Lessons in nationalism in foreign lands

Student Indonesia di Eropa (Indonesian Students in Europe); By Dr. Abdul Rivai; Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia in cooperation with Yayasan Adikarya; IKAPI and the Ford Foundation, September 2000; 383 pp; Rp 27,000

JAKARTA (JP): As the country faces the very real threat of disintegration, it's probably worthwhile for people, especially the political elite, to study up on their nationalism from this book.

The spirit of nationalism among Indonesian students in Europe, especially in the Netherlands, is shown in this collection of articles by Abdul Rivai, an editor of Bintang Timoer daily, written between 1926 and 1928.

Through his articles, Rivai describes the struggle of Indonesian students, especially members of Perhimpunan Indonesia, the first nationalist political organization established by the students in the Netherlands in 1908.

The organization's leaders later became the country's chiefs, including the first vice president Mohammad Hatta, prime minister Ali Satroamidjojo, Iwa Kusuma Sumantri and Nazir Pamontjak.

To undermine their fight, the Dutch government branded the students communists and accused them of receiving funds from Indonesian communists in Russia, such as Semaoen and Darsono.

Rivai defended the students as nationalists. He acknowledged Semaoen was a communist, but said it was not wrong for him to help his relatives, family and nation suffering under colonialism.

Should political deference change nationality? Is a Dutch communist no longer a Dutch citizen? Was Vrijheidsbonder Fock (a communist) not Dutch?.

According to Rivai, all the young students were nationalists in their hearts although they were probably communists, social democrats and internationalists since they all fought against imperialism.

Through his articles, he recorded that the students living overseas struggled against Dutch colonialism which was represented in their everyday lives by a supervisor (raadsman) who always spied on them and often accused them of being communists.

Rivai noted many Indonesian students lived in poverty, with some of them dying in the conditions, because their money was kept by the supervisor.

Members of Perhimpunan Indonesia then collected money to help the students after Rivai wrote in his articles about the students' devout faith.

Rivai himself often helped the students, such as through lending them money and giving food, and also assisted Hatta after the latter was arrested by the Dutch government.

Rivai wrote many articles on the behavior of a supervisor named L.C. Westenenk who often told police that the students were communists and involved in illegal political activities.

Some of the students, including Hatta, were detained. The students later were only charged because their articles were published in newspapers.

Yet the ploy is harrowingly similar to the authoritarian times of president Soeharto, whose government often threatened people with accusations of communist leanings.(Bintang Timoer, which was founded in Jakarta in 1926, was banned in October 1965 when its leaders were accused of involvement in an attempted coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party.)

Rivai also wrote a guide on how students could be a success in their studies in Europe.

He recommended students not follow European customs, such as dancing, drinking beer and fraternizing with women.

According to him, European civilization (beschaving), including equal rights, was only appropriate for European nations and colonial governments, not for Asian nations.

He said Indonesia needed many intellectuals to make a civilized and noble nation; workers and farmers could not make a civilized nation without the presence of intellectuals.

Rivai, who wrote most of his articles in Locarno, Switzerland and The Hague, suggested the students should study politics to help free their nation from the Dutch colonists.

Studying politics, he said, could create nationalism among students to fight colonialism and imperialism.

Besides Rivai's views on politics, the book is also a collection of reports of his sea journey from Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, to the Netherlands.

When his ship arrived in Singapore, he described his impressions of the island, including that its hotels were not better than hotels in Batavia (Jakarta), Semarang or Surabaya.

Through his articles in the daily, Rivai probably could be considered a father of Indonesian journalism. But, unfortunately, the book gives little autobiographical information.

Rivai, who was born in 1871 in West Sumatra, continued his studies in the Netherlands and became a medical doctor. He was also the first Indonesian to receive his doctorate from Ghent University, Belgium, on July 23, 1908.

Besides his articles in Bintang Timoer, Rivai also wrote in Bintang Hindia, Bendera Wolanda and Dutch newspapers, including Oost en West and Algemen Handelsblad. He also produced his own newspaper, Pewarta Wolanda. He died in Bandung in 1933.

The book is an interesting read, but one to be pored over and savored because it is written in the "old style", with many Dutch terms.

It is as though the reader is watching black-and-white images of Indonesian students in the Netherlands, in their original words and thoughts.

For people who love this country and are sad to see the current situation of threats of disintegration and political bickering, the book bolsters the spirit of nationalism and pride by showing how students of the past fought together for the nation of Indonesia.

-- Ahmad Junaidi