Prof. J.A. Wilkens for in
stance, himself an Indo and
famous scholar at Leyden,
wrote a study, "Het Inlandsche
kind in Oost-Indie en iets
over den Javaan" (The native
child in the East Indies and
something about the Javanese)
in which the position of the
Indo pariah is carefully ob
served (1849)
The better classes in In-
•nesia however looked down on
ese pariahs either in dis
gust or with amusement. Even
at the end of the 19th century
for instance, gentle people in
Batavia took pleasure in rid
ing down in their carriage to
Indo quarters to laugh at
these Indo's and their odd
language (petjoek) and customs
calling an Indo marriage a
"dog marriage" (hondenbrui
loft)
Nobody seemed to realize
that only poor social condit
ions were the cause of these
odd and "low" behavior, though
many cases existed of Indo's
who, by normal education,
•pved to be perfect citizens.
Sometimes this growth of
the pariah group caused some
worry for the Government, es
pecially when small groups of
"buaja's" ("crocodiles" -
streetfighters) were getting
nasty. About the year 1900
the play "The Pariah of Glod-
ok" by the Indo author Victor
Ido drew top audiences for
weeks in a row at the Batavia
playhouse, but nothing changed
in the attitude of the upper
classes towards the paria
problem. (As little changed in
Engeland after "Oliver Twist",
by the way!)
In Batavia though were more
opportunities for the Indo
than inland. In Central Java
many Indo children just per
ished in the kampongs and
around the small towns, espe
cially around Magelang, where
one of the biggest training
centers of the Dutch Army was
situated. From here troops
were sent to all parts in the
Dutch East Idies. To these
garrisons many married fathers
never came back.
Here in Central Java the
first two movements started
for an awakening interest in
the Indo group. In 1874 the
Government started the (later
famous) "Pupillenschool
first in Gedong Kebo, later on
in Gombong. Here sons of Dutch
soldiers, particularly orphans
boys from 8 to 18 years old,
were drilled for non-commis-
ioned officer in the Dutch
Army. The school was part ele
mentary school, part reform
school, part military training
school. The results were as
tonishing. These little "beg
gars and hoodlums" proved to
be disciplined and tough sol
diers. Many of them climbed to
the rank of full officer.
Being "a boy from Gombong" was
for a very long time a high
mark of distinction.
Here anyway was proved that
even the lowest Indo was not
an inferior "degenere", but a
