Kees van Ro
Kees van Rooy was born in Jakarta in
1925, lived in Indonesia until 1946 and
after a period of five years in The
Netherlands, migrated to Australia in
1951. He wrote an article about his
time in Indonesia which was published
in one of the daily newpapers in
Jakarta, Suara Pembaruan in 1992 and
this is an English translation.
REMINISCENSE ABOUT MY PARENTS
IN INDONESIA
My father was a veterinary surgeon in the
Netherlands East Indian Government. He
was posted in 1929 to Banda Aceh,
formally known as Kota Radja.
Both my parents were Dutch and my
father had graduated from the Utrecht
University in the Netherlands with a mas
ter's degree in Veterinary Science. I still
have many fond memories of the time I
spent in Indonesia, in particular about the
years 1930-1946. The event I would like
to tell about took place about 1930. I was
a minor event, which however had a far
reaching influence on my attitude and
sense of respect towards the Indonesian
people.
Together with my elder brother and other
friends, we often played soccer at the
back of our house i.e. between the big
house and the annexes which consisted
of the bathroom, toilet, kitchen and ser
vants quarters. Alongside the servants
quarters was a well which was surroun
ded by a brick wall. From time to time we
quietly sneaked into the kitchen to get
tempe (fermented soybean cake), tahu
(soybean curd) and drinks. Our kitchen
asisstant, who always spoiled us, gave us
anything we asked for.
It so happened that on one occasion
there was no tempe in the kitchen. One of
the children who was disappointed scre
amed: 'Where is the tempe koki (name
for the kitchen assistant in those days)?'
Mother, who was angry, called us inside
and admonished us about behaving our
selves in a proper manner when talking to
other people. In particular when it concer
ned somebody who was much older than
us. She then told us to go back to the
kitchen and to apologise to the kitchen
assistant, who was always kind to us.
A few words concerning my father. Whilst
studying for Veterinary Science at
Utrecht, he also followed a course in
Arabic. During his position in Aceh, he
had an opportunity to deepen his know
ledge of Arabic and Islam. Father always
emphasized the importance of studying in
depth both mentioned subjects, which
became very beneficial in carrying out his
function, especially in relation to the
Indonesian society. Sixty years later my
father's advice bore fruit in me.
Following in my father's footsteps, I stu
died the history of Islam in 1991, moreo
ver up to now I am still following the study
of Indonesia at the Faculty of Asian
Studies, Australian National University in
Canberra (finished in 1993).
My parents were followers of the
Christian religion, yet both parents, not
only gave us direction of how to respect
the other person's religion, but in fact
gave us a model which legacy benefited
us, their children. Equally, I regard it as
my task to pass on this legacy to my
children, who were their grandchildren.
According to the regulations in force at
that time, Dutch public servants were
posted for a period of three years to a
place. Because of this, father's new
assignment was Tegal in Central Java.
The journey from Banda Aceh to Tegal
took a long time, especially when you
consider that in those days there were no
planes yet like we have today.
The train journey from Aceh to Medan
almost took four days (now one hour and
a half by plane). We stayed the nights at
Sigli, Lhok Seumawe and Langsa in
modest guesthouses. We travelled from
Medan to Batavia (Betawi - Jakarta) by
ship (KPM). The route of the journey in
those days was via Singapore.
Here we stayed the night at the Raffles
Hotel which was famous in those days.
Upon arrival in Jakarta, we were met by
Dr. Kaligis, a veterinary surgeon, and
other relations. Dr. Kaligis was an
Indonesian from Manado and was my
father's superior. He was appointed by
the Dutch East Indian Government as
inspector (head of the department of
veterinary science, located in Semarang
Central Java).
In those days, a place like Tegal was a
typical colonial place, where social con
tact of Europeans was separate from the
indigenous people. The social club was
restricted to Europeans only. As a result
of that, the decision by my mother to
have her third child delivered by a
Javanese was indeed amazing and start
led many Europeans. More so
having regard to the fact that the
Javanese doctor was not a graduate from
one of the Dutch universities. He was a
graduate from Stovia (a college leading
towards a degree in medicine of a lower
standard than was required in the
Netherlands). Many Europeans said
'Wilhelmina (my mother's name), why did
you require the service of a Javanese
doctor instead of a Dutch one?' In her
typical fashion my mother spoke her mind
and said 'Wim (my father's name) and I
prefer a doctor who can be trusted.
There is no need to consider the skin of
the doctor'. It must also be said that the
local Dutch doctor was an alcoholic.
This event had left a deep impression
and it is not possible to forget it because
it became the principle of consideration in
our family, i.e. 'function' and not 'race'.
It was well known that my mother consi
dered others first instead of herself.
As a result, she together with an
Indonesian lady and her child became
active in several social activities in
Jember (East Java). Together they joined
an organisation called Malania. My mot
her, together with Javanese sisters,
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