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Showing posts from August, 2013

BACK TO THE DUTCH-INDIES?

If you happen to be in Medan, Surabaya or Jakarta at the weekends, you could see a group of Indonesians wear the Dutch-Indies army uniforms, planter’s white suits, nationalist’s red & white head band and many more figures from the colonial past. They have also various props such as bamboo weapons and old style bicycles that are called “sepeda onthel”. They will gather listening to stories about what happened in the past, convoy around the city by bikes and simply enjoying themselves in a colonial atmosphere. There are also historical tours without colonial costumes and old style bicycles. They visit places together and listen to historical facts about those places. These tours are organized by individuals who intend to spread historical concerns in a popular way, outside school classes and not merely about chronological years of events. This kind of tour attracts people from various backgrounds who do not mind to pay the tickets to listen to historical lessons. The phenomenon h