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The official Dutch apology on Sept. 12 to the families
of those massacred between 1945 and 1949 has sparked debate in Indonesia and
the Netherlands, but there is a more interesting topic related to both the
Dutch and the transportation problems plaguing Indonesia’s cities — cycling.
If you walk the streets of Amsterdam, eight out of 10 vehicles will probably be bicycles. I was shocked to see a gentleman in a suit riding an old bicycle. A student with a pair of denim blue jeans and a sweater also rode one. Even a mother traveling with her baby and toddler sat on bakfiets (cargo bikes).
It is interesting to observe that the bicycle is an integral part of Dutch life, rather than a symbol of a minority lifestyle.
According to Kaspar Hanenbergh, a bicycle historian who wrote a book about Dutch cycling history, the bicycle serves as a national symbol in the Netherlands. It is not the noun that counts, but the verb: cycling. It is the activity that quickly became a national symbol, not the bicycle.
Bicycles are used by all socio-economic groups because of their convenience, Amsterdam’s small size, the availability of 400-kilometer bike paths, the flat terrain and also perhaps expensive automobile parking fees.
Between 1890 and 1920, Dutch bicycles continued to dominate the world market, including Indonesia. Indonesian historian Djoko Suryo recorded that the bicycle was a symbol of social status in the 1900s. Only the elite could afford to purchase expensive bikes made by Dutch companies, although Indonesia had been very generous to supply rubber for tires for Dutch bicycle companies.
But when Japanese troops occupied Indonesia in 1942, bicycle importation was terminated. Amazingly, despite the fact that Indonesia had declared its independence in 1945, Japanese cars flooded Indonesian roads and still do today.
Upon arrival in Jakarta recently, I was shocked to read a headline that the government had approved the low-cost green car (LGCC) policy. The policy has created a paradox. The policy’s rhetoric might sound reasonable: that the government is concerned about the middle class or even lower middle so that they can afford to buy cars.
Supporters would argue that our public transportation is unreliable, thus private cars are an option. However, as analysts might have predicted, the unintended consequences on traffic gridlock and consumer behavior will make things even worse.
For some Indonesians, cars are not only vehicles to take them from one place to another, but a representation one’s social status. If you have a car, you have attained vertical mobility. The more luxurious car you have, the higher social status you obtain. I wonder if this kind of mentality is a colonial legacy or the fact that we are merely mindless consumers?
It is OK to purchase things, but only if the things we purchase have clear and appropriate uses.
Seeing this paradox from a postcolonial perspective, the colonizers successfully targeted their colonies as their market places. To Edward Said, a postcolonial theorist, a binary discourse of civilized and uncivilized was introduced to achieve the mission. The master slowly but surely whispers to his slaves: “you are becoming more civilized if you ride our bikes or drive our cars”.
Unlike the Dutch, who do not really concern themselves with having the latest bicycle, or the Japanese, who prefer walking to driving, some Indonesians do whatever it takes to possess cars these days, just like what we did decades ago with bicycles.
The Dutch’s culture is biking, the Japanese’s culture is walking, whereas our culture is buying bikes and cars.
The results of a Nielsen consumer confidence survey recently revealed that Indonesia’s latest consumption behavior was the highest level ever recorded.
Worryingly, the LCGC policy multiplies this behavior by directly supporting the purchase of cars.
The late national education figure Ki Hajar Dewantara had worried about this behavior as he wrote “[…] because of the great inferiority complex we derived from our particular governmental experience, we were easily satisfied with anything that makes us look a bit Dutch.”
If Dewantara were here, I believe he would challenge the policy.
Government should work more on public transport to address this transportation issue, not give it up to the private realm.
Will we let the car companies teach us about civilization? Which one do you prefer, cheap cars or expensive bikes? Well, both are colonial legacies. ●
If you walk the streets of Amsterdam, eight out of 10 vehicles will probably be bicycles. I was shocked to see a gentleman in a suit riding an old bicycle. A student with a pair of denim blue jeans and a sweater also rode one. Even a mother traveling with her baby and toddler sat on bakfiets (cargo bikes).
It is interesting to observe that the bicycle is an integral part of Dutch life, rather than a symbol of a minority lifestyle.
According to Kaspar Hanenbergh, a bicycle historian who wrote a book about Dutch cycling history, the bicycle serves as a national symbol in the Netherlands. It is not the noun that counts, but the verb: cycling. It is the activity that quickly became a national symbol, not the bicycle.
Bicycles are used by all socio-economic groups because of their convenience, Amsterdam’s small size, the availability of 400-kilometer bike paths, the flat terrain and also perhaps expensive automobile parking fees.
Between 1890 and 1920, Dutch bicycles continued to dominate the world market, including Indonesia. Indonesian historian Djoko Suryo recorded that the bicycle was a symbol of social status in the 1900s. Only the elite could afford to purchase expensive bikes made by Dutch companies, although Indonesia had been very generous to supply rubber for tires for Dutch bicycle companies.
But when Japanese troops occupied Indonesia in 1942, bicycle importation was terminated. Amazingly, despite the fact that Indonesia had declared its independence in 1945, Japanese cars flooded Indonesian roads and still do today.
Upon arrival in Jakarta recently, I was shocked to read a headline that the government had approved the low-cost green car (LGCC) policy. The policy has created a paradox. The policy’s rhetoric might sound reasonable: that the government is concerned about the middle class or even lower middle so that they can afford to buy cars.
Supporters would argue that our public transportation is unreliable, thus private cars are an option. However, as analysts might have predicted, the unintended consequences on traffic gridlock and consumer behavior will make things even worse.
For some Indonesians, cars are not only vehicles to take them from one place to another, but a representation one’s social status. If you have a car, you have attained vertical mobility. The more luxurious car you have, the higher social status you obtain. I wonder if this kind of mentality is a colonial legacy or the fact that we are merely mindless consumers?
It is OK to purchase things, but only if the things we purchase have clear and appropriate uses.
Seeing this paradox from a postcolonial perspective, the colonizers successfully targeted their colonies as their market places. To Edward Said, a postcolonial theorist, a binary discourse of civilized and uncivilized was introduced to achieve the mission. The master slowly but surely whispers to his slaves: “you are becoming more civilized if you ride our bikes or drive our cars”.
Unlike the Dutch, who do not really concern themselves with having the latest bicycle, or the Japanese, who prefer walking to driving, some Indonesians do whatever it takes to possess cars these days, just like what we did decades ago with bicycles.
The Dutch’s culture is biking, the Japanese’s culture is walking, whereas our culture is buying bikes and cars.
The results of a Nielsen consumer confidence survey recently revealed that Indonesia’s latest consumption behavior was the highest level ever recorded.
Worryingly, the LCGC policy multiplies this behavior by directly supporting the purchase of cars.
The late national education figure Ki Hajar Dewantara had worried about this behavior as he wrote “[…] because of the great inferiority complex we derived from our particular governmental experience, we were easily satisfied with anything that makes us look a bit Dutch.”
If Dewantara were here, I believe he would challenge the policy.
Government should work more on public transport to address this transportation issue, not give it up to the private realm.
Will we let the car companies teach us about civilization? Which one do you prefer, cheap cars or expensive bikes? Well, both are colonial legacies. ●
