•  
  •  
 

Abstract

After Indonesian independence in 1945, thousands of Indonesian Chinese repatriated to the Netherlands, the former colonizer. As opposed to other repatriates from Indonesia, who organized themselves into pressure groups and fought for a place in the national memory culture, the Indonesian Chinese in the Netherlands only formed strict socio-cultural associations and have generally stayed clear of identity politics. Usually, this divergence is attributed to the smooth integration and socio-economic success of the latter group, as well as to Chinese values, such as conflict avoidance. This article adds to this explanation by positing that this phenomenon has also been induced by the legacy of anti-Chinese violence in colonial and post-colonial Indonesia: respectively, Dutch discomfort to acknowledge the violent and discriminatory elements of its own colonial history, as well as a fear of offending the Indonesian government. Consequently, many Indonesian Chinese in the Netherlands have engaged in some form of public self-silencing.

References

Ang Ien. 2001. On not speaking Chinese; Living between Asia and the West. London: Routledge.

Bijl, Paul. 2012. “Colonial memory and forgetting in the Netherlands and Indonesia”, Journal of Genocide Research 14(3-4): 441-461.

Blussé, Leonard and Floris-Jan van Luyn. 2008. China en de Nederlanders; Geschiedenis van de Nederlands-Chinese betrekkingen 1600-2007. Zutphen: Walburg Pers.

Coppel, Charles A. 1983. Indonesian Chinese in crisis. Singapore: Oxford University Press.

Coppel, Charles A. 2002a. “The Indonesian Chinese: ‘Foreign Orientals’, Netherlands subjects, and Indonesian citizens”, in: M. Barry Hooker (ed.), Law and the Chinese in Southeast Asia, pp. 131-149. Singapore: Seng Lee Press.

Coppel, Charles A. 2002b. “The Indonesian Chinese as ‘Foreign Orientals’ in the Netherlands Indies”, in: Charles A. Coppel (ed.), Studying ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, pp. 157-168. Singapore: Singapore Society of Asian Studies.

Cribb, Robert and Charles A. Coppel. 2009. “A genocide that never was; Explaining the myth of anti-Chinese massacres in Indonesia, 1965-66”, Journal of Genocide Research 11(4): 447-465.

Ellemers, J.E. and R.E.F. Vaillant. 1985. Indische Nederlanders en gerepatrieerden. Muiderberg: Coutinho.

Freedman, Amy L. 2000. Political participation and ethnic minorities; Chinese overseas in Malaysia, Indonesia, and the United States. London: Routledge.

Galen, Kees van. 1987. “Dorp zonder naam; De Chinezen uit Indonesië”, in: Gregor Benton and Hans Vermeulen (eds), De Chinezen, pp. 132-147. Muiderberg: Coutinho.

Galen, Kees van. 1989. Geschiedenis van de Chung Hwa Hui (1911-1962); IndoChinese studenten en Peranakan politiek in Nederland. Amsterdam.

Han Hwie Song. 1990a. “Drie sociaal-politieke en culturele stromingen van de Chinese gemeenschap in Nederland”, Hua Yi Magazine 3(1): 19-23.

Han Hwie Song. 1990b. “Deng-Jie, lantaarnfestival”, Hua Yi Magazine 3(1): 8-10.

Han Hwie Song. 1992. “Een antwoord voor mr. Tan Eng-Swie”, Hua Yi Magazine 5(3): 32-36.

Han Hwie Song. 2004. “De totok- en de baba- en nyonyacultuur gezien vanuit mijn achtergrond”, Hua Yi Magazine 17(4): 13-19

Jones, Guno. 2007. Tussen onderdanen, rijksgenoten en Nederlanders. Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers.

Kho, O.T. 1995. “Pinangsia, Glodok, Pantjoran, Pasar Baru, Pasar Senen, Mester”, Hua Yi Magazine 8(2-3): 37-42.

Laarman, Charlotte. 2013. Oude onbekenden; Het publieke en politieke debat over postkoloniale migranten, 1945-2005. Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren.

Li Minghuan. 1998. “Living among three walls; The Peranakan Chinese in the Netherlands”, in: Elizabeth Sinn (ed.), The last half century of Chinese overseas, pp. 167-183. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Li Minghuan. 1999. We need two worlds; Chinese immigrant associations in a Western society. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Li Minghuan. 2003. “From ‘sons of the yellow emperor’ to ‘children of the Indonesian soil’; Studying Peranakan Chinese based on the Batavia Kong Koan archives”, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 34(2): 215-230.

Liem, Ramsay. 2007. “Silencing historical trauma; the politics and psychology of memory and voice”, Peace and Conflict; Journal of Peace Psychology 13(2): 153-174.

Liem, Robert. 2005. “Hua yi in het jaar van de aap; Een terugblik”, Hua Yi Magazine 18(1): 5-8.

Liem Tong Biauw. 1998. “The last of the Peranakans”, Hua Yi Magazine 11(2): 18-24.

Liem Tong Biauw. 2002. “Niet alle Chinezen zijn Chinezen”, Hua Yi Magazine 15(2): 7-14.

Lorenz, Chris. 2015. “De Nederlandse koloniale herinnering en de universele mensenrechten; De casus Rawagede”, Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 128(1): 109-130.

Ma, Wim Wei Chun. 2013. “Op weg naar één wereld?”, Hua Yi Magazine 26(2): 34-38.

Melvin, Jess. 2013. “Why not genocide? Anti-Chinese violence in Aceh, 1965- 1966”, Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 32(3): 63-91.

Oei Hong Kian. 1998. Kind van het land; Peranakan-Chinezen in drie culturen. Rotterdam: Indonet.

Oei Tat Ie. 1999. “Impressies en contrasten”, Hua Yi Magazine 12(3): 43-45.

Oostindie, Gert. 2010. Postcolonial Netherlands; Sixty-five years of forgetting, commemorating, silencing. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker.

Paasman, Bert. 2002. “Wandelen onder de palmen; De morele actualiteit van het koloniale verleden”. [Inaugural Lecture, Universiteit van Amsterdam.]

Peng Chia Oai. 2013. “Chinese education in Southeast Asia”, in: Tan CheeBeng (ed.), Routledge handbook of the Chinese diaspora, pp 446-458. London: Routledge.

Rijkschroeff, B.R. 1998. Etnisch ondernemerschap; De Chinese horecasector in Nederland en in de Verenigde Staten van Amerika. Cappelle a/d IJssel: Labyrinth Publication.

Rijkschroeff, B.R., P. The Gwan Tjaij, and S.M. Wu. 1993. Bij leven en welzijn; De positie van oudere Chinezen en oudere Indische Nederlanders vergeleken. Cappelle a/d IJssel: Labyrinth Publication.

Rijkschroeff, Boudie, Paul The Gwan Tjaij and Antoon Verlaan. 2010. Indonesische Chinezen in Nederland. Amsterdam: SWP.

Schuurmans, Paulien. 2014. “Tussen wal en schip; Ervaringen van Indische Nederlanders bij de repatriëring”, Skript Historisch Tijdschrift 25(1): 32-45.

Suryadinata, Leo. 1972. “Indonesian Chinese education; Past and present”, Indonesia 14: 49-71.

Suryadinata, Leo. 2001. “Chinese politics in post-Suharto’s Indonesia; Beyond the ethnic approach”, Asian Survey 41(3): 502-524.

Tan, Peter B.K. 1999. “Bezinning en reformatie; Een terug- en vooruitblik voor Chinese Indonesiërs”, Hua Yi Magazine 12(3): 18-23.

Tan, Peter B.K. 2002. “Niet praten, maar werken”, Hua Yi Magazine 15(2): 27-30.

Thio May Ling. 2007. Genoegens van wederzijds ((h)er)kennen; Identiteitsbeleving van Peranakan Chinezen bij de vereniging De Vriendschap. Amsterdam: Rozenberg Publishers.

Tjwan Sie Hok. 1997. “Uit BVD dossier”, Hua Yi Magazine 10(1): 23-25.

Tjwan Sie Hok. 2000. “Soeharto manipulator geen mastermind G30S”, Hua Yi Magazine 13(4): 30-32.

Tjwan Sie Hok. 2003. “De Arabische ziekte“, Hua Yi Magazine 16(3): 12-15.

Tsai, Yen-ling and Douglas Kammen. 2012. “Anti-communist violence and the ethnic Chinese in Medan, North Sumatra”, in: Douglas Kammen and Katharine McGregor (eds), The contours of mass violence in Indonesia, 1965- 68, pp 131-155. Singapore: NUS Press.

Twie, Marinkelle-Tan. 2004. “De roots van de eerste generatie peranakan Chinezen in Nederland; Waarom zijn ze hier en waar komen ze vandaan”, Hua Yi Magazine 17(4): 4-12.

Withuis, Jolande. 2002. Erkenning; Van oorlogstrauma naar klaagcultuur. Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij.

Hua Yi Magazine (selection of issues analysed for this article)

1990. 3(1).

1991. 4(2).

1992. 5(3).

1993. 6(4).

1994. 7(1).

1995. 8(2-3).

1996. 9(4).

1997. 10(1).

1998. 11(2).

1999. 12(3).

2000. 13(4).

2001. 14(1).

2002. 15(2).

2003. 16(3).

2004. 17(4).

2005. 18(1).

2006. 19(2).

2007. 20(3).

2008. 21(4).

2009. 22(2).

2010. 23(3).

2011. 24(4).

2012. 25(1).

2013. 26(2).

2014. 27(3).

2015. 28(2).

2016. 29(2).

Interviews

Anonymous source.

Patricia Tjiook-Liem, conducted by Martijn Eickhoff and Alexander van der Meer, in Amstelveen, on 02-05-2016.

Paul The Gwan Tjaij, conducted by Alexander van der Meer, telephonic, on 28-11-2016.

Soei Keng Que, conducted by Alexander van der Meer, telephonic, on 08- 11-2016.

Download

Share

COinS