Batavia, 1920. A girl arrives from Holland. She has completed her pharmaceutical studies and wants to work in Nederlandsch Indië. She is assigned to the CBZ hospital where she meets the young Indonesian doctor M and falls in love with him.
Now this is 1920! And things like that are quickly noticed—well, even today they are—and so the director of CBZ sends a letter to her father.
Dear Mr…, I feel compelled to inform you that your daughter does not behave in a respectable manner. She associates with a native, and as everybody knows, natives cannot be trusted.
A few more sentences followed, but this was the gist.
A few more sentences followed, but this was the gist.
The reply by the father was short and to the point.
Dear Doctor …, I have received your letter. I am highly amazed that you meddle in the affairs of my daughter. I believe she is old enough to follow her own path. Yours sincerely,
That same year they got married and to punish the impudent young doctor he was transferred to a small rural hospital in the outer regions of the archipelago, in fact the last island before you reach Singapore. When the girl died in childbirth of her third baby, the young doctor wrote to Holland that in the traditional culture of his ethnic group it was customary for a sister of the deceased wife and mother to take her place. The sister was sent under the condition that if she were not to like what she saw, she would return to Holland. The young doctor came to meet her in Singapore, where shortly thereafter they married.
Where did you hear that story? Quite remarkable...
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