WIM MANUHUTU: BRIDGING DIVISIONS IN MALUKU

First published by The Jakarta Post, May 2 2011

Wim Manuhutu:Bridging divisions in Maluku

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Amsterdam | People | Mon, May 02 2011, 9:57 PM

Wim Manuhutu (Photo by Alpha Amirrachman/JP)

 When Wim Manuhutu was appointed as one of the two directors of the Moluccan Historical Museum (currently Museum Maluku) in 1987, he vowed to run the museum professionally and without any political bias.

Hence, during the first exhibition the museum displayed pictures of four most important Malukan figures: Mr. Dr. Chr. Soumokil (second president of the of the South Moluccas or RMS), Dr. J. A. Manusama (third president of the RMS in the Netherlands), A. J. Patty, a journalist and Indonesian nationalist figure who was a member of Sarekat Ambon) and Dr. Johannes Leimena (also an Indonesian nationalist, and the minister of health in Sukarno’s government).

RMS campaigned for an independent state of Maluku and is outlawed in Indonesia while Sarekat Ambon is a pro-Indonesia organization.

Wim recalled how members of the RMS in the Netherlands were angry that the picture of their respected figures were put up side by side with the Malukans who were on the Indonesian side.

“But we have to treat both RMS and pro-Indonesia Malukans as historical facts, after all history never has a single interpretation,” he told The Jakarta Post during a recent interview.

As a result, Museum Maluku has become a neutral venue for Malukans in the Netherlands to meet and discuss Maluku’s future regardless of their political differences.

Also during the sectarian conflict, which started in 1999, the museum was the place for both Christians and Muslim Malukans in the Netherlands to meet and elaborate on an action plan to help their brothers and sisters in the conflict-torn province in Indonesia.

Wim was born on May 14, 1959, in the Malukan camp Lunetten in Vught in the province of Brabant.

His father was a Malukan teacher when he was shipped with other KNIL soldiers to the Netherlands in 1951.

His mother was an Indo-Eurasian with Batavian blood who worked as a teacher at the camp.

The Lunetten is one of two Malukan camps in the Netherlands, the other is Westerbork in the province of Drenthe.

During the decolonization of Indonesia, 12,500 Malukans arrived in the Netherlands. They lived isolated from the Dutch since they always thought that they would return to Maluku with the support of the Dutch government, which never materialized.

Hence, distrust and misunderstanding marred relations between the Malukans and the Dutch government because the Dutch did not provide enough support for their aspiration for an independent state.

While people cared for each in the camps, conflicts often erupted too within the Malukan communities due to differing religions, areas of origin or political ideologies.

Later in the ‘60s and the ‘70s the children of the people who arrived in the Netherlands in 1951 came into adulthood. However, many resorted to violence to get attention for their aspiration for an independent state.

They shocked the Dutch and Malukan societies with a series of violent incidents such as the occupation of Wassenar (1970), Amsterdam (1975), Bovensmilde (1977) and Assen (1978) and the hijacking of trains in Wijster (1975) and De Punt (1977).

The ‘80s and ‘90s were times for Malukans to reorient their position in the Netherlands, their culture and traditions as well. Later appeared a third and fourth generation, who were gradually integrated into Dutch society, but did not forget their roots.

“Museum Maluku now has become a place for every Malukan to meet and learn about their history,” said Wim, who studied history at Utrecht University and his MA thesis dealt with the expansion of Dutch rule on the island of Seram in the beginning of the 20th century.

During the large-scale violence in Maluku (1999-2004), Museum Maluku facilitated the Information and Documentation Center, which compiled and distributed news from Indonesia.

He recalled how Malukans here had been shocked with such violence and had difficulties believing that the violence really took place in their home villages, which had peaceful traditional alliances between villages.

Wim also recalled how Indonesian former president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, known for his tolerant and pluralist attitude, was received warmly by Malukan communities during his visit to the Netherlands in 2000.

In a rare show of support, Malukan communities demonstrated in support of Gus Dur and his presidency, but against the military’s alleged involvement in the conflict, said Wim, who resigned from being a director of Museum Maluku in February 2009.

Asked about his opinion on SBY’s abrupt cancellation of his visit to the Netherlands, he said he regretted the incident because it had served to boost awareness of the RMS, which had launched a suit at the local Dutch court to arrest the Indonesian president over alleged human rights abuses in the province.

“Everybody knew that the court would reject the suit, as happened,” he said, adding that as a regional player and member of the G20 Indonesia should have had the courage to frankly discuss the situation, including the alleged human rights abuses in the province, with Malukan communities here.

He also said that the RMS’s aspiration for an independent state was actually no longer relevant because Indonesia had become a democracy with full-pledged decentralization and that Maluku would be better off being part of a democratic Indonesia despite many shortcomings.

He appealed to all to work together to improve the human rights situation and combat the still-rampant corruption in the province for the betterment of the people of Maluku.

For information about Museum Maluku, visit http://www.museum-maluku.nl/

http://www2.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/02/bridging-divisions-maluku.html

TRACING THE LIFE HISTORY OF JAVANESE-SURINAMESE

First published in The Jakarta Post, Sunday, January 09, 2011

Migratie en culturreel erfgoed: Verhalen van Javanen in Suriname, Indonesie en Nederland (Migration and cultural heritage: Stories of Javanese in Suriname, Indonesia and the Netherlands).

Editors: Lisa Djasmadi, Rosemarijn Hoeftre, Hariette Mingoen.
Publisher: KITLV Press, the Netherlands 2010
158 pages

Tracing the life history of Javanese-Surinamese
Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, The Hague | Sun, 01/09/2011 2:02 PM | Life

Book cover of  "Migratie en culturreel erfgoed: Verhalen van
Javanen in Suriname, Indonesie en Nederland"

When Lisa Djasmadi got involved in writing and editing a book on Javanese people in Suriname, she discovered many heartening stories.

She had never heard stories like them before, chronicles of how her forefathers had departed from Java and arrived in Suriname, enduring numerous hardships along the way.

“They were very poor and had to work very hard. I am very proud that they had the courage to leave their motherland, settle in Suriname and later move to the Netherlands to build a new life. Very courageous,” Lisa said during the book launching in The Hague.

The 158-page book — Migratie en culturreel erfgoed: Verhalen van Javanen in Suriname, Indonesie en Nederland (Migration and cultural heritage: Stories of Javanese in Suriname, Indonesia and the Netherlands) — was published by the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) in collaboration with the Memorial Foundation Committee (STICHJI) in the Netherlands, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Indonesia and the Memorial Javanese Immigration Association (VHJI) in Suriname.

The book assembles the life stories of three groups — the Javanese who migrated and settled for good in Suriname, the people who eventually left Suriname and settled in the Netherlands and those who had settled in Suriname but decided to return to Indonesia.

Between 1890 and 1939, 32,956 Javanese arrived in Suriname, mostly as contract laborers.

Only a quarter of them returned to Java when their contracts ended. Others returned to Indonesia later, stayed in Suriname or moved to the Netherlands.

KITLV, LIPI and VHJI tracked down Javanese-Surinamese in Indonesia and Suriname and interviewed them for the book, while STICHJI utilized life history methods to record people’s stories.
For the book, Lisa, who is half-Javanese, half-Dutch, interviewed Wim Soekarman Kromoredjo, who was born in Lelydorp, Suriname, but now lives in the Netherlands.

Lisa Djasmadi, one of the editors
(Photo: Alpha Amirrachman/JP)

“I found him fascinating because he is very active in introducing Javanese traditions to the younger generation here in the Netherlands, like ludruk [Javanese theater] and gamelan [Javanese traditional orchestra]. He uses Dutch when performing ludruk to reach younger audiences,” Lisa said.

Wim, who plays both Surinamese and Indonesian versions of gamelan, says in the book that he is already accustomed to multiple identities, taking on Javanese roles at home and Dutch qualities outside the house.

A study by Verkuyten and Brug in 2004 showed that for ethnic minorities like Surinamese in the Netherlands, personal achievement was positively correlated with ethnic identity for Surinamese men, but not Surinamese women.

In Wim’s case, he sets aside his Javanese identity when outside the home and is a “real Dutch man” in the workplace.

Unlike Wim, whose parents brought him to the Netherlands, Sakri Ngadi’s grandparents brought him back to Indonesia.

“The issue of returning to Indonesia was so hot at that time that it could cause a split within families,” said Sakri, who was born in Saramacca, Suriname, but now lives in Jakarta.

Sakri’s grandparents settled in Tongar, a small village in Sumatra, where they tried to open up the forest.
But life was much harder than they expected. They were lured by wishes and hopes, as well as misleading stories that gold was everywhere in Sumatra. They were bitterly wrong.

Sakri’s grandparents and many other Surinamese regretted their decision to return to the motherland and became deeply frustrated, advising others still in Suriname not to return to Indonesia. Some returnees even committed suicide.

During Indonesia’s crisis in 1965, Sakri’s mother nervously requested he return to Suriname. He refused because he did not want to leave his grandmother alone to face the country’s bloody turbulence as his grandfather had already passed away.

After a long, difficult time, he finally found a better life after moving to Jakarta and finding work at the state banknote printer Peruri. Sakri has returned to Suriname several times to visit his mother and his siblings.
Sakri’s story is a page from the life for Javanese-Surinamese who returned to Indonesia, and is one of many difficult and saddening accounts, said Hariette Mingoen, who is one of the editors of the book.

Interestingly, many Javanese-Surinamese who determined to return to Indonesia did not return to Java, but to Sumatra instead.

This movement perhaps shows the courageous character of the Javanese from Suriname to explore another new frontier, facing an ever-uncertain future in building a new life.

One of among many groups of Javanese arriving in capital
Paramaribo, Suriname in 1923 (taken from the book, page vi)

Those who stayed in Suriname also struggled with identity issues and self-esteem. Rita Tjien Fooh-Hardjomohamad, who was born in Suriname’s capital Paramaribo, said no one in her family ever attempted to return to Indonesia.

Even after Suriname’s independence on Nov. 25, 1975, her family chose to stay in Suriname while many were moving to the Netherlands because of fears of instability in the newly independent state.

But, Rita found teenage life in rural Koewarasan restricting. Her parents were stern and raised her and her siblings under the strict rule of Islam.

“I did not have access to Javanese culture like ledek [dancer] or gamelan,” she said.

In order to liberate herself, Rita aspired to a university education. She ended up getting a two-year diploma in history in order to get a teaching job, as she did not want to burden her family for too long.

She became fascinated with history and eventually became the director of the National Archives, which often collaborates with similar institutions in Indonesia and the Netherlands.

Rita said, “Javanese women have to know what they stand for. They must be self-assured and know their own identity and not deny it. We are in Suriname, so we must be a part of Surinamese society, but we will never lose sight of our identity as Javanese”.

The book project included young Javanese-Surinamese who acted as interviewers in the Netherlands, “to make them appreciate the legacy of the history of their ancestors,” Hariette said.

The book is not intended as an academic book, she said. It was written by Javanese-Surinamese about themselves.

“This is the first book of its kind that comprehensively covers three historically significant countries: Suriname, Indonesia and the Netherlands,” she said.

After the book launch in The Hague, Erasmus Huis in Jakarta plans to have its own book launch with related activities on Jan. 20, 2011. A photo exhibition will run from Jan. 20 to Feb. 18, 2011. More info can be found at:
www.minbuza.nl/PostenWeb/I/Indonesi%C3%A/The_Erasmus_Huis_Dutch_Cultural_Centre/Programs
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/01/09/tracing-life-history-javanesesurinamese.html

NICO SCHULTE NORDHOLT: DUTCH SCHOLAR DEMANDS 'GENUINE' RECOGNITION OF 1945 INDEPENDENCE

Nico Schulte Nordholt
(Photo: Alpha Amirrachman/JP)

First published in The Jakarta Post, July 8, 2010

Nico Schulte Nordholt: Dutch scholar demands ‘genuine’ recognition of 1945 independence

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Leiden | Thu, 07/08/2010 9:18 AM | People

When Nico Schulte Nordholt and other prominent Dutch intellectuals signed and launched a petition demanding that the Dutch government should genuinely, in a political and moral sense, recognize Aug. 17, 1945, instead of Dec. 27, 1949, as the birth of Indonesia’s independence, they were shrugged off by many quarters of Dutch society.

This is because the then Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister, Ben Bot, when attending the national flag ceremony at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta in 2005, had already stated the Dutch government accepted Aug. 17, 1945 as the historical start point of Indonesian independence.

“However, for the signatories of the petition this official stance of the Dutch government is not sufficient.”

The signatories are convinced, he said, “that the acceptance of Aug. 17, 1945 as a historical fact is significantly different from our plea to a genuine recognition, in a political and a moral sense, of Aug. 17, 1945 as the birth of Indonesia’s independence,” Nordholt said during a recent discussion. It was on “pluralization of narratives on the history of Indonesian independence,” recently held at Leiden University.

So why is “acceptance” not enough?

“By using ‘acceptance’, indeed a historical event, namely the proclamation, is no longer denied, but with ‘acceptance’ one does not acknowledge the deeper meaning of this proclamation, namely the fact that the Indonesian people have the right to proclaim their independence on the moment their leaders choose to act.

‘Recognition’ also implies the acknowledgment of the strong nationalist movement that had led to this proclamation, with all its political implications, also for the present,” said Nordholt.

Born on Oct. 1, 1940, in Kefamenanoe, the capital of Timor Tengah Utara in West Timor province, Nordholt has long ties with Indonesia.

His father, Herman Gerrit Nordholt, was a local official within the colonial administration. From 1936 to 1947 the family spent their time in Indonesia, including during the turbulent period of Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945.
He recalled how the Japanese imprisoned all the members of his family without trial for three years.

He also remembered how his mother, Oetje Zielhuis, taught his two elder sisters, Johanna Gezina and Neeltje, school lessons at home.

After the Japanese surrender, many Dutch people returned home. However, his father was again posted in Kefamenanoe. He often accompanied his father on his duties when touring his district.

This experience gave Nordholt a sense of the pulse of the society he later lived in for many years again. In 1947, just two years after Sukarno and Hatta declared Indonesia’s independence, his family returned to the Netherlands.

Asked if the petition would also do any good to Dutch society, he said there were four groups of “victims of history” residing in the Netherlands.

First, these were veteran soldiers who had served the Dutch East Indies; second, the “Eurasians” with Dutch and Indonesian backgrounds — many of whom had severely suffered atrocities during the independence movement.

The third group were the Moluccans, the ex-Dutch East Indies Army soldiers, shipped to the Netherlands with their families under the false argument of a “temporary arrangement”; and fourth, the Papuans, who arrived in the Netherlands after 1969.

“Recognition also implies the acknowledgment of the strong nationalist movement that had led to this proclamation.”

He said if the Dutch eventually and genuinely recognize Aug. 17 1945 as Indonesia’s day of independence, they should first settle the remaining problems that beset these groups of victims of history, including any family members currently living in the Netherlands.

Later, Nordholt’s father became a history teacher, and in the 1960s he became professor in anthropology at the Free University in Amsterdam.

Nordholt finally decided to take up anthropology too. However, in 1961, when starting his studies,, Indonesia was closed to the Dutch, due to the dispute between the Netherlands and Indonesia over West Papua. Hence, his studies shifted among others to North Africa and Morocco.

In 1966, bilateral relations improved. He then followed lectures with Wim F. Wertheim at the University of Amsterdam.

A renown professor, Wertheim was regarded as the expert on modern Indonesia and was known for his strong support for Indonesia’s independence revolution.

Nordholt completed his masters thesis in 1968 on the Pamong Praja, members of the nobility recruited into the colonial administration, who became the embrio of the nation’s future bureaucracy.

His PhD research was on the role of the district head under the New Order from 1969 to 1979.

On the invitation of prominent scholar Selo Sumardjan, he lectured at the Faculty of Political and Social Science, at the University of Indonesia in 1981.

Nordholt also joined the Commission of Dialogue formed by the Dutch NGO, Novib, to support the then newly established Institute for Legal Assistance (LBH). The Institute rapidly became a thorn in the government’s side for its critical voice on issues related to justice.

He recalled when he once sat with future president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid at Lake Toba, while sharing durian, after a conference in August 1983, Gus Dur told him about his determination to democratize Indonesia using NU (Nahdlatul Ulama, the biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia) as his platform when he was elected as NU Chairman.

In December 1984 when the late Gus Dur chaired the NU, Nordholt was also at the center of Indonesia’s pro-democracy movement in the 1990s.

Until 2008 Nordholt, who last taught at the Twente University in the Netherlands, still travels frequently to Indonesia for research, his persistent passion.

Photo: Alpha Amirrachman/JP

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/08/nico-schulte-nordholt-dutch-scholar-demands-%E2%80%98genuine%E2%80%99-recognition-1945-independence.

MINTARDJO: INDONESIAN AT HEART

Mintardjo (Photo by Alpha Amirrachman/JP)

First published in The Jakarta Post, March 30, 2010

Mintardjo: Indonesian at heart

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Oegstgeest, the Netherlands | Tue, 03/30/2010 8:51 AM | Life

When young Mintardjo was sent to Helsinki, Finland, to attend the 1962 communist World Youth Festival and later to communist Romania to study, little did he know he would not return to Indonesia for many years because of unexpected political developments.

Just three years after he left his homeland, the then popular Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) collapsed and carnage among its followers ensued.

“I was not allowed to return to my homeland,” he told The Jakarta Post during a recent interview at his modest house.

Now living in exile in the Netherlands, Mintardjo shows his love for Indonesia by earnestly helping Indonesian students studying in the country regardless of their ideology or religion — providing them with accommodation, transport and a place to gather for social activities.

Born in Bagelan, Purworejo, June 6, 1936, Mintardjo attended several schools, including the Holland Indische School in Purwokerto, where he stayed with his grandfather, and a Catholic-oriented Kanisius school in his hometown of Purworejo.

Just two months before Indonesia proclaimed its independence in August 1945, the Japanese arrested his father, accusing him of organizing two revolts against the Japanese.

In 1948, his father was shot dead, some say by the Indonesian military at the time (TNI), while others claim it was by the Dutch colonial army (KNIL). So Mintardjo was forced yet again to hop from one school to another.

Although Mintardjo always made time to attend various political gatherings regardless of their political orientation, he was never a member of any association. He preferred to be involved in organizing sports events such as soccer and volleyball matches for local youth. He became a member of a soccer player association alongside members of Young Indonesia, an organization created by the Youth Congress during the 1928 Youth Pledge.

So when Young Indonesia asked Mintardjo to attend the 8th World Youth Festival in 1962 in Helsinki, it was to help organize its soccer team.

Many national youth organizations joined the Helsinki youth summit, such as the People Youth, affiliated to the PKI, Indonesia’s Muslim Youth (PII), the Association of Christian Students of Republic of Indonesia (PMKRI), the National Movement of Indonesian Students and the Concentration of Indonesian Student Movement (CGMI), which is affiliated with the PKI.

Then in a twist of fate, he received two callings from the small Eastern European country of Romania.

During the festival, Mintardjo first received an invitation from Romania Youth, affiliated with the Romanian Communist Party, to attend its independence day celebrations. Then Indonesian ambassador Sukrisno also offered him a chance to study in Romania.

Mintardjo’s life changed from that moment on.

After 1965, where the PKI’s power was removed and millions of its members executed, Indonesian ambassadors explained to Indonesian citizens living overseas at that time that they did not know what exactly had happened and “their position was to leave all matters to president Sukarno, the great leader of the revolution”.

Mintardjo and students initially agreed but were then asked to change their stand to support General Soeharto’s government.

When he and many of his friends steadfastly refused, their citizenship was scrapped against their own will in April 1967.

Mintardjo finally graduated from Vladimir University in 1969 in political economy. Later he worked as a civil servant at the Romanian tourism ministry and married Romanian Liliana Gabirella. They have three children — Heru Tjahjo, Ratnawati and Nurkasih.

When Romania’s dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was executed and his communist regime collapsed during the 1989 bloody revolution, Mintardjo sought political asylum in the Netherlands.

But Mintardjo still longed for the warmness of his home country.

Staying in Oegstgeest, very close to Leiden, Mintardjo welcomed to his house many Indonesian students who were studying in Leiden, a university known for its excellent Indonesian and Islamic study center.

In fact, it has almost become a tradition for students to use his modest house as a venue for activities, from the election Indonesian Student Association (PPI) executives to monthly discussions where students or guests present their scientific papers.

“I remember Pak Min and his wife cooked for about 50 people who performed at the Indonesian Cultural Night in Rotterdam,” recalled Michael Putrawenas, former secretary-general of the PPI in the Netherlands.

His bicycle also became the “official” vehicle for PPI executives, said current PPI Leiden vice president Hilman Latief.

Mintardjo was also actively involved in every student discussion.

“I am happy if students remain critical and have a balanced perspective about issues,” said Mintardjo, who also initiated the establishment of the Inter-Generation Dialogue association and later Sapulidi Foundation, which strengthens Indonesian younger and older generations residing in the Netherlands.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/03/30/mintardjo-indonesian-heart.html

CHALIK HAMID: POETIC LOVE OF COUNTRY LIVES ON

Chalik Hamid
(Photo by Alpha Amirrachman/JP)

Firts published in The Jakarta Post, Monday, January 5, 2009 11:24 AM

CHALIK HAMID: POETIC LOVE OF COUNTRY LIVES ON

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Diemen, the Netherlands | Mon, 01/05/2009 11:06 AM | Lifestyle

When poet Chalik Hamid left Indonesia on Feb. 4, 1965, to study journalism in Albania, he had no idea he would not return for 30 years.

Just seven months after he had left the country -- and his pregnant wife -- Indonesia experienced some of the defining moments in its modern history: the killing of the generals, the fall of the giant Indonesian Communist Party and the alleged massacre of its followers.

Because of his own communist history, even though he was far away in Albania, Chalik's life was changed forever.

The Indonesian Communist Party -- then the world's third-largest political party with three million members -- was accused by some sections in the military of attempting to stage a coup d'etat and of having a role in killing the generals.

Indonesia found itself caught in a bitter feud between two competing ideologies: communism and capitalism.

Capitalism won, with the support of the United States, and Indonesia underwent years of bloodbath with the alleged massacre of around half a million followers of the Indonesian Communist Party.

Although Chalik was abroad, the fact he had been sent there by the country's first president Sukarno, who was accused of siding with the left, turned out to be a lifelong curse.

Like many others who were sent abroad to study, Chalik lost his Indonesian citizenship and was barred from returning home by the New Order regime, which was seeking to eradicate all communist influences in the country.

Chalik was not allowed to see his wife Sri Sutiati, whom he had married in May 1964. He also had to bury his dream of seeing his baby daughter Chasrita, who was born on March 19, 1965 -- barely a month after he left the country.

"I was distressed and disoriented," Chalik told The Jakarta Post at the 20th anniversary celebration of Vereniging Persaudaraan, an organization that gathers hundreds of former students who were barred from going home following the events of 1965.

At the gathering, Chalik read some of the poems from his recently released book Mawar Merah (Red Roses), published by Ultimus.

"I couldn't sleep for months, trying to grasp what was actually going on in my beloved homeland," he said.

He dealt with the stress by running long distances -- and continuing his lifelong love of writing poetry.

Born in the city of Kisaran, Asahan, North Sumatra, on May 16, 1938, Chalik graduated from Taman Siswa junior high school in Kisaran in 1958 before going onto SMA Pembaruan high school in Medan. He continued his studies at Art Academy in Medan and Aliarcham Social Science Academy in Jakarta.

In junior high school, Chalik industriously wrote poems, which were published in Taman Siswa's magazine and Lembaga daily.

Later his work was published in Jalan Baru, Harian Harapan, Waspada, Indonesia Baru, Gotong Royong, Harian Patriot and Cerdas in Medan. He also sent his work to publications in Jakarta such as Bintang Timur and Harian Rakyat.

He once received a literary award from Harian Rakyat for his distinguished work.

In his youth, Chalik often read his poems and short stories on the state-run radio RRI in Medan under the guidance of Prof. Bakri Siregar and Sy. Anjasmara.

He also liked to perform in dramas, taking a lead role in productions of dramatic adaptations, including Utuy Tatang Sontani's Si Kabayan, Dostoyevsky's Dosa dan Hukuman (Crime and Punishment) and Pramoedya Ananta Toer's Orang-orang Baru dari Banten (New People from Banten).

These plays were often directed by famous artists of the time, including Bakri Siregar, Hr. Bandaharo, Sy. Anjasmara, Aziz Akbar and Kamaludin Rangkuty.

As a student, Chalik was also active in Indonesia's student association. He was elected chairman of the Sumatra branch in 1961 during its sixth congress in Jakarta, and from 1961 to 1964 was chairman of the Medan branch of Lekra (People's Cultural League) and one of the presidium at North Sumatra's Lekra.

Lekra is the cultural and literary wing of the Indonesian Communist Party, which had a sizable membership from artists from various fields.

As a young student activist, Chalik was critical of any form of exploitation. He once led a movement spraying graffiti on the American General Council building in Medan to protest against the takeover of a plantation in Sumatra by a foreign joint-plantation corporation.

But the events of 1965 crushed his activism and his dream to develop Indonesia's literary world.

The one bright spot was that the Albanian government continued his scholarship until he graduated from the University of Tirana in 1969.

He had to resist calling his wife because he feared any form of direct communication could endanger her family.

"I sent my letters to my family through a third country like Peru, and this could take months," Chalik said.

Many family members of those associated with the banned Indonesian Communist Party had to undergo a harsh, often unimaginable life. They abruptly became social pariahs; they were unable to apply for government jobs or enroll in university.

Even children were "tagged" with the so-called Surat Bebas PKI, a certificate indicating that they were free from elements of the Indonesian Communist Party.

He later learned that his wife and daughter were forced to go into hiding in Kisaran, Java and Medan.

"Sri was finally captured and thrown in jail in 1967 without trial."

"She was only released in 1979. She went to see my mother to ask permission to marry my friend Astaman," Chalik said, adding he was relieved by her choice because her new husband was his friend and their marriage would be good for their daughter.

Chalik later married an Albanian woman, Katerina, with whom he had two children, Hervis and Rahardi, and worked as a radio broadcaster and translator at the Indonesian section of Tirana radio.

"People in South Sumatra could listen to Tirana radio," he said with a smile.

With friends he produced a magazine called Api Pemuda Indonesia (API, The Fire of Indonesian Youth), with an English edition Indonesian Tribune, to attack the New Order government.

However, he had to seek political asylum in the Netherlands in 1989 after communism crumbled in many parts of Eastern Europe.

Chalik finally visited Indonesia in 1995, when he stayed in the house of his ex-wife's family -- a rather awkward situation, he found.

He has since visited Indonesia six times. He divorced his Albanian wife and married an Indonesian woman, Nur Aisah, in 2003.

The bitterness he feels about his life is reflected in Mawar Merah, in which he writes: "...the house is deserted, the room has lost its inhabitants, children and wife are kept waiting ... I have lost my eternal friend..."

But despite the bitterness, his love of his home country remains intact, he writes:

"... forty years I was barred from stepping foot on my homeland, but I am still loyal, I am still in love (with her)..."

****

Photo: CHALIK HAMID (JP/Alpha Amirrachman)

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/05/chalik-hamid-poetic-love-country-lives.html

EMHA AINUN NAJIB: DELIVERING THE MESSAGE OF PEACE TO THE PEOPLE OF THE NETHERLANDS

Emha Ainun Najib
(Photo by Alpha Amirrachman/JP)

First published in The Jakarta Post, October 18, 2008

EMHA AINUN NAJIB: DELIVERING THE MESSAGE OF PEACE

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Deventer, the Netherlands | Sat, 10/18/2008 11:16 AM | People

When a group of priests from the Dutch Protestant Church approached renowned Indonesian poet and Muslim scholar Emha Ainun Najib to ask him to stage a performance of his musical band Kiai Kanjeng in the Netherlands, Emha did not think twice about accepting.

The offer was made not long after the release of Geert Wilder's controversial movie Fitna.

"They wanted us to help reduce the tension and enhance understanding among religious communities," Emha told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of Kiai Kanjeng's performance at the Islamic Cultural Center in Deventer, the Netherlands.

He acknowledged there was a section of the Muslim community that spoke the language of intolerance and that was committed to acts of violence against those whose religions or opinions differed from theirs.

"The world has seen tension among religious communities. I have never seen such a growing hostility in my life ... When I was a child, things like this never happened," said Emha, also known as the "renaissance figure of Indonesian culture".

Emha is unlike other Muslim leaders, who are often in a state of denial regarding the gap between the normative and the practice of Islam.

"We have laws that should anticipate this and deal with (those who commit violence)," he said between puffs of a kretek (Indonesian clove cigarette) during a stroll in downtown Deventer.

"However, there are also other groups who advocate peace and tolerance among us, and we should give them more chances so their voices can be heard by people all over the world," he said, giving the example of the Dutch Muslim and Protestant Women's Association in Deventer, which aims to foster understanding among religious communities.

Emha's musical group, Kiai Kanjeng, is currently embarking on a tour in several cities in the Netherlands: Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, Zwolle, Leeuwarden, Deventer, Nijmegen and Etten-Leur from Oct. 8 to Oct. 19.

Emha has also held dialogues with various religious communities during his cultural tour here.

"The spirit is to recognize humanity everywhere in every nation, group and religion, and to respect and love all humanity, wherever it exists.

"The East is in the West, and the West is in the East," said Emha, whose wife and singer Novia Kolopaking is also a member of Kiai Kanjeng's 15-strong entourage.

Muhammad (Emha) Ainun Nadjib was born in Jombang, East Java, on May 27, 1953, the fourth of 15 children.

He was expelled from Gontor Ponorogo Islamic boarding school near Surakarta for leading a demonstration against the school's security department during his third year of study.

He later graduated from Muhammadiyah senior high school but later only managed to study for one semester at the Faculty of Economics at Gadjah Mada University.

Emha's first anthology of poetry titled "M" Frustasi (the Frustration of "M") was published in 1975. With his colleagues, he set up theater group Teater Dinasti. It did not take long for him to establish himself as a foremost figure on Yogyakarta's poetry scene.

Living for five years on Yogyakarta's downtown Jl. Malioboro, Emha studied literature with his most revered Sufi-teacher Umbu Landu Paranggi, who is believed to have led a mystical life.

Umbu greatly influenced Emha's work, which is often described as deeply religious and philosophical but esthetic.

He was later involved in various literary debates over ideas he introduced, which included "contextual literature" and "literature of liberation". The former rejects elitism in the arts and the latter campaigns for more freedom in the arts.

Between the 1970s and 1980s, Emha was most productive in producing poetry. Some of his works from this period include Sajak-sajak Sepanjang Jalan (Poems Along the Road, 1977), Tak Mati-Mati (The Immortal, 1978) and Tidur Yang Panjang (Long Sleep, undated).

Some of his essays, poems and play performances satirized the repressive Soeharto regime. As a result, Emha earned a certain measure of "notoriety" and often was in the company of a security entourage.

While he was threatened with defamation against the regime, Emha was persistent in pursuing dialogue. He was once involved in a heated debate with the then chief of social and political department of the Indonesian military Syarwan Hamid in the media on the course of the nation.

From 1984 to 1986, Emha lived in Amsterdam and The Hague, the Netherlands. In The Hague, he assisted Prof. C. Brower of the Institute of Social Studies in conducting workshops on religion, culture and development.

"The themes were mostly political messages against authoritarian regimes," he recalled, adding that it was during the heyday of Soeharto in Indonesia, and Pinochet in Chile.

He said his stay in the Netherlands was a critical juncture in his life, "It contributed to my personal transformation".

Back in Indonesia, the father of Letto band's vocalist Noe set up a monthly gathering known as Padhang Bulan (Full Moon) in 1989 in Jombang, East Java, which attracted thousands of supporters who were enthusiastic about music, poetry and religious and socio-political debating.

Ironically, this is when he produced Santri-Santri Khidir (Students of Khidir) with the Salahudin Theatre in 1990, staged on the field of Islamic boarding school Gontor, which had expelled him many years before.

Emha was engaged in the reform movement that led to the downfall of Soeharto's regime in 1998. He was among nine prominent Muslim leaders invited to meet then president Soeharto minutes before he resigned. However, his role in ensuring the smooth exit of Soeharto has always been misunderstood and controversial.

He set up another monthly gathering called Kenduri Cinta (Feast of Love) in 2000 to stimulate love among people affected by displacement and poverty.

In recent years, Emha has traveled abroad extensively, including to Australia, the U.S., the UK and Europe, either participating in literary festivals or embarking on cultural tours with Kiai Kanjeng.

However, according to Ian L. Betts, author of Jalan Sunyi Emha (Emha's Silent Pilgrimage), despite Emha's popularity and his massive influence on Indonesia's social discourse, his work is not really part of the Indonesian literary mainstream.

Still, in 2005 he received The Muslim News Award of Islamic Excellence in London. A year later, at a series of keynote panels at the Melbourne Writer's Festival, Emha spoke on Islam and relations between Indonesia and Australia post-Bali terrorist bombing.

When asked why there is still religious tension among communities nowadays, Emha said, "there has been misinterpretation of the holy book".

Emha argued that most of the Koran could be re-interpreted. He metaphorically compared the belief system to rice grains, which he said must be well cooked before becoming "edible" for all people.

He said there were some terminologies in Islam that had been misunderstood, even by Muslims. He cited as examples tafsir and jihad.

"Tafsir denotes attention, evaluation, assessment, in-depth analysis, drawing conclusions and making choices about a thing or situation," he said.

"Jihad means struggle or effort. A man or woman who works to support a family is performing jihad, anyone who works in the social interest can be said to be a mujahid, or one who conducts jihad."

Lastly, Emha said, the religious tension was also due to the social, political and economic interests of certain sections of society that were benefiting from such tensions.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/10/18/emha-ainun-najib-delivering-message-peace.html

PERSONAL GROWTH COURSE TRAVELS TO THE NETHERLANDS

Photo by Alpha Amirrachmman/JP

First published in The Jakarta Post, Thursday, June 12, 2008

PERSONAL GROWTH COURSE TRAVELS TO THE NETHERLANDS

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Delft, the Netherlands | Thu, 06/12/2008 10:18 AM | Potpourri

In a time when competition is high and a hedonistic way of life sometimes pervasive, a training program recently tried to inject new spirit into people's lives at an Indonesian Diaspora meeting in the Netherlands.

The Emotional and Spiritual Quotient (ESQ), founded by Ary Ginandjar, is a multi-media training program to encourage personal growth in leadership, well-being and Islamic spiritual values.

The three-day course is conducted in a theatrical manner, sometimes directly engaging -- and challenging -- participants.

"Do you love your children or God?" yelled trainer Syamsul Rahman against the backdrop of a movie of the Prophet Ibrahim, who was instructed by God to slaughter his son Ismail.

Syamsul said that after the training, participants would not be bogged down with despair over the loss of loved ones or when they fail to reach their targets in work.

"There is always a blessing in disguise," he said on the sidelines of the presentation, adding that participants were gently encouraged to reflect on many aspects of their life, both the successes and failures.

Syamsul was flown in from Indonesia to deliver the recent training in a huge sport gym in the city of Delft, between Rotterdam and the Hague.

Creative leadership exercises and games were also presented to pump up the intellectual, social and entrepreneurial aspects of the participants.

William Satriaputra de Weerd, an Indonesian living in the Netherlands who organized the training, said there had been 350 ESQ alumni in the country since it was first conducted in 2006.

"Thirty-six participants today are from around Europe such as the Netherlands, France and the UK," said William, who has lived in the Netherlands since 1974.

Couple Mujilah and Hans Ham from Amsterdam said the training had given them time to reflect on their everyday lives.

"It releases us from our regular stress," said Mujilah.

"The training is a breakthrough in examining the human mind; it goes beyond contemporary approaches," said surgeon Hisham from London.

His wife, IT consultant Azlin, said they had promising careers and money but something had been missing. "We have found it here," she said.

Ahmad Fathan Aniq from Leiden had a slightly different perspective.

"While I don't really agree with using scientific explanations for the Koran, because it restricts the holy book into time-space bounds, the leadership and emotional development in the training is really mentally refreshing."

"I feel that I have been able to revitalize all the positive values that are already embedded but underdeveloped deep in our psyches," he said.

The first day of the training fell under the theme Inner Journey, where participants joined interactive dialogues filled with philosophical stories, exercises and games to enable them to identify their personal potential.

The second day was Outer Journey, introducing participants to the vastness of the universe and the unlimited potential it offers our lives.

The last day focused on Building Creativity, exploring possible action, missions in life, character building and self-control.

While a majority of the participants were Muslims, anyone was welcome in the course, William said.

"Now there are around 500,000 alumni in Indonesia and 3,000 of them are non-Muslims," Syamsul added.

Syamsul said due to the increasing demand, founder Ary was now in the process of designing "ESQ Universal" to reach wider audiences including non-Muslims "so that everyone can fully benefit from this program".

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/06/12/personal-growth-course-travels-netherlands.html

SPRINGTIME SPLENDOR IN KEUKENHOF

First published in The Jakarta Post, Sunday, May 18, 2008

SPRINGTIME SPLENDOR IN KEUKENHOF

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Lisse, the Netherlands

The world-famous spring garden Keukenhof, also known as the Garden of Europe, offers the visitors more than 4.5 million tulips just an hour outside of Amsterdam.

It takes about an hour to get there from the city, and with a Combi-ticket I switched from one bus to the Keukenhof shuttle bus at Schipol. Even early in the morning, flocks of young and old queued to get on the bus, evidence that Keukenhof's gorgeousness was surely arresting.

Located outside the town of Lisse in southern Haarlem, Keukenhof (which literally means "kitchen garden" and historically belonged to Joba van Beieren, the 15th century countess of Holland) features beds of tulips, daffodils, crocuses and other beautiful flowers. Some 15 kilometers of footpaths let you walk amid them all.

The huge garden, whose landscape was designed by architect Zocher in 1857, covers an area of 32 hectares with 100 varieties of tulips and some 7 million bulbs planted by hand. The matchless garden also has 2,500 trees comprising 87 species.

While Dutch politicians were still debating China's human rights violations in Tibet this year, Keukenhof defiantly opted for the theme of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, variously expressed in colorful gardens and shows.

More than 90 participants exhibited flower bulbs and the garden had utilized layered planting to ensure a permanent flow of color throughout the season.

Approximately 6,500 kilos of grass seeds are also sown annually to plow an unsullied green turf in addition to the multicolor finery of flowers.

The walking didn't tire me, as the fresh fragrance of the bulbs splashed onto my body everywhere I went. Thousands of flowers burst in bloom just before my eyes.

The park is only open during spring (March 20 to May 18 this year) since the bulbs bloom only during this season; other months are used for park maintenance and bulb planting.

Back in the 17th century the rich used to spend a lot of money on tulips. For this reason, tulip mania came into fashion everywhere. One record cites that traders could reap roughly 30,000 euros a month from this business.

The idea to utilize the park came from then mayor of Lisse Mr. Lambooy in 1949 in an effort to bolster the country's position as the world's largest flower exporter. Exhibitions were conducted with the participation of growers from throughout the Netherlands and neighboring countries.

The garden became a centerpiece for the bulb trade. Nowadays the most beautiful bulb flowers are ensured by around 90 Royal Warrant Holders to be on annual display.

A contest among planters is held within various pavilions, with the Vaste Keurings Comissie judges rating the best specimens from tulips to chrysanthemums for the Keukenhof Award.

Various garden styles, from English to the nature garden with a mix of bulbs, bushes and perennials, characterize this large estate. In particular, the Flower Forest which has a blend of bulb flowers and veranda planting in fashionable color schemes has brought about the charm of aged trees but with imposing scenery.

Exotic flowers such as orchids are also found. The 1,000-meter-square Beatirx Pavilion houses various species of flowers and plants.

The Prince Willem Alexander pavilion with an area of 6,000 meters runs an exhibition of approximately 35,000 lilies from May 8th to 18th.

However, Keukenhof is not only about flowers; it also exhibits aesthetic sculptures from some 50 artists.

There is also a 116-year-old mill on the far side of the garden, which was brought from the province of Groningen 51 years ago. And for chess enthusiasts, the garden provides a giant chess game for you to play.

Kids will love the park's vast playground with a labyrinth and an educational animal enclosure. Children could be guided through the Bollebozen treasure hunt, showing them the finest spots of the garden.

Having a meal at the garden's restaurant, I watched how people endlessly admired the beauty of the bulbs.

I reflected to myself why people are so fervent in cultivating the beauty of nature, realizing it is this beauty that should add to the quality of our lives -- not the "beauty" of superficiality that we often encounter in our modern everyday life.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/05/18/springtime-splendor-keukenhof.html

TATI WIRAHADIRAKSA: PROMOTING MULTICULTURALISM THROUGH FILM IN THE NETHERLANDS

First published in The Jakarta Post, Saturday, April 19, 2008

TATI WIRAHADIRAKSA: PROMOTING MULTICULTURALISM THROUGH FILM IN THE NETHERLANDS

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, the Netherlands

Tati Wirahadiraksa could not hide her excitement upon hearing her documentary film had been chosen to be screened at the Amsterdam CinemAsia Film Festival recently.

The festival, which screens more than 50 films from countries all over the world, showcases flourishing talent that crosses both geographical and cultural borders.

"I think they (Asian films) are underrepresented (here). That is why I like to make my contribution," Tati told The Jakarta Post during a recent interview at Rialto cinema in southern Amsterdam.

Her documentary film, Images from Another World, is about a Chinese-Indonesian woman who migrated from Indonesia to the Netherlands. The woman, Anita Lim, struggled to discover her own identity as an Asian-Dutch woman.

The story depicts how Lim, amid her own personal struggles in reshaping her own cultural identity, created choreography through the improvisation of Chinese calligraphy.

Two other Dutch filmmakers with an affinity for Asian communities, Hesdy Lonwijk and Vivian Wenli Lin, also participated in the festival. Their pieces were expected to help shore up Asian-Dutch representation in the Dutch film and television industry.

Successful Asian-Dutch film directors -- like Yan Ting Yuen, Fow Pyng Hu and In-Soo Radstake -- do exist in the country, but their numbers are dwindling.

Some believe this is not only due to prejudices still lingering among film industry executives, but also because many Asian-Dutch youths prefer careers that are deemed to have "better" job prospects, such economics or computer science, over film.

"The festival had a lot of publicity and visitors ... it represented our statement of 'making films in the context of the Asian diaspora'," Tati said.

She said it was not easy to make it in the film industry here.

"There are many who want their product shown and there is only limited space, but I am sure that if a film or documentary is good, it will find its way to (reach) an audience.

"I am focusing on making something good, something worthwhile, something with my whole heart," she said.

Tati's interest in multicultural theater and film is inseparable from the fact that she grew up in a mixed family. Half-Dutch, half-Indonesian, Tati has been a multicultural theater enthusiast since she was young.

Born on Sept. 22, 1967 in Amsterdam, Tati studied psychology at Amsterdam University. However, after one year she just could not resist her passion and decided to switch to theater studies at the same university, where she graduated in 1994.

She immersed herself in the study of multicultural theater and her passion was manifested in her thesis, which was an exploration of the government subsidy on multicultural theaters in the Netherlands.

"After the 1980s, the government began to provide earmarked subsidies to non-Dutch theater," said Tati, whose father hails from Bandung, West Java.

Tati said "non-Dutch" people were those living in the Netherlands who were mostly Moroccan, Turk and Surinamese descendants whose cultures and traditions were overshadowed by liberal European-Dutch culture.

She said their history in the Netherlands -- a multicultural society -- can be traced back to the 1950-60s when the country was experiencing a shortage of cheap laborers.

"The Netherlands attracted people from countries like Morocco and Turkey. We also have people from former colonies living here, like Indonesia and Suriname, and we have economic and politic refugees from all over the world. So there are many people living here for many reasons," Tati said.

Tati said she had worked for several theater groups, including Diagonaal, Monsterverbond, Toneelgroep Ceremonia and Untold (1992-2005).

When asked about the current state of the Netherlands as a multicultural society, which many deem as a failure here, Tati said: "That is a very complex matter. Unfortunately (now) there are many people thinking differently who see (other) people a threat to their lives. There is the huge problem of misunderstanding and not knowing each other well, which creates a climate of racism. I am not happy with that.”

"On the other hand, I see a lot of good things happening. We are living in a global world and people have to get used to the idea that boundaries and borders are not so restricted anymore as they were before," she said, adding film could become a medium by which to promote understanding among people.

After studying theater at the Mime-School of the Arts for a year, Tati continued her studies at the Open Studio and Media Academy where she learned more about film editing in 2003.

She completed an editing apprenticeship at the Dutch television station Nederlandse Christelijke Radio Vereniging.

She later edited for documentaries such as Undocumented (about a Ghanaian pastor who works with illegal people, shown in the internationally respected de Balie theater), Urban Lifestyle (about an urban youth program, shown on The Box television station) and Memento Mori (a documentary from Saskia Vredeveld about the work of photographer Roger Ballen).

Tati also worked for Noord Holland radio and TV, editing news and various programs.

Moving from theater to filmmaking was a challenging undertaking, but she said there were some constructive overlaps.

Asked about her upcoming projects, the mother of one said she aimed to produce a documentary on Indonesian people from a different angle, "telling about their loss and struggle during colonialism and how they managed to win their independence".

"Because such a story is seldom told here ... many times the stories are (merely) about people who moved to the Netherlands after Indonesia's independence," Tati said.

Other stories, she said, are even trapped in the stereotypical portrayal of the "alien and exotic" depiction of Indonesian people and their islands.

Tati, whose favorite genre of music is soul, indie and reggae, believes film can serve as a mode by which to appreciate more of what is evolving now in both countries, in the area of arts, religion, politics, youth culture and other contemporary aspects of society.

"Holland and Indonesia have a partially shared history, but we don't hear much of Indonesia in the media here nowadays. I think film can be one of the means by which to get to know each other better."

http://www.thejakartapost.com/node/166739

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/04/19/tati-wirahadiraksa-promoting-multiculturalism-through-film-netherlands.html

DUTCH 'CINEMASIA' FILM FESTIVAL BRIDGES CULTURAL DIVIDE

First published in The Jakarta Post, Saturday, April 19, 2008

DUTCH 'CINEMASIA' FILM FESTIVAL BRIDGES CULTURAL DIVIDE

Alpha Amirrachman, Contributor, Amsterdam

It was timely for the "CinemAsia" film festival to screen Asian movies in the Netherlands (April 2-13) -- a country where multiculturalism has recently faced a deep crisis due to Geert Wilders' anti-Islam movie.

With Indonesian Joko Anwar's thriller Kala and Dimas Djayadiningrat's jesting comedy Quickie Express participating in the festival, it was hopefully an eye-opener for Dutch society to see the Southeast Asian country with the largest Muslim population in the world bring the once taboo topics of sex and homosexuality to the big screen.

The festival, which screened more than 50 films from countries spanning the globe, offered rare evidence of booming talent which is crossing cultural and geographic borders.

"Asian cinema used to be so ethnocentric -- Japanese films were made with Japanese actors in Japan," festival director Doris Yeung told The Jakarta Post.

Now, beside films produced in home countries, the Asian diaspora are working industriously to depict a cultural intersection of dilemma and stereotypes, as insightful stories to be told to the world.

This is not to reinforce the Asian stereotypes such as Chinese cooks or martial arts practitioners, but rather to contribute to a more nuanced, less stereotypical depiction of Asian communities living outside Asia.

"Because of this, CinemAsia FilmLab offered three young talented Dutch filmmakers with Asian backgrounds an opportunity to present their work at the festival," CinemAsia board member Reza Kartose said.

He referred to Tati Wirahadiraksa, Hesdy Lonwijk and Vivian Wenli Lin.

Tati Wirahadiraksa, who is half-Indonesian and half-Dutch, directed a documentary titled Images from Another World. The film is about a Chinese-Indonesian woman who migrated to the Netherlands from Indonesia, struggling to reshape her own Asian-Dutch identity.

Efforts to deconstruct the stereotypes were even evident on the very first day, with the screening of slapstick comedy Finishing the Game by Justin Lin (U.S.). Lin directed a mockumentary of the making of The Game of Death, Bruce Lee's final film.

Set in the 1970s, he satirizes the typecasting of Asians in film by humorously showcasing the troubles encountered in the making of the film. Everybody -- tall, short, even Caucasian -- has an equal opportunity to become "Bruce Lee".

"I was happy to take part in it because I didn't need to master kung fu," main actor Roger Fan said (followed by audience laughter) during a Q&A session after the screening.

The second day presented Dark Matter (Chen Shi-zheng, U.S./China), The Most Distant Course (Iin jin jie, Taiwan) and The Drummer (Kenneth, Hong Kong/Taiwan).

Dark Matter is about sharp Chinese physics student Xing's research -- which leads him to a snare of academic resentment at an American university. The Most Distant Course tells a story of a young Taiwanese man who sends his lover tapes of sounds he records on his journeys through stunning Taiwan scenery. The Drummer is about a man who takes up Chinese Zen drumming.

The third day screened a moving documentary, China's Stolen Children (Jezza Neumann (China/U.K.), comedy Getting Home (Zhang Yang, China), Hong Kong style action romance Blood Brothers (Alexie Tan, Hong Kong) and a Japanese night life tale The Great Happiness Space --Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (Jake Clennell, Japan).

The fourth day saw a Taiwanese interpretation of the classic French film Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge (Hou Hsiano Hsien, France/Taiwan) and a Japanese drama AYSL -- Park and Love Hotel (Izuru Kamasaka, Japan).

The fifth day presented CinemAsia Mix Shorts and CinemaAsiaFilmLab, which included the documentary, Images from Another World.

Indonesia's short 10-minute flick, The Matchmaker, directed by Cinzia Puspita Rini was also shown on the eleventh day.

And the closing day honored Indonesia's Kala and Quickie Express. Kala, which has been screened at 27 film festivals all over the world, is considered the country's first futuristic noir thriller.

"Kala is superb, and demonstrates that Indonesia's movies have the potential to compete with Western movies," movie enthusiast Matthias Fischer said.

Quickie Express, which is about a male escort service company, made audiences laugh at every turn.

"It would delight Dutch audiences here ... Quickie Express should be shown in commercial theaters," said Felicitas Speth von Schulzburg, from the International Performing Arts Institute.

Kala's director, Joko Anwar, said he would be pleased if his movie could penetrate the market here.

"But it would me more effective for Indonesian film makers to collect their energy together, rather than going to film festivals individually, which seems to be the case now," said Ekky Imanjaya from Amsterdam University's Department of Media and Culture.

Djauhari Oratmangun, from the Indonesian Embassy (which also supported the festival as part of the Visit Indonesia 2008 campaign) said the embassy was more than ready to facilitate a large Indonesian film festival in the Netherlands -- an opportunity which should be tapped by Indonesia's film industry.

Asked whether Asian movies can penetrate the Dutch mainstream film culture, Martin Egter from television outlet NOS Journaal said there is still a gap between Asian and Dutch movies.

"Only those who can feel the pulse of Asian cultures will enjoy their movies," he said.

"So, we need more rigorous promotion," said Hong Kong-born Dutch actor Aaron Wan, adding that the festival contributed to the endorsement of Asian movies within the Netherlands' increasingly multicultural society.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/node/166756

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/04/19/dutch-039cinemasia039-film-festival-bridges-cultural-divide.html