Tjalie Robinson, the Turtle is Flying
In Indonesia, readers of literature know him as Vincent Mahieu, the author of Tjis and Tjoek, which was elegantly translated by H.B. Jassin in 1976. In the Netherlands, Tjalie Robinson is a man of letters, seen as an icon and guardian of Dutch-Indonesian culture, as well as the founder of Pasar Malam Tong Tong (Tong Tong Fair) and Tong Tong magazine.
Born Jan Johannes Theodorus Boon in Nijmegen, Gelderland, on January 10, 1911, Tjalie was just three months old when his parents returned to the Dutch East Indies. He lived in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, where he attended junior high school. A serious student, Tjalie was also fond of boxing.
June 30, 2015
"I did not care that people wanted to call me 'neither fish nor fowl', and wanted to label me (an Indo), either Indonesian or Dutch. For them I just had to choose between the two, right? Nevertheless, I stubbornly named the turtle as 'neither fish nor fowl', and praised this animal as a unique, land-and-sea-lover who lives to very old ages...and who cuts through oceans from continent to continent." I said, "Just as I do not find the turtle inferior, alt
...