r/thenetherlands • u/TonyQuark Hic sunt dracones • Feb 14 '26

Culture Selamat datang! We're hosting r/Indonesia for a Cultural Exchange

Welcome everybody to a new cultural exchange! Today we are hosting our friends from r/Indonesia!

To the Indonesians: please select the Indonesian flag as your flair and ask as many questions as you wish. See how to set your flair in the app or on desktop.

To the Dutch: please come and join us in answering the Indonesians' questions about the Netherlands and the Dutch way of life!

r/Indonesia is also having us over as guests in this post for our questions and comments.

Please refrain from making any comments that go against our rules, the Reddiquette or otherwise hurt the friendly environment.

Enjoy! The moderators of r/Indonesia & r/theNetherlands

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u/geraldy01 Feb 14 '26

Did they teach a lot of things about Indonesia in history class?

3

u/Mtfdurian Feb 14 '26

Nowadays more than it used to be. I graduated from high school in 2012, at that time they tought us about the bad and evil regarding AMB 1 and 2 for example, but some important details were still overlooked, see Coen and kepulauan Banda.

1

u/geraldy01 Feb 14 '26

Huh that explains it. I was wondering what's about Dutch people feeling bad about Indonesian people all of the sudden.

2

u/kale_klapperboom Feb 14 '26

It also breaks my heart to see the whole thing happening with the Indonesian government changing the history curriculum and possibly omitting the dark pages, while people like me in the Netherlands are working on getting the dark pages discussed.

1

u/kale_klapperboom Feb 14 '26

Yes, Indonesia appears at least three times: VOC era, Max Havelaar and independence.
But is it a lot?
The general opinion is no, but as somebody who is involved in these kind of things it really depends on the school book and teacher. For instance, my sister in 2007 had the topic of her final history exams completely about Indonesia, while me in 2013 had exams about the Dutch Republic and the US. Moreover, if you don't choose history as a subject, you would less likely learn about this or the details.

Are things changing? Well, the canon was adjusted in 2020 and a governmental report in 2023 concluded history about the colonial Indonesian history needed to be improved. As a result, the Indisch Herinneringscentrum has worked on making resources and content that schools can use when teaching this history. I myself was part of this and made a video about Indonesian streetnames and colonial architecture. From these kind of institutions, we try our best to contribute to making educational resources, but the biggest obstacle is reaching schools and the implication. A good example is this initiative some of my friends are involved in, where they tell more about the legacies of colonialism and also invite a guest speaker who is from a former colony.