Londo Ireng: Inheriting the Coloniser's Traits in Post-Colonial Indonesia

The term ‘Londo Ireng’ (Black Dutchman) is a Javanese expression for a native who acts like a coloniser. The phenomenon of the colonised mimicking the coloniser is not new. In the context of the Indonesian nation, this is a serious and dangerous social disease. The colonial mentality did not vanish with the proclamation of independence; it merely changed form. The physical Dutch left, but their spirit of greed and oppression was inherited by the nation’s own children.

Theoretically, nationalism as a political concept is an ideology of the nation-state that is action-oriented. In its modern format, nationalism originated in Europe from a marriage of the thoughts of Hegel (Germany) and Rousseau (France). Hegel almost deified the state, while Rousseau exaggerated the idea of the nation. The basic character of nationalism is ‘anti-feeling’. In Europe, it was anti-absolutism and church domination, whereas in colonised countries like Indonesia, it was anti-foreign power and colonialism. Viewed from its development, there are three styles of nationalism: formative, prestige, and expansive. This last style is nothing other than modern imperialism that seeks to dominate other nations and states. The first and second styles concentrate more on domestic issues in an effort to consolidate and strengthen a nation’s identity, or what Bung Karno termed ‘nation and character building’.

Philosophically, nationalism teaches the doctrine that the highest loyalty of every citizen must be given to the nation-state. ‘Right or wrong is my country.’ From this doctrine emerged the expression ‘sacrifice for the homeland, sacrifice for the nation and state’. In the history of Indonesia’s struggle, this doctrine of love for the homeland was so powerful it almost became a religion. If some Islamic groups once rejected nationalism, it was actually based on this philosophical dimension, where God as the highest object of worship seemed to lose place in human life, not because of its anti-foreign colonialism character. In the matter of fighting foreign colonialism, the Muslim community had never stopped resisting since the VOC era in the early 17th century, even though they never won, because they faced greedy modern Westerners with their increasingly sophisticated war technology. The comparison was like a water pistol against a rifle.

Now, after independence, the colonisers have physically left, but their spirit remains and is even nurtured. The Londo Ireng are everywhere. They are the new colonisers who oppress their own people. They sit in parliament, in government, in corporations, and even in religious institutions. They talk about the people’s suffering, but their stomachs are bloated with corruption money. They shout about justice, but their hands are stained with the blood of the innocent. They are the true children of the nation who have inherited the greedy and oppressive nature of the colonisers. The difference is, if the Dutch colonised with guns and cannons, the Londo Ireng colonise with regulations and power.