WE are the way we are because of the quirkiness of history. As well-known anthropologist and historian Ben Anderson once stipulated, if the Dutch had not founded the Netherlands East Indies in the southeastern archipelago, there would not be Indonesia as we know it. This fact, and much more, were emphasized on Thursday, October 14, at the Nabil Awards ceremony in Hotel Mulia, Jakarta.

Nabil Foundation, a non-profit body which aspires to take par