•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Since 2018 the private collection of Ben Mboi (1935-2015), who is best known as Governor of East Nusa Tenggara – NTT – from 1978 to 1988, has been part of the Library of Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta, where it is publicly accessible under the name of Ben Mboi Research Library. The collection totals 22,890 items; the majority of the books are written in English, Indonesian, and Dutch. After briefy introducing the life and work of Ben Mboi, this article frst discusses the phenomenon of private libraries in Indonesia, making it clear that Mboi’s collection is highly unusual. The main part of the paper explores the question as to what is specifcally “Mboian” about the library and what it tells us about his mindset. Mboi’s library functioned as a collection for a working mind and the essay focuses on his books dealing with good governance, which increasingly occupied Mboi’s mind after he entered the world of politics. Special attention is paid to reader’s marks and annotations: Mboi read his books from a decidedly Indonesian perspective. This is particularly evident in the case of Dutch books written by Dutch academics on contemporary Dutch society, which Mboi studied intensively in order to refect upon the situation in post-Suharto Indonesia. Mboi’s own political thinking, which advocated elitism and organicist statecraft, conformed to mainstream ideological discourse in the New Order, but is still de rigueur in post-Suharto Indonesia, showing a remarkable overlap with colonial ideas about leadership in the period of Dutch high imperialism.

References

ahy/mok. 2011. “Rumah Bung Hatta; Antara sejarah dan beban biaya“, detiknews 7 January 2011. [Retrieved from: https://news.detik.com/ berita/1541309/rumah-bung-hatta-antara-sejarah-dan-beban-biaya; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Anonymous. 2010. “Bung Hatta dan bukunya”, Anarchy Blog 26 September 2010. [Retrieved from: http://dimasanarky.blogspot.com/2010/09/bng- hatta-dan-bukunya.html; accessed on 23-08-2018; Said to be taken from Kompas, 17 September 2007.]

Archer, Jeffrey. 1998. The eleventh commandment. London: HarperCollins Publishers.

Arge, Rahman. 2008. 200 kolom pilihan permainan kekuasaan. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas.

Arifin, Anwar. 2018. Pancasila; Ideologi tengah tanpa oposisi. Jakarta: Nufa Citra Mandiri.

Arps, Bernard. 1999. “How a Javanese gentleman put his library in order”, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde Vol. 155(3): 416-469.

Beck, Ulrich. 1997. The reinvention of politics; Rethinking modernity in the global social order. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Beek, Krijn van and Marcel Ham (eds). 2007. Gaat de elite ons redden? De nieuwe rol van de bovenlaag in onze samenleving. Amsterdam: Van Gennep.

Behrend, Timothy E. 1988. “Small collections of Javanese manuscripts in Indonesia”, Archipel Vol. 35: 23-42.

Beusekom, Johan van. 1933. De Indische provincie; Inleiding tot het Nederlandsch- Indisch provinciaal recht. Groningen/Den Haag/Batavia: Wolters.

Bibang, Gerard N. 2015. “[Narasi 100 hari Ben Mboi] Seluas-luas cakrawala”. [Retrieved from: http://www.floresa.co/2015/10/14/narasi-100-hari- ben-mboi-seluas-luas-cakrawala/; accessed on 24-09-2018.]

Bohlens, Klaas. 1983. Tennis; Training, techniek, taktiek. Rijswijk: Elmar.

Bourchier, David. 2015. Illiberal democracy in Indonesia; The ideology of the family state. London/ New York: Routledge.

Burgess, Anika. 2017. “For centuries, readers annotated books with tiny drawings of hands”, Atlas Obscura 23 August 2017. [Retrieved from: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/manicules; accessed on 26-08- 2018.]

Cayne, Bernard et al. (eds). 1986. The Encyclopedia Americana. International edition. Volume 1. Danbury: Grolier.

Clancy, Tom. 1988. The cardinal of the Kremlin. London: Collins.

Cortesão, A. and A. Teixeira da Mota (eds). 1960. Tabularum Geographicarum Lusitanorum Specimen. Olisipone [Lisbon].

Dawis, Aimee. 2012. “Sidharta, Myra”, in: Leo Suryadinata (ed.), Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent; A biographical dictionary. Volume 1, pp. 973-975. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

D’Haen, Theo (ed.). 1990. Herinnering, herkomst, herschrijving; Koloniale en postkoloniale literaturen. Leiden: Vakgroep Talen en Culturen van Zuidoost- Azië en Oceanië, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.

Dijk, Kees van and Jean Gelman Taylor. 2011. Cleanliness and Culture: Indonesian histories. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Drooglever, P.J. 2013. “Kat Angelino Arnold Dirk Adriaan de (1891-1969)”, Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. [Retrieved from: http://resources. huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1880-2000/lemmata/bwn3/kat; accessed on 24- 08-2018.]

Duarte, Teófilo. 1930. Timor (Ante-camara do inferno!?). Famalicão: Tip. Minerva de Gaspar Pinto de Sousa & Irmão.

Dunk, H.W. von der. 2011. De glimlachende sfinx; Kernvragen in de geschiedenis. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker.

Duverger, Maurice. 1979. The study of politics. Sunbury-on-Thames: Nelson.

Edwards, Nicola. 2013. “Values and the institutionalization of Indonesia’s organic agriculture movement”, in: Michele Ford (ed.), Social activism in Southeast Asia, pp. 72-88. London/New York: Routledge.

Fleishman, Joel L., Lance Liebman, and Mark H. Moore. 1981. Public duties; The moral obligations of government officials. Cambridge, Mass. / London:Harvard University Press.

Fox, James J. (ed.). 1980. The flow of life; Essays on Eastern Indonesia. Cambridge, Mass. / London: Harvard University Press.

Fraser, Neale. 1975. Successful Tennis; From beginner to expert in forty lessons. London: Pelham Books.

Frissen, P.H.A. 2007. De staat van verschil; Een kritiek van de gelijkheid. Amsterdam: Van Gennep.

Gallop, Annabel Teh. 2014. “Indonesian and Malay manuscripts in the Endangered Archives Programme”. [Retrieved from: http://blogs.bl.uk/ asian-and-african/2014/02/indonesian-and-malay-manuscripts-in-the- endangered-archives-programme.html; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Gallop, Annabel Teh. 2018. “Shifting landscapes: mapping the intellectual writing traditions of Islamic Southeast Asia”. [Retrieved from: http:// blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2018/02/shifting-landscapes-mapping- the-intellectual-writing-traditions-of-islamic-southeast-asia.html; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Gerrits, André. 2006. Democratie door interventie; De nieuwe white man’s burden? Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Gobée, E. and C. Adriaanse. 1990-1995. Nasihat-nasihat C. Snouck Hurgronje semasa kepegawaiannya kepada pemerintah Hindia Belanda 1889-1936. Vols I-XI. Jakarta: INIS.

Gouda, Frances. 1995. Dutch culture overseas; Colonial practice in the Netherlands Indies, 1900-1942. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Greenhill, J.P. 1955. Obstetrics. Eleventh edition. Philadelphia, PA / London: W.B. Saunders Company.

Griebeler, Monika. 2015. “Literature in Indonesia; A land without readers”, Qantara.de 29 May 2015. [Retrieved from: http://en.qantara.de/content/ literature-in-indonesia-a-land-without-readers; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Gunawan S., Arif. 2016. “Indonesia second least literate of 61 nations”, The Jakarta Post 12 March 2016. [Retrieved from: http://www.thejakartapost. com/news/2016/03/12/indonesia-second-least-literate-61-nations.html; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Hay, Roy. 1975. Home & city gardener. London: Octopus Books. Heuvel, Hans van den. 2010. Moraal van de macht; Historisch portret van de

integriteit van de staat. Zutphen: Walburg Pers. Hoogervorst, Tom. 2017. “Books written for everyone (and protected by a few)”. [Retrieved from: http://www.kitlv.nl/blog-books-written-everyone-protected/; accessed on 11-09-2018.]

Jackson, H.J. 2001. Marginalia; Readers writing in books. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

John Paul II. 2005. Memory and identity; Personal reflections. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Johnson, Hugh. 1988. Hugh Johnson’s pocket encyclopedia of wine 1989. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Kat Angelino, A.D.A. de. 1929. Staatkundig beleid en bestuurszorg in Nederlandsch-Indië; Eerste Deel: Grondslagen en richtlijnen van koloniaal beleid. Eerste gedeelte. ’s-Gravenhage: Nijhoff.

Kieboom, Hilde. 2005. Een hart voor deze tijd; Christen zijn vandaag. Tielt: Lannoo.

Kinneging, Andreas. 2009. Geografie van goed en kwaad; Filosofische essays. Houten: Spectrum. [First edition 2005.]

Klinken, Gerry van. 2003. Minorities, modernity and the emerging nation; Christians in Indonesia, a biographical approach. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Kramer, R. 1984. Inventaris van het archief van de Ronde Tafel Conferentie Indonesië, 1949 (1950). Den Haag: Nationaal Archief. [Retrieved from: http://www. gahetna.nl/collectie/archief/pdf/NL-HaNA_2.10.38.ead.pdf; accessed on 31-08-2018.]

Kuitenbrouwer, Maarten. 2014. Dutch scholarship in the age of empire and beyond; KITLV – The Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, 1851-2011. Leiden/ Boston: Brill.

Kurniawan, Hasan. 2015. “Mohammad Hatta, buku dan revolusi Indonesia”, Sindonews.com 25 July 2015. [Retrieved from: https://daerah. sindonews.com/read/1026080/29/mohammad-hatta-buku-dan-revolusi- indonesia-1437772580; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Lach, Donald F. and Edwin J. van Kley. 1993. Asia in the making of Europe. Volume III: A century of advance. Book Three: Southeast Asia. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.

Leitão, Humberto. 1948. Os Portugueses em Solor e Timor de 1515 a 1702. Lisboa: Tip. da Liga dos Combatentes da Grande Guerra.

Luitnan, Ishak Arries. 2012. Koepang tempo doeloe. Depok: Penerbit Ruas. Martin, Hans-Peter and Harald Schumann. 1996. Die Globalisierungsfalle. Der Angriff auf Demokratie und Wohlstand. Reinbeck: Rowohlt.

Massier, Ab. 2008. The voice of the law in transition; Indonesian jurists and their languages 1915-2000. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Mboi, Ben 2005. “RPKAD vs KKO”, in: Triantoro, Bambang (ed.), L.B. Moerdani: langkah dan perjuangan, pp. 115-120. Jakarta: Yayasan Pengembangan Tunas Nusa.

Mboi, Ben. 2007. Berpikir, berbicara dan berbuat untuk rakyat dan daerah Nusa Tenggara Timur. Himpunan pidato pilihan selama 10 tahun menjadi gubernur NTT. Kupang: Penerbit Gita Kasih.

Mboi, Ben. 2009a. Berbicara tentang agama, pemerintahan dan pembangunan. Kupang: Penerbit Gita Kasih.

Mboi, Ben. 2009b. “Sekelumit ‘sejarah‘ terbentuknya Propinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur; Flobamora di tengah persendian paruh abad pertama dan kedua Nusa Tenggara Timur menatap paruh-abad kedua 2008-2058”. [Paper, International workshop and seminar “Sustainable Development Strategy for the Secondary Cities”, Pangkalpinang, Bangka, 20-22 April.]

Mboi, Ben. 2011. Ben Mboi; Memoar seorang dokter, prajurit, pamong praja. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.

Meij, Dick van der. 2017. Indonesian manuscripts from the islands of Java, Madura, Bali and Lombok. Leiden/Boston: Brill.

McGrath, Alister. 2010. De toekomst van het christendom. Kampen: Kok. Moeimam, Susi and Hein Steinhauer. 2005. Kamus Belanda-Indonesia. Jakarta:Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

Moreels, Lod. (ed.). 1976. Jan van Ruusbroec; Vanden VII sloten of een dag contemplatief leven en werken. Amsterdam/Tielt: Lannoo.

Murphy, Francis D. et al. 1958. Medical emergencies; Diagnosis and treatment. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.

Nieuwenhuijsen, Peter. 1985. Gemeenten als proeftuin voor een houdbare verzorgingsstaat. Deventer: Van Loghum Slaterus.

Oei, Tjien and H.G. Kwee. 2010. Memoirs of Indonesian doctors and professionals; 2. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corporation. Poczter, Sharon and Thomas B. Pepinsky. 2016. “Authoritarian legacies in post-New Order Indonesia; Evidence from a new dataset”, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 52(1): 77-100.

Price, Leah. 2008. “When to read was to write. Review of used books; Marking readers in renaissance England, by William H. Sherman”, in: London Review of Books 30(19): 35-37. [Retrieved from: https://core.ac.uk/download/ pdf/28931970.pdf; accessed on 24-08-2018.]

Ratzinger, Joseph. 2007. Jesus of Nazareth; From the baptism in the Jordan to the transfiguration. London/New York/Berlin: Bloomsbury.

Rempah, Jalur. 2017. “Quo vadis, Indonesian literacy?”, The Jakarta Post 12 November 2017. [Retrieved from: http://www.thejakartapost.com/ adv/2017/11/12/quo-vadis-indonesian-literacy.html; accessed on 23- 08-2018.]

Roque, Ricardo Nuno Afonso. 2010. Headhunting and colonialism; Anthropology and the circulation of human skulls in the Portuguese empire, 1870-1930. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

Rose, Mavis. 2010. Indonesia Free; A political biography of Mohammad Hatta. Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur: Equinox Publishing.

Rowling, J.K. 2001. Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone. London: Bloomsbury.

Salim HS, Hairus. 2012. “Indonesian Muslims and cultural networks”, in: Jennifer Lindsay and Maya Liem (eds), Heirs to world culture; Being Indonesian 1950-1965, pp. 75-118. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Schneider, Louis. 1975. The sociological way of looking at the world. New York etcetera: McGraw-Hill.

Schulte Nordholt, H. 1990. Onderzoek in Zuidoost-Azi; Agenda’s voor de jaren negentig. Leiden: Vakgroep Talen en Culturen van Zuidoost-Azië en Oceanië, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.

Schuyt, Kees. 2006. Steunberen van de samenleving; Sociologische essays. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Seeman, Mary V. 2016. “Bilingualism and schizophrenia”, World Journal of Psychiatry 6(2): 192-198.

Seifert, Alwin. 1972. Tuinieren zonder gif al dan niet volgens de biologisch-dynamische methode. Baarn: Hollandia.

Sheinwold, Alfred. 1968. Bridge play. New York, NY: Cornerstone Library. Sidharta, Myra. 2011. “Menggali kembali sastra Melayu Tionghoa“. [Retrievedfrom: http://web.budaya-tionghoa.net/index.php/item/791-menggali-kembali-sastra-melayu-tionghoa; accessed on 11-09-2018.]

Skera, Frans X. and Mundus Lema. 2013. Flobamora kemarin, hari ini & esok; Himpunan pemikiran kritis cerdas para tokoh NTT. Kupang: Penerbit Gita Kasih.

Smith, Karen Houston. 2011. “Leadership and leader, governance and governor NTT 1978-1988”, in: Candra Gautama (ed.), Liber amicorum voor Ben Mboi, leermeester voor velen, pp. 7-13. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.

Steenbrink, Karel. 2013. “Dutch colonial containment of Islam in Manggarai, West Flores, in favour of Catholicism, 1907-1942”, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde Vol. 169(1): 104-128.

Stein, Eric A. 2009. “’Sanitary makeshifts’ and the perpetuation of health stratification in Indonesia”, in: Robert A. Hahn and Marcia C. Inhorn (eds), Anthropology and public health; Bridging differences in culture and society, pp. 541-565. Second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Subhan, Ahmad. 2012. “Save PDS H.B. Jassin; Social movement for the cultural heritage”. [Paper, Congress of Southeast Asian Librarians XV, Denpasar, Bali, 28-31 May; Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate. net/publication/315884710_Save_PDS_HB_Jassin_Social_Movement_ for_the_Cultural_Heritage; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Swantoro, P. 2002. Dari buku ke buku, sambung menyambung menjadi satu. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia.

Tebay, Neles. 2009. Dialog Jakarta-Papua; Sebuah perspektif Papua. Jakarta: SKP Jayapura.

Triantoro, Bambang (ed.). 2005. L.B. Moerdani: langkah dan perjuangan. Jakarta: Yayasan Pengembangan Tunas Nusa.

Vatikiotis, Michael R.J. 1993. Indonesian politics under Suharto; Order, development and pressure for change. London/New York: Routledge.

Verhofstadt, Dirk. 2012. In gesprek met Paul Cliteur; Een zoektocht naar harmonie. Antwerpen/Utrecht: Houtekiet.

Vermeulen, Gerret. 1677. De gedenkwaerdige voyagie van Gerret Vermeulen naar Oost-Indien, in ’t jaar 1668 aangevangen, en in ’t jaar 1674 voltrokken. Amsterdam: Jan Claesz, Ten Hoorn.

Wal, S.L. van der, P.J. Drooglever, and M.J.B. Schouten (eds). 1971-1996. Officiële bescheiden betreffende de Nederlands-Indonesische betrekkingen, 1945- 1950. Twenty volumes. The Hague: Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicatiën. [Retrieved from: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/retroboeken/nib/# page=0&accessor=toc&view=homePane; accessed on 31-08-2018.]

Watson, C.W. 2006. Of self and injustice; Autobiography and repression in Indonesia. Leiden: KITLV Press.

Wieringa, E.P. 1990. Carita Bangka; Het verhaal van Bangka. Tekstuitgave met introductie en addenda. Leiden: Vakgroep Talen en Culturen van Zuidoost- Azië en Oceanië, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden.

Willemsen, Marie-Antoinette. 2015. De lange weg naar Nusa Tenggara; Spanningsvelden in een missiegebied. Hilversum: Verloren.

Wood, James. 2011. “Shelf life; Packing up my father-in-law’s library”, The New Yorker 7 November 2011. [Retrieved from: https://www.newyorker. com/magazine/2011/11/07/shelf-life; accessed on 23-08-2018.]

Download

Share

COinS