In the article on Cendranaya (the Post, Feb. 27), it incorrectly states that Indonesia was ruled by the Dutch from 1619 to 1942. First of all, Indonesia was not "colonized" by the Dutch government but rather it was unified by the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC). The VOC was a multinational company that employed fortune seekers and soldiers from Western Europe, as well as soldiers from Africa. It wasn't until the early 19th century, after the VOC went bankrupt that its possessions were taken over by an unenthusiastic Dutch government.

Your comments:

Today there are more Indonesians in Holland than there were ever Dutch in Indonesia. Now the Indonesians and other Muslims are colonizing my country. Geert Wilders (director of Fitna film) is going to become our Sukarno soon. And as Eddy ( one of commentators) is saying, he will say: "Get out of my country, Mas!"

Ruud Kist

To be fair, Diederik has a point. Our history books are written by generals who preferred romanticized versions rather than factual accounts. The worst part is that we don't know which part of our "history" is real or is just exaggerated; this is just as bad as knowing nothing!

Technically speaking, I'm afraid Diederik is right. The VOC was not the Dutch state; thus we were for a long time "colonized" by the VOC rather than by the Dutch state. The more controversial point is how is it an ordinary company managed to "colonize" an entire archipelago spanning an area as wide as the whole of Europe?

Militarily, it was not possible. The VOC was big, but was not big enough to finance armies capable of controlling the entire Indonesian archipelago.

What was more likely was that they smartly "manipulated" Indonesian royals and nobles so that they actually functioned as an extension of the VOC; possibly for a certain cut of the profits. If that was true, then our own folly and greed were just as responsible to our own present sorry state.

Regardless, I would rather we fix our own history books first before we go around pointing fingers at the rest of the world, so that when I do point my finger, I have a sound case to back me up.

Primary Drive

Well, he is not totally wrong. It is true before the Dutch, Indonesia was not viewed as one unified nation. The view of native Indonesians toward each other prior to Dutch colonization was similar to that of Europeans today: consisting of different countries yet belonging together under the EU umbrella. Indonesia's territory today IS literally inherited from the Dutch East Indies colonial territory, which consisted of the territories captured by the Dutch; that is why East Timor has historically never been included.

The problem here is the word "unification" that Zwager uses. It is problematic because most people associate the word in a positive way. Unification does not have to be positive; in fact, historically the process of unification more often than not has been negative, involving bloodshed and destruction, just like the way the Dutch unified Indonesia. Nazi Germany, for instance, tried to "unify" Europe under its command in the period before World War II.

Therefore, although Zwager is correct, our concern should be his intention in using the word "unification"; does he imply that the Dutch had done good things to our country, or is he using the word neutrally, which means accepting the Dutch's atrocities to Indonesians, just like the Nazi's to Europeans?

Riz

This is simply Diederik Zwager's alibi, because the facts and related evidence tell it differently. People who lived during that period were well acquainted with the suffering of being colonized.

Mulyadi Kertawilastra

When (over the last 200-300 years) all the plusses have been added, and all the minuses have been subtracted, the uncomfortable, but stark truth remains: Institutionalized corruption, as practiced by the Dutch Colonial powers, has now been transferred, and perfected by the Indonesian government officials.

There does not seem to be even one politician who has the moral authority or courage to speak up for the downtrodden, hardworking Indonesian people. Too many people who have spoken up, trying to expose injustices perpetrated by government officials, have been found facedown in some river somewhere.

Peter Wormer

California

It depends on how Zwager defines the word "colonization". After the VOC collapsed in 1800, the Dutch government took over Indonesia. In the 150 years from then until they had to hand over the sovereignty to Indonesia in 1949 tremendous things happened that could and can be defined as colonization.

I mention two important matters among others: the apartheid policy and the policy of "cultuurstelsel". Many (Western) scientists who studied this topic concluded that this dark period of Dutch government must be identified as a colonial period.

HG Kho

Diederik: Stop trying to fool yourself. These "mercenaries" worked for a company in which the Dutch royal family had shares. I'm sure the money didn't flow down to the average Dutchman, but it's as clear a case of colonialism as you'll find.

The Netherlands has done some great things since admitting their fault regarding colonialism (more so than Belgium has done in the Congo), but having people like you deny there was Dutch colonialism does not help these wounds to heal. Nobody is blaming you directly, but let us agree that many of the setbacks the relatively new Indonesian government has experienced do, in fact, stem from the colonial experience, and let us work together to move forward.

Yeah

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