How do we deal with the shared painful history of the story of the Moluccans in the Netherlands? Painful because of promises that have not been kept, but also painful because of actions such as the train hijacking near Wijster, now 50 years ago. “We hurt each other.”
In the fifth and final episode of the RTV Drenthe podcast The forgotten train hijacking We naturally reflect on the events of December 1975, but we also look to the future. You will hear Augustinus Tuparia (75, second generation), Gloria Lappya (26, third generation) and Miguell Kaidel (29, fourth generation).
In any case, it is not a forgotten train hijacking for all three. “De Punt is of course the best known, that promotion is the most cited,” says Kaidel, who grew up in Assen and in daily life works at the NPO and is active as a DJ. “But Wijster is underexposed.”
Lappya, who grew up in Bovensmilde and is a writer, poet and spoken-word artist, agrees. “Because years have passed, things tend to fade away a bit. But you don’t quickly forget something so big.”
Yet the 1970s are an important part of the Moluccan story. But constantly bringing up the hijackings sometimes also leads to a deep sigh. Do we have to talk about that again? “I think it’s one of the stereotypes,” Kaidel states. “If you say you are Moluccan, people often start talking about train hijackings or Satudarah (the now banned motorcycle club, ed.)”
But Kaidel thinks it’s important to keep talking about it. “The actions have ensured that the ideal of the first and second generations is still very deep. We were exposed to some of this through our upbringing. We are now 50 years after the action at Wijster and 75 years after the arrival of Moluccans in the Netherlands. We still feel strongly about that, because it has had a great impact on the community.”