The remains of these 3 Dutch ships are from the Battle of the Java Sea which was fought on February 27, 1942 between a hastily assembled battle group of Dutch, British, American and Australian ships led by the Dutch Admiral Karel Doorman and the overwhelming Japanese fleet steaming towards the Island of Java. It was […]
Three months ago, I exchanged e-mails with Priscilla K M regarding the fact that there is very little available in English that deals with the horrific circumstances of the Dutch-Indonesians on Java under the Japanese during WWII that I describe in “with nothing but our lives”. Priscilla is the founder of The Indo Project whose […]
Leo Vroman April 10, 1915 – February 22, 2014 This Dutch poet, illustrator and scientist died yesterday in Fort Worth, Texas at the age of 98. He lived in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1940 to 1945 and was a POW of the Japanese on Java and in Japan. After the capitulation of […]
In today’s topsy-turvy book publishing industry it does not matter that you have written the most compelling, forceful, soaring, and moving novel or memoir with sharply etched characters, displaying deep wisdom of the nature of human beings. No publisher will look at you unless you have a successful social media presence, what they call a […]
A long time ago, a friend turned up unannounced for a visit at our herb farm. He carried a gallon plastic pot holding a pretty green ginger-like plant, which he called “galangal”. A gift to his wife from her Indonesian relatives, the plant had arrived as a tiny slip of a thing several months before […]
Wajang puppets swaying against the candle light like finding nemo
