Page 37 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE
IN INDONESIA

Malay at a Volksraad session. Dozens of Volk-
sraad members, especially the European mem-
bers, were shocked as they witnessed this. Salim
had created a commotion.
As an institution

established in the As an institution established in the interests of
the Dutch East Indies colonial government, there
interests of the Dutch was an unwritten rule that required all Volksraad

East Indies colonial members to speak Dutch. The Volksraad Chair-
man eventually reprimanded Agus Salim, al-
government, there was though the reprimand did not affect him. He rea-
an unwritten rule that soned that he had the right to speak in Malay as
a council member.
required all Volksraad

members to speak However, Salim not only spoke in Malay but also
criticized the Dutch government’s negligent at-
Dutch. titude towards the people it colonized. He said:

“Volksraad’s decisions were ignored by the go-
vernment and vanished, while the Dutch East
Indies had saved the Netherlands from the de-
struction caused by World War I.”

Salim’s actions angered Bergmeijer, a member of
the Volksraad who represented Zending. Berg-
meijer then asked Salim to translate the word “economy” into Malay. He
thought and hoped that Salim would end his speech out of shame for not
being able to answer his question. However, Salim cleverly responded to
Bergmeijer’s challenge. He would answer Bergmeijer’s question on one
condition: “Why don’t you tell me first what term is used for ‘economy’ in
Dutch?”

That silenced Bergmeijer, then Salim continued his speech. Salim knew
at the time that there was no proper Dutch equivalent for the word
“economy” .

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