Nurcholish Madjid when he came to Amsterdam, The
\nHague and Leiden. Usually we ask them to share their perspectives
\non Indonesia current affairs," said Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, who
\nstudies woman issues from an Islamic perspective.<\/p>\n
Indeed, they are always thirsty for news on Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian students rely on the Internet for news about
\nIndonesia, which can be freely accessed at the Leiden
\nUniversity's library -- some 10 minutes walk from the flat.<\/p>\n
Creating an Indonesian atmosphere is a way to stave off their
\nhomesickness, or to let out any frustration.<\/p>\n
"Studying abroad is the dream of many people but it is not
\nsomething easy (to go through). (Aside from being a student) I am
\na mother (of two children) and a wife," said Yuniyanti, a woman
\nactivist who has studied in Leiden for almost two years and left
\nher husband and their two children in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The first three months was her most stressful time. "And the
\nkitchen, where I could chat and cook together with (Indonesian)
\nfriends, is the place where I was able to forget those feelings,"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
Concurring with her experience is Suryadi who had to leave his
\nwife who was pregnant in Padang, West Sumatra. The thing he
\nregretted most was when his wife gave birth last May he could not
\nbe there by her side.<\/p>\n
"I would always call home, waiting anxiously and trying to
\ngive attention (to both of wife and baby) through any possible
\nmeans like buying equipment for the baby. When my baby was born,
\nI wished I could hold her tiny hands," said Suryadi who studies
\nlinguistics.<\/p>\n
On his friends' advice, Suryadi talks to his baby each time he
\nmakes calls.<\/p>\n
The luxury that the students can enjoy in Holland but not in
\ntheir home country is the modern facilities they need to support
\ntheir studies.<\/p>\n
For instance Alai enjoys the book collections of the library
\nof Leiden University or that of the Koninklijk Instituut voor
\nTaal,-Land-en Volkenkunde (KITLV the Royal Institute of
\nLinguistics and Anthropology).<\/p>\n
"I really envy their collections, something that I won't find
\nin my country," she said.<\/p>\n
For Yuniyanti the Netherlands also provides her with the
\n"luxury" of security.<\/p>\n
"Here I take for granted the good and reliable transportation.
\nCivil servants are friendly yet firm and have a good sense of
\norderliness," she added.<\/p>\n
Week days is the time when they have no contact with fellow
\nnationals. "It is very quiet here during week days," said Eko
\nEndarmoko, a visiting researcher from Kalam journal in Jakarta,
\nwho stayed temporarily in the flat.<\/p>\n
Alai added that sometimes they never met each other for the
\nwhole week, "it's funny, sometimes we communicate through mobile
\nphones even though we are in the same building."<\/p>",
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