Root and Home

-
I was born in Semarang and grew up for the first 26 years of my life in Bandung, in a house in Oranjeplein or to be precise, Riau street number 112. The new name of the street is LLRE Martadinata. After 26 years I moved to several places either in Indonesia or outside Indonesia until I reached my current coordinate in Amsterdam. If I think of my root in term of place then I will always think of that house in Riau street. I have stronger memories of my childhood there than other period of my life. If I could recall what a home was, it would be also that same house.

When Dian and I moved to the Netherlands in 2005, the hardest decision I had to take was not about myself but the realization about root and home for Dian. I realized that if Dian grows up and lives in the Netherlands, it would be her root and home with all their consequences : language, norm, value, lifestyle, way of living, way of thinking, culture, habits. To some degree naturally she will receive Indonesian influence from me as her mother but in the years to come she will counts where she grows up as her root and home. At least in term of place. She is born in Indonesia but she lives too short there to have memories. Similar to my experience with Semarang, I have barely memories about Semarang.

At the end I realized that nothing wrong for Dian (or any other children) of being someone with different root and home than her mother. Any root is fine, any culture is equal, any language is fascinating, and as the lyrics of 'Ebony and Ivory' said, "We all know that people are the same where ever we go."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REFLECTION ON 2023

-
Image
Bandung, October 2023 The end of 2023 gets closer.  I am thankful for the health, safety, and opportunities that I have this year.  The year started with good walks to the countryside of Austria. I had to thank my Austrian friends who introduced me to the beauty of nature, the farming life, and also the rich culture of a big city like Vienna. I fell in love with the philosophy of the architect  Friedensreich Hundertwasser: inspired by and back to nature.  In the spring, I had to thank my senior, Donovan Rypkema,  who introduced me to his heritage networks and works around Washington DC. I learned a lot about revitalization of the historical districts of the city.   I continued my journey with the train adventures following the history of the Dutch along the Hudson River until the border of  Canada. The experience with WWOOF USA impressed me. I think I will do it again, in another country next year. Staying in new surroundings with new people delivered fresh insights about life, and al
Read more

RISE AND FALL OF SUGAR INDUSTRY IN INDONESIA

-
Image
Sugar Factory Olean, Situbondo, East Java, Indonesia  (Source: Het Rozenhuis) The Sugar Industry in Java as shown during the International World Exhibition in 1910 in Brussels, Belgium (Source: J.W. Ramaer)  Heritage hands-on is selected as one of the participants “Sharing and Collaborative: The Footprints of Asian Sugar Industrial Heritage” is a part of the international symposium on “Multilateral, Sharing and Collaborative: Developing a Common Vision of Asian Industrial Heritage.” This event will take place in t he Cultural & Creative Industries Park, Taiwan, 30 th May – 31 st August. The organizer is  the Bureau of Cultural Heritage Ministry of Culture, Taiwan and it is implemented by National Yunlin University of Science & Technology Department of Cultural Heritage Conservation. Heritage hands-on will present the exhibition about "Rise and Fall of Sugar Industry in Indonesia".   I n the 1930’s Indonesia was the world second largest su
Read more

INFILL DEVELOPMENT

-
Image
Perpaduan antara bangunan lama dan baru selalu menarik perhatian saya karena saya percaya pelestarian pusaka (heritage conservation) haruslah aktual dan menjawab kebutuhan zaman. Jadi tidak semata-mata dan sama sekali bukan untuk nostalgia. Jika memang niat ada banyak cara untuk mempertahankan bangunan lama dan mengkombinasikannya dengan bangunan baru. Dengan cara ini pelestarian pusaka dan pembangunan baru secara simultan terakomodasi. Solusi seperti ini umumnya disebut Infill Development . Definisinya menurut BUILD, is the economic use of vacant land, or restoration or rehabilitation of existing structures or infrastructure, in already urbanized areas where water, sewer, and other public services are in place, that maintains the continuity of the original community fabric. Solusi Infill Development juga berdasar pada semakin meningkatnya kesadaran tentang pembangunan berkelanjutan dan pelestarian lingkungan hidup. Pendekatan Infill adalah tanggapan terhadap kebijakan pemerintahan
Read more