Indonesian-Dutch youths reflect on Independence Day
for Trouw
When Sukarno declared the Indonesian independence on August 17th 1945, the Netherlands, as a former colonizer, did not accept this. It led to the Indonesian struggle for independence, which was mainly fought by ‘pemudas’, youths. It took four and a half years of an uneven, bloody war and negotiations, before Queen Juliana signed the transfer of sovereignty in 1949.
Indonesia’s Independence Day, known locally as Tujuh Belasan – the seventeenth, is now a public holiday. I spoke to Indonesian-Dutch youths on how they view their history and how they experience this day in the Netherlands.
llly Fajar (26), artist and student new media & digital culture
“I personally think, and that’s not just because I carry that history with me, that Indonesia's Independence Day is very important and emblematic of the twentieth century. It was the first colonized country to claim its freedom after World War II.
Indonesia's Independence brought the whole archipelago together. Thousands of islands and millions of people felt: together we are one. That has always inspired me a lot.
I would love to see Independence Day celebrated in Amsterdam. Like we do with Keti Koti or Kwaku. In a way that everyone can learn something about it, and join in on the festivities, even if you are not directly involved.”
Jan Ismail Kurt Attila Bruist (23), student history teacher
“I have Sundanese, Moluccan, Dutch and Japanese blood. Because my family represents all sides of the colonial history, I have always been interested in it. But I have always felt most connected to Indonesia. Maybe because I grew up in a village in the east of the country, where, as a non-white person, I was looked at differently.
For my studies as a history teacher, I studied and taught in Yogyakarta. They are presented with a version of colonial history from an Indonesian perspective. But even there they did not know that the country had to take over 4.5 billion guilders in debt from the Netherlands when the sovereignty was transferred. That they actually had to buy their freedom.
In Dutch high schools, 350 years of colonialism is being told in maybe two pages. And a page and a half is about what happened between 1945-1949. That is not enough. As a future teacher, I look forward to raising to awareness about Indonesia and the struggle for independence.”
Eva Umi Annisa van Wolferen (26), student cultural heritage
“I can’t really describe what the Indonesian Independence means to me. I think we still don’t fully grasp the intergenerational impact colonization and the fight for freedom has had on us. We don’t talk enough about it. Not in our families, not at school. I do notice that awareness is increasing among the people of my generation.
I find it painful that Indonesian Independence is not really known or celebrated here, but the commemoration of the Dutch Indies is. Why is there such a bigger platform for that, than for the Indonesians? That says a lot about the ignorance and lack of understanding in the Netherlands.”