The following paper entitled Children of the VOC by Dennis De Witt was presented at an international seminar entitled The Easternization of the West: The Role of Melaka, the Malay-Indonesian archipelago and the Dutch (VOC).

Seminar Organisers:
The Melaka State Government, the Malaysian Institute of Historical and Patriotism Studies (IKSEP), the Institute of Occidental Studies (IKON) at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) and the Netherlands Embassy in Malaysia.

Date and Venue:
27th July 2006, the Melaka International Trade Center (MITC), Ayer Keroh, Malacca, Malaysia.

Officiation by:
Rt. Hon. Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, Chief Minister of Malacca.

Keynote Address delivered by:
Mr. Luc Schillings, the Deputy Ambassador of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Malaysia.

Other Presenters:
•Prof. Dr. Heather Sutherland
School of Cultural Anthropology, Vrije Universitiet Amsterdam
•Prof. Dr. Frans Husken
Institute of History and Cultural Studies, University of Nijemegen
•Prof. Dr. Mario Rutten
Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Amsterdam
•Prof. Dr. Richard Z. Leirissa
Faculty of Humanities, University of Indonesia
•Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nordin Hussin
Assistant Director, Institute of Occidental Studies (IKON), National University of Malaysia (UKM)





The Easternization of the West:
Children of the VOC
By Dennis De Witt

Introduction The Children of the VOC are the descendants of the employees of the VOC who sailed from Europe and became part of the settler communities in the East. This paper attempts to give a brief background on the history of the Dutch descendants and the development of the remaining Dutch-Asian communities, with particular focus on the Dutch descendants in Malaysia.

The VOC and its realm in Asia

The VOC is an acronym which stood for 'Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie', meaning 'United East India Company'. The company acted as a conglomerate, which was a result from the amalgamation of concerns by Dutch merchants from the towns of Amsterdam, Delft, Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Middelburg and Rotterdam into one huge enterprise.

On 20th March 1602, the Company was granted its first charter, which resulted in the official establishment of the VOC. Under the charter, the VOC was authorised to send ships to Asia and to conduct trade in the area that was made up from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan.

The trade area of the VOC, then known as its trade zone or the Indies, included Dutch strongholds in countries like Indonesia — where Batavia was the seat of the VOC power in Asia — South Africa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Formosa (Taiwan), China and Japan. It also included other lesser known establishments at Siam (Thailand), Bengal and other stations on the Indian subcontinent, Tonkin and Quinam (North and South Vietnam), Persia, Korea and Malacca.


From European settlers to hybrid communities

During its existence, the VOC fitted out some 4,700 ships, which provided the Dutch with a lucrative transcontinental trade. Between 1602 and 1700, about 317,000 people sailed from Europe on these ships, while between 1700 and 1799 this total reached 655,000. These early seafarers who sailed on VOC ships from Europe to the East were not made up of only Dutch men but also commonly included Germans, French Huguenots, Italians, British, Scandinavians and other European nationalities who were employed by the VOC.

Ultimately, only less than one-third of the original one million seafarers to the East ever made their way back to Europe. The majority of them made the Indies their new home.

In establishing their numerous trade stations spanning across Asia, the VOC created independent settler societies in each of their colonies. Dutch colonies that are still familiar to us today are those at Cape Town in South Africa, Galle in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Batavia (now Jakarta) in Indonesia and also in Malacca on the Malay Peninsular.

Since the time of Jan Pieterszoon Coen (Governor-general: 1619-1623; 1627-1629), the VOC had rationalised for a settler society who would be financially self-sufficient as compared to the high cost of keeping a pure Dutch garrison stationed in the East. The colonisation theory comprising of free-burghers that Joan Maetsuyker (Governor-general: 1653-1678) and Rijkloff van Goens (Governor-general: 1678-1681) endeavoured to put into practice was substantially based on the success of the previous Portuguese colonisation model.

Intermarriages between VOC employees and locals were encouraged, which lead to the creation of many Eurasian families. Many newly arrived employees and young Dutch men married into other Dutch settler families or even with Portuguese Eurasians and local girls. However, the daughters of the colonists were married to newly arrived Europeans. Therefore, in many Dutch colonies, the society was made up of newcomers from Europe mixed with the families who had settled down in the colonies for generations, and were often already Eurasians.

The word 'burgher' means 'citizen' in Dutch, but it also referred to 'a member of a mercantile class'. It was used to refer to a community of Dutch colonists who were not directly employed by the VOC. A Free-burgher did not necessarily refer to only the Dutch people but generally included other Europeans who came to the East on VOC ships, were loyal to the Dutch government and who were assimilated into the Dutch colonial society.

In Batavia, and to a certain extend in Malacca, there were free-burghers who became wealthy and some of them accumulated fortunes. They were mostly ex-employees of the VOC who had retired after gaining wealth, and increased or maintained it by lending money at usury or in private trade.

By the 18th century, Indo-Dutch families who were made up of a hybrid race of Eurasians began to flourish and many of them became well-established families, often with connections in the local Dutch administration of their colony or with the Supreme Government at Batavia. In Malacca, many free-burghers were in fact already of mixed descent.

The development of an intra-Asian trade in the form of a commercial network between the various VOC establishments also encouraged the mobility and relocation of these families. Therefore, it is also common for today's genealogists researching the history of Dutch descent families to find ancestral connections between the various former Dutch colonies.


Easternisation of the Dutch colonies

Today, there are only left four existing communities who may be considered as the Children of the VOC :

Afrikaners : also known as Boers, are the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch settlers of Cape Town in South Africa.

In South Africa, the Cape Colony that was founded by Jan van Riebeeck, served as a halfway station for Dutch transoceanic trade. By placing a garrison on the southernmost tip of Africa, the Dutch were able to have the upper hand over their competitors. Trade in Cape Town flourished and the colony grew.

The population of the Cape colony grew further as slaves were brought in from Madagascar, Arabia, India, Ceylon and the Malay archipelago. In time, many Free Burghers there married female slaves who were emancipated and had become Christians.

Cape Town became a British colony in 1815 but the Afrikaners continued to live there.

Ceylon Dutch Burghers : are made up of the Dutch and other European mixed communities who are from Sri Lanka.

In 1638, the Dutch launched attacks on Portuguese strongholds in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) particularly to gain the monopoly on the source of cinnamon. By 1658, the Dutch gained control of most of the island and it became a colony of the VOC. The fortified town of Galle was of particular interest to the Dutch as it was the seaport and commercial centre for Ceylon and a Dutch colony began to thrive there.

In 1795, following the occupation of the Netherlands by France, the British government dispatched an expeditionary force against the Dutch in Ceylon. The Dutch capitulated early in the next year, and in 1798 the British made the entire island, except the kingdom of Kandy, a crown colony. By the provisions of the 1802 Treaty of Amiens, which terminated the second phase of the Napoleonic Wars, the country was formally ceded to Great Britain but most of the Dutch Burghers in Ceylon stayed on.

After Sri Lanka obtained independence in 1948, it became politically unfavourable for Burghers to remain on the island. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, many Ceylon Dutch Burghers left Sri Lanka and emigrated to Australia (where there is an area of Melbourne known as 'Little Ceylon'), the USA and Great Britain.

Indos : also known as the Indische Nederlanders or Indo-Dutch Eurasians, originated from the days of the VOC in Indonesia. In the post-VOC period, intermarriages between Dutch civil servants or military men and Asians produced a growing community of Eurasians throughout the Indonesia archipelago, then known as the Dutch East Indies.

After Indonesia received independence from the Netherlands in 1949, around 300,000 people from all ranks and ages and of mostly mixed descent (Eurasians), who were considered as Dutch nationals, migrated from the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) to the Netherlands to start a new life in Europe. Most of them were people born and raised in Indonesia, repatriating to a country they had never even seen before.

In the Netherlands, their eventual integration into Dutch society is said to be a success story as most Indos are today hardly considered as an ethnic minority by the ethnic Dutch, and neither are they classified as such by the Dutch government. However, cultural differences were still occasionally apparent, as the Indos were still in touch with their Asian roots in many ways.

By the 1970s, Indos in the Netherlands began to experience a cultural revolution, which was spearheaded by the writer and journalist, Tjalie Robinson. Many of the Dutch Indos began to rally behind him in support for his initiatives in the conservation of the Eurasian cultural heritage in the Netherlands.

The Indo cultural revolution was particularly apparent at The Hague for many Indo families were concentrated there. Although The Hague is widely known as an international centre for justice, this Dutch city is also sometimes described as “the world’s centre for people from the Dutch East Indies” because of the large number of Indo-Dutch Eurasians living there.

It was by Tjalie Robinson’s initiatives that the Pasar Malam Besar was first organised at The Hague and now grown to be an annual event for Dutch Eurasians that attracts over 120,000 visitors from all over the world every year.

Malacca Dutch Eurasians : are those who are descended from the Dutch and other Europeans who came to Malacca since its capture from the Portuguese in 1641. Dutch Eurasians in Malacca are now very few in numbers as many of them have already moved to other states in the country or have emigrated away.

Their social adaptation and ancestral assimilation into the predominantly larger Portuguese Eurasian community over the past decades through intermarriage has diluted the linkage to their Dutch ancestry and some have even totally adopted the Portuguese culture as their own. However, for those who have been assimilated into the Malacca Portuguese community, their surnames still betray their undeniable non-Portuguese ancestry.


Malacca : The contributions of the Dutch Free Burghers towards history

The Dutch in Malacca were always a small and close knit community. They came to Malacca from the time of its capture from the Portuguese in 1641 as employees of the VOC. However, hardly any families whose names are found on the 17th century tombstones on St. Paul's hill in Malacca have survived to present times.

The Malacca Dutch community of the 18th century had a more lasting influence and many of these families held their roots firmly on Malacca soil. They were mostly free burghers and private merchants who served the Dutch colonial government and helped maintain friendly ties with the Malay Rulers of surrounding regions. Many even had trade links with the Sultans of surrounding territories.

These Free Burghers were familiar with the local customs, were proficient in the Malay language and they even had personal access to Malay Royal Courts. Therefore, their services were also often sort after by the VOC and they frequently acted as intermediators between the Dutch administration and the Malay Rulers.

One such person was a Malacca born Burgher named Abraham de Wind (1735-1796). He was the son of Claas De Wind who had come from Amsterdam as a naval cadet and rose through the ranks to become the Secunde in Malacca. Abraham de Wind was the Captain of the Burghers in Malacca and an influential man there. He, like his father, was on especially good terms with Raja Haji of Riau. Abraham De Wind was fluent in the Malay language and well-versed in local customs. It was even reported that Raja Haji was so fond Abraham De Wind that he took him like his own son.

Another person who stood out as an important link who helped maintain Dutch friendship ties with the Malay Sultans was Adriaan Koek (1759-1825). The Koeks had established their roots in Malacca going as far back as the middle of the 17th century.

Adriaan Koek was a private businessman in Malacca who had forged a substantial network of trading connections. He had also come to exercise a strong personal influence among several of the local Malay rulers. He was particularly close to the Sultan of Johor and he was appointed as agent to the Sultan with the power of attorney to collect the one-tenth of the produce of all the Sultan's land on the west coast of mainland Johor. He was also friendly with the Royal Court of Kedah and with Malay royalties of other surrounding territories.

In 1818, when Batavia intended to reassert suzerainty over the dominions of Johor, tensions were highly charged, especially with the arrival of armed Dutch ships and 300 ready marines at Riau. Adriaan Koek was sent ahead to Riau for the delicate negotiations. The Tuhfat al-Nafis, which gives an account of that event, states that it was Koek's ties of personal friendship with the Riau Royal Court that swayed the Sultan's decision to accept the Dutch instead of the British and helped prevent an all-out war between Riau and the Dutch.

When the colonial government at Batavia made plans to publish the first Malay-Dutch dictionary, they nominated Adriaan Koek of Malacca on the Dictionary Committee. A young language cadet from Amsterdam, named Christiaan van Angelbeek, was even sent to Malacca to be under the wing of Adriaan Koek.

Adriaan Koek was also charged to assist in procuring treatises in the Malay language, which included romances, stories and narratives of older days. Koek commanded his servant — Abdul Kadir (who was Munshi Abdullah's father) — to sail for Lingga, Riau, Pahang and Terengganu to purchase these books but princes and viceroys of these places were often only too happy to present the books as gifts to Koek. Unwittingly, this was how many of the old Malay scripts and books were saved and found its way to the Netherlands, including the original copy of the renowned Hikayat Hang Tuah.

The maternal grandmother of Adriaan Koek was an emancipated slave of Singhalese origin. However, Adriaan Koek became the Acting Governor of Malacca in 1823.

Johannes Bartholomeus Westerhout (1794-1841), a third generation Frisian, became another notable figure in Malacca during the Dutch-British transitional period. Westerhout, or more popularly known as Tuan Barchie, initially served as a clerk with the Dutch Council of Justice but when the British permanently took over Malacca, he served the British and was particularly instrumental in resolving the insurgencies by the Malays in Naning. He subsequently became the Superintendent of Naning and was later appointed as the Assistant Resident of Malacca.


Malacca : The Changing of the Guards

Although the British permanently took over Malacca from the Dutch in 1825, contrary to contemporary belief, not all Dutch people in Malacca were expelled or had moved to Dutch controlled Indonesia.

With the exchange of Malacca for Bencoolen, the inhabitants of the territories were given six years to choose where they would like to live and to make appropriate arrangements regarding their homes and property.

However, Malacca Dutch Eurasians were unwilling to leave their home and their possessions in Malacca. They had become localised as Malaccans, they were born in Malacca and their family lived and died there. Their business and trade, which were often family owned, were long developed in Malacca and for some, were now even gaining momentum at the booming port colony of Singapore.

They were already familiar with the British and had learned to speak English. They were adaptive, could work with the British and were friendly with them. In turn, the British also endeavoured to retain the Malacca Dutch families to stay so as to help them in their administration of Malacca and its surrounding territories. So, the Malacca Dutch Eurasians simply decided to stay on with the British, they adapted to the new political situation and served their new masters.

With the opening of the British port of Singapore in 1819, many Malaccans and Dutch Eurasians were eventually attracted by the opportunities that a new port and trading centre might provide. The gradual decline of Malacca as a trade centre and shipping port as well as a cholera epidemic which swept through Malacca in 1819, were undoubtedly major factors in influencing the migration. Even today, relatives are still divided by the political divide at the Straits of Johor.


Arrival of the Ceylon Burghers to Malaya

British Malaya, in the 19th century, was a land of great opportunity and natural wealth. The British were opening up the country for development and they began large scale industries such as employing modern tin mining techniques and the cultivation of commercial crops. This required more administrative resources and better public infrastructure. However, there were simply not enough qualified people to assist in their plans of building Malaya.

The British colonial government were unable to induce its own nationals to come and take up clerical and other subordinate work here as there was not enough money to pay them even a living wage. Therefore, the Straits Government of Malaya appealed to the Ceylon Government to send some of its trained men to Malaya to help open up the country for civilisation.

A demand was created and supply inevitably followed. Ceylon responded to the request by sending qualified English speaking locals who were citizens of the British Empire to help extend their administration in Empire building. They were the Ceylon Dutch Burghers.

According to British census reports, Ceylon Dutch Burghers first began to arrive in Singapore during the middle of the 19th century, and later to the Malay States. A trickle of emigrants slowly became a stream of migrants who made Malaya their new home. They served the British in finance, education, defence, transportation and all other administrative sectors.


Development of the Dutch descendants in British Malaya

Because the Dutch descendants were closely associated with the British Malayan government and due to their own adaptive trait, the community's development of an adoptive British culture was inevitable. Dutch language was replaced by English and other old Dutch traditions became redundant as they mingled with their British counterparts. Their pride to be known as British subjects also helped to ensure the community's continued good social and economic standing at that time.

From the ruling class during the heydays of their forefathers, the Dutch descendants eventually slipped to the administrative class in British Malaya. However, in the early days they were socially and economically considered as equals to their British colonialists. Entrance to British social clubs remained opened to the Dutch descendants, irrespective of the shade of their skin colour. However, this was not to last.

By the beginning of the 20th century, British social clubs began to close their doors to anybody who was not white, but eventually Eurasians were allowed admittance only after 6:30 p.m., demoting them to a sort of second class citizens. It was when the Japanese invaded Malaya during WWII and all white British citizens were evacuated to India and Australia, but leaving behind the pro-British Eurasians to face the wrath of the Japanese Imperial Army, that the betrayal was complete.


Dutch descendants in Malaysia

Malaya received independence from the British in 1957 but many Dutch descendants believed that they would have little opportunity in self-ruled Malaysia and they began emigrating overseas, with Australia being a popular destination. The number of Dutch descendants left in Malaysia began to diminish.

Eventually, Malaysia began to forget the many contributions of the Dutch descendants towards the early development of the country. Most don't even know that there are still Dutch descendants left. Not only the Dutch descendants now have no identity in Malaysia but we have managed to remain invisible and forgotten for about 180 years.

Although there are no accurate statistics, it is estimated that the number of Dutch descendants left in Malaysia's 25 million population is today only around 2,000 individuals. So dispersed are the Dutch descendants in Malaysia that many have lost contact with families who were once closely connected and even related to each other.

Malaysian Dutch descendants live as a minority within an ethnic minority. According to the Malaysian Statistics Department, today, there are just over 12,000 Eurasians living in Malaysia. A vast majority of these Eurasians are of Portuguese descent.

The Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia have a more visible and colourful culture. In Malacca, there exists a Portuguese Settlement that is seen as the bastion of culture and heritage for all Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia. They have even gained the support of the Catholic Church and Portuguese cultural organisations from Macau and Portugal. Because of this, the term 'Eurasian' that was once widely used is now slowly being replaced with the term 'Portuguese', which is suppose to mean that all Eurasians in Malaysia are of Portuguese descent. To perpetuate the misconception further, even scholars, Eurasian community leaders and other persons of authority say that there are today no Dutch descendants left in Malaysia because they have all been assimilated into the Portuguese Eurasian community. Of course, this is far from the truth.


The Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project

Although the Dutch descendants in Malaysia have become a forgotten group of people, through the generations, many of the existing families have always remained proud of our heritage and roots.

Our Dutch sounding names gives undeniable testimony of our ancestral link. Names such as Brohier, De Bruyne, De Wind, De Witt, De Vries, De Run, Estrop, Goonting, Hendriks, Hendroff, Jansen, Jansz, Kuen, Leembruggen, Manen, Marbeck, Minjoot, Oorloff, Overee, Scharenguivel, Schokman, Speldewinde, Spykerman, Tessensohn, Thomazios, Valberg, van der Wall, van Dort, van den Driesen, van Geyzel, van Huizen, van Buerle, Wambeck and Westerhout.

However, it is also clear that this sub-Eurasian group is on an eventual collision course with oblivion. Therefore, a few Dutch descendants came together in 2002 and the concept of the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project (MDDP) was founded.

The aims of the MDDP are simply to try to locate the Malaysian Dutch descendants so as to find how many of us are still left in Malaysia, to reconnect this community, to attempt to rejuvenate a little of our culture, to give a sense of pride for our heritage and to re-establish the community's lost identity. This task was undertaken voluntarily with scarcely any resources. What began with just 6 persons, there now 70 Dutch descent families participating in the MDDP, and we are still growing.

From time to time, the MDDP arranges for gatherings for the Dutch descendants where families are able to reconnect with each other. The MDDP has also been involved in the Neubronner and Westerhout family reunions in Malacca.

The Project has since gained the recognition of a few heritage organisations within Malaysia and from the Netherlands. The Project has also established a friendly relationship with the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Kuala Lumpur; however, we have no official connection with the government of the Netherlands as we are quintessentially Malaysian.

In 2004, the MDDP organised the first-ever international gathering of Dutch descendants that was held in Malacca. Around 150 Dutch descendants who have their roots originating from Malacca, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and South Africa from all over Malaysia and around the world attended this historic event. The highlight of the event was the goodwill message delivered by Ambassador John von Mühlen on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Now the MDDP continues to strife for the Malaysian Dutch descendants to gain some recognition of our heritage, recognition for our ancestor's contributions towards Malaysia's history and for the community to be acknowledged as being part of Malaysia's colourful and multi-ethnic society.


Conclusion

Although the realm of the VOC spanned all throughout Asia and there were many Dutch colonies that existed in its time, today, there are only four communities who are descended from the VOC — the Afrikaners or Boers from South Africa, the Indische Nederlanders or Indo-Dutch Eurasians from Indonesia, the Ceylon Dutch Burghers of Sri Lanka and the Dutch Eurasians from Malacca. Those Dutch descendants existed and continue to exist because of the VOC's Easternization of the West policies that began in the 17th century.

In those Dutch colonies, Eastern genealogical influences were formed via intermarriages and this lead to the emergence of the Dutch Eurasian communities. From the aforesaid communities, Eastern cultural influences were adopted by the Dutch colonialists. These Eastern influences are now still apparent in their culture, the food that they consume and even their Asian-like demure. These Eurasian culture and traits are even still being perpetuated through the Dutch Indo-Eurasian community in the Netherlands.

In Malacca, there exist many architectural remnants from its Dutch era. However, the social and historical contributions of the Malacca Free Burghers, such as Abraham De Wind, Adriaan Koek and Johannes Bartholomeus Westerhout, have largely been forgotten.

The contributions of the Dutch Burghers from Ceylon in helping to build British Malaya have also been left aside in the study of Malaysia's history.

Malaysian Dutch descendants have since 1825 remained practically invisible, so much so that it was presumed that we had long ceased to exist in Malaysia. Dutch descendants in Malaysia today are still denied recognition of the existence of their community as part of Malaysia's cosmopolitan society. Fortunately, there are currently those from this community who have plans to do something about it, by attempting to bring this community together, to safeguard our heritage, to make our existence known and help the community regain an identity

For further information regarding the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project, please visit the website at www.dutchmalaysia.net



Addendum (as included in the presentation):

Finally, I wish to request for the kind assistance of the Moderator, Prof. Datuk Dr. Ramlah Adam, to include the Malaysian Eurasians and the Malaysian Dutch descendants as part of the Malaysian Ethnic Relations Studies, where she will acting as one of the committee members to initiate this topic in our universities.

© Copyright, Dennis De Witt, 27th July 2006

The above paper or any part of it may be freely used only for education, scholarly or non-profit purposes. However, due credit must be given to the author and the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project for any information or material or any part thereof that is used. Please contact the Project Co-ordinator if you require any further clarification.

I wish to thank a remarkable amateur genealogist and a dear friend, Madam Gerda Pieterse of South Africa, for inspiring me to learn about my roots and the history of my ancestors. It was from her that I had first learned about the Children of the VOC.