OET Guide Blake Plummer’s: Whistle-blower, Player?
What better to do on the warmest and sunniest day of the year? Hit the
museum! Olivier and I had heard rumors that this small museum was worthy
of an investigation and we were not disappointed!
Eduard Douwes Dekker (pen name: Multatuli) is a national icon for his
exposure of the inequalities of the colonial system in the Dutch East
Indies (Indonesia) during the 19th century. Through his novel *Max
Havelaar *he portrayed his experiences as an officer fighting against
corrupt and oppressive Government in Java.
You’ll learn all about his time in the Indies and his importance to
changing attitudes and policy towards colonialism. But this is only
scratching the surface of his fascinating life. For the very fair price of
€5 (students: free) you will be shown around the house of his birth and
regaled with tales by a passionate local Multatuli expert.
It turns out that Douwes Dekker had an extraordinary life around the world
and his anti-colonialism is just the tip of his liberal thinking and
writing. If you combined the historic significance of Lincoln with the
herculean philandering of JFK you would come *close *to the character of
Douwes Dekker. Universal rights for women combined with an affair with a
prostitute and two wives under one roof? Find out more at one of the best
hidden treasures of Amsterdam.
