Dutch-Indonesian Community

Netherlands India: A study of plural economy is a book written by John Sydenham Furnivall (1878-1960), a british scholar who was born in Essex, England. Studied in Trinity Hall, Cambridge University in 1896, and obtained degree in natural science in 1899. In 1901 Furnivall joined Indian civil service and assigned post in Burma on 16 December 1902, he was delegated as Assistant Commissioner and Settlement Officer, later made Deputy Commissioner in 1915 and Commissioner of Land Settlement and Records in 1920. He retired from the service in 1923.

Furnivall produced numerous amount of scholarly works of Burma, and also took interest of comparative study between Burma and Dutch East Indies. This book is praised and considered the “classic” work of studying Indonesian history for its depth.

This book coves economic construction of the colonial society and a very good complementary for these who have read Jean Gelman Taylor’s Social World of Batavia (1984). Furnivall highlighted the plural economy of Dutch East Indies. Each society has its own economic function and interacting to each other but never considered themselves as same identity. The Chinese and the pribumi for example, only interacting for economy activity, making the society effectively segregated.

The Indonesian version was published first at August 2009 by Freedom Institute, with additional prologue by Thee Kian Wie, giving introduction to the reader of economy-political context of Dutch East Indies, such as the dynamic of Netherland’s local politic which eventually would affect the colonial policy of dutch east indies. There was rising concern from the liberal in Netherlands to stop the exploitation of Dutch East Indies, which eventually result what was known as “ethic policy”.

This book 13 chapters and one appendix with content as follows

• Chapter I: Indonesia till 1600
• Chapter II: Dutch East India Company, 1600-1800
• Chapter III: The Unrest Period, 1795-1815
• Chapter IV: Uncertain Period, 1815-1830
• Chapter V: cultuursteelsel (1830-1850)
• Chapter VI: Transition to Liberalism (1850-1870)
• Chapter VII: Liberalism (1870-1900)
• Chapter VIII: Efficiency, Welfare, and Economy
• Chapter IX: Administrative Reformation and Politic
• Chapter X: Economy Development
• Chapter XI: Social Economy
• Chapter XII: The Impact of 1929 Crisis
• Chapter XIII: Plural Economy

After the forewords from Jonkheer MR. A. C. D. De Graeff (Govenor of Dutch East Indies in 1926-1931) and JS Furnivall we are introduced to history of Dutch East Indies, the geography of the malay archipelago, the interaction between the India and Chinese and presence of Indianised Kingdom. I noted that JS Furnivall thought Indonesia was colonized by India and thought the rising of Islam in 1600 eventually ended the long reign of India. Actually, there were still long debate how the Hindu actually penetrate into the malay archipelago.

Furnivall pointed the first sign of plural economy of this period, the Chinese only interested to work as merchant, and living as separate ethnic from other local tribes.

Furnivall’s whole idea of “plural economy” could be defined as condition where the ethnic/society are segregated from each other, their interaction based solely of economic interest and caused them having no common identity.

While this book might be useful for comparative study between Burma and Dutch East Indies, the comprehensive and detailed informations might be too much for casual reader. It is very depth and heavily emphasize on the topic of state administration. This is a very good introduction for historians and academicians, but not really suitable for these can’t stand academical writing.

This book is very useful to give insight what was happened behind the administration of the colonial government. Furnivall connected the dynamics and changing of international stage in Europe, and how these change eventually alter the policy-making process in the Dutch East Indies. It helps to see the history more objectively.

Author needs your input. American author Dorothy Read has written a book based on a wartime memoir in the Dutch East Indies titled, End The Silence. Before she can get published she needs to demonstrate to her agent and publishers that there is an audience for her book. She has an unyielding passion for our history and our role in WWII and feels that it deserves a world audience.

Her book is directly in line with the mission of The Indo Project to raise awareness in the English speaking world and how WWII was the genesis to our diaspora. We can help her get the book published by participating on her blog. Let’s show her publisher that there is an interest in her story and that the Indo community in the U.S. and beyond is strong, vocal and proud.

Leave a comment on Dorothy Read’s blog and let our voices be heard.

Hi everyone, a new message announced from Dutch-Indonesian Community:

Do you want to share your family story ? An L.A. Times reporter is writing a feature on the Dutch-Indo community in the “Southland” area – Southern California. If your family lives in Southern California, or you know someone in the LA area that would like to share their story please contact Bianca by July 31. We need three more families please. Please contact Bianca Dias – Halpert

Bianca could be contacted at: biancacc[at]yahoo[dot]com

Hello everyone, I just made cosmetic change in the website. This website now has a twitter account. Follow us to get the latest updates of Dutch-Indonesian Community on twitter.

Hello everyone, just recently we got news that Dorothy Read, author of book “End of Silence” was interviewed in Idaho Public Television at 3 June 2010:

The account of one East Dutch Indies family’s survival during World War II and the Indonesian Revolution is the subject of this edition of Dialogue.

Joan Cartan-Hansen interviews sisters Ilse Evelijn Veere Smit and Edith Evelijn Veere, who survived the two atrocities, as well as author Dorothy Read, who helps Ilse tell her family’s story in the new book End the Silence.

The sisters lived through the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies in 1942 and the revolution in the war’s aftermath and talk about their lives during those turbulent times.

After the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies in 1942, 9-year-old Ilse, her mother and siblings were sent to a concentration camp. Tortured by her captors, Ilse survived the war only to see her family become targets of Indonesian revolutionaries determined to wipe out Dutch colonialists. How Ilse survived a war and a revolution became a family secret, not to be discussed until now as Read documents the story in their book.

The story told in End the Silence is a little known yet relevant piece of World War II, an addition to the tragic sagas of Europe’s concentration camps and the interment of Japanese Americans in the U.S. It is a piece of history that belongs to a world audience, as it exposes the iniquity and indignities suffered by people interned in the Dutch East Indies, now known as Indonesia.

Please visit this page to download the video/audio file.

Hello everyone, I would like to inform you that The Indo Project’s website is up and running.

The Indo Project is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and celebration of Indo culture and history through education and raising public awareness.

People of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry, in particular, those of Dutch and Indonesian ancestry are called Indos, Dutch-Indonesians, or Indo-Europeans. Their origins date back over 350 years to the Spice Islands of the Indonesian archipelago.

We are thrilled to have you visit our website to learn more about our project. The Indo Project serves as a portal between the academic world and the experiential world.

Tong Tong Fair just got coverage in Jakarta Globe. This is archive of the original news which could be found here.

Posted by Priscillia @ Indo Forum:

New Film Project “Buitenkampers”. The Dutch Film Foundation that produced the documentary of interviews of people that were in the Japanese Concentration Camps 1942-1946. http://japanseburgerkampen.org is now looking for stories of individuals that spent the war years in Indonesia OUTSIDE the camps during the war years. If your parents and/or grandparents were any of these people and are interested, go to this page. If pages are in Dutch, click on the British Flag for the English version.

Another article about Dutch-Indonesian identity. Original article is from here.

Hi, an update from Dutch-Indonesian group regarding The Indo Project:

High-Resolution Photos Wanted for Web Site: The Indo Project web site is being developed. We will have a fading in/out photo slideshow, but the quality of the photos need to be at least 250 dpi high-res. If you’d like to submit a photo please send to biancacc@yahoo.com. The slideshow will feature Indos and Indo-related subjects and can be changed and varied

If you have photos of your families (grandfather, etc) during Dutch East Indies, you could contribute in this project by allowing the team to use your photos.