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The rights of Papuans
Prior to the latest edition of “Inside Indonesia” my knowledge about West Papua was near zero. The facts I was aware of were scarce. I did know about the pretty dirty circumstances the Dutch colonial rule was ended in the early sixties of course, had read about some real nasty and even disastrous environmental developments and had heard some occasional alarming news about the oppression of Papuan attempts to achieve more autonomy. I even noticed the trouble Indonesian based correspondents of European newspapers had, to get into that territory. But essentially this part of the world escaped my, and I guess most people’s, attention most of the time.
The odd dozen essays in the October-December issue of the periodical however, show that this attitude is wrong. The present situation is really rather worrying.
Nagabonar
Last Saturday night we went to visit the Indonesian Film Festival. “We” means a mixed company of six – in a fair distribution of men and women and of native Bahassa speakers and Bahasa illiterates. Actually we choose only one of the many movies. But it was a lucky choice. At least our band of six afterwards was united on the verdict: Nagabonar is a well made movie and pretty good entertainment.
Nagabonar ( 1987) is about a pickpocket who becomes a general during the Indonesian war of independence. A picaresque movie, like there are picaresque novels about nice rogues or scoundrels who live through funny, amusing, satirical situations. This particular movie reminds of a recent Czech film (“I served the King of England” by Jiri Menzel, 2006) and a Czech classic novel (“The good soldier Svejk“ by Jacoslav Hasek, 1923). In this genre usually gentle little rascals from the underclasses of society, by their semi innocent foxiness, outwit their superiors and the representatives of elites and middle classes. Or the Dutch colonial oppressors in this Indonesian movie. The best examples of them take on some social abuses, but the main quality they should have is that they are humorous.
The Njai
The njai is one of the heroines in a pretty famous novel. She, njai Ontosoroh, concubine of a Dutchman, and their daughter Annelies, represent a complex and dangerous world to Minke, the leading character in Pramoedia Ananta Toer’s novel “Bumi Manusis”. Ontosoroh proves to be an extraordinary strong and independent woman. Yet as an Indonesian in a colonial society she stays a second rate citizen who even is denied custody of her own daughter after her man dies.
That was fiction.
Now Reggie Baay has published a non fiction book about the njai. It turns out to be a fascinating and moving, but also a very disconcerting account. It confirms the quintessence of Ontosoroh’s condition: the poignant sorrow of the huge inequality, in relationships which were absolutely unbalanced and which implied the women were almost without rights. Plus the immense social isolation they had to endure. Because often they were looked upon with contempt by the people of their village and excluded from the white community in which the man lived.
Baay’s book is a historical study of these usually temporary and sometimes lifetime partners of Dutch officials, planters and military men in Indonesia’s colonial times. The author himself is the grandson of a njai, about whom he knew next to nothing until very recently. Even his father had no reminiscences of this mother and grandmother, who had been send away before her son was four. And who was not allowed to even have any contact with him for the rest of her life. Her existence was kind of erased from the family history. Which started at the moment she was replaced by a Caucasian woman with whom the man legitimately married. Read More
Kishore Mahbubani at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta.
On Thursday, the 31st of July 2008, Kishore Mahbubani – see the previous post- held a lecture at the presidential palace. His audience was the national ruling elite of Indonesia, the President himself, government members etc. And, as a courteous guest, he said some flattering things about ( and to) his host. But he also had several encouraging observations on recent developments in the country as well as some advice, worth to ponder upon, on how to do better.
He compared for instance what happened in South America and China. While thirty or twenty years ago every insider would have predicted Latin America would do much better economically than the People’s Republic of China, exactly the opposite has happened. In the opinion of Mahbubani both made the one and only right choice regarding the economical system: free market capitalism. So that did not make the difference.
Indonesia, a Jilbab Democracy?
Henk Schulte Nordholt ends his book (“Indonesia na Suharto, reformasi en restauratie“, 2008;ISBN 978 90 351 31354 ) with a quote by Ben Mboi, ex governor of Nusa Tenggara Timur: “Indonesia is like the Titanic. The only difference is that Indonesia keeps on sinking without perishing“.
I can say it at the outset: this is solid but tasty contemporary history. Preceded by two chapters on the Sukarno era and the Suharto’s New Order, it is mainly about the last ten turbulent years of Indonesia. An easy, informative and pleasant read, despite the thorough and scrupulous scientific approach the author took. It contains a lot of relevant facts ( of course), quite a number of new and refreshing insights ( at least to this reader) and useful matter-of-fact debunking of a number of myths, plus a general conclusion which leaves a lot of doubt about Indonesia’s future as a democracy. Read More