500 Dutch tourists arrive for nostalgic trip

500 Dutch tourists arrive for nostalgic trip

JAKARTA (JP): The Ocean Majesty liner, with 500 Dutch
passengers aboard, not 450 as reported on Monday, has berthed at
the Tanjung Priok port for a three-day visit, as part of a 17-day
trip in Indonesia.

The passengers, most of whom used to reside and work in
Indonesia during the Dutch colonial era, were welcomed at the
port on Monday by Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Paul R. Brouwer
and Indonesian Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng.

Mrs. Emmy Nijman-Jongert, director of SOC-Reizen of Holland,
which organized the trip, said at the welcoming ceremony that the
trip was arranged in response to many requests from Dutch people
who had made such a trip in the past.

"The last passenger ships from the Netherlands-Indie line
sailed to Indonesia in 1958, almost 40 years ago. Today the first
stage of a return journey from Holland is realized," she said.

"One may contemplate the fact that the memories of thousands
of Dutch citizens, of earlier journeys by sea, are very much
alive. Not only this group but others have felt a need to make
new inroads in the ties with the East, and to become acquainted
with modern Indonesia," she said.

The "floating hotel", with 273 cabins, departed from Amsterdam
on Feb. 5 and traveled through Sicily in Southern Italy, Port
Said in Egypt, the Suez Channel, Colombo in Sri Lanka and
Singapore before entering Indonesian waters.

The liner anchored in Medan from March 1 to 3. It will leave
Jakarta today for Semarang in Central Java, Surabaya in East Java
and on to Bali before returning to Holland on March 17 through
Athens.

The trip is organized by SOC-Reizen in cooperation with its
Indonesian partner Travel Contact under the theme Varen Naar de
Oost (Sailing to the East).

Varen Naar de Oost is also the title of a book on traveling by
ocean liners, which includes stories about the history of the
relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

One of the liner's passengers, Willem Reynders, 75, had tears
running down his face when he disembarked from the ship at the
Tanjung Priok port.

"Indonesia is my second fatherland after the Netherlands. At
last I have come here again, after 50 years," Reynders said in
good Bahasa Indonesia, reported Antara.

Reynders explained that he arrived in Indonesia for the first
time in 1938, at the age of 18, as a member of Dutch armed
forces. He was posted to a number of cities in Java and Maluku.

Dutch Ambassador Brouwer said at the ceremony that their
arrival is timely as Indonesia prepares to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of its independence.

"Your arrival underlines the importance of good contributions
to the tourism ties between the two countries," he said.

Andi Mappi Sammeng said that Dutch tourists to Indonesian last
year reached about 100,000 people. (hhr)