A History of Modern Indonesia - Assignment Example

A History of Modern Indonesia Name Institution Critical review of chapter 1-3 Even though Indonesia’s population is the fourth largest in the world, the country’s history is still unfamiliar and under researched. Adrian Vickers analyses modern Indonesia across its political and social landscape, beginning with its origins 20th century under the Dutch colonialists and the country’s consequent anti-colonial revolution in 1949 that led the country into independence. In 1950s Indonesia become a new Nation, followed by anti-communist massacres and Sukarno years of 1960s when Suharto become the president (Vickers 2006, p. 45). Indonesian culture remains undisclosed to many individuals in the west partially because the literature of this Island that ethnically kaleidoscopic, intensely civilized nation rarely accessible in easily understandable translation formats in the United States. Modern Indonesia comes as a result of a struggle in 1940s for liberation from a colony of Netherlands against Dutch and Japanese until 1949. Even though this was traumatic moments, it was also inspiring days that set up the platform for Pramoedya Ananta Toer to publish his English initial novel called The Fugitive in the country (Vickers 2006, p. 78). “The Earth of Mankind” a book by Adrian Vickers comes with a greater perspective and depth of independent Modern Indonesia but Vickers is the most controversial fiction author whose experience ranges for more than four decades. This book which is the first of his four novels is a narration of sweet and bitter coming to the Indonesian dominant Island-Java a century ago. This article focuses back in the day of growing Indonesia’s nationalism. This story was done in 1970s and published in 1980 in Jakarta, which was then banned by Suharto’s censors who was then the president despite unrelated elements in the book that was then connected to the current events (Vickers 2006, p. 56-71). Australian diplomat, Max lane first translated the book in English which led to his recall in 1981. This translation allowed wide reading by Europe and Asia and has then been revised into American edition (Vickers 2006, p. 85). Indonesia was formerly a collection of Islands spread across the equator with monsoonal downpours, green landscapes dominated by volcanoes and spicy heat. These were later made into the Netherlands East Indies by the Dutch. They made up the upper social class of the Indies; soldiers, administrators, managers, teachers and pioneers. Vickers has presented in this book how the Dutch views have greatly shaped modern Indonesia despite the aggression from the Indonesian subjects. (Vickers, 2006) The port city of Batavia, now Jakarta was founded on business with the Dutchmen setting up the first great multi-national company, the United East Indies Company, as investors. Even though it had been wound down by 1800, the Dutch already had control over most of Java, parts of the larger Island of Sumatra and others. Their venture into full blown empire-building is said to have began with the strong and independent Muslim sultanate of Aceh. Aceh, he says is known today as the centre of bitter conflict and rebellion, particularly because of its natural wealth of pepper and oil. Victory in the battle for public support came in 1894. How the Dutch conquered the colony was far much glorious for their rule. It is shown that they did not need to recreate a state from the bottom up. The Queen, Wilheminia was only at eighteen years of age when she was made queen and with the greatest economic depression in the modern world, she had to seek advice from her parliamentarians in The Hague on how to manage the colony for the greatest good of all her subjects. This form of aristocracy may reveal weakness in leadership structures (Vickers 2006, p. 48). There was an Ethical Policy that followed. Pies Brooshooft, a journalist, has been presented to be an activist against the inequities of the colonial system. Writing about the duty of the Dutch to give to the Indies what the Indies was due, said the ‘childlike’ peoples of the Indies needed assistance, not oppression. Through the newspapers, The Locomotive, he drew attention to the uncomfortable issues of colonialism, especially his call of ‘declining Native Welfare’ poverty, crop failure famine and epidemics. His bravery pooled the efforts of likeminded being and turned his campaign into the notion that the Netherlands owed the Indies a ‘debt of honor’. The Ethical Policy actually yielded a type of growth as the economy improved (Vicker, 2006, p. 45). This article focuses on an 18year old man called Minke, a young man with an appealing sense to his surroundings. Being the only foreigner in a Dutch school system, he can still walk with confidence in the colonizers’ society without permission. His father, a Javanese aristocrat and the friend of a French mercenary, was injured in war against rebels in Sumatra. His lover is also half Javanese and half Dutch, by the name Annelies Mellema. The girl’s mother struggles to raise her two children amidst a mixed culture and being a concubine, has to endure Dutch and Javanese prejudices for running a self indulgent business and emerges as the strongest character in the book. Minke’s mother stands by his son when his father rejects him but always urges him to be Javanese. Her plea is reflected in a letter written to his son after he became a writer for a Dutch-language journal that says “Why do you compose in a language that your mother cannot understand? Write the story of your love in the poetry of your ancestors so that your mother and the whole country may sing them”. This is another strong character in the book (Vickers 2006, p. 56). Pramoedya Ananta Toer, a novelist, made an effort in his novels making use of the events in that age to put forth the impact of Dutch perceptions on his fellow Indonesians. He must have taken into account the fact that his own father was born almost at the time when the queen was crowned and used his father’s lifestyle in Blora, where Tirto also was born, to present his position of colonialism. Mr. Toer has formed multiple relationships which can be used as a lesson in the complexity of colonial life. There are a few basic good and bad characters but instead, people are more concerned of themselves and the complex society in which they live (Vickers 2006, p. 78). Culture of the country side According to Adrian Vickers (2006), he describes culture of the country side as Blora of the Northern Central Java covered by thick forest and as an undistinguished country town situated in the same name regency. He describes it to lie on river Lusi beside teak and well know by many for its limestone cliffs. He describes the streets as dusty and full of Javanese typical houses. He upholds what generations have gained by studying in Blora the Koran and other Islamic holy books. Dutch community did not leave there for long due to the war marking 40 years of Queen Wilhelmina’s Authority. Despite all this ordinary scenery Blora held more than its upheaval and share of fame. Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia’s most famous novelist was born there, and before him had been Raden Mas Tirto Ardhi Suryo, hero of Pramoedya’s novels describing colonial society. Raden AJeng Kartini is also buried in Blora. (Vickers 2006, p. 62) Blora is known to hold all of Indonesia’s cultural and social diversity; Lords and commoners, strict versus liberal Muslims, peasants, farmers and laborers. The aristocrats were members of family networks and their equivalents were the rajas, sultans or chiefs. Tirto, although a part of those networks, rejected aristocratic hierarchy (Vickers 2006, p. 78) From the poem; Now the glory of the realm, Is seen to be faded, Rules’ regulation in ruin, For lack of examples….. What worth, being leader? So are sown the seeds of error. Sprinkled with of awareness, They sprout into flowers of failure (Vickers 2006, p. 25-78). It describes the colonial age as ‘age of madness’. It shows how most of the hierarchical acts of the upper social group impacted on the rest and thus a desperate cry for the nobility of Java to return to moral life and to live up to the duty of being members of the warrior caste. This gave rise to Tirto and others to take up in the arena of mass media and new kinds of organization, using the Western education brought by the Dutch (Vickers 2006, p. 28). Even when it comes to education and emancipation, the first available chances to the Western Education were given to the aristocracy. Others were contended while others felt patronized. One of the aristocrats, Kartini shows how the Dutch education assisted her to think wider and influence the life of the girl and woman in her society. Her subsequent skills and correspondence with Rosa, the directors’ wife and Stella combined efforts assessed the position of the Javanese women and the actions they could undertake to help them. Despite the limits of wanting the girls to be educated together with the boys, she had a solution at hand: ‘Accompany education with vocational training and then, the education intended as a blessing would truly be a blessing instead of a torture which is now for many girls.’ She was a realist. She said ‘Ideals, we Javanese girls cannot have ideals (Vickers 2006, p. 45). Indonesia, as presented in the first three chapters of Adrian Vickers’ book “The Earth of Mankind” attempts to give an account of the social, cultural and aristocratic political angle of 18th and 19th century Indonesia. He has displayed the state of the Islands and to the anti-colonial struggle that followed. The country’s origin is said to have been under the Dutch rule and eventually achieved its independence in 1199 (Vickers 2006, p. 74). Reference Vickers, A 2006, “A History of Modern Indonesia,” Cambridge; CA: Cambridge University press. Read More