The
South Moluccas consist of about 150 islands in the
Banda SeaThe Banda Sea is the sea of the South Moluccas in Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
. The main islands are Ceram,
AmbonAmbon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province...
, and
BuruBuru is an island in the Maluku province of Indonesia. It is located west of Ambon and Seram. The chief port and town is Namlea on the northeastern coast. During former President Suharto's New Order administration, Buru was the site of a prison used to hold thousands of political prisoners...
. The people of the South Moluccas are mainly
MelanesiaMelanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...
n
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
s, numbering about one million. The islands are a part of the Republic of
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and the birthplace of the counter revolutionary movement called Republik Maluku Selatan (RMS). Notable South Moluccan communities outside Indonesia can be found in the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
as well as the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state of
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. In the colonial era South Moluccans were considered a
Martial RaceMartial Race was a designation created by officials of British India, who observed that the Scottish Highlanders were more fierce in battle than others in Britain, and extended this concept to India, where they classified each ethnic group into one of two categories: 'Martial' and 'Non-Martial'. A...
of the
Dutch East IndiesThe Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II.It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800...
.
South Moluccan career soldiers of the colonial army
A relatively large number of the professional soldiers serving in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) were recruited among the population of Ambon and the surrounding South Moluccan islands. The South Moluccan islands were among the first to come under European influence in the 16th century. The Protestant mission had been more successful there than elsewhere in the East Indies; half the Ambonese population adhered to the Calvinist branch of Protestantism.
As early as 1605 armed Dutch merchantmen of the VOC captured the already existing Portuguese fort at the location of Ambon city on the island of
AmbonAmbon may refer to:Places* Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia.* Ambon, Maluku, a city on the Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku .* Ambon, Morbihan, a commune in Morbihan, FranceOther...
in the South Moluccas. It was an area already strongly influenced by the Portuguese (Portuguese family names, religion and language were common) and the Dutch developed it into the first secure base of the
Dutch East India CompanyThe Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock...
(VOC).
During the era of the VOC, the Moluccans were not only forced to trade with the VOC only, but also to focus solely on the production of cloves. After the downfall of the VOC and the collapse of the trade in cloves, they were fully dependent on the colonial structure and found occupation in the colonial army. The Ambonese were regarded as fierce fighters, reliable soldiers and absolutely loyal to the Dutch Crown. It was precisely this reputation that made them unpopular with other Indonesian nationalities. The Malay nickname for them was
Belanda Hitam, which translates to “Black Dutch” in English. All of this put them in a difficult position during both the Japanese occupation and the Indonesian national revolution.
During the Japanese occupation in the Second World War, most of the Moluccan soldiers were only briefly interned as
prisoners of warA prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a combatant who is held in continuing custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
(POWs). Initially, the Japanese occupation force decided to release them from military duty and send them home. However, the Japanese quickly discovered their miscalculation when the Moluccans became among the most active in the resistance movement against them. Throughout the occupied Dutch East Indies, Moluccan soldiers created underground resistance cells aiding the Allied forces. Some of these cells were active in gathering intelligence; other sleeper cells hid weapons in strategic locations waiting to take up arms during an Allied invasion. The Japanese secret police (
KempeitaiThe was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but was a French-style gendarmerie...
) responded by torturing and beheading any suspect, which in general did not deter the Moluccans.
After the capitulation of the Imperial Japanese Army to the Allied forces, the Moluccan soldiers acted equally defiantly towards the Indonesian revolutionaries trying to fill the power vacuum left by the Japanese. Smaller scale conflicts in the Bersiap period between regrouped Moluccan fighting units and Pemuda groups usually left the well-trained Moluccan military men victorious. In their efforts to subdue the counter revolutionary RMS movement on Ambon, the newly established
Tentara Nasional IndonesiaThe Indonesian National Armed Forces in 2009 comprises approximately 432,129 personnel including the Army , Navy including the Indonesian Marine Corps and the Air Force .The Indonesian Army was formed during the Indonesian National Revolution, when it undertook a...
(Republican Indonesian army, TNI) encountered the military
prowess of the Moluccan special troops. The heavy fighting triggered them to create their own special troops. At that time the Moluccan special troops only found their contemporaries in the
GurkhaGurkha, also spelled as Gorkha or Ghurka, are people from Nepal and northern India who take their name from the eighth century Hindu warrior-saint Guru Gorakhnath. His disciple Bappa Rawal, born Prince Kalbhoj/Prince Shailadhish, founded the house of Mewar, Rajasthan...
units of the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
.
Disbanding the colonial army
During the
Indonesian National RevolutionThe Indonesian National Revolution or Indonesian War of Independence was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between Indonesia and the Netherlands, and an internal social revolution...
, the Dutch had to disband the reinstated KNIL and the native soldiers had the choice of being demobilised or joining the army of the Republic of Indonesia. Due to a deep distrust of the Republican leadership, being predominantly Javanese
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
, this was an extremely difficult choice for the Protestant Ambonese and only a minority chose to serve with the Indonesian Army. Disbanding proved a complicated process and, in 1951, two years after the transfer of sovereignty, not all soldiers had been demobilised. The Dutch were under severe international pressure to disband the colonial army and made these men temporarily part of the normal Dutch army, while trying to demobilise them in
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
.
Herein lay the source of the discontent among the Moluccan soldiers as, according to the KNIL policy, soldiers had the right to choose the place where they were to be discharged at the end of their contract. The political situation in the new Republic of Indonesia was initially unstable and, in particular, controversy over a federal or centralised form of the state resulted in armed conflicts in which Ambonese ex-KNIL men were involved. In 1951 an independent Republic of South Moluccas (Indonesian: RMS, Republik Maluku Selatan) was proclaimed at Ambon. The RMS had strong support among the Ambonese KNIL soldiers. As a consequence the Moluccan soldiers located outside the South Moluccas demanded to be discharged at Ambon. But Indonesia refused to let the Dutch transport these soldiers to Ambon as long as the RMS was not repressed, fearing prolonged military struggle. When after heavy fighting the RMS was repressed at Ambon, the soldiers refused to be discharged there. They now demanded to be demobilised at Ceram, where counter revolutionary pockets of resistance against Indonesia still existed. This was again blocked by Indonesia.
Demobilisation of the Moluccan soldiers to the Netherlands
The Dutch government finally decided to transport the remaining men and their families to the Netherlands. They were discharged on arrival and 'temporarily' housed in camps until it was possible for them to return to the Moluccan islands. In this way around 12,500 persons were settled in the Netherlands, more or less against their will and certainly also against the original plans of the Dutch government. The reaction of the Dutch government to the settlement of the Moluccan soldiers was exactly the opposite of the reaction to the Indo repatriates. Whereas the latter were defined as fellow-citizens who had to be integrated as quickly and as fully as possible, the Moluccans were considered to be temporary residents who had to be repatriated to Indonesia. They were 'temporarily' housed in camps, mostly in rural areas and near small towns. A special agency was set up to manage all matters concerning these temporary residents, the 'Commissariaat Ambonezenzorg' (CAZ).
To deal with all kinds of daily matters the CAZ created 'representatives' in the camps who regulated the lives of the inhabitants in accordance with the rules. These representatives were (mostly) recruited from among the non-commissioned officers, who were in this way able, to a certain extent, to re-establish their status in the new circumstances. The housing situation in the camps resembled in many ways the barracks of the colonial army, where the soldiers were housed, together with their families, under the direct supervision of non-commissioned officers. This specific housing situation contributed greatly to the isolation of the Moluccan population from Dutch society. The camps, and later the neighbourhoods, became enclaves where the schools, though officially Dutch in programme and language, became exclusively Moluccan and where access to the labour market was geographically often restricted. Even when it became more and more obvious that there was no possibility to repatriate the ex-servicemen to Indonesia, the Dutch government did not formulate a radically different policy.
This situation dragged on until 1970 when the CAZ was finally dissolved and normal ministerial and other agencies became responsible. The Dutch government had at last admitted that the Moluccans were not temporary residents and that their future lay in the Netherlands. Still, in 1968 more than 80 percent of the Moluccans were still without official citizenship, i.e. stateless. The ex-soldiers were deeply frustrated by the demise of the colonial army. The KNIL had offered not only an income, but also a whole way of life in which their status was secure. They had always been loyal to the Dutch Crown and had felt betrayed when their services were no longer rewarded. In response they had pinned their hopes on an independent RMS and had expected that the Dutch would help them to realise it.
These feelings continued and were even strengthened in the years of isolated settlement in the Netherlands. There seemed to be only one worthwhile ideal and that was the creation of the RMS. But whatever the merits of this ideal, the Moluccans in the Netherlands could do nothing to bring its realisation any nearer. Moreover the isolated situation in the camps and neighbourhoods had given rise to a type of expressive leadership that could only manifest itself in opposing and confronting the CAZ and the Dutch in general.
South Moluccan terrorist action in the Netherlands
This situation led to growing tension and to splits within the RMS movement. The older generation of leaders of the RMS movement saw their authority challenged. Finally the crisis in the Ambonese communities exploded in a decade of violence against internal rivals and Dutch society. A series of
terroristTerrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism...
attacks started in 1970 with a raid on the residence of the Indonesian ambassador in Wassenaar. The Dutch reaction to this attack was restrained. The attackers received mild sentences and were still seen as misguided
idealistsIdealism is the philosophical theory that maintains that the ultimate nature of reality is based on mind or ideas. It holds that the so-called external or "real world" is inseparable from mind, consciousness, or perception...
. Within the Moluccan community the 'boys of action' gained great prestige. This fueled further terrorist actions in 1975 and 1977. As with the attack in
WassenaarWassenaar is a town in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. A fairly affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies 10 km north of that city on the N44 highway near the North Sea coast. The municipality covers an area of 62.50 km², of which 11.65 km² is...
, the aims of these actions were not very clear; apart from restoring unity within the RMS movement, it is difficult to see any concrete objectives in the vague rhetoric and impossible political demands made by the attackers. Attacks on a train and on a village school in 1977 led to a final escalation of the violence. The Dutch government saw no other way out than to use military force to end the action. Meanwhile, support for this kind of action within the Moluccan community was ebbing. Instead of reuniting the Moluccans in the Netherlands, this radicalism threatened to lead to more division. When, in 1978, a group of youngsters raided the seat of the provincial government in Assen, they received not the slightest support.
Second and third generation Moluccans in the Netherlands
Towards the end of this period of terrorist violence, the Dutch government had already dropped the idea that the Moluccans were temporary residents, but had not been able to create a channel of communication through which to discuss and implement policy measures that opened a way to the future. The social situation left much to be desired, school attainments were low and unemployment high. Earlier attempts to set up a communal platform for the government and Moluccan representatives had not been successful, because of antagonism within the Moluccan communities and impossible political demands made at the outset by the Moluccans. In 1976 a platform was formed where government policy measures could be discussed with representatives of the Moluccan community, the IWM (Dutch abbreviation for: Inspraakorgaan Welzijn Molukkers). In 1978 a substantial White Paper (De Problematiek van de Molukkers in Nederland) was sent by the government to parliament. It offered measures to enhance Moluccan participation in Dutch society, in particular in the fields of education and the labour market.
The IWM has proved a valuable communication channel for communal projects. A case in point was the plan to create thousands of jobs for Moluccans in government service. The primary goal was to combat high unemployment, but a secondary goal was to open up a particular section of the labour market where Moluccans were significantly underrepresented. The recognition that employment, education and social welfare in general were important fields where the situation of the Moluccan population, and especially of the new generation, had to be improved, was a positive development. Partly because the second generation was already much more oriented to Dutch society, partly as a result of the policy of affirmative action, participation in the labour market and in the school system developed positively after 1980. Levels of educational attainment rose, unemployment levels were lower and the jobs fulfilled were also somewhat higher in scale. In general the second-generation Moluccans made a great leap forward in this period, compared to the first 'soldier generation'. They are more and more at home in the Netherlands.
The situation of the Moluccans in the Netherlands is at present remarkably different from that in 1970. Practically all Moluccans are now Dutch citizens. This makes it more difficult to give the precise number of Moluccans in the Netherlands, though research shows that there are to date about 40,000 persons who can be classified as Moluccan. A majority of this population identifies itself to a certain extent with the Moluccan islands where their families once came from, but this identification seems less and less an impediment to integration in Dutch society. In this sense the Moluccans have at last become 'normal immigrants'.
Notwithstanding Moluccan integration into modern Dutch society has halted terrorist radicalisation up to the nineties, the Netherlands were reminded yearly of the traumatic side of their colonial past, when celebrations of the RMS independence declaration frequently resulted in flared sentiments or even heavy riots in the streets of the capital.
South Moluccan cultural activity in the Netherlands
In the 1950s and 1960s Moluccan musicians made their mark together with artists from the Indo community. In the 1980s, bands like
Masada- Israel :* Masada , a Judean fortress, the site of a famous siege and mass suicide.* Masada , a kibbutz in Israel near the Sea of Galilee.* Mas'ada , a Druze village in the Golan Heights.- Other :...
were popular. Massada's hitsong 'Sajang e' is the only song in the Malay language to ever reach number one ranking in the Netherlands.
One of the most talented artist to arise from the South Moluccan community in the Netherlands is the internationally acclaimed singer songwriter Daniel Sahuleka. Also in Indonesia many famous musicians are ethnic Moluccans. Like popstar Glenn Fredly who toured the Netherlands in 2008 and acknowledged Daniel Sahuleka as one of his main inspirations.
In the 21st century new generations of South Moluccans in the Netherlands have chosen cultural ways to manifest their heritage and express themselves. Performing traditional
TifaTifa may refer to:* Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, Trade and Investment Framework Agreement* Tifa Lockhart, a main character from Final Fantasy VII* Tifa , musician and singer from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina...
music and
CakaleleCakalele refers to a kind of ceremonial war dance originating from North and Central Maluku. The dance is performed using a narrow, wooden shield, sometimes also referred as a cakalele, though usually known by the North Moluccan Malay term sawako or by a local name, such as Tobelo o...
dance. But also by expressing themselves with contemporary music like Hiphop.
As Dutch sports culture features great football (soccer) prowess, also many South Moluccans in the Netherlands have made a name for themselves in this sport. Famous Moluccan players include:
Simon TahamataSimon Melkianus Tahamata is a former Dutch football player originating from the Maluku Islands, who has played for Dutch and Belgian clubs...
,
Bobby PettaBobby Petta is a Dutch professional football player currently playing for Heidelberg United, in the Victorian Premier League...
and
Denny LandzaatDenny Domingoes Landzaat is a Dutch footballer who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for Dutch Eredivisie club Feyenoord.-Early life:Landzaat is born and raised in Amsterdam, North Holland, The Netherlands...
and
Giovanni van BronckhorstGiovanni Christiaan van Bronckhorst , known as Gio for short, is a Dutch footballer of South Moluccan ancestry who plays for Dutch Eredivisie club Feyenoord and the Dutch national team....
, whose mothers are Moluccan.
South Moluccas Republic
The
Republic of the South Moluccas (
Republik Maluku Selatan (RMS)), was a self-proclaimed
republicA republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "a public affair".Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their...
in the
Maluku IslandsThe Maluku Islands are an archipelago in Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi , west of New Guinea, and north of Timor...
, founded April 25, 1950. The RMS was defeated by Indonesian forces in November 1950. The defeat resulted in the flight of the self-declared RMS government from the islands, and the formation of a
government in exileA government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
in the Netherlands. The government-in-exile continues to exist, with
Frans TutuhatunewaFrans Tutuhatunewa , is the second, and current president in exile of the South Moluccas .
...
as head of state. However does not proclaim any violent action towards either the Netherlands or Indonesia.
Recent developments in Indonesia
The South Moluccan people are predominantly Christian, unlike most regions in Indonesia which are overwhelmingly Muslim. The South Moluccan Republic, however, was also supported by some Moluccan Muslims in the region at that time. Today, while the majority of Christians on the Moluccas do not support separatism, the memory of the RMS and its separatist objectives still resonates in Indonesia. Moluccan Christians, lately during the chaos in Moluccas, are accused by Muslim groups of having independence as their goal. This accusation has been useful in galvanizing Muslims to fight (
jihadJihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād is a noun meaning "struggle." Jihad appears frequently in the Qur'an and common usage as the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of Allah "...
), and the situation has not been aided by the fact that some diaspora Moluccan Christian groups have taken up the RMS banner.
In the Moluccas agreement in
MalinoMalino is a small hill town resort in the Gowa district of South Sulawesi, 90 km from Makassar. It is a popular getaway famous for its tropical flowers.- Malino Conference :...
(Malino II), signed to end conflict and create peace in the Moluccas, Moluccans claimed "to reject and oppose all kinds of separatist movements, among others the Republic of South Moluccas (RMS), that threaten the unity and sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia". However during the visit to Ambon of the Indonesian president in the summer of 2007, RMS sympathisers disturbed ceremonies by performing the Moluccan war dance and hoisting the RMS flag.
Maluku Sovereignty Front
Since 1999, a new organization known as the
Maluku Sovereignty FrontThe Maluku Sovereignty Front is a secessionist movement on Ambon Island, ostensibly aiming to restore the Republic of the South Moluccas . They have been monitored by the Indonesian military for stockpiling weapons and flying the RMS flag in public places. Official sources claim that the group...
(FKM) has operated in
AmbonAmbon may refer to:Places* Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia.* Ambon, Maluku, a city on the Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku .* Ambon, Morbihan, a commune in Morbihan, FranceOther...
, stockpiling weapons and flying the RMS flag in public places. The leader of the FKM organisation Alex Manuputty has fled to the United States, but continues to support independence.
Terrorist activity in the Netherlands
- Attempt at kidnapping Juliana of the Netherlands
In Spring 1975 some Moluccans attempted to kidnap Juliana, queen of the Netherlands.On March 3 that year two South-Moluccan youngsters were stopped by the police and found carrying weapons and ammunition in their car. Their plan was to rent a heavy truck and crash into the gate of the Soestdijk...
1975
- Train hostage Wijster 1975
- Indonesian consulate hostage 1975
- Train hostage in De Punt 1977
- School hostage in Bovensmilde 1977
- Province Hall hostage Assen 1978
External links