Hi csteele,

The memories and subsequent version of history re Indonesia depends a bit on who does the telling: the 'Dutch' Dutch, the 'Indische' Dutch, the Javanese (subsequent rulers of the Indonesian archipelago), the Sumatrans, Mollucans etc.

Suriname has a very different story. Incidentally, it was part of the exchange the Dutch did with the British. New York (Manhattan) for Suriname. It must have seemed like a good deal at the time, which goes to show that even excellent traders and merchants that the Dutch were got it wrong at times.

My old Judo teacher, Desi Bouterse, seemed like a perfectly ordinary guy. A lesson in how evil deeds are often done by very ordinary non-scary people.

On Amazon.com I started reading the pages I could of NOLI ME TANGERE. I really like his style. The lines of the poem you quoted are really beautiful, and humbling.