Imagining the homeland : the use of the internet among Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands

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Master’s Thesis in Cultural and Social Anthropology

Imagining the Homeland:

The use of the Internet among Indonesian Exiles in the Netherlands

Supervisor

: Dr. A.T. Strating Student: Ibnu Nadzir Daraini

Second Reader

: Dr. Fridus Steijlen Student Number: 11181192

Third Reader

: Dr. Irene Stengs

Word Count

: 29485

ibnu.nadzir@gmail.com

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Declaration on Plagiarism and Fraud

I have read and understood the Fraud and Plagiarism regulations for UvA Students. I declare that this assignment is entirely my own work, all sources have been properly acknowledged, and that I have not previously submitted this work, or any version of it, for assessment in any other paper.

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Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that exilic experiences influence how exile communities position themselves toward their homeland. However, discussions on these issues tend to overlook the dynamics and engagement within the community in negotiating that position through their daily practices. In the case of Indonesian exiles living in the Netherlands, there is a strong tendency to portray them as passive victims of the eradication of communism that followed the events of 30th September 1965. Hence, this community is often presented as one that is defined by its memory of exilic experiences. By looking into community members’ Internet practices, this research aims to show that these exiles are actively negotiating their positions towards their homeland.

Based on interviews and observations during fieldwork, I would argue that most of the values and ideals that are shared among this community were developed before they became exiles. These values were then reinforced into political opposition towards the New Order’s political regime after they became exiles. Their opposition was expressed through publications and participations within various organizations. In the early 1990s, the Internet was incorporated into the movement, providing more dynamic into their projection of ideals and values. Through online practices they projected ideals that they previously shared offline among community members. On the other hand, the new information they received from the Internet constantly reshape these ideals and eventually the notion of Indonesia as the imagined homeland. This simultaneous engagement in offline and online platforms enables them to reclaim a sense of agency, despite being separated from their homeland for decades.

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List of Terms and Abbreviations

ABRI (Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia/Armed Forces of

Indonesia)

Akademi Pertanian Egom (Egom Agricultural Academy) Akademi Social Ali Archam (Ali Archam Social Academy)

Baperki (Indonesian Organization of Chinese Descent)

BTI (Barisan Tani Indonesia/Indonesian Peasant’s Front) DIAN (Indonesian women's organization)

IPPI (Ikatan Pemuda Pelajar Indonesia/Indonesian Youth Student League)

IPT1965 (International People’s Tribunal 1965)

Lekra (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat/Institute of People’s Culture)

LKN (Lembaga Kebudayaan Nasional/Institute of National Culture) LPK65 (Lembaga Pembela Korban 1965/1965’s Victim Defender

Institute )

Masyumi (Majelis Syuro Muslimin Indonesia/ Council of Indonesian Muslims' Association Party)

Perdoi (Perhimpunan Dokumentasi Indonesia/Association of Indonesian

Documentation)

Perhimpunan Persaudaraan (Association of Brotherhood and Sisterhood)

PKI (Partai Komunis Indonesia/Indonesian Communist Party)

PPI (Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia/Indonesian Student Association) PTIP (Perguruan Tinggi dan Ilmu Pengetahuan/Higher Education and

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Alex Strating for his valuable guidance, support, and patience throughout this writing process. I am also very grateful to Dr. Friedus Steijlen for his willingness to be my co-supervisor and for his valuable suggestions and support in finishing this thesis. I also would like to thank my professors and classmates who helped me grow intellectually. My presence in this country would not have been possible without the opportunity given by Riset-Pro and LIPI, for which I am eternally grateful. My sincere thanks also go to my informants who shared their time and experiences to support this research. I also owe a debt of gratitude to friends in Netherlands and Indonesia without whose support I would never finish this thesis. Last but not least, the greatest honours are given to my family, for their encouragement, trust, and prayers have always provided me the courage to take steps in life.

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1. Introduction

Background

I utilize Facebook as an organizing tool, to organize people who share similar ideas to me.

(Radi1, late eighties, Indonesian exile) Radi is one among many Indonesian exiles who live in the Netherlands. Although his opinion might not represent other exiles, it is hard to deny the fact that the Internet is widely used among them. Thus this research was started by curiosity about how these practices affect them as individuals and as a community.

The engagement between Indonesian exiles and technology is hard to understand without knowing why they became exiles in the first place. Their process of displacement could be traced back to affiliations developed between Indonesia and communist countries such as China and the USSR in Sukarno's2 era. The cooperation between Indonesia and those countries was not just limited to political and diplomatic relations, but there were also increased education and cultural exchange programmes (Hill, 2014; Liu, 2006). Liu (2006: 192) noted that in 1954, China invited 105 Indonesian delegations consisting of people from various professional backgrounds. Important figures from the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) like Musso and Semaun had already spent decades living in the USSR before Indonesia’s independence (Hill 2014: 622). These exchanges continued for several years during the era of Guided Democracy.3 Until 27th September 1965 for example, Indonesia still sent a delegation to attend a commemoration of the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party (Hill 2008: 5). In the same year, the number of Indonesian students in the USSR reached around two thousand, thus making them the largest group of foreign students there (Hill 2014: 624). Nevertheless, this situation changed abruptly after the incident on 1st October 1965.

During the incident known as the 30th September Movement4, a group of people kidnapped and

assassinated several Indonesian army officials. Amidst the confusion, the Indonesian army led by General Soeharto accused the PKI of initiating the movement, and started a military and political campaign against communists across the nation. These events led to the eradication of communists, and

1_Pseudonym 2

The first president of Indonesia.

3

Indonesian political system implemented from 1957-1966. It was introduced by President Sukarno in 1957 to ensure the stability of the country.

4

In this thesis, the incident will be referred to as the 1965 incident, while persecution and eradication of communists and other implications will be referred to as the 1965-1966 events.

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Soeharto replaced Sukarno as the Indonesian president. The details of the incident and the implications of the aftermath have already been discussed by many scholars (e.g. Budiawan, 2004; Roosa, 2008), and have become one of the central topic of social sciences in Indonesia.

While a major domestic change happened in Indonesia, there was much uncertainty for Indonesians who lived in communist countries. In China, they monitored the situation in Indonesia through international radio and newspaper before making any decisions (Hearman 2010: 90). Fear of persecution made the Indonesians living there, stay even after the Indonesian government broke its diplomatic relationship with China. In the USSR, it also took a while before Indonesian citizens living there understood the situation in Indonesia (Hill 2008: 5). A similar situation was also experienced by Indonesians in other countries such as Albania, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka. Later, many of them were asked to condemn Sukarno and acknowledge the new Indonesian government under Soeharto. Those who refused then became stateless and political exiles. While some chose to stay in the country they lived in, many exiles later moved and sought asylum in countries such as France, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Among those countries, the Netherlands was the most popular (Hill 2010: 38).

Despite the abundance of research on the impact of 1965 incident, there has not been much discussion on the implications for Indonesians who lived abroad. Hill (2008) for example, pointed out that even though there were numerous studies on 1965-1966 events by Australian scholars, a discussion of Indonesian exiles was relatively absent. Similar remarks on the small amount of research on Indonesian exiles is also mentioned by other researchers (e.g. Mudzakkir 2015; Dragojlovic 2012).

The particular interest in exiles did not grow until much later in the 2000s, a situation that is perceived as an irony by one exiled scholar (Dragojlovic 2012: 164). Among the research that has been done on Indonesian exiles, the topics are relatively diverse. Schaefter (2009) for example focuses on literature produced by exiles. Mudzakkir (2015) discusses how exiles created a counter-narrative to official Indonesian state history. Sipayung (2011) has also done research on Indonesian exiles' memories of homeland and displacement processes.

Despite the variety, much research on Indonesian exiles has still been developed within the framework that portrays exiles as a victimized passive subject (Dragojlovic 2012: 161). Without neglecting the contribution made from this research, such frameworks could deny any potential agency of exiles. Dragojlovic (2012) proposes that the act of mourning of displacement and homeland could be seen as an act of agency. From this perspective, the production of writing and narratives of loss may be regarded as a way for the exiles to mediate the past and present (Dragojlovic 2012: 170). Therefore, in

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order to understand the kind of agency enacted by Indonesian exiles it is important to examine the materials they produced.

This research was developed within that assumption; that Indonesian exiles should not be perceived as a passive group who mourned their narratives of displacement. Conversely, these exiles have been practicing the sense of agency best shown by the production of materials. However, the materials we should refer should not be limited to narratives of displacement. It is also important to include the reading of other materials such as political or social discussion about modern-day Indonesia, or other mundane everyday life topics. Those materials are helpful to understand the practices of agency by Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands. By using this framework, I argue that the sodality of Indonesian exiles is not only shaped by mourning narratives, but also from the simultaneous engagements with their imagination about modern-day Indonesia.

In this regard, it is important to look at the Internet as a technology because it has enabled Indonesian exiles to relate to their homeland through mediated pictures and information. Since the 1990s, the Internet has become an important medium to connect Indonesian exile communities in different regions (Hearman 2010: 97). Since then, various materials have been produced by Indonesian exiles on the Internet. There are people such as Ibrahim Isa and Waruno Mahdi who made their personal website/blog, while others such as Radi or Asahan Alham are more active on mailing lists and Facebook. On the Internet, these materials could also reach a younger generation in Indonesia who have developed their own curiosity about these exiles (Hill 2008: 9). Their practice of producing materials is enabled by modalities from Internet platforms.

This research then focuses on the use of the Internet among Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands. The research answers the following questions. (1) How do displacement experiences influence values and

ideals which are shared within the community? (2) How do Indonesian exiles project those ideals on the Internet? (3) How do the simultaneous online-offline engagements affect Indonesian exiles as a community? By discussing those issues, I hope this research will contribute to the discussion of agency

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Theoretical Framework

Offline-Online Research

Since its early development, Internet research has been pushing anthropologists to adapt their theoretical and methodological position on this new field site. In early discussions, there were dominant arguments that proposed the Internet as a new terrain separated from the actual world (Miller and Slater 2001: 1). Later, those arguments have been refuted by several researchers (e.g. Miller and Slater 2001; Pink et al. 2015; Postill and Pink 2012) who propose to perceive the Internet as a continuation of the offline world.

The latter arguments posit that the Internet is not an empty monolithic space that determines the way people behave. On the contrary, the use of the Internet is heavily influenced by various cultural background and locations attached to Internet users (Miller and Slater 2001: 1). This framework helps to explain how Internet users around the world have different ways of interacting with the Internet in a way that is familiar to their life. Kendzior (2011) for instance, shows how Uzbek diaspora use the Internet to criticize the government through a cynicism that is known as a distinct characteristic of Uzbekistan’s politics. Research in Spain by Postill and Pink (2012) shows a similar case where it is hard to separate online and offline activism. In fact, the dynamics of content used in activism spread fluidly between online and offline and across multiple platforms at the same time. This fluidity of using multiple platforms on the Internet led the researchers to refer the situation as ‘the messy web’ (Postill and Pink 2012: 3).

Another issue that is raised on the use of the Internet is the ‘authenticity’ of representation. There are many platforms on the Internet that allow people to actively select and configure their online representations. An anonymous website such as 4chan for example is used by many to convey racist messages that they would not do on their daily life. Hence, there are discrepancies between their representation online and offline. Yet even platforms that promote its user to be onymous, like

Facebook, are still used to construct ‘false’ representation. This issue of authenticity is most likely based

on the assumption that offline practices have more authenticity than online practices (Varis, 2014). However, this assumption can be problematic since, as discussed before, there are no clear boundaries between online and offline as a field site.

A similar point was raised by Miller and Slater (2001) on the fluidity of representation on the Internet. As a medium, the Internet is often perceived as having modalities that enable more fluid representations than previous media. Although many cases has shown that Internet users practice fluid representations

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(e.g. Bernal 2006; Aouragh 2008), such practices are not bound by the Internet as a medium. On the contrary, the constant deconstruction of identities was practiced by many communities before the existence of the Internet (Miller and Slater 2001: 5). For example, there are numerous cases in Indonesia where claims of tradition developed as a response toward the threat of capitalist expansions. In these cases, the identity portrayed and presented on the Internet is not really different from how people use offline identity. The Internet is thus a means with which one can enact—often in a highly idealized form—a version of oneself perceived as authentic (Miller and Slater 2001: 10).

Previous discussions on the online-offline dynamics are important to incorporate in this research because they are relevant to the situation with Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands. First, since online-offline cultural practices overlap, the kinds of materials presented on the Internet should be seen as a continuation of the previous practices. Specifically, this is because numerous pieces of research (e.g. Schaefter 2009; Dragojlovic 2012) show that these exiles have been actively producing materials through different kind of mediums. Second, it has been discussed that offline specificities are essential to understand online cultural practices. For the context of Indonesian exiles, as will be discussed more in the following chapters, these specificities are developed through constant negotiation between past ideals and current information engaged with online.

Internet, Storytelling, and Agency

In Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, Appadurai (1996: 3) posits “theory of rupture that takes media and migration as its two major, and interconnected diacritics and explores their joint effect on the work of imagination as a constitutive feature of modern subjectivity.” He argues that although neither are hardly new, the interactions between them produce unprecedented cultural phenomena. The examples of these phenomena vary throughout the world, from Chinese migrants who defended the Chinese minority in Indonesia (Ong, 2003) to the invention of an online nation by the Sikh community (Axel, 2004). These phenomena are driven by the work of imagination which is influenced by the use of the Internet.

This work of imagination is important because according to Appadurai (1996: 7) it has a projective sense that could initiate social actions. In this regard, collective imagination cannot just be seen as a form of escapism since it is capable of driving a group of people to pursue a certain cause. The use of electronic media such as the Internet is important because it could evoke the imagination through news, pictures, or videos. Apart from that, (Appadurai 1996: 8) stressed the capability of bringing those imaginations beyond the boundaries of nations. Videos of war in Syria, for example, initiated a sense of oppression

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toward Islam, which later turned into mass demonstrations. Thus, the use of the Internet is essential for many kinds of solidarity projects all around the world. At this point, Appadurai (1996: 31) argues that imagination should be perceived as a social practice that is central to all forms of agency.

Considering that my research focuses on the use of the Internet among groups of displaced people, this framework is really essential. Appadurai’s thinking is very important to understand how the collective ideals among Indonesian exiles initiated the use of the Internet (chapter 3). On the other hand, the use of the Internet informed this community's offline social actions (chapter 4). Based on the observations and interviews, I found that their use of the Internet, particularly mailing lists, is related to the offline practices of storytelling (chapter 4). In this vein, the discussion of this subject by Jackson (2013) is of great use to explain this practice among Indonesian exiles in Netherlands. As he pointed out, the act of storytelling is often started by the experiences of crisis or loss (Jackson 2013: 31). Therefore, it is very relevant with the discussion of exiles where the existence of the community is highly influenced by the experiences of loss.

Storytelling is equally an individual and social practice, because it “requires the presence of attentive others, (so) the process of shaping and reshaping one’s own subjectivity inevitably runs parallel to the work of shaping collective identity and solidarity” (Jackson 2013: 16). This ‘shaping and reshaping’ process happens because in storytelling the storyteller tries to connect his/her individual experiences to a group of people. In order to do that, the individual experiences are transformed in a way that makes sense to the audience (Jackson 2013: 15).

Apart from making the private into social, Jackson (2013: 34) asserts that storytelling is “a vital human strategy for sustaining a sense of agency in the face of disempowering circumstances.” This second role draws on Jackson's reading of Hannah Arendt that posits humans as subjects actively shaping their own lives while also being subjected to the actions of others. Therefore, when humans do not really have control of their life situations, they nonetheless have control of creating its meaning (Jackson 2013: 35). In the case of exiles, storytelling thus enables them to reinvent themselves as subjects despite external situations that they cannot control. Nevertheless, it does not mean that stories are the pure reflection of an individual's mind, because it is “a result of ongoing dialogue and redaction within fields of intersubjectivity” (Jackson 2013: 40). Hence, it is important to note that the collective participation of other exiles is very much relevant to the storyteller for the creation of narratives among them.

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Research Setting and Population

Previously, I have provided a historical account of the beginning of the Indonesian exile communities. If a community means a group of people who share similar symbolic values, how do we know if that is the case with Indonesian exiles? What if it is more appropriate to regard them as a group of individuals with more differences than similarities? To go into that trajectory will not be baseless at all, particularly since several pieces of research (e.g. Hearman 2010; Hill 2010) show the fragmentations within the group. However, I would argue that Indonesian exiles can still be categorized as a community. To support that point, I look into the discussion of the category of 'exiles'.

Edward Said defined an exile as “anyone who prevented from returning home” (Malkki 1995: 512). Although this definition is relatively general, I believe it represents the common perception of what people perceive as an exile. However, this definition would not be suitable for the case of Indonesian exiles, as although they were prevented from returning to Indonesia, after 1998 many of them visited Indonesia as Dutch citizens. Some Indonesian exiles even got new Indonesian passports (Hearman 2010: 102). Despite this change of situation, many of them still referred to themselves as an eksil (Indonesian transliteration of exile) or as a similar term such as ‘orang terhalang pulang’ that emphasizes their inability to return to their homeland.

The term eksil itself is commonly used among these exiles who embraced their status as a form of support toward leftist ideas (Dragojlovic 2012: 162). For them, though the political and social situation has changed, the moment when they were prevented from returning to Indonesia in 1965 remains an important reference for them to identify themselves. Nevertheless, this attachment for displacement process does not mean that Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands are a monolithic group. As several previous pieces of research (Dragojlovic, 2012; Hill, 2010; Sipayung, 2011) suggested, there are many differences among the exile community. Some are still attached to the ideals of leftist values, while others are less interested in discussing that issue. There is also ideological split connected to the competition between the USSR and China from the 1960s to the 1980s. They also have different displacement experiences since they left from different trajectories. Then how do we define exiles that may include these diversities?

Using Malkki’s framework, Dragojlovic (2010: 54) defines exiles as “specific individuals who act in the world and whose social activities and actions are informed by their status as exiles while not being entirely determined by it.” This explanation is a little confusing since it still does not clearly define ‘exile’. However, if we use the previous proposition from Said that emphasised the inability to return home as a

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definition of exile, Dragojlovic's definition is useful to explain the situation of Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands. Indonesian exiles requesting asylum became permanent residents in the Netherlands in the 1980s or 1990s. Therefore, formally there are no obstacles for them to return to Indonesia, particularly after the fall of New Order in 1998. Since they are able to return to Indonesia freely, it is hard to classify them as exiles in the classic sense. Nevertheless, their status as exiles is maintained by their self-identification as a group of people who are prevented from returning home regardless of how long they live in the Netherlands. In this regard, it fits the definition proposed by Dragojlovic where the exile status of Indonesian exiles does not come from their formal situation but from their attachment to displacement experiences in the past.

In this sense, I believe they could be categorized as a form of community. As Cohen (1985) suggested, as long as a community shares common symbols, its members do not necessarily have to have similar points of view. Symbols are effective because they allows individuals to attach their own meaning while speaking in communal languages (Cohen 1985: 22). For Indonesian exiles, Dragojlovic (2010: 162) suggested there are at least two common traits shared by most of them. The first trait is their association with the Indonesian left and with President Sukarno. The second is their concern for and interest in the Indonesian national project. I would also add a third trait that is suggested by the research of Sipayung (2011), namely their attachment to their displacement experiences. As will be shown in the next chapters, within the materials produced by the exiles, these traits often overlap. No exact numbers of Indonesian exiles are known; estimations range from hundreds to thousands (Hill 2008: 2). In the Netherlands, there is no official number that records how many Indonesian exiles live in this country. A previous effort to compile this data was thwarted by other exiles due to concerns over security (Hill 2010: 40). Nevertheless, there are organizations of Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands that were useful to locate informants in this research. The first organization is Perhimpunan

Persaudaraan (Association of Brotherhood and Sisterhood), which was established in 1988. This is one

of the few organizations that have been involved in various activities regarding exiles in the Netherlands. The members of this organization have various ethnic, religious, and ideological affiliations. The diversity of its members is aligned with its purpose to be an inclusive organization, particularly because there are many tensions among exiles in the Netherlands (Dragojlovic 2010: 66). The average age of members in this organization is 70 to 90 years old. Other organizations of Indonesian exiles that were relevant to this research were DIAN (Indonesian women's organization), Perdoi (Perhimpunan Dokumentasi Indonesia/

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Association of Indonesian Documentation) and LPK65 (Lembaga Pembela Korban 1965/1965 Victims' Defender Institute). Despite structural differences, members of these organizations sometimes overlap. For fieldwork preparation, I conducted two interviews and one offline observation for one event among the exile community. From these preliminary interactions, I contacted other informants and managed to do interviews with fifteen informants and two observation participations during fieldwork. In every interview, I asked whether I could report the informant's real name or if I should use a pseudonym instead. Among the informants, fourteen are exiles: nine males and five females. The other informant is a committee member of International Peoples' Tribunal 1965 (IPT1965), which provided some important data for this research as well. The informants lived in different countries when they became exiles, including: China, the USSR, Bulgaria, Albania, East Germany, and Vietnam. Using information from these interviews, I located several online platforms they used on a daily basis.

In this research I observed several Internet platforms, including: personal Facebook pages, a secret

Facebook group5, multiple mailing lists, personal and organizational blogs, and a database of old mailing lists. The latter was included because some of the Internet use was practiced in the 1990s, but the mailing list has now been closed. For ethical purposes, I always mentioned my identity and purpose for my mailing list membership application. During the interviews, I asked my informants for their consent to look at and use the materials they published online. I avoided direct identification of materials published by members that were not my informants.

Methodology

This research is developed from the assumption that offline research is essential to make sense of practices on the Internet. This trajectory is chosen based on the notion that for most of Indonesian exiles, the Internet was introduced much later in their life. In this regard, the use of the Internet is seen as the continuation of previous media practices. This approach is not new in anthropology, however, as it has been done in many previous pieces of research (e.g. Miller and Slater 2001; Postill, John and Pink 2012; Aouragh 2008; Bräuchler 2003).

Those anthropologists offer various ways to exercise ethnographic research on the Internet, usually known as digital ethnography. Miller and Slater, for example, combined methods such as interviews in cafés with chat features to understand Trinidadian’s Internet use. On the other hand, Bräuchler (2003) modified participation observation by looking at a mailing list to comprehend conflict in Maluku. Postill

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A Facebook group provides an option to set privacy to become a secret group. Facebook users could not find and become a member of these secret Facebook groups unless added by a member.

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and Pink (2012) also mentioned that other researchers rely on computer-generated data mining. These variations show that there is not a single convention on how to do digital ethnography, although Pink (2015) suggested that these variabilities should be regarded as one of the characteristics of digital ethnography. She argues that there should not be a single set of methods to bound digital ethnography; instead the choice of methodology should be driven by the research topic itself. This ongoing process in her opinion is similar to the way Ingold describes the process of design (Pink et al. 2015: 11). Therefore, the definition and set of methodologies applied in digital ethnography is open-ended.

There are many possibilities to conduct research on the Internet, though many researchers (e.g. (Bräuchler, 2003; Miller & Slater, 2001; Postill & Pink, 2012a) who consider the importance of offline/online dynamic interactions apply and modify conventional methodologies from ethnography to this terrain. Following that trajectory, this research used participant observation and semi-structured interviews during fieldwork.

Participant observation in this research was implemented on two sites: online and offline. As suggested by Aouragh (2008), if you are doing research on the Internet, this technology can be perceived as a field site. Consequently, acts on the Internet may also be comprehended as cultural practices that are observable by a researcher. In this regard, a researcher may implement participant observation to grasp cultural practices enacted online. However, on the Internet, the degree to which researchers might observe and participate is not the same on all platforms. The method is bounded by different features provided by each of the Internet platforms. Hence, it is necessary to specify several Internet platforms that are used by Indonesian exiles. These platforms observed in this research were as follows:

a. Organization Website: LPK 1965 (Blogspot) b. Personal Blog : Ibrahim Isa (Blogspot)

c. Mailing List : Sastra Pembebasan (Yahoogroups), Gelora 45 (Yahoogroups), Nasional-list (Yahoogroups), Apakabar (Online Database)

d. Facebook Group : Secret Facebook group related to IPT1965 e. Facebook Wall : Personal Facebook wall of informants

The selection of these platforms and its materials was influenced by pre-fieldwork interviews and observations. During fieldwork, some informants also suggested some more platforms to observe. These processes were necessary since their online activities, mainly on mailing lists, are not easily located using

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a simple Internet search. It is also important to note that since my informants mostly used Indonesian language on these platforms, I translated those conversations to English to present it on this thesis. During fieldwork I also managed to do two offline participant observations. The first event was the verdict announcement of IPT 1965 that took place in Amsterdam. The second event was a discussion event by Diskusi Forum that was held in Zeist. Both of these events are a central part of analysis on online-offline engagement (chapter 4). The other method that is important for this research is semi-structured interview. This method is useful to comprehend the mental aspect of actions conducted on the Internet. This process is also important because it provides insights into the kind of shared values and ideals that inform informants' Internet practices.

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2. Exilic Experiences and Political Dissidence

During my first few months in the Netherlands, I went to an Indonesian film screening held by

Perhimpunan Persaudaraan (usually shortened as Persaudaraan) and PPI Leiden (Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia/Indonesian Student Organization). At the time I was not aware that Persaudaraan is an

organization established by Indonesian exiles that live in Netherlands. The event was held in a public building located in Diemen.

I was a few minutes early, so the event had not started, but there were already many people inside the room. Based on their physical appearances, I assumed they all originated from Indonesia. However, it was clear to me that these visitors could be classified into two groups: the older people that consisted of men and women who were in their seventies, and younger people who looked like they were in their twenties. While I could not comprehend the identity/ association/ affiliation of the first group yet, I assumed that the latter group consisted of Indonesian students just like me. It seems apparent to me that the older people were familiar with one another; they greeted and talked to each other. On the other hand, for the students - apart from those that were part of the committee - we were less familiar with each other. Hence, there were efforts to remove the awkwardness by introducing ourselves to one another.

Around twenty minutes past eleven, the event started. One Leiden student acted as a host and made an announcement for all participants to sit. She then asked Andreas, the head of Persaudaraan, to give an opening speech. Andreas stood up and took the microphone enthusiastically. He started his talk by expressing gratitude towards the event’s committee. He then elaborated how collaboration between the young and old generations is important for the development of a nation. However, he also mentioned how both of these groups experience different situations:

“After all, we are Indonesian people. The question is why we as Indonesian people are living here abroad? If that is asked to the young generation, the answer would be simple. They are here for study. We also went abroad for study; the only difference between us is that you have an ability to return to Indonesia, while we were not.”

This remark illustrates the ambiguousness of an exile's position toward their homeland, which is Indonesia in this case. On the one hand, they share a similarity with these students, but on the other hand they were forced to separate from their homeland. At this point, I realized that these older people are part of the Indonesian exile community in the Netherlands. In the Indonesian language, this remark

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was slightly confusing because there is no time reference6 when Andreas talked about their inability to return. Thus, I was not really sure whether he described the past or present situation for these exiles. Regardless of this ambiguity, the speech is important because it implies the inability to return is still an important reference for this community. Moreover, in that speech Andreas also stressed how that condition does not make them less Indonesian.

The speech thus seemed to aligned with many discussions on exiles that emphasized exilic experiences as the dominant marker of their communities (Delanty, 2003; Dragojlovic, 2012; Sipayung, 2011). While it is true that exilic experiences are important, in the case of Indonesian exiles I believe we should look beyond that period to comprehend the development of shared ideals that shaped and reshaped the community. To illustrate the changes of those ideals I present the individual narratives of exiles classified into three sub-chapters based on the period: before leaving Indonesia, living abroad as an exile, and life in the Netherlands.

2. 1 Association with Progressive Ideas

In general, there is not much knowledge about Indonesian exiles apart from within the community itself. Even though there have been plenty of discussions regarding the 1965-1966 events, there has not been much research on this community, at least until several years ago. This absence was pointed out by several researchers (e.g. Dragojlovic 2012; Mudzakkir 2015; Hill 2010). Before their departure, these exiles had a strong association with the Indonesian left as well as with Sukarno, the head of state of that time (Dragojlovic 2012: 162).

These associations were expressed through participation in different organizations, which was influenced by discussions of socialism, Marxism, and nationalism. During my fieldwork, although sometimes the meaning was not very clear, many informants used these terms often and interchangeably. On several occasions, some of my informants would classify these terms under an umbrella term like ‘progressive ideas’7. Regardless of different labels and interpretations, it is clear to me that the ties with these ideals are really important for Indonesian exiles and are still major references in their community. The question is: how did these ideals become that important for these exiles? To understand that, I will look into informants’ personal life details to illustrate how these ideals were developed and shared.

6

It is important to note that unlike English, the Indonesian language does not have verb tenses (past, present, future, etc.)

7

This term will be used in this thesis because it is generally accepted within the exile community as covering many different ideological positions among them.

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For Radi, his interest in progressive ideals could be traced back to his childhood. He was raised in a religious family that lived in Subang, a small city in West Java. During his teenage years, he was sent by his family to an Islamic boarding school. At this institution he experienced sexual abuse that led him to question the relevance of religion on morality:

“…I believe I was matured (by the experience). I went to my parents and said, “In my opinion being a good person has nothing to do with religion, but because that person is (inherently) good. Thus, if that good person becomes Muslim, he will be a good Muslim. (If that person) becomes Christian (he) also will be a good Christian, etc. Thus, you do not need to have a religion to be a good person.”

His parents expelled him from the house after this confrontation. The then sixteen-year-old Radi then involved himself with several leftist organizations. First, he joined a peasant organization known as BTI (Barisan Tani Indonesia/March of Indonesian Peasants). Later, he also joined Pemuda Rakyat (People’s Youth).

These involvements with several organizations gave Radi opportunities to interact with important political figures at national and international levels. For example, D.N. Aidit, the head of PKI, asked him to become a member of the party. However, Radi turned down the offer because he believed in certain ideals of being a communist, which he perceived could never be achieved. The notion of this ideal communist came from his experience with a PKI member when he was a teenager:

“He was considered a father figure for the whole village. People from PKI, Masyumi8, and any group perceived him as a respected senior figure. He helped every person regardless of their ideology. He was my idol; he was a representation of communists for me. Thus, for me, a communist is the best person. I knew him when I was young. I would not be able to be like him…”

Despite the rejection, Aidit offered Radi another position to serve the party, which he accepted. He was recruited as part of Aidit’s research team, as well as the chancellor of Akademi Pertanian Egom (Egom

Agricultural Institute). Radi recalled that his decision to not become a party member made Aidit label

him as an 'independent Bolshevik’. Aidit borrowed this term from Lenin who used the same label for a group of peasants that were loyal supporters but not party members. It became the term that Radi uses to describe his stance on Marxism and communism.

Another informant, Chalik, also interacted with progressive movements from his neighbourhood. He grew up in Kisaran, North Sumatera. He recalled his youth as a spirited teenager who had a lot of interests. When he was a student, he joined Ikatan Pemuda Pelajar Indonesia (Indonesian Youth Student League). At that time, this organization was renowned for its activities struggling for students’ rights. At this organization, he was appointed as a chief for the regional level. On the other hand, he was also

8

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interested in various forms of art. Hence, he joined Lekra, an art organization that was affiliated with leftist ideas. Lekra in his opinion was different from other cultural organizations:

“At that time, the progressive one in term of writings was Lekra. Peasants and labourers joined Lekra. There were other organizations that were affiliated with Muslims or nationalists, such as PNI9, and LKN (Lembaga Kebudayaan Nasional/Institute of National Culture) created by Soekarno.”

Chalik's time in Lekra was spent doing different forms of art, from writing and reading poetry to participating in plays. Many of his plays were adapted from scripts created by other Lekra figures like Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Utuy Tatang Sontani. These were aligned with his educational experiences. After he graduated from middle school, Chalik joined literary and cultural programmes at high school. He continuously pursued his interest in art by joining the Art Academy in Medan. Around the same time he also worked as a journalist in Harapan Daily, which was later banned by the government. His activities in Lekra eventually led him to become the head of Lekra in Medan.

Since Chalik had a strong interest in progressive ideals, he applied for a membership of PKI. Around the same time, PKI provided opportunities for selected members to learn more about Marxism, communism, and socialism. The selected members were invited from all over Indonesia to come to Jakarta, to attend Ali Archam Social Academy. This university was specifically established by PKI to provide its member with knowledge on social sciences, particularly Marxism. Chalik Hamid was one of the selected few that were invited to this academy. Before he completed the programme at the Art Academy, he moved to Jakarta to join this academy in 1964.

At this point of the interview, Chalik reminded me that PKI was an official and legal party just like other parties that held religious or nationalist ideologies:

“At that time PKI was a legal party, acknowledged by the government. Sukarno even aspired to create Nasakom10 at that time: nationalist, religion, and communist. But before he achieved that goal, the Nasakom government was already annihilated. As I said, the party was legal and official, thus all of its activities were also official. Those we fought were bloodsuckers, loan sharks in villages, capitalists in cities.”

I did not ask Chalik why he felt the need to explain PKI’s legality. However, I assumed he tried to avoid any judgement towards him caused by the stigma associated with the PKI for decades. It was probably even harder for him because the period when he was involved with leftist organizations is one that he feels very proud of.

9_{Nationalist political party, active from 1927-1971} 10

Nasakom is an abbreviation of three words, Nasionalism (Nationalism), Agama (Religion), and Komunis (communism). It was a political concept proposed by Sukano to unite three ideological forces from that era.

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I believe Sarmadji’s narrative is also important to illustrate how these exiles learned progressive ideas in Indonesia. He is a renowned figure among Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands. Not only is he one of the most senior exiles, but for many years he dedicated his time to collecting various print publications, particularly ones related with communism and socialism in Indonesia. Sarmadji came from Solo, in Central Java. Before he went to China in 1964, he worked at a sports inspection institute in Solo. His job made him interact with many children. Thus, he was also trusted to guide children in a Boy Scouts' programme. Eventually, Sarmadji was posted to Jakarta by the Ministry of Culture and Basic Education. However, it was hard to live in Jakarta on a civil servant's salary. Therefore, he decided to leave the job and apply for another job on a national newspaper.

Sarmadji was recruited to manage a children’s column at Harian Rakjat, a national newspaper owned by PKI. Sarmadji recalled that his responsibility was not limited to the column itself, but he also managed the readers’ group. He established readers’ group in many areas. Apparently, this occupation made him realized that he did not have enough knowledge about education. Therefore, he sought an opportunity to study education.

At this time, the relations between China and Indonesia were very strong. Many Indonesians received the opportunity to study in China as a result of these diplomatic relations (Liu, 2006). Sarmadji then applied for a scholarship to learn more about children’s education, particularly children’s education outside of school. For him, this particular subject was important because many PKI cadres were very active outside their houses. Hence, there was a necessity to take care of their kids. Sarmadji paralleled this situation with experiences in Russia where the communist party would take care of its members’ children. He added that similar kinds of practices were also implemented in China. Therefore, in his opinion it was important for Indonesia to learn these methods as well.

Sarmadji was accepted into the scholarship programme, and just like other students, he had to take some preparatory programmes. Part of this was the Tujuh Bahan Pokok Indoktrinasi (Seven Fundamental Indoctrination Materials) that served as political education for these students. This programme, according to Sarmadji, was specifically created to mould students into Sukarnoists11. Sarmadji added that later the head of the programme became a Soeharto supporter, which made the situation rather ironic.

11_{Generally, this means the supporter of Sukarno and his political ideology. As previously mentioned, since}

Sukarno's teachings also used many sources from Marxism and Socialism, for many informants being Sukarnoist has a strong affiliation with other terms such as ‘progressive’.

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This preparatory programme was not his first experience with progressive ideas. His living area in Solo also influenced how Sarmadji interacted with progressive figures. Many of his neighbours participated in the early development of communism in Indonesia. They participated in several struggles against the Dutch colonial power. Afterwards, according to Samardji, many of them were captured and exiled to another island in Digul. Later, they were also exiled to Australia, where they learned more about Marxist literature. When they came back to Solo in 1946, they spread these progressive ideas.

For young Sarmadji, these figures were really interesting for many reasons. First, he witnessed how his neighbours transformed from being uneducated to articulate orators. Second, they also initiated various struggles against the Dutch. So in 1952, he applied to become a PKI member and associated himself with progressive ideals afterwards.

These narratives illustrate how these exiles interacted with progressive ideas from a relatively young age. Their involvements also came from personal interactions in their neighbourhoods, where they could see how these ideas were translated into social actions from different kinds of organizations. On the other hand, the state under Sukarno also accommodated these progressive ideals into its policies. This structure reinforced previously existing ties with these ideals. Other exiles might have different personal experiences in terms of their association with progressive ideals. Nevertheless, it is hard to deny that these associations have been important in shaping how these exiles addressed themselves, whether as individuals or as members of the community. These associations with progressive ideals were brought by these exiles when they left Indonesia.

2. 2 Precarious Life after 1965 Incident

Before departure, many of these exiles went through preparatory programmes run by the ministry of PTIP (Perguruan Tinggi dan Ilmu Pengetahuan/Higher Education and Science). As mentioned before, this programme prepared them not just for studying abroad but also to represent Indonesia’s political ideology under Sukarno. It is thus no wonder that many of my informants described their departure as some kind of mission where they were not just mere individual students, but part of collective groups that represented Indonesia internationally. It is important to remember these positions and the pride they had as selected elites representing their country when considering how the 1965-1966 events abruptly changed that into precarious situations. To illustrate this point even further, I would like to present some more narratives of exiles.

Ana lived in Jakarta since junior high school. After graduating from senior high school, she studied at college and worked at the same time to finance her studies. Ana then found an announcement in the

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paper about a scholarship from the Soviet Union. Ana explained that, in this period, Soviet experts were influential in various development programmes under Sukarno. This involvement was not separated from the large amount of funding that the Soviet Union provided to Indonesia (Hill 2014: 623). Thus, the education system in the Soviet Union was highly regarded in Indonesia.

In 1962, Ana was selected as one of the few women to receive the scholarship. At the age of 22, she arrived in Moscow and registered as a student in the Department of Agricultural Economy at Lumumba University. Ana chose this programme because she believed it would be relevant to Indonesian development, which emphasized the agricultural sector. She recalled,

“Unfortunately (the knowledge) could not be utilized. We studied hard and enthusiastically. That was one of the things that I regret. I could not channel the knowledge that I had learned into Indonesia.”

In Moscow, Ana interacted with many international students. At that time, each country had their representation committee to bridge communications between students and the Soviet Union. For Ana, it was a proud moment because she could participate with others in introducing Indonesia to international students, although she recalled that Indonesia was already quite known among international students from its association with Sukarno. “Every time Asian or Latin American students met Indonesian students, they would directly refer to Sukarno”, said Ana. Sukarno was renowned at that time because of his involvement in the Asian-African conference.

In 1965, the first batch of Indonesian student that came to Moscow finished their studies. Several months before they returned to Indonesia, Sukarno came to the Soviet Union. Many students and military officers that studied in Moscow gathered and met Sukarno. Several months later, these students who returned to Indonesia were employed in different kinds of government institutions. Some of them even sent letters to Moscow, and encouraged other students to finish their studies and return to work in Indonesia. Therefore, no one anticipated the important event that occurred in September 1965, including Ana. Reading those letters, she was inspired to graduate and return to Indonesia as soon as possible. Little did she know that most of her friends would later be prisoned after the 1965 incident. After the incident, many Indonesian students lived through a traumatic period since there were many uncertainties regarding the situations in Indonesia (Hill 2014: 628). It was not until 1966 that the embassy made a strong move toward Indonesian students in Moscow. It was the time when Ana almost finished her studies and was preparing to return to Indonesia. The Indonesian embassy gathered Indonesian students and interrogated them one by one. Ana was asked about her family in Indonesia and requested to report herself to the government when she returned. She was worried and stressed to

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embassy officials that she was sent by the Indonesian government and there was no correlation between her activities and her family in Indonesia. She also refused the embassy’s request to sign several documents in relation to the 1965 incident, particularly the one that condemned Sukarno as the one who was responsible for that situation:

“What is the 30th September Movement? We did not understand; it was impossible that Sukarno would coup himself. And I was a supporter of Sukarno, thus I decided not to sign the document.”

After the event at the embassy, her passport was no longer valid to use. Her anxiety was even bigger because she did not know anything about her family and friends’ conditions in Indonesia. Once, she sent a letter to her father, but a reply never came. Later, her sister informed Ana that their father was fired from his job and returned to his village. It was a really hard situation for her because even though her father was not even involved in PKI activities he was treated badly. Of course, Ana could not return to Indonesia. She lived in the Soviet Union until 1967 before moving to several countries and finally arrived in the Netherlands in 1979.

Just like Ana, Florensia12 was one of few females who were sent to the Soviet Union. At the end of 1960, Florensia went to Moscow to study medical science at Lumumba University. In the first few months, she attended preparatory classes on language and basic medical knowledge. Apart from that, the students were also able to take extracurricular activities that were provided by the university. Florensia chose to take ballet classes and a driving course. It was a memorable experience for her because in her opinion, courses provided by the Soviet Union were rigorous. Even for a relatively simple driving course, she was expected to learn about car engines.

The medical courses she took were also very demanding, even more so because there was a request from Latin American countries to modify the workload of the programme. Originally, the programme was intended to be completed in 1967. However, there were urgent needs for medical personnel in several Latin American countries, so they demanded the programme have an earlier graduation. Lumumba University granted the request but as a consequence the students need to study more hours every day.

In 1965, Florensia was shocked to learn about the 1965 incident. At the time, no one really knew what was happening in Indonesia, and Indonesian students were anxious. Nevertheless, the Soviet Union guaranteed their status as students so they could continue their education. They even offered opportunities to Indonesian students to work or study after completing their bachelor's programmes.

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Despite the uncertainties, Florensia managed to complete her program in 1966. In the same year, she was invited by the Indonesian embassy to present and sign several documents. Florensia recalled that the situation was quite intense. There was one incident where the embassy officials were violent to Indonesian students, an event which later made the Soviet Union issue a regulation that forbade any kind of disturbance in public areas.

Similar to Ana, Florensia refused the demands from the embassy and chose to work as an intern doctor instead. Several Vietnamese students knew her situation and offered her the chance to work in Vietnam. At that time Vietnam needed a lot of medical personnel because of their war against the USA. “Then I thought, it is probably a good (opportunity), because I could not serve for Indonesia, since I could not return,” said Florensia. She was 24 years old when she went to Vietnam in 1967 to work as a military doctor. There, she met another Indonesian exile who had come there earlier, and married him. It was not an easy situation for anyone to live in, let alone start a marriage. The whole country was under constant threat of bombardment, and Florensia and her husband were posted in different units. When she gave birth, she needed to leave the baby around the borders between China and Vietnam to avoid the dangers of war.

In 1972, Vietnam issued a policy that every foreigner needed to leave the country so they could serve their own nationals. Florensia, her husband, and their two toddlers then moved to China. China was perceived as a feasible country for them to go to since it is located near Vietnam. However, when they arrived, there was a Cultural Revolution in China. Foreigners like Florensia and her family were placed within camps that were heavily guarded by local military. The residents of the camps were also forbidden from doing any of professional work.

As a consequence, Florensia could not use her medical knowledge and was not able to learn the Chinese language. In 1976, there was a conflict between Mao and other political figures that led to new policies that allowed foreigners to work. After this, Florensia could work as a doctor at a hospital. However, in the 1980s, China’s foreign policy caused Florensia and her family to move again. China wanted to mend their broken diplomatic ties with Indonesia; hence they needed to comply with the Indonesian government requests not to accommodate Indonesian exiles anymore. In 1989, Florensia and her family moved to the Netherlands with help from an old colleague who also came from Indonesia.

Esti also had precarious situations after 1965 incident. He was 23 years old when he went to the Soviet Union in September 1962. Around that time, he estimated there were probably two hundred Indonesian students at Lumumba University, while other students were at Lomonosov University and other places

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in Soviet Union. Esti chose to take an economics programme that was in line with his previous job as a public servant.

In 1965, he received knowledge about the incident from the radio. Many students in the Soviet Union regularly listened to the radio for the weather forecast. From the radio they could also listen to various broadcasts from different countries such as Australia, the UK, Germany, and Indonesian broadcasts from China. Despite these broadcasts, Esti and other students did not really understand what was actually happening in Indonesia.

Several months later, the Indonesian Embassy responded to the incident by calling Indonesian students to the embassy. Apparently, they were asked to sign several documents as a sign of loyalty to the Indonesian government. The first document presented was a request for the students to condemn the incident. Esti and many others signed the document because they did not support the act of 30th September 1965. However, they refused to sign the other documents that asked them to condemn Sukarno. Afterwards, a friend of his could not extend his passport at the Indonesian Embassy and was asked to return to Indonesia. Since then, Esti and many other students decided not to give their passport to the embassy. The Indonesian Embassy then issued a warning to everybody not to help Indonesian students who refused to comply with their request.

(List of names whose passport revoked, issued by Indonesian embassy, private document of Florensia) During his time in the Soviet Union, Esti married another Indonesian student. When he finished his studies in 1967, he left the Soviet Union and went to China because of his wife’s illness. Back then, China was regarded as having more advanced medical treatment for kidney disease. Esti and his wife lived in China until 1973, before they moved to West Germany. He chose to go to Germany because it was

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possible for them to enter this country without a visa. Esti and his wife went to the country as tourists, so they did not have residence permit. They were accepted to stay in a house managed by the Southeast Asian Students' Organization. Despite the name, the house was occupied by students from other areas like Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong. In the house, Esti met other Indonesian students that came from East European countries. “So we joined because we shared the same cause in supporting Sukarno’s government,” said Esti. He recalled that at that time Indonesians in Berlin regularly published Mengabdi

Rakyat as a bulletin to oppose the New Order regime. At the same time, Indonesian students in Albania

and China also had their own publications. Some similar forms of opposition could also be found in Albania (Hill 2010: 33).

In 1978, Esti and his wife's passports could not be used to stay any longer in Germany, so they moved to Algeria. By that time, most of their friends had already requested asylum, but they had decided not to do so. “We did not want to seek asylum, we wanted as Indonesian, to remain (Indonesian), if there was a possibility to go home, (we wanted to) go home,” said Esti.

During his time in the Soviet Union, Esti had established connections with Algerian students. Some of the other Indonesian students were also involved in many Algerian development projects. Esti recalled that one marine engineer from Indonesia wrote a book that became important reference in Algeria. “If we are talking about knowledge, they had a lot of knowledge that could not be utilized by the Indonesian government,” said Esti. At the end of 1978, Esti decided to return to Germany and planned to apply for asylum in Hamburg. When he talked to his friend in the Netherlands about this plan, the friend suggested that Esti and his wife should move to the Netherlands instead. They moved to the Netherlands in 1979.

As described above, these exiles went from Indonesia with certain awareness that they were part of ideals developed under Soekarno. This awareness was an important part of how they positioned themselves particularly towards the international colleagues they met abroad. However, the 1965-1966 events put them in a precarious situation. The Indonesian government that sent them as its best representatives suddenly alienated them and treated them as pariahs.

Despite the guarantees from their host countries, the exiles still faced many uncertainties. The future they had planned, to use their knowledge to participate in the Indonesian development project, became impossible. This loss of opportunities became one of the most common narratives shared by Indonesian exiles. There was a common sentiment that their inability to return was also a loss for Indonesia, since

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the nation could not utilize their knowledge. This loss was inevitable since there were almost no possibility to contribute knowledge from a distance at that time.

The uncertainties were even greater for those who moved around multiple countries. The movements were motivated by various reasons. Some found the situation in their host countries already uncomfortable. Other exiles, like Florensia, looked for opportunities to utilize the knowledge they had gained from earlier studies. There were also many exiles that moved around to try to find a way to return to Indonesia.

Each of them faced different social and political difficulties in the many countries they lived in. The ones who went to Vietnam, for example, participated in a war, so experienced the constant danger of losing their lives. On the other hand, the ones who went to China during the Cultural Revolution lived under heavy monitoring and could not continue their education programmes. Furthermore, many were also caught in a power struggle between China and the Soviet Union (Hill 2008: 6).

The precarious situation did not only come from their own life’s experiences, but also from not knowing their relatives’ situations in Indonesia. As described by Ana, before the incident many of them still received good news from their colleagues who already worked in the country. However the contact was disrupted after the incident, thus they relied on news from radio and newspaper that amplified their anxiety even more. Moreover, during their interrogations, the embassy thoroughly screened their connections to their family in Indonesia. Thus, they were already given the impression that their families might be threatened simply because of the connections with them. Until today this anxiety is still very apparent among Indonesian exiles. Many of them are still worried about sharing any information about their family in Indonesia, although they may be very open about themselves.

These insecurities eventually led the exiles to look for other places to settle; many considered Western and Northern European countries as ideal destinations. Among these countries, most Indonesian exiles decided to go to Netherlands.

2.3 New Life in the Netherlands

Although many exiles perceived the Netherlands as an ideal safe haven, it was not easy for them to position themselves within the new country. When they came to the Netherlands, many of these people already had a family. Some, like Esti, married other Indonesian exiles they met in host countries13, like the Soviet Union. Other exiles, like Florensia, met their partners in transit countries like Vietnam, even

13

Host countries refer to countries that were the first destination for these exiles when they left Indonesia, while transit countries refer to numerous countries that they visited before settling permanently in the new country.

Imagining the homeland : the use of the internet among Indonesian exiles in the Netherlands

Master’s Thesis in Cultural and Social Anthropology