Sharing a common past
Decades ago parents entertained their children with a telling
ditty about the days before Independence:
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| Menteng: Immigration Building (1914) now a restaurant |
In matters of empire,
the fault of the Dutch,
was yielding too little
and taking too much.
After 1945 hostility continued towards Europeans determined
to retain influence in the former East Indies.
This climaxed in 1957 when first president Soekarno expelled 40,000
Dutch citizens and nationalised their companies along with other foreign businesses.
New times, new attitudes. The once colonized and the
colonialists aren’t just burying their enmity, they’re unearthing their shared
past, with people like Dutch author Emile Leushuis helping drive the excavators.
The social geographer and urban historian has no family
background in Indonesia’s past; he started backpacking Asia in the late 1980s
while still a student at the University of Utrecht, finding the archipelago’s
complex history rewarding.
His visits multiplied and became a job. He learned the
language. At first he worked for a Dutch
tour company, then an American. Later he
turned freelance setting up tours for Netherlanders keen to know more about the
tropical islands their country once ruled.
Leushuis (right) also wrote articles and lectured, and in 2011 published
Gids Historische Stadswandelingen
Indonesie (a tour guide to Indonesia’s historic cities). Now in its second
printing the book has just been released in a larger format in Indonesian as Panduan Jelajah Kota-kota Pusaka di
Indonesia by publisher Ombak.
The company is based in Yogyakarta where Leushuis spends
about half his time – the rest back in Holland. He credits his decision to
concentrate on Indonesia with a visit to Ubud, the hilltown cultural center of
Bali – “my point of no return.”
The book includes specially prepared maps of walks (or cycle
rides) in eight Javanese cities - Jakarta, Cirebon, Bandung, Cirebon, Semarang,
Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Malang – and Medan in Sumatra.
The translation has Jelajah
(exploring) in the title, a useful addition as ‘guide’ implies lists of guest
houses and bus routes. Instead the buyer
gets well-referenced histories and streetscapes encouraging further exploration.
“When you go to a place, what do you see?” asked Leushuis. “Why
does it look like this? I want to explain what’s here and why, what sort of
people lived here and took part in trade and administration.”
Unfortunately the Indonesian version has been printed on
cheap paper to contain costs. So the
photos lack the eyeball-striking gloss found in the original which sells for 25
Euros (Rp 375,000) compared to Rp 150,000 for the local edition.
The book includes some splendid old pictures, many found in
Dutch museums. These show the beautiful
open areas and wide roads that existed before the population growth got out of
control and the Honda hordes invaded the highways.
“I certainly plan to publish in English as I think there’s a
strong interest from people who can’t read Dutch or Indonesian,” Leushuis said
during a promotion tour. His book was
launched at a seminar in the ancient Majapahit era city of Trowulan in East
Java, and again before 120 students at Malang State University.
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| Public open space - well used; the square in front of Jakarta's Town Hall |
“I also want to work
with Indonesians to promote cultural tourism and heritage trails. Several
organizations do this but their efforts haven’t been well coordinated.”
After several years of running tour groups Leushuis and
another Indonesia addict, former public broadcaster Nettert Smit opened
IndoTracks Adventure Tours. It’s based
in Holland but accessible from anywhere through the Internet.
“There are still
concerns about safety and the perceived rise of radical Islam, but the Dutch
remain curious about Indonesia and want to know more of their country’s roots in
Southeast Asia,” Leushuis said.
“There are no cities in Holland that
look like those built in Indonesia. The only one based on Dutch town planning
and architecture was Batavia in the 16th century.
“The Europeans quickly discovered that
chasing away the locals and digging canals didn’t work in tropical conditions.
“They decided to let the locals have
their own city and be ruled by their own people, and just add relatively small
Dutch quarters with some military presence.
“Semarang remains the best example of an
18th century Dutch quarter in what is now called Little Holland. Northern
Bandung and North-eastern Malang show good later development.
“The alun-alun (open
town square, often a garden where families relax and flanked by important buildings)
is a local idea. Indonesians should be very proud of the way they’ve adapted to
the environment.”
Then there are the statues.
Indonesia does its old mosques, palaces and traditional joglo
(four-sided, high ceiling carved timber houses) superbly, but the Soviet
realism monuments of muscled men snapping chains are not just metaphorically coarse
they are also artistically crude. They stand as reminders of another era’s
politics.
When asked if he was optimistic of Indonesian cities being
returned to the feet and lungs of their citizens, and where the past is
treasured, not trashed, Leushuis uttered some equivocal noises before listing conservation
projects now making a difference.
Most have been driven by forward-thinking companies rather
than governments. For example, in Menteng the Kunstkring gallery and old
immigration office has been preserved as a restaurant. In Surabaya the De Javasche Bank building
(used for several years by Bank Indonesia) has become a museum and function
center.
Kota, the old city in Jakarta is certainly cluttered with
stalls that encroach on the open area, but the place remains pedestrian
friendly and a joy to stroll without fear of being run down.
“I’m hopeful if some of the traffic issues can be resolved,”
Leushuis said. “It’s the main problem facing tourists and draws many
complaints. It’s now getting so
difficult to move around. Journeys that used to last two hours now take double
that time. That’s a worry.”
Panduan Jelajah Kota-kota Pusaka di Indonesia
By Emile Leushuis
Published by Ombak, 2014.
(First published in The Jakarta Post 8 December 2014)
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