A trip down memory lane
Hans Nicholas Jong, The Jakarta Post, The Hague | Feature | Mon, April 29 2013, 12:14 PM
[see picture JP...] Fun: Visitors of all nations participate in a poco-poco flash mob at Pasar Malam Indonesia in The Hague recently.
People say there is no way to cure the agony of missing that place you hold dear in your heart. But visitors to Pasar Malam Indonesia will certainly beg to differ.
Held in the heart of The Hague, Pasar Malam Indonesia has been the antidote for four years for the nostalgia of Indonesian immigrants to the Netherlands, as well as Dutch who have had relationships with Indonesia.
Both countries have a longstanding relationship, with the Netherlands colonizing Indonesia for centuries, resulting in many Indonesians in the Netherlands and vice versa.
From 17 million residents of the Netherlands, 2 million have a connection to Indonesia, as they either have relatives with Indonesian heritage or have stayed in Indonesia, according to the Indonesian Embassy in the Netherlands.
And this year was no different than last, with people flocking to Malieveld Park where Pasar Malam Indonesia is held to get a taste of exotic Indonesian culture as well as take a trip down memory lane.
One might remember a trip to Java when seeing the wayang puppets displayed at a booth at the festival, or a honeymoon to Bali when Balinese traditional dance was performed. Sometimes, however, the simplest things, like a map, can also jolt someone’s memory.
Jacobus Hollander, a 71-year-old war veteran, for example, suddenly remembered the time he spent in Papua when he saw a large map displayed at the booth of the Communications and Information Ministry during this year’s Pasar Malam Indonesia.
[see picture..] Hungry: A buyer purchases fried bananas at the food fair at Pasar Malam Indonesia in The HagueHungry: A buyer purchases fried bananas at the food fair at Pasar Malam Indonesia in The Hague
“I spent two years there. It was just like a vacation for me when I was sent there during my young age of 19 as I did not even shoot a single bullet!” he said enthusiastically while pointing to the map. “But that map is not accurate. It says Irian Jaya while in fact it is now named Papua.”
Hollander said it was his first visit to Pasar Malam Indonesia and that he missed the country very much.
“I miss Indonesia very much because the last time I visited Indonesia was in 1997, which was my fifth time there,” he said.
Hollander then recalled a road trip through the country, tracing the places he had been while pointing to the map.
“I’ve been to Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi and Papua,” he said as he recalled every memorable thing that he encountered while traveling.
Another war veteran, Hans Eigkman, 85, was happy with the fact that he got to play angklung again during the festival, having played the bamboo instrument during a visit to Bandung in 2009.
“I can still remember how to play it,” Eigkman, who was sent by the Dutch military to Indonesia in the 1940s, said after an angklung workshop on the second day of the festival.
Besides playing angklung, he also got to participate in poco-poco (a traditional line dance) along with Indonesians and foreigners during another workshop.
Wearing a beret and a veterans uniform, Eigkman stood out from the other participants. However, he was able to blend in as well as his ripe old age did not deter him and his wife from moving jovially along with the catchy music.
Dancing alongside Indonesians who were eager to ask people to dance, Pasar Malam Indonesia reminded Eigkman of the warm Indonesian hospitality, even if he could not feel the country’s warm weather as the temperature in The Hague was a chilling 0 Celsius at that time.
“I miss Indonesia very much. The nature is very nice and I like to avoid the winter in the Netherlands so I usually stay for four months in Indonesia,” said Eigkman, who has traveled to Indonesia 10 times since he was there during the colonial period. “I miss places like Bandung for its cool climate and Bali for its warm weather.”
The nostalgia is what makes Eigkman a frequent visitor since the first Pasar Malam Indonesia was held in 2010. He is also a regular visitor to the Tong Tong Fair, a similar event held in The Hague every May.
Unlike Eigkman and Hollander, who sought souvenirs and food to satisfy their nostalgic cravings, Nancy Compter Grootings, 66, visited the festival to look for a specific item, her birth certificate.
“I have to show my birth certificate to be able to apply for my pension. I was born in Jakarta in 1947, back when it was still Batavia. Then I returned to the Netherlands in 1954 and my mother lost all of her documents, including my birth certificate,” she told The Jakarta Post.
Because of that, she was told to ask the Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Agency for her birth certificate.
But since she did not know anybody at the agency, she decided to visit the festival hoping that she could find someone to help her.
“Thankfully I met people from the Indonesian Embassy who gave me full instruction on who to call and where to go to get my birth certificate,” she said.
The festival did not only attract elders looking to reminiscence about the old days, but also youngsters eager to know more about Indonesia.
A group of elementary school students from all over the world, for example, eagerly joined the angklung workshop by shaking their angklungs as they followed instructions from two angklung teachers on stage.
[see picture..] Ready: Students from De Vuurlinder Elementary School get ready to play their angklungs at a workshop at Pasar Malam Indonesia.
The children, ranging from seven to 12 years of age who go to De Vuurlinder Elementary School, were so excited to play their angklung that some of them started even before the instructors told them to do so.
Some also gasped when the instructors played “Baby”, the popular Justin Bieber song, with angklungs.
“I like everything about angklung, especially when we got to play the Justin Bieber song,” said Sophie, one of the students, before adding, “Angklung is difficult though.”
In spite of the palpable sense of nostalgia during Pasar Malam Indonesia, the festival also offered visitors a chance to look at the development of the archipelago much touted as an emerging giant in Southeast Asia.
Booths like those from the Trade Ministry as well as the Communications and Information Ministry were present to explain to visitors the current situation of Indonesia’s trade as well as the rapid development of the country’s information and technology.
“The festival was initially established to develop the emotional bond between the two countries. But this year we also wanted to display the latest development of Indonesia, particularly from an economic point of view,” said Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands Retno Marsudi.
- Photos by JP/Hans Nicholas Jong
The Jakarta Post
ma 29 apr 2013 - 13:57