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
My family is Dutch Indonesian. Batavia which is now Jakarta still has a lot of architectural influence from the Dutch. The Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia wasn’t the same as say the British colonies, where they essentially suppressed the local culture nationally. The Dutch and the Dutch East India Company were there to trade and make profit and a lot of outlying territories were largely independent. Hence why places like Bali don’t show any of their influence. The Dutch language was never forced on the native population, some hypothesise this also helped to enforce the ruling class of Dutch with an elite status, however the Babus or nannies were required to learn it. Still they greatly influenced things like Indonesia’s current legal system which was adopted when they declared independence, and also public infrastructure like roads and rail. Coffee was introduced by the Dutch along with other crops like tea, sugar and rubber which is still to this day one of Indonesia’s larger exports. So there is still evidence of the Dutch colonial rule, it’s just not as glaringly obvious as some other countries.
Latest Answers