r
foiTg Tom?
Ufie American
A Century of Oblivion
Pekake, Melati,
Jasmijn, Gardenia
The American Tong-Tong zoekt:
ACTIEVE ADVERTENTIE-COLPORTEURS
2
Spotlight on Dutch-Indonesian History (IX)
We closed Chapter VIII of this "Spotlight" (The Am. TT No. 14) with the words:
"So after a shortlived rise as a rather prominent and independent Batavian community,
a strong decline set in for the Indo's. So strong indeed and without any hope of recovery,
that we can only be surprised that the Indo-group survived at all!"
In the meantime all Indo orphans had
no place and no friend to go but their own
"breed", the Indo-group. Now there is a
very strange quality about the Indo's. What
ever their faults and bad points may be,
how quarrelsome they often are, they never
say "no" to a "brother" in need. There is
a saying amongst the Indo's: "Where there
is food for eight, there is food for nine!"
Or say: four and five, or: twelve and thir
teen, etc. All the time knowing what it
meant to be poor and hungry, doors were
always held open for children without par
ents of jobless grownups. This often meant
more misery for the poor, but this was
taken up cheerfully and courageously.
Up to today Indo's are "Paatje en Maat-
je-zeggers": they call their benefactors Pa
and Ma or Uncle and Auntie. When the
above mentioned Johan van der Steur be
gan to pick up pauper-children from the
streets, his name became Pa. And forever
in history he is Pa van der Steur.
In this (and some forthcoming articles)
we will often use the word pauper or pa
riah. But we point out very seriously that
these words only indicate the class-status in
the society of the poor and the unprotected.
Pariahs in other communities (also in Eu
rope) are often beggars, in rags, bearers
of all kinds of diseases. The Indo's were
never beggars, never clothed in rags, al
ways well bathed and groomed and in good
care of body and soul. They never slept
(or sleep) on sidewalks or under bridges.
There is always one Indo in the world to
give his brother a roof over his head for
one night, a good meal, the job and happi
ness of friendship for at least one day.
Dutch (historians) have often poked
Writing in fact about the Indo commun
ity in the period between roughly 1775 and
1900 is nearly impossible. The community
itself sank away in almost total oblivion. In
a long list of no less than 140 books, studies
and reports about the history of the Dutch
in Indonesia, several specially written about
"De Pauperklasse op Java" (The Pariah
class on Java), no statistical figures, no con-
tinious records of social developments are
given about the Indo.
What happened in typical Indo quarters
in big cities like Kemajoran, Kwitang, Sa-
wah Besar (Batavia), Krembangan, Pene-
leh, Boeboetan (Surabaya)? What was hap
pening all these decades in the smaller cities
and villages?
The most talented Indo's rose out of the
misery of these quarters and often became
very important personalities, mentioned with
great respect in the annals of the history
of the Dutch East Indies. Dutch fathers
or forefathers with a great feeling of res
ponsibility for their Dutch-Indonesian off
spring established a sometimes astonishing
amount of wealth, and power for their
"clans". Families like the Van Riemsdijks
(and the Kijdsmeirsthe same family with
the name in reverse), the Dézentjé's, the
Van Motmans, the Biks, etc. etc. are even
up to today considered First Families. Se
veral Governors-General had Dutch-Indo
nesian offspring of great importance for
manv decades. Like the famous Governor
General Van Imhoff, who was also in great
honour with the Indonesians. The malayan
"sja'ir" (kind of epic) "Emoep"in which
word we recognize the name Imhoff, was
dedicated to him.
As there existed no sense of social res
ponsibility in those days in Indonesia (nor
elsewhere else in the world), the people
with no talents, no wealth or important
family-ties went down. The Dutch masters
had nothing to do with them; the Indo
nesian community was strongly islamitic and
also very 'adat"-conscious (had rigid clan-
laws) the Indo's did not want to "go
down" as Indonesians and couldn't go up
in the whealthier classes.
As we pointed out in chapter VIII .find
ing a living was very difficult if not impos
sible for those Indo's. Trading and manu
facturing were in the hands of Chinese,
manual labour was done by slaves, agricul
ture was impossible as the government for
bade "to take property away from the
rightful owners", the Indonesians), the res
ponsible and higher paid positions were for
the Dutch. Only poorly paid jobs as clerks
or civil servants were open to the Indo's.
In the meantime the growth of this group
went on steadily as the death-rate amongst
the Dutch was enormous in those days.
Many Dutch fathers, officially or non-offi-
cially married to Indonesian women (there
were no strict rules), died suddenly without
any care for their children. Friends of the
deceased just shrugged and forgot all about
the children. "Death means nothing here."
wrote the famous navigator James Cook
during a stay of several months in Batavia
in 1770, "The only comment on the death
of a fellow citizen is: well, he owed me
nothing, or I must get my money from his
executors." The few exceptions on this rule
excluded, this behaviour was normal for
more than a century. The first Dutchman
to stand up indignantly against this im
moral social behaviour was Pa van der
Steur, who came to Indonesia at the end
of the 19th Century!
In A.T.T. no. 14 vroegen we de Ameri
kaanse of Mexicaanse naam van melati of
pekake, zoals Winny Meyer die ontdekte.
Hier volgen enkele aardige reacties op deze
vraag.
Spanish Jasmine
"Volgens mij behoort de melati tot de
jasmijn soorten. Het boek "Western Garden
Book" van Sunset beschrijft" soorten jas
mijn. Wat het meest overeenkomt met de be
schrijving is de grandiflorum, Spanish Jas
min, very fragrant.
Ik kan het bewuste boek aan iedereen
aanbevelen die geinteresseerd is in planten
en tuinieren. Je staat er versteld van zoveel
planten er hier groeien die overeenkomen
met de planten in Indonesië.
Ik genoot ook van Eugenia. Zelf bezit ik
een pineappel-quava en een strawberry-
quava. De laatste is sterker van smaak en
doet je erg aan djamboe denken. Alleen
veel kleiner, (guava-djamboe)
Gereia Ondang-Pauw
Thousand Oaks, Cal.
"I would like to explain that ten Brug-
gencate-Broers (Ned.-Eng. woordenboek)
translate melati as jasmin; however, Ir
G.J.A. Terra in his chapter on Tuinbouw
in "De Landbouw in de Indische archipel"
describes both Jasmin and Gardenia from
the olive family. Jasmin is produced com
mercially for the oil from the leaves. The
Gardenia is one we are most familiar with
I am sure. The Gardenia is native to Trop
ical and Subtropical areas but may be
obtained from most any greenhouse or florist
in the L'.S. It needs a lot of sunshine and
from a Western viewpoint it needs a lot
of water, but I believe any one in Califor
nia could raise it in their own home. The
name is: Gardenia."
P. van Voorthuizen
Tuba City, Arizona
op commissie-basis. In alle delen van de States. Brieven aan The American
Tong-Tong, P.O. Box 137, Whittier, Cal.
jokes at this behaviour or scorned it:
"Who do they think they are! Those pari
ahs! Behaving like European masters, which
they are not, and looking down on Indo
nesian slaves, which they should be ac
cording their position in the community."
Other Dutch (historians) did understand:
"There was no other choice to survive:
always be proud, help one another as much
as you can. Even when you go down, go
down upright and keep looking independent
and well to do!"
The reader can imagine however that
in those neat looking houses in Kemajoran
Sorrow and Want were undisputed masters
for many generations. Though the man did
not cry or complain however, his guitar
did: Kronchong is a form of music of very
deep melancholy. Americans who want to
have an idea of the heart of Indo music,
should listen to the Brasilian composer
Villa Lobos and other composers from La
tin America. The "mestizo's" and "creoles"
of Latin America resemble in many ways
the Indo's.
(To be continued)
The Only Independent
Dutch-Indonesian Magazine
in A 77i eric a
le Jaargang No. 16
Verschijnt
de 15e en 30ste elke maand
Samen met Tong-Tong (zeepost)
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.y
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Tjalie Robinson
telf. 699-6837
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Marijke Steevensz
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