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The following are some interesting entries that were posted in our forum:
Dutch Relatives in
Honoring our Heritage
Posted by: Bianca op December 01, 2004 om 13:38:06:
I am Dutch-Indonesian, born in
Where is the good stuff?
Posted by:
I read about what happened to the Dutch so far and the get together in Malacca, but will it change anything?
Will this Dutch Project actually try to bring back some of the lost culture? Will there be cultural events? Or will it remain a glorified event for familytree owners who happen to have a connection with
Let's hope there will be more!
A.
Follow Ups:
It is all with the people
Criticism is easy to offer but few are really willing to come forward to actually give assistance and support for a forgotten community in danger of fading into oblivion. Those who have actually made the effort to make this Project a reality deserves all the credit due to them.
The reality of things is that there is very little Dutch culture left in
The last known Dutch Burgher family in
The 'Reconnecting Through Our Roots' gathering in Malacca is, in my opinion, a movement in the right direction. For the very first time so many Dutch descendants came together and reconnected with each other. Bringing back the lost culture is one problem, but at least the first step was made to bring them together, to re-educate them about their heritage and to show to the world that they are still around, even though they were thought to be extinct. Where better to begin this journey of self discovery than with family histories?
T
he biggest success of the gathering is, at least those people now have gained an insight and understanding of their heritage and the Dutch descendants went home full of pride in learning about their forefather's contribution to Malaysian and world history. That was the biggest and best chance made.
Now, the power to move forward and reclaim their heritage lies in the hands of the Dutch descendants. Their actions will determine the fate of their future and of the future of their own descendants.
However, I have faith. From the number of participants who came to Malacca for the gathering and from their involvement in the project, I remain optimistic of the community.
It is not all about the names and dates of people who are our ancestors but the people left here and now - the community.
Follow Ups:
With the people... that means what?
After going through this web site, reading about heritage fadding away, people moving, integration, and so on... I do not see how a get together, even if yearly, would solve that. Sure you get a bunch of Dutch people there or at least of Dutch descend, but wat has actually been done to reboot the Dutch community? Why didn't anyone write about regained culture? I tell you why, because y'all been to busy with the wrong things.
When I read about the Sinterklaas thing, why didn't this organisation blend in some of this? Where is the cultural aspect? Did anyone learn anything that can be considered culture? I'll bet you that nobody left with anything that could be, even in an altered version, passed on to another generation, nothing that they would start doing at home!
You want to change many things... that I got to learn, but there isn't a single piece of information on this site that helps to re-introduce lost culture as the Sinterklaas, Kerstmis, Pasen, and all other holidays.
Basicly you say we should do something, but nowhere you say how. It is a serious flaw in your otherwise admirable organisation.
It's with the people, what does this mean? It's the peoples choice to bring back their culture? Great attitude! Assuming they would want to do so, where to start huh?
If you own a car without fuel, there's no reason driving it, know what I mean?
With deep respect
A.KV
In Reply to: With the people... that means what? Posted by:
Firstly I wish to state my personal appreciation to all those who have contributed n added action to words that we so often hear that will be happening and has now made it to MDDP.This website is a start esp.since no one had taken any trouble in starting the ball rolling.Reading the messages by Arnold n Dutch Eurasian, I can help but see the positive side of both your inputs.Improving and having greater knowledge in our pursuit to rediscover whats nearly lost in history is the way to go.Well, its true that alot of areas seems to be "grey.....missing....etc and its good Arnold that u hv identified a few areas to start off.maybe thats what this site needs...inputs and sharing as much as we have to ensure we achieve something before we stay lost in time.lets fuel up n Arnold,get a number and make a difference to positively contribute to this area that has my 3 generations all fired up and eagerly waiting for the next get-together.
bye now guys n i'll get online again tomm.
"anythings viable if we just try"
In Reply to: A late responce and a new idea Posted by: Arnold KV on November 01, 2004 om 12:56:51:
Thank you Arnold, Adrian and Dutch Eurasian for your participation, comments, criticisms and ideas. I followed your discussions with keen interest and I was curious to find out where it would go.
First of all please allow me to explain my position in the MDDP. I am simply acting as the Project's co-ordinator, whereby I assist the participating Dutch Descendants by facilitating events, gathering, procuring contacts and the dissemination of information regarding our unique history, heritage and culture. With the transition of the Project's website to its current home, the administration and hosting of this site is now done by the kind people at escape2malaysia.com. Hence, I am not this site's webmaster.
Things that are universally and traditionally associated with the Dutch are Dutch windmills, Dutch clogs, Dutch cheese, Frisian cows and Delft Blue porcelains. These are all so typically Dutch and are practically national treasures for the
Dutch Descendants in
The Dutch were (and probably still are) an adaptive group of people. Since the old days, when they were with other Dutch, they spoke Dutch; with the British, they spoke English and with the Malays, they spoke Malay, etc. When Malacca was ceded to the British, the Dutch community there did not pack up to leave but made the best of their new situation for their continued survival. It was the same in other Dutch colonies such as
The Dutch were generally tolerant of other people's beliefs and culture. As historically noted, instead of getting people to adopt their culture, the Dutch preferred to take the best from other people's culture and adopt it as their own. They don't like to force their ideology onto others, don't like to stand out from others, don't make a scene and value their privacy. Therefore, they were often able to blend in with different cultures and environments.
Unfortunately, because of their adoptive and receptive traits, it would lead to the cultural downfall of their descendants. Dutch Descendants in
The Project feels that because of our dwindling numbers, the first and most important step to be taken is to seek out the Dutch Descendants still left in
However, this is sometimes difficult because there are also some people who have Dutch sounding names or have their roots to the old Dutch communities but refuse to believe that they have anything to do with the Dutch. Sometimes, people may find it embarrassing to say that they are Dutch descent simply because our history has made out our ancestors to be a vile, cruel and greedy race.
It is true that not everybody is interested in their family's genealogy. Different people, different strokes. At gatherings, people do not talk only about genealogy. In fact, this Project has actually nothing to do with genealogy research. However, we do recognise that there is a widespread interest in this topic and by doing research on one's family history, it helps them discover more about their Dutch roots and heritage. It can help bring people together and is a good conversation starter. Therefore, where possible, the Project supports any such research. As a result, the Project has been involved in 2 successful international family reunions - the Neubronner and Westerhout families.
Because the Dutch Descendants here are really a hybrid race with a rather unique European-Asian cultural background, reviving traditional customs is not as easy as simply plucking out all Dutch traditions found in the
Some Dutch traditions actually have no significance to us nor to our ancestors. For instance, celebrating Queen's Day is something modern and even the colour orange which is suppose to reflect Dutch patriotism and historical alliance to the Prince of Orange only happened at a time after our ancestors had severed ties with the Netherlands. However, Dutch Descendants here have no problem wearing something orange as a small demonstration of their pride to be of Dutch descent.
The most significant tradition that is always associated to culture is language. Sadly, this legacy too was not perpetuated. Because of the British colonial era that our parents and forefathers experienced, we were thought to excel in the (British) Queen's English and even today,
With the help of Dutch nationals supporting the Project, Dutch language classes were held and a few participants joined. The classes were not for those who wanted to study Dutch to an advance level, but simply for those interested to learn a little about the language of their ancestors.
It is not to say that the Project does not strive to research the traditions and cultures of our ancestors, and indeed we have made some breakthroughs. For instance, it is long known that 'Breudher' is a cake-like-bread that has a strong tradition with the Ceylon Dutch Burghers. Now, it is understood that it is indeed of Dutch origin and the names comes from an ancient term referring to Dutch traditional sweet bread. It is also known that it is similar to the Dutch 'Turban' cake and even the Dutch Eurasians in Malacca have their own version called 'Blueda'. Both the 'Breudher' and the 'Turban' were served during our "Reconnecting Through Our Roots" event held at Malacca last July. Also worth mentioning is a turkey dish called 'Artaple kalakoon' that is done for Christmas inherited by a Dutch Eurasian family in Malacca. We already have all these on the website.
Although there are no records found showing our ancestors celebrated 'Sinterklaasfeest', but because this celebration predates the arrival of the Dutch to the East, we feel it is safe to deduce that it must have also been celebrated by them. We also have on record that at least one Ceylon Dutch Burgher family in
The Project have also arranged for its participants to be invited to Dutch related social and cultural events. Although all these efforts does not translate to a rigid methodology of instilling Dutch customs nor do we want to produce a DIY manual for Dutch traditions, the actual objective for now is to provide some exposure to the people and to experience for themselves some Dutch traditions and to cultivate their interest to find out more about their own Dutch-Asian culture.
The role of the Project would be to act as a centre to receive parts of the puzzle from the individuals, put the missing parts together so as to construct a panorama of this cultural kaleidoscope. We hope that this will help fill in some of those grey and missing areas.
At this moment, there have never been anything written about the ancestral traditions and culture of the Dutch Descendants, however, for those interested in history, some clues may sometimes be found between the written text and in illustrations. For instance, from British records, we now know that the Dutch ladies in Malacca during the late 18th century preferred to dress in a "sarong-kebaya" as it was not only fashionable but practical too.
Our critics often remind us that, unlike the Portuguese Eurasians of Malacca who still have their patois, religion, traditional songs and dances, the Dutch Descendants have no such culture left behind. We are often spited because it was our ancestors who 360 years ago had attempted to restrict their Roman Catholic faith and force the Malacca Portuguese to adopt Dutch culture but now it is they who have retained their ancient traditions. To this I give them credit and I have every respect for their historic, colourful and interesting culture. However, I must disagree with their claim that the Dutch Descendants have no culture (and therefore should adopt theirs) and I denounce their attempts to erase our existence by claiming that all Eurasians in
I hope this explanation has been helpful to clear the air about the Malaysian Dutch Descendants and the MDDP. We appreciate your support and participation. Thank you.
In Reply to: thanks for the involvement Arnold. Posted by: Adrian M on September 30, 2004 om 17:57:20:
I myself do not know the details to all Dutch customs. I wish I would, I would post them to the Dennis or the webmaster (would that be also Dennis?). I suppose Dennis could look for some material on the web to gather info a put some basics on this site.
Perhaps Dennis can actually kick-start a small cultural heritage revival when the next gathering takes place.
Speaking of ideas, maybe it would be nice if those who been to a gathering or those who plan to visit the next one, could talk about what they expect from the gathering. I assume not everybody has a familytree-thing going on and some would actually want to learn morn about their lost culture.
Obviously I am not the only one intrested in this! Hope to return soon for more feedback!
A.KV
Follow Ups:
In Reply to: Response from the co-ordinator Posted by: Dennis De Witt on November 02, 2004 om 13:01:43:
Congratulations on the MDDP Newsletter and the "links" available in it! In commenting on the above response, I would like to say that although the MDDP "has actually nothing to do with genealogy research", it has been most generous in passing along information to those of us who enjoy family history and genealogy. This has been a great help both in understanding the culture of our ancestors and in making actual connections and furthering our information on family history. Much credit goes to the MDDP and to its co-ordinator, Dennis De Witt, for giving us all a clearer picture of our forefathers and foremothers, their lives and times. As a resident of the
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