In various places in Drenthe, Moluccans today reflect on the proclamation of the independence of the Republic of the South Moluccas (RMS). In the Moluccan neighborhoods, residents hang RMS flags outside and ceremonially commemorate the proclamation of their own republic.
On April 25, 1950, the RMS broke away from Indonesia, but the Moluccans did not get their own state. Thousands of Moluccan soldiers who served in the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) at the time were brought to the Netherlands with their families. The Netherlands promised that they could one day return to a free Moluccan republic, but that did not happen. Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the soldiers keep the memory of those events alive.
The event starts in the Moluccan district of Bovensmilde Hari Proklamasi with the raising of the South Moluccan flag, the singing of the national anthem and the reading of the declaration of independence. Early in the morning, the local residents were awakened by a group of drummers. Loud firecrackers also wake persistent sleepers from their sleep. Time to raise the flag.
The flag ceremony is performed by a group of nine young Moluccans, who pay tribute to their ancestors in military uniform. One of them is 20-year-old Thyrza Pattiiha. Her great-grandfather was in the KNIL and today she is participating in the raising of the flag for the second year in a row.
“The first time I did it, I got a little emotional and had to pull myself together. I think it’s important to continue our culture and this is my way of contributing to that,” says Pattiiha.
During the ceremony she wears a green and brown army uniform and a green beret with the same gold emblem that her great-grandfather also wore on his head. The uniform is not authentic, but the emblem is. Pattiiha: “We wear that to commemorate our ancestors who served in the KNIL.”
It is the sixth time for Emilio Mauwa (36) to participate in the ceremony. He believes it is important that his own and future generations of Moluccans maintain that tradition. “You don’t read what happened in the history books, you don’t learn it at school. So I think it is important that we pay attention to this today and hope that my own children will adopt this again later,” says Mauwa.
Two group members first hoist the Moluccan four-colour to half-mast. During a minute’s silence, the residents of the area commemorate everyone who fought and died for the ideal of the RMS. The flag then flies proudly at the top of the mast, to celebrate the existence of the South Moluccan republic. Even if it is still in exile.
