History Today, November 9, 1940:pidato At The Volksraad Session, MH Thamrin Asks Dutch East Indies To Be Replaced As Indonesia

Volksraad's trial, the Dutch East Indies Council where Muhammad Husni Thamrin proposed changing the name of the Dutch East Indies to Indonesia on November 9, 1940. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA History today, 82 years ago, November 9, 1940, Mohammad Husni (MH) Thamrin gave a speech giving a general view at the Volksraad Session (Dutch Indies Council). The rhetoric boomed. He asked the Dutch not to half-heartedly recognize Indonesia.

The man nicknamed the parliament tiger firmly asked the Dutch to change the Dutch East Indies to Indonesia. Previously, Thamrin's courage to defend the fate of his people was second to none. he was able to force the Dutch to care about the fate of the bumiputras.

Japan often shows off as the new ruler of Asia. The Land of the Rising Sun also tries to expel foreign powers in several Asian countries. The Dutch East Indies, one of them. A precise strategy was drawn up: the spread of intelligence troops. Japan did not want to rashly attack the Dutch without reading the situation first.

Japan spread its intelligence forces to go undercover. Traders became the most chosen undercover profession. Many Japanese merchandise shops were established. The Bumiputras were then attracted by the growth and development of Japanese stores.

The Bumiputras felt that shopping at Japanese stores was cheaper than other stores. Quality too. They became close to Japanese traders. The closeness to the buyer made Japanese intelligence agents able to gather a lot of information.

The bumiputras are more free to tell the situation to Japanese traders. No exception. All because the bumiputras have been tired of being colonized by the Dutch. They considered the Japanese to be one of those who sympathized with them. The information collection was then sent to his officials.

Apart from trying to control the market, Japan is also trying to control transportation by ship. In market areas, Japan places its distributors or agents so that the marketing of goods is controlled. Many Japanese shops were established. These are all not only economic efforts, but also military movement preparations.

"It was proven when Japan made the landing and then the occupation of Indonesia, it turned out that the owners of these shops were Japanese artists. Indonesians were surprised when then the shop owners wore Japanese military uniforms with the rank of officers. In Yogya, Fuji's shop was famous," said G. Moedjanto in the book Indonesia 20th Century Section 1 (1989).

The Dutch have also smelled Japan's bad behavior. However, what is the power, budget constraints and the war fleet made the Dutch unable to curb the intelligence of dressed Japanese traders. The only lesson the Dutch carried out was to attract the sympathy of the bumiputras. Hope the natives support it.

The colonial government of the Dutch East Indies was willing to rename the inlander and replace it as an 'indonesian'. Instead of getting sympathy. Volksraad member and freedom fighter, MH Thamrin actually challenged the Dutch not half-heartedly recognizing Indonesia.

This wish was conveyed by Thamrin in his speech at the Volksraad Session giving a general view on November 9, 1940. He wanted the Dutch to do total. He wanted the name Dutch East Indies to be replaced by Indonesia immediately. However, the Dutch never changed it until Japan appeared and made the Dutch East Indies Indonesia in 1942.

In the same speech Thamrin returned to the fact that the government was so against, against the replacement of the Netherlands Indies (Hindia Belanda) with Indonesia, at the same time advocating the use of Indonesia for theinlander. He asked: "You can call Indonesier and Indonesischkala there is no Indonesian name."

In fact, Jan Verboom (the sugarcare Association leader) interrupted with the words "Zeer Juist" (true. After thanking Verboom, he continued with the saying, are there eggs, if there are no chickens. Furthermore, Thamrin made the efforts that he considered very important for the people to achieve, "said Bob Hering in the book Mohammad Hoesni Thamrin (2003).