“I’m relatively unpopular among the nationalists and intellectuals in Indonesia. Mostly because I have what they refer to as ‘Western tendencies’ some even say that I’m “Dutch-like” (Banda Neira, March 9, 1936).

NEARLY one month into his exile in Banda Neira, Sjahrir wrote the sentence. In a calm manner, not explosive, Sjahrir then entered into reflections on why an increasingly strong sentiment against the west grew in Indonesia;