why after over 300 years of dutch rule, contrary to other former colonies, Indonesia neither has significant leftovers of dutch culture nor is the dutch language spoken anywhere.

Question

why after over 300 years of dutch rule, contrary to other former colonies, Indonesia neither has significant leftovers of dutch culture nor is the dutch language spoken anywhere.

In: 9430

Answer 1

I’ve been to Indonesia a lot, my fiancée is Indonesian, I can tell you why.

The Dutch for the most part didn’t set foot on the populated islands during most of their time there. They set up military trading outpost bases on smaller islands just off the coasts of them. They used an ethnic minority (the Indonesian/Chinese) as a middleman for trade between themselves and the natives. Essentially creating a caste system. The Dutch did business the indo chinese, the Indo Chinese did the work in the islands.

To this day, Indo Chinese are an upper class ethnic minority in Indonesia. They are less than 5% of the population, yet control 90% of its wealth. Indonesia is a majority Muslim country. 80% of Indonesians are Muslim. Yet, Indo Chinese are a catholic minority.

There is plenty of Dutch culture. It’s just maintained within Indo-Chinese gated neighborhoods and communities for the most part. I’ve been in them.