Colonial policies

It seems that Richardson has set out on a one-man crusade against colonialism, as if J.P. Coen and Sir Stamford Raffles were knocking on the door again.

According to Richardson (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 25) "the true account of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia is suppressed in Holland." I can assure the reader that the Dutch public over the past 20 years has been bombarded with TV documentaries, historical interviews and reviews, public discussions, testimonies and soul-searchings, biographies and autobiographies and what-have-you, all related to the subject. There is not the slightest indication of any "cover-up" of any sort, the suggestion of which is preposterous and even offensive. Holland is not Japan, the Dutch are well aware of colonial history and so am I. I doubt if Richardson is.

Richardson, who accuses "a few Dutch nationals (clearly implicating this person) of going into spins, twists and somersaults to assure their benevolence," is quite an acrobat himself. In my letter of Oct. 13 I made factual observations of what happened in the field of education in the Netherlands East Indies between 1900 and 1950 (before 1900 there hardly was any) and summed up a few of the most significant facts. However, Richardson in his zealous ardor blithely interpreted what was clearly meant as a practical assessment of relevant facts and incidents as a moral justification of the said facts and incidents, thereby "spinning," "twisting" and distorting the essence and intention of the piece.

Colonialism is a phenomenon that over the centuries developed on an enormous, world wide, structural scale. Like it or not, it is an historical reality that must be accepted as such and should be treated with the same historical approach as all other episodes in history. It is my conviction that emotion usually does not contribute to forming a clear picture. Raving and ranting about its immorality (as perceived today, not then) does not give us a better understanding of what really happened and how, when and why. The reader will have noted that de Jong, who as an Eurasian probably has had good reasons to complain about racial relations under colonialism, takes a much more pragmatic and relative view than Richardson, who looks "plus royaliste que le Roi.

I also wish to advise Richardson that his derogatory use of quotation marks in "top notch" HBS institutions is totally off the mark and only enhances our doubts about Richardson's familiarity with the subject. HBS Schools were really top notch schools, which had high standard curricula (identical to those in Holland), demanding not only a high degree of intelligence but also a large dose of diligence and perseverance. Moreover, those who became later Indonesian leaders had not only "a reasonably high standard of education" but full-fledged Dutch University degrees.

Before castigating other nations' colonial policies Richardson would be well-advised to look in his own backyard first, as the former British Empire itself was far from free of racial injustice. It is to be hoped we can be spared further lecturing.

BERT DE KORT

Jakarta