Category Archives: Indonesia
The Financial Ascent of the Dutch VOC
From: The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, by Niall Ferguson (Penguin, 2008), Kindle Loc. 1780-1831: The campaign for a reform of what would now be called the VOC’s corporate governance duly bore fruit. In December 1622, … Continue reading
Sumatra, Dec. 1945: The Japanese Army Retaliates
From A Japanese Memoir of Sumatra, 1945-46: Love and Hatred in the Liberation War, by Takao Fusayama (Equinox, 2010), pp. 121-123: Maj. Gen. Sawamura, the regiment commander, who had been so patient thus far, had at last run out of … Continue reading
Filed under Indonesia, Japan, nationalism, war
Origins of the Indonesian National Army
From A Japanese Memoir of Sumatra, 1945-46: Love and Hatred in the Liberation War, by Takao Fusayama (Equinox, 2010), pp. 38-42: The Allied Forces began a full-scale advance on Indonesia by the end of September [1945]. Three British-Indian divisions commanded … Continue reading
Filed under Indonesia, Japan, military, nationalism, war
Japanese Revolutionaries in Indonesia, 1945-46
From the Introduction by Saya Shiraishi to A Japanese Memoir of Sumatra, 1945-46: Love and Hatred in the Liberation War, by Takao Fusayama (Equinox, 2010), pp. 9-11, 13-14: I have three namelists in front of me which I acquired during … Continue reading
Madrasahs vs. Secular Schools
From: Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World, by Vali Nasr (Free Press, 2009), Kindle Loc. 3297-41: Madrasah is a catchall term. A madrasah can mean something as … Continue reading
Filed under Bangladesh, education, Indonesia, Islam, Middle East, Pakistan
“Indische” Indos and Theosophists in the Dutch East Indies
From: Being “Dutch” in the Indies: A History of Creolisation and Empire, 1500–1920, by Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben, tr. by Wendie Shaffer (National U. Singapore Press, 2008), pp. 293-297: The 20th century arrived in the Dutch East Indies accompanied … Continue reading
Filed under democracy, economics, education, Indonesia, language, nationalism, Netherlands
South Moluccans: Teachers before Soldiers
From: Being “Dutch” in the Indies: A History of Creolisation and Empire, 1500–1920, by Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben, tr. by Wendie Shaffer (National U. Singapore Press, 2008), pp. 173-176: Migration to other territories within the vast Indonesian archipelago was … Continue reading
Wordcatcher Tales: Totok vs. Indo-European Dutch
Two books about Indonesia that I’ve recently blogged excerpts from have discussed divisions between newcomers and local-born, assimilated expatriates in the former Dutch Indies. In Bittersweet: The Memoir of a Chinese Indonesian Family in the Twentieth Century, local-born Chinese are … Continue reading
Filed under Indonesia, language, migration, nationalism, Netherlands
Translator Dynasties in Dutch Java
From: Being “Dutch” in the Indies: A History of Creolisation and Empire, 1500–1920, by Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben, tr. by Wendie Shaffer (National U. Singapore Press, 2008), pp. 115-118: Despite the concerns of the government in Batavia about the … Continue reading
Dutch Mennonite Industrial Pioneers in Java
From: Being “Dutch” in the Indies: A History of Creolisation and Empire, 1500–1920, by Ulbe Bosma and Remco Raben, tr. by Wendie Shaffer (National U. Singapore Press, 2008), pp. 125-126, 134: The story of the [Karel] Holles and the [Eduard … Continue reading
