On 5 March 2017, H.E. the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, and the President of the Leiden branch of the Indonesian Students Association, Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia (PPI), Mikhael Dito Manurung, unveiled a plaque commemorating the ‘Clubhuis Indonesia’, which was housed in Leiden between March 1937 and November 1941. The plaque was installed at the initiative of Leiden University,  KITLV and Gerard Telkamp, a member of the Vereniging KITLV.

During a meeting at the KITLV just prior to the unveiling, the KITLV’s Director and Professor of Colonial and Postcolonial History at Leiden University, Gert Oostindie, provided a brief historical sketch of the Clubhuis Indonesia. The Clubhuis formed part of a broader movement among Indonesian students in the Netherlands to not only seek a home away from home, but to also organize themselves for nationalistic purposes. In this perspective, the Clubhuis Indonesia even acquired the epitaph of the ‘cradle of Indonesian independence’. No matter how critical they were of Dutch colonialism, a disproportionate share of Indonesian students joined the resistance against the Nazi occupation, some paying with their life.

The plaque honours the memory of those Indonesians and their ideals. As the plaque says, the Clubhuis Indonesia was ‘a centre for Indonesian culture and nationalism’. Among those attending the ceremony were Leiden City Councillor Paul Dirkse, and several former students with an Indonesian background who had at some time studied in Leiden.

In his speech, Mikhael Dito Manurung compared the Indonesian students from the past with students of today. He stated that although we tend to romanticize the past, we can learn from it. He emphasized, in particular, that we should focus on what unites us.

Read more on the website of Leiden University: ‘Memorial stone points to turbulent history of Indonesian students’

H.E. the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja (right), and the President of the Leiden branch of the Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia (PPI), Mikhael Dito Manurung (left), unveiling the plaque. On the left Leiden City Councillor Paul Dirkse and on the right, Professor Gert Oostindie, director KITLV.

The plaque commemorating the ‘Clubhuis Indonesia’, which was housed at the Hugo de Groot Straat 12 in Leiden between March 1937 and November 1941, an Indonesian student house – a centre for Indonesian culture and nationalism’.

Among those attending the ceremony were H.E. the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, I Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja, the President of PPI, Mikhael Dito Manurung, Leiden City Councillor Paul Dirkse, Gerard Telkamp, several staff members of KITLV and some Indonesian students.

Hugo de Groot Straat 12.

Photos: KITLV/Yayah Siegers-Samaniri