Figure 1.--Here we see Dutch and Indonesian children, presumably in the 1930s before World War II and the Japanese invasion (1942). This is one of the many fascinating photographs from Hein Buitenweg's book Kind in tempo doeloe. The second boy on the left seems to be wearing a sarong, while one of the others is holding up a "slendang" (or "seléndang"), a piece of batik cloth that is worn over the shoulder and is sometimes used to carry things (women carry their babies in a slendang). Some of the boys are wearing a "kopiah", a black velvet cap, worn only by Moslem men and boys. The girl in the front is mixed Indo-European, usually with Dutch citizenship.

Boys' clothing in Indonesia has some similarity to neighboring Malaysia which also has a majority Islamic population. Indonesia was a Dutch colony until independence after World War II.

Background

In Indonesia, some areas have a very mixed religious pattern: parts of Sumatra, Celebes, the Moluccas, have a Christian majority or large Christian minorities even among the non-Chinese population. Even on Java, which is predominantly Muslim, Roman Catholics may amount to up to 10% in some areas.

Ethnic Diversity

I have never seen any difference between these religious groups as far as attitudes on clothing etiquette are concerned, nor is their any difference between the observant Muslimin and the so-called `orang muslim abangan', perhaps the majority of Indonesian Muslims, who are Muhammedan in name only, observing no more than a token number of religious rituals.

Islamic boys

Islam, though requiring modesty, has never set rules as to the actual length of trousers, certainly not for men.

Regional Differences

There are slight ethnic differences however, in the sense that, with Christians and Muslims alike, people on the central islands tend to be somewhat more conservative, leaving more of the skin covered than in some outlying districts.

Chronological Trends

Pre-colonial era

Hindu ivaders from India established kingdoms during the first centuries of the Christain era. Islamic invaders in the 15th century converted most of what is now Indonesia, except Bali.

Colonial era

The first Europeans to reach Indonesia were the Portuguese who then competed with the Spanish to control trade. The Spanish agreed to abandon their claims in 1529 in return for a substantial payment. The Dutch East Indies Company was chartered in 1602 and succeeded in outsting the Portuguese. The Dutch Government after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, exerted direct rule beginning in 1816. We have only limited information on cllthing trends during the colonia era. There is a page on rompers and a kind of orphanage/miltary school for Eurasian children called the Korps Pupillen

Modern Inonesia

The Dutch East Indies were seized by the Japanese in early 1942, soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor impbilizing the American fleet. Indonesian nationalists resisted the reimposition of Dutch colonial rule following World War II. After several years of fighting, the Dutch Government recognized the independence of Indonesia.

We have little information on Indonesian boys clothes during the early independence period. One action taken by the Government was to abolish the Boy Scouts in 19?? and created a nationalist group instead called the Gerakan Pramuka. The Indonesian Pramuka has since begun to rethink their initial rejection of Scouting. Pramuka authorities have been striving to re-establish relations with Scouting for a long time, claiming that their organization from the beginning was just Scouting the Indonesian way, rightfully taking the place of pre-revolutionary Scouting.

Overlying these attitudes is the fact that Indonesia has been catching up very quickly with Western, especially American fashion over the past 20 years. Up to the 1970s, Indonesia lagged behind any number of years. The younger the boys, the more obvious this was as to the number and the length of their shorts. During the last quarter of the 20th century, Soeharto's regime, now infamous for is high degree of corruption, has considerably raised the standard of living of many Indonesians, and by a spin-off mechanism has created a large middle-class that was almost non-existant under his predecessor. These people can afford television and foreign travel more than ever before, and it shows, especially in the cities. Like in the West, with young urbanites `shorts' are now mostly below the knee.

Personal Experiences

We note some wonderful accounts of childhood in Indonesia.

Frank Neijndorff

Frank Neijndorff has written a lovely account of his boyhood in the Dutch East Indies. It is titled Achterom Gekeken (A Backward Glance). The book gives an account of his boyhood growing up in the Dutch East Indies. Three periods are covered. First: the last years of undisputed Dutch colonial rule (1929-42). Second: World War II anf life under the Japanese occupation (1942-45). Third: the period after the War during which sovereignty over the archipelago was disputed between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Indonesian Republic (1945-49) . The book may be ordered from the author. The author maintains a Dutch-language website.

Hein Buitenweg

Hein Buitenweg published Kind in tempo doeloe, (in Dutch) in 1969. The title in English: "Child in the old days". Tempo doeloe, or tempo dulu, (the way doeloe is spelled now), is Malayan (Indonesian) and means "then" or "at that time", meaning the good old colonial days. The book contains numerous drawings and photographs, many of them very interesting. The little Dutch boys in the drawings are wearing a "tjelana monjet", that means "monkey trousers". It is Malayan (Indonesian) and more or less pronounced as "cheláhnah monyet". That used to be the most practical clothing in the tropics for smaller boys. You notice that few of the European children is wearing shoes or sandals. Buitenweg wrote several books about life in the Dutch colonies in the Far East.

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Created: July 27, 2001
Last updated: 12:13 AM 10/31/2005