Indonesia Calls!
On a Friday
night in the romantic city of Leiden, relieved from a hectic week, I was making
a warm tea in the kitchen, when I heard the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, in the
background. “It’s coming from TV, isn’t it?”, my wife wondered. "Let me
check it for you, dear", I walked hastily to the living room.
Indeed, on TV there
was a row of youth standing singing, “... marilah kita berseru,
Indonesia bersatu...”, the same melody and lyrics that never fail to move
my heart to sing along, on any occasion anywhere. The scene was taken in the
Youth Pledge Museum in Jakarta, where the historical Soempah Pemoeda took place on
the 28th of October 1928.
It is
remarkable to watch it broadcast on a Dutch public channel, as part of a new
documentary series Indonesia roept! (Indonesia calls!). It reminds me of
a moment some fifteen years ago, when a senior Dutch co-worker requested me to
deliver a lecture on a topic about Indonesia, on a Saturday the 28th of October. I
was amused and asked him, “Is it a coincidence or did you deliberately schedule
it on the 28th of October?”. He replied, “What is it with the 28th of
October?”.
I was not surprised
because the history books in Dutch schools must be so biased that the Indonesian
views toward colonialism are ignored. The dominant view in Dutch society was
(and probably still is) that, before the Japanese came, everybody in the
archipelago was happy to live in the orderly beautiful Indies, where the colonial
ruler had brought only positive developments to the native population.
Even as
recent as the 21st century, some prominent Dutch historians were still clinging
to the idea that the Indonesian people’s aspiration for independence was only
significant after the Japanese came. This idea was upheld by ignoring the facts
that since as early as 1920s the colonial ruler had been exiling national
movement figures to remote places in the archipelago.
The new
documentary series is unique in that, contrary to the above view, it presents an Indonesian perspective.
Throughout eight episodes, it purposely tries to draw a common thread from the
national awakening in the beginning of the 20th century through 1928, 1945, and
all the way to 1949 when the Dutch gave up hopes to recolonize the land they
lost in the beginning of the second World War.
However,
the most notable feature of the documentary is perhaps the presenter itself,
Hans Goedkoop. He is the grandson of Rein van Langen, the commander of the
notorious Tiger Brigade, who waged
an
atrocious war on Indonesia in the period of 1945-1949. Undoubtedly, such a documentary will touch
the feelings of those in a similar position, whose ancestors were also on the
wrong side of history.
As reflected in many scenes of the
movie, the presenter is experiencing an inner struggle. He is a historian
himself and must have wondered how the image of a resolute and righteous
grandfather does not add up with historical accounts. Even though no specific
record could be found that his grandfather had ordered the massacres in many
places in Indonesia during
the war, he was the commander of a military organization with a rigorous chain of command.
A physical
meet-up event was organized for the general public to express themselves and
address questions. During the meet-up, a special guest was invited to have a
dialogue with Goedkoop on the podium. The special guest, Maarten Hidskes, is
the son of Piet Hidskes who served in the military under the command of Raymond
Westerling, the most notorious figure in the war.
Hidskes also dug into
the past of his ancestor, because historical accounts do not add up with his memory of a kind and loving father. Like Goedkoop, he also traveled to places in
Indonesia where there were records that war crimes may have been committed,
reaching out to descendants of the victims, in order to write a
book.
He told the
audience, “Maybe those people were wondering how on earth someone could write a
book about other people’s pain and sufferings committed by his own father”. Goedkoop
added, though maybe jokingly, “and then even make money out of it”. Hidskes
continued, “So I expected I would face anger from the community, but to my
surprise, quite oppositely, I was received with warmth and open
arms”.
The underlying idea of his expectation that he would face anger was striking. If an Indonesian were to wonder, he or she would instead refer to the Javanese wisdom mikul dhuwur, mendhem jero which literally means, "elevate highly, bury deeply”. Hence, instead of speaking highly of the good deeds, how could they exhibit the disgrace of their own forebears to the public?
In the case
of Hans Goedkoop, one should watch the whole episodes of the documentary, and
realize that nowhere has his grandfather been dishonored or judged. But at the
same time, not only does he have the courage to learn and distance himself from
the hidden past of his grandfather, he also shares his findings for the public
to take lessons, to contemplate, and to reflect.
Hopefully, the documentary series can also be watched in Indonesia, with Indonesian subtitles. But for now, let the present Indonesian youth reflect on their own vision for the future as the previous generation did. The very foundation of colonialism is greed, that has unleashed the ugliest form of human behavior. Their pledge 95 years ago is to unite with the very purpose to fight against it and gain freedom for a bright future.
Nowadays, our society is still confronted by exhibitions of greed in various forms, most commonly in the form of greed for wealth and power. The wisdom of mikul dhuwur, mendhem jero may have too easily implied the benefit of the doubt to the matter in question. Consequently, we must at least have the courage to distance ourselves from anything that does not add up with the prevailing accounts. What should then be the youth pledge of the 21st century that will lay a foundation for a bright future of the nation?
