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35-523: The njai ( [ɲai] ; Enhanced Indonesian Spelling System : nyai ) were women who were kept as housekeepers, companions, and concubines in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia). In the Javanese language , the word nyai meant "sister", but the term later took a more specific meaning. Author Rob Nieuwenhuys described the position of the njai as always subservient, being

70-512: A njai "could not touch the soul". Concern was also expressed over men's seeming lack of enthusiasm for having children with their njai , leading to high abortion rates. By the 1910s the number of njais had decreased, although prostitution had become more prevalent. The practice had not died out, however, by the time the Empire of Japan invaded and occupied the Indies. During the occupation,

105-574: A njai marrying a European could be recognized as of a similar stature to Europeans. Those who were not married, however, received no special recognition. Owing to an economic boom, the early 20th century saw another surge in immigration from Europe. With the European population now of a considerable size, Indies society began drifting towards a more racially divided one. Venues exclusive to one racial group were opened, and European, Chinese, and indigenous people rarely intermingled. Along with this change,

140-451: A njai were often raised in indigenous traditions, by their mother or by a maid. The fathers would generally not interact with them, preferring to socialize with other European men instead. In the 17th century few could speak Dutch, although later education programs were initiated to promote the use of the language. The njai has a broad presence in literature. James Siegel argues that "Dutch shame", which he describes as caused by guilt over

175-563: A ƒ 5,- fine. In February 1908, he applied for sick leave. On 28 February, he resigned as governor. From 18 May 1908 until 16 August 1909, Idenburg returned as Minister of Colonies. During his tenure, the atrocities of Gotfried van Daalen were revealed. Van Daalen had lost twelve men during the Aceh Wars, but – as is now known – to have caused at least 2,922 native deaths including at least 1,149 women and children. Idenburg defended van Daalen, but could not prevent an investigation into

210-445: A few may also come from other parts of speech, such as Indonesian mag 'gastritis' is actually pronounced as [max] or even [mah] , deriving from Dutch maag ; and bus pronounced as [bəs] or [bɪs] also from Dutch bus . Various minor changes were announced after 1975: Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg (23 July 1861 – 28 February 1935)

245-556: A position of power. Instead, it was more common for Dutchmen to take Asian women as their partners, as they could not marry without the company's permission and would not be repatriated if they married a non-Christian. When the British took control of the Indies in 1812, they were shocked to find the practice of concubinage, interracial marriage, and slavery. They attempted to force all elements of Indies society to live in accordance with British morals. However, they were unable to eliminate

280-487: A term for referring to a married or unmarried woman, as a term for referring to a woman older than the speaker, and for the concubine of a non-Indonesian. It is this last definition which is used here, a definition which gained traction in the 17th century when Balinese njais first became common in the colonial capital of Batavia (now Jakarta ). The word, in discussion of the Indies, is sometimes simply translated as "mistress". A variety of other terms were used to refer to

315-474: A translator and language teacher, terms such as boek ("book") and woordenboek ("dictionary") are also noted. Objectification of the njai was found in terms such as meubel ("furniture") and inventarisstuk ("inventory items"). Not all njai were necessarily native Indonesian – in Madelon Szekely-Lulofs 's 1931 novel Rubber , njai Kiku San is Japanese. Europeans first arrived in

350-523: A watered down version. He served until 21 March 1916. On 9 September 1918, Idenburg was reappointed as Minister of Colonies, but resigned on 13 November 1919 due to health problems. In 1923, he received the honorary title of Minister of State . On 17 February 1925, he was appointed to the Council of State , an advisory council to the government. Idenburg died on 28 February 1935 in The Hague , at

385-579: Is a system of orthography released in 1972 to replace the preexisting Republican Spelling System ( RSS , also called the Soewandi Spelling System, SSS ). A joint initiative of Indonesia and neighboring country Malaysia (which also introduced the similar Joint Rumi Spelling system), the aim of the change in 1972 was to introduce greater harmonization of the Indonesian and Malay-language orthographies . The new EYD system, adopted on

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420-560: Is also used as needed for Islamic subjects. Examples: This letter is also used in some placenames in Indonesia, derived from the local languages, e.g. Siluq Ngurai  [ id ] and Sekolaq Darat  [ id ] districts in West Kutai Regency , East Kalimantan . The writing of di- and ke- (affixes) can be distinguished from di and ke (prepositions), where di- and ke- are written together with

455-744: The House of Representatives and was elected. Idenburg returned to the Netherlands, and served in parliament until 25 September 1902. Subsequently he was appointed Minister of Colonies . In 1903, he passed the Decentralisation Law which allowed the East Indies to established independently financed regional councils. He served until 16 August 1905. On 14 September 1905, Idenburg was appointed Governor-General of Suriname . He arrived on 18 November 1905. During his tenure, he developed

490-512: The Indonesian archipelago in the 16th century, and in 1602 the Dutch East India Company was established to ensure Dutch domination of the spice trade. The Europeans established small settlements, and in many of them the European residents were all men. Without contact with Dutch women, they began turning to their female slaves (mostly originating from Sulawesi , Bali , and outside the archipelago) for sexual services. By 1620

525-461: The njai and their mixed-race children were forcefully separated from European men, who were put into internment camps. After the occupation ended in 1945, Sukarno proclaimed an independent Indonesia. During the ensuing revolution , the njai were forced to choose between going with their partners to Europe, or staying in Indonesia; both choices were taken. The njai could be sent home with little or no warning, with or without her children. This

560-462: The njai , with a varying degree of positive and negative connotations. In the 19th century the term inlandse huishoudster , or simply huishoudster (housekeeper), was common. The njai were also known as moentji , from the Dutch diminutive mondje , meaning "mouth", and the more negative snaar (" strings "); both referred to the njai ' s verbal propensities. As the njai could also serve as

595-466: The "Idenburg Plan" in order to achieve financial independence for the colony, however it did not pass. As an orthodox protestant, he had refused attend parties and receptions which were held on Sunday. He passed the Sunday Law enforcing a mandatory free day on Sunday, and forced closure of all shops. Four Muslim shopkeepers who closed their shops on Friday, but reopened on Sunday, were sentenced to

630-514: The 27th anniversary of Indonesia's independence on 17 August 1972, was decreed by President Suharto on the previous day. Government departments were instructed to begin using the EYD system on 1 January 1973. On 27 August 1975, the Minister of Education and Culture issued a decree which provided a detailed explanation of the changes in the new system and marked the official use of the EYD system. It

665-523: The Dutch East Indies, several of which were adapted from novels. In 1929 Tan's Film produced Njai Dasima , an adaptation of Tjerita Njai Dasima . The film was a critical and commercial success, and Indonesian film historian Misbach Yusa Biran writes that cinemas could make up for several days of losses with a single showing. Tjerita Njai Dasima has since been adapted a further three times. A talkie version , directed by Bachtiar Effendi ,

700-718: The Netherlands ;– and out of the employment of the Dutch East Indies Company. In the 1650s, Governors-General Carel Reyniersz and Joan Maetsuycker began promoting interracial marriage between Dutchmen and indigenous women, who were thought to be less greedy and less likely to ask their husbands to leave the Indies. The Eurasian daughters of these marriages proved to be popular targets of affections, as marriage to one could help men improve their social position. Many men, however, were unable to marry them, as they generally sought persons already in

735-625: The age of 16, he was sent to Koninklijke Militaire Academie . In 1881, he was commissioned second lieutenant at the military engineers of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL). In 1889–1890, he was sent to the Aceh War , but did not participate in the fighting. Between 1896 and 1901, he was the president of the cabinet of General Major J.A. Vetter. During an 1894–1895 leave, Idenburg met Abraham Kuyper who became his political friend. In 1901, he ran for

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770-419: The contemporary situation in the Indies that the Dutch colonialists seemed incapable of improving, gave rise to certain stock characters that would explain Dutch political and administrative failure. Siegel cites such characters as the "venal Arab" and the "lustful, greedy Chinese merchant", and the " 'deceitful' housekeeper or njai ". Njai characters are common in works of Chinese Malay literature . Some of

805-661: The earliest were syair (poems), published in 1907 by Lie Kim Hok and Tjiang O. S. respectively in 1897; both were adaptations of Tjerita Njai Dasima . In 1904, Oei Soei Tiong published Njai Alimah . In the 1910s and 1920s, several books were published with njais as the title characters, including Njai Aisah (Tan Boen Kim; 1915), Njai Soemirah ( Thio Tjin Boen ; 1917), and Njai Marsina (Numa, 1923). A njai character named Nyai Ontosoroh, appear in one of Pramoedya Ananta Toer 's epic novel Buru Quartet , This Earth of Mankind (1980). Njai are present in early films from

840-516: The habit had become so prevalent that Governor-General Jan Pieterszoon Coen passed a law forbidding Dutchmen from keeping concubines. To prevent a relapse, Coen began bringing orphans from the Netherlands, termed compagniesdochters , to become wives of company employees. The program, however, had little effect, as the company could not keep up with the demand. There were also concerns that these women were only accepting marriage for personal gain and that they would attempt to draw their husbands back to

875-434: The keeping of njais , and, indeed, some British men kept a njai of their own. After the British returned the Indies to the Dutch in 1815, a new wave of immigration – including some women – began. These newcomers, as with the British before them, were shocked by the intermarriage and keeping of njais . Under the new system they established, which pushed for a sharper delineation between Europeans and non-Europeans,

910-436: The massacre. Van Daalen decided to turn in his resignation. He was later controversially absolved of all crimes, and re-enlisted. On 21 August 1909, Idenburg was appointed Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies where arrived on 18 December 1909. During his tenure, he was confronted by the nationalist movement. In 1912, Sarekat Islam was founded. Idenburg refused to take action against Sarekat Islam, but did not recognize

945-480: The political party until 1916. In 1913, Idenburg interned the journalist Ernest Douwes Dekker (a relative of Multatuli ) for founding the Indische Party . In September 1913, Douwes Dekker was exiled from the Dutch East Indies and not allowed to travel to the Netherlands either. In 1914, Douwes Dekker's writings were banned. Idenburg tried to pass a Sunday Law in the Dutch East Indies, but only managed

980-432: The position of men living with a njai became increasingly difficult. The Indies government, following a decree by Governor-General Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg , would not hire them, and businesses attempted to promote endogamy . In the Netherlands, extensive polemics were written which condemned, from a moral point of view, the practice of keeping a njai : the practice was deemed to be based on nothing but lust, for

1015-600: The use of the superscripted number "2" as used in the Republican Spelling is no longer valid. The practice remains common in informal usage such as in text messaging. Exceptions mostly come from proper nouns. Many personal names, particularly of younger people, do not follow the orthographic rules (see Indonesian names ). The common spelling variations include doubled letters, silent h following consonants, use of Dutch digraphs (which stems from Van Ophuijsen spelling ) and other eccentric letters. However,

1050-473: The white man's housekeeper and companion, before she was his concubine. The term njai , also found in the spellings nyai , njaie , nyaie , nyahi or nyi , comes from a Balinese word meaning sister. In Sundanese the term nyai refers to "miss" or young woman, while in Betawi dialect , nyai refers to "grandmother" or elderly lady. The Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia gives three definitions for njai : as

1085-440: The words that follow it, for example diambil , kehendak (taken, desire), while di and ke are written separately with the words that follow it, for example di rumah , ke pasar (at home, to the market). This is different from the former Republican Spelling, where both di- and di are written together with the words following it. Reduplication , mostly used in plural form of words, has to be fully written with letters, so

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1120-555: Was a Dutch military officer and politician of the Anti Revolutionary Party who served as Governor-General of Suriname from 1905 until 1908, and the Dutch East Indies from 1909 until 1916. He also served as Minister of Colonies on three occasions between 1902 and 1919. Idenburg served on the Council of State from 1925 until his death in 1935. Idenburg was born on 23 July 1861 in Rotterdam , Netherlands. At

1155-479: Was common when the European man prepared to marry. The general view of njai was, at first, extremely negative. In the 17th century, they were described as "lustful beasts", with voracious sexual appetites who would not accept money for sex, but pay for it. Coen, in a 1620 letter, described njai as lazy (except in their sexual deeds), stupid, dishonest, and willing to kill the persons they hated. The children of

1190-704: Was formerly known as the Indonesian Spelling System ( Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia , EBI ), often referred to as the Indonesian Spelling System General Guidelines ( Pedoman Umum Ejaan Bahasa Indonesia , PUEBI ), between 2015 and 2022. Letters that had previously been included in the Republican Spelling as foreign loan letters are officially used in the EYD Spelling. The letters Q and X are used in scientific subjects. Examples: The letter Q

1225-524: Was released by Tan's by January 1932. Although the 1941 adaptation eliminated Dasima's role as a njai , the 1970 adaptation Samiun and Dasima by Hasmanan reinstated Dasima's role as a njai . Other Indies films featuring njai in key roles include Boenga Roos dari Tjikembang (1931) and De Stem des Bloeds (1932); the latter of these has been read as promoting a positive image of the mixed-race children of njai and Europeans. Enhanced Indonesian Spelling System The Perfected Spelling system

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