CHILDREN OF DECOLONISATION

In many parts of Asia, the long history of Western colonialism created communities tracing their ancestry to both Asia and Europe, with a cultural heritage that drew from multiple traditions. This article looks at what happened to one such community, the Indo-Europeans (or Indos), after Indonesia's independence in 1949. The majority went to the Netherlands, while a smaller number stayed in Indonesia. The long process of decolonisation in both countries has led to diverging memories and identities, with each group drawing on the broader tropes of their national and regional contexts in the ways in which they relate to their past and to each other. Decolonisation, for postcolonial communities that trace their origins beyond national boundaries, did not end with independence and the withdrawal of colonial powers. It is an ongoing process.