By Eric Morgan This recipient of the “Order of Orange-Nassau” (in 2008, as recognition by the Dutch government for her service on behalf of its people), does not need much of an introduction to the readers of The Indo Project (or “TIP”). Though she is Dutch-born from Dutch parents, Henny Neys, inspired by her late husband Alan (who…
By: Priscilla Kluge McMullen. Grave # BB12. Ereveld Kembang Kuning,Surabaja, Indonesia. June 21 has always been a difficult day for the Kluge family, a supposedly joyful day announcing the start of the Summer, that somehow was often overshadowed by a touch of sadness in our family. This grave belongs to Constance Wilhelmina Kluge. She was the…
By Linda Kimbrough Happy news from Heddy Emanuel of Anaheim, CA. Last month, her son Colonel Frank D. Emanuel was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. A luncheon to celebrate this promotion was held at the Sacramento Military Department, Sacramento, CA on Friday April 1, 2016. Both of Frank’s parents were born in the Dutch…
By Willem ten Wolde I was researching books written in English about the Japanese prison or internment camps in the former Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, when I found Annelex Hofstra Layson’s autobiography Lost Childhood: My Life in a Japanese Prison Camp During World War II. I was intrigued because it was—so far—the only one…
THE HAGUE, Netherlands–Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, claimed victory for his conservative VVD party in the Netherland’s national elections on September 12, 2012. Although Rutte himself was born in Den Haag in 1967 and not an Indo, what makes him especially interesting are his family ties to the former Dutch East Indies. His father, who…
The following speech is by Jesse Eijsbroek, given at the commemoration ceremony in San Francisco on August 2nd, 2015: In June of 1942, the Japanese Empire launched an ambitious military logistics project to connect the existing railways between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma. The line was considered difficult—navigating through hilly jungle terrain and around many…
By Jeff Keasberry As of this month we are adding a new category to our TIP site: Food. Eating and cooking are at the core of our culture and talking about it equally so. The objective is not to create another recipe box per se, as there are plenty of those sites already, but more…
By Jamie Stern Photo: Jamie as a toddler with her Mother, Oma, Opa and Tante – 1989. Congratulations to all the new grandparents this year and to all the grandparents who received more grandbabies! The Indo Project’s very own newsletter editor, Ingrid McCleary, is celebrating her new grandson, Baby Ben. (Congratulations Ingrid!) This Sunday happens…
By Sierra Jacob. What of the children? Once resting swollen in our wombs, the weight we carried between the yawning of our hips. Tasting the salt air like we did, pushed up against the hunched horizon in liberation ships to Holland—to Australia—to the United States. How we thought we could forget the dark slash of…
By Kathryn Pentecost Fig.1: Dutch architecture, Yogyakarta 2011 (Collection: The author) The Dutch were certainly not the first Europeans to trade in the archipelago; English and Portuguese traders were also keen to exploit the natural resources of the archipelago. The Dutch, however, created the first multinational trading empire with the purpose of breaking the Portuguese…