Centennial Book

I N T R O D U C T I O N
The Van Deventer-Maas Stichting
100 years of support

to Indonesian
education 1913-2013
Ben White & Edwin Kisman
his small book celebrates the work of the Van Deventer-Maas

Stichting (Van Deventer-Maas Foundation, VDMS) and its forerunners the Max Havelaaar Fonds, the Tjandi Stichting, the Kartini
Fonds and the Van Deventer Stichting. To celebrate the first 100 years
of their initiatives, we look both backwards and forwards. We provide a sketch of
continuity and change in the objectives and policies of the VDMS and its forerunner foundations. At various points in the story we have included brief profiles of
key figures who have contributed to the VDMSs work, as well as some of those
who have benefited from scholarships from VDMS and its forerunners over the
past 100 years. We also offer some reflections on possible future roles for VDMS in
the changing world of Indonesian education and Indonesian society.
It all began in September 1913 when Indonesias first Kartini School for girls
opened its doors in Semarang. This was made possible by two new foundations
inspired by the ideals of R.A. Kartini, the Kartini Fonds (Kartini Fund) in The
Netherlands and the Kartini Vereenigingen (Kartini Associations) based in Semarang.
In the same year, the first two Indonesian students supported by the Max Havelaar
Fonds (Max Havelaar Fund) completed their studies in The Netherlands and and
returned to Indonesia, and Mohamad Ilyas, a young secondary school graduate from
Semarang, arrived in Delft to begin his studies as the first student financed by the
new Tjandi Stichting (Tjandi Foundation).
The key figure in all these efforts as both initiator and personal benefactor was
Conrad (Coen) T. van Deventer, a wealthy Dutch lawyer, parliamentarian and campaigner for social and economic progress in the Netherlands Indies. He and his wife
Elisabeth (Betsy) Maas had lived in Indonesia from 1880 to 1897.
After van Deventers death in 1915, his friends and Betsy Maas established the Van
Deventer Stichting to provide secondary schools for Indonesian girls.
Betsy Maas took a great interest in all these initiatives, contributed money to them
and served on their Boards. On her death in 1942 she left a large part of her considerable wealth to establish a new foundation, the Van Deventer-Maas Stichting for the
advancement of the education of the Indonesian people, with particular attention to
Indonesian girls.
Today, the Van Deventer-Maas Stichting provides about 640 scholarships every year
to talented young Indonesians of modest backgrounds, in 35 universities and colleges
and one secondary school. VDMS also provides short courses to its scholarship recipients to enhance their soft skills (i.e. personal, social and intellectual abilities) and
possibilities in the job market.
The VDMS alumni have as their motto: learn, share, encourage which we have borrowed for the title of this book, as it encapsulates the ideals of the VDMS.
V a n
D e v e n t e r - M a a s
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
The Cover. The cover

represents the mission
of the Van DeventerMaas Stichting: to support young Indonesians
in their aspirations to
become self-reliant,
global citizens. The cover
was designed by the
internationally renowned
illustrator and typographer, Max Kisman, who
has also lectured in
Indonesia.
Desain kulit mencerminkan misi VDMS,
yaitu mendukung aspirasi
kaum muda Indonesia
untuk menjadi warga
dunia yang mandiri. Max
Kisman, pencipta desain
ini, adalah penggambar
dan tipograf ternama
yang pernah mengajar di
Indonesia.
c o n t e n t s
Contents
Chapters Articles
Introduction: 100 Years of Support to Indonesian Education 1913-2013
Filling a Gap: New schools for Girls, 1913-1942
A Difficult Start. Scholarships to the Netherlands
The Betsy Maas Legacy
After Indonesian Independence. The Kartini Fonds and the Tjandi Stichting.
Representation in Indonesia
Finding its Way. VDMS in the First 50 years
From a Charity Fund to a Partnerships Organization
Looking for the Future
1
9
16
18
22
27
28
33
52
Profiles of the founders

Inspiration for the Kartini and Van Deventer Schools, R.A. Kartini
Stressed the Urgent Need for Education and Economic Self-reliance, C. Th. Van Deventer
Made Girls Education her Lifes Work for more than Three Decades, E. Maas

Profiles of alumni
Kartinis Brilliant, Eccentric and Reckless Brother
R.M. P. Sosrokartono
Indonesias first Professor of Agricultural Economics
Iso Reksohadiprodjo
Vice-President of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences
S.M.P. Tjondronegoro
I tried all Subjects, to Bring Something Back to Indonesia
Josephine Sakiman
Our Project in Surabaya Pray that all Goes Well
Arie Anggodo Kakiailatu
Without the Books I wouldnt have Understood what was Taught
Ario Djatmiko
Bu Nas always Complimented my Handwriting
Talita Qumi Pattiwael
A Personal Approach to Maintain a Sense of Unity among Alumni
Masagus Ahmad Azizi
Contribute to Society in your own Field of Expertise
Nizamuddin Sadiq
Once I got the Scholarship my Room was Full of Books
Milla Sejahtera
Got some Extra Money to Spend on Soft Skills Training
Afdal Ade
My Ambition is to Improve Agriculture in my Village
A. Munir Wahab
A Big Moment when I was Selected for the Entrepreneur Training
Rizky Amelia
Annexe
The Board and Staff
List of Officers in the Period 1947 - 2013
Sources
Colophon
V a n
3
5
7
11
13
21
23
25
29
31
35
41
43
45
47
49
cover 2
55
56
cover 3
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
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P r o f i l e
Inspiration
for the Kartini and
Van Deventer Schools
R.A. Kartini (1879-1904)
A. Kartini (1879-1904) was one of the eleven children of the

Regent of Jepara.
Kartinis mother (and the mother of seven of her ten brothers
and sisters), was Ngasirah, daughter of a wealthy local trader but
they were all formally considered to be the children of the Regents first wife
R.A. Moerjam and could thus bear the aristocratic titles Raden Adjeng (girls)
and Raden Mas (boys).
The Regent employed a Dutch governess to teach both his sons and daughters Dutch language and prepare them for entry to the Eerste Klas School for
Europeans in Jepara. At this school Indonesian children (and especially girls)
were in a small minority. After primary school her brothers continued to secondary school, while Kartini and her sisters were kept in seclusion at home, in
preparation for marriage.
For some years however, Kartini and her younger sisters Roekmini and
Kardinah were allowed to make weekly visits to Marie Ovink-Soer, wife of a
Dutch official, for Dutch conversation lessons. The three sisters, who gave
themselves the name klaverblad (clover-leaf) discussed questions of womens rights, career options and their duties to society. All three sisters vowed
that they would oppose polygamous marriage and strive for further education
and professional careers for themselves.
In 1899, when her father gave her a copy of van Deventers path-breaking
debt of honour article, Kartini sent it to a Dutch friend in Bengkulu with a
note: What a pity, theres nothing in it about the rights of Javanese women!
But let us hope that this will also follow.
Kartinis older brother Sosrokartono (1877-1952 see profile) was the first
Indonesian to be admitted to a Dutch University. In 1901 Kartini and Roekmini
were the first Indonesian women to be granted government scholarships to
study in the Netherlands, with a view to becoming heads of schools for girls
on their return. The Regent at first agreed, but two months later, the Director
of Education J.H. Abendanon visited Jepara and advised the two sisters to
abandon their plan, and instead to study for a teachers Diploma in Batavia,
with the costs paid by the colonial government.
These ambitions were shattered by Kartinis arranged marriage in 1903 to the
Regent of Rembang, who had already been married three times and had six
children. Roekmini and her other sisters continued to run the informal school
which they had opened for daughters of the Regents staff in Jepara; Kartini
opened a similar school in her new home in Rembang, but died less than a
year later, four days after the birth of her son.
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F o u n d a t i o n
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R. A. Kartini (1879
1904). Her ideas
on education for
Indonesian girls were
the inspiration for the
establishment of the
Kartini Associations,
Kartini Schools and
Van Deventer Schools.
R. A. Kartini (1879
1904). Cita-cita
Kartini mengenai pendidikan untuk kaum
perempuan Indonesia
merupakan inspirasi atas terbentuknya
Perhimpunan Kartini,
Sekolah Kartini dan
Sekolah Van Deventer
Written by Ben White
P r o f i l e
The klaverblad (clover-leaf) sisters: (from

the left) Kardinah,
Kartini and Roekmini.
After Kartinis death
both sisters continued to further her
vision by establishing schools for
girls. Another sister,
Soematri, was a
member of the Action
Committee set up
in 1913 to establish
Kartini Schools.
Tiga bersaudara
klaverblad (daun
semangi): dari kiri
Kardinah, Kartini, dan
Roekmini.
Setelah wafatnya
Kartini, Kardinah dan
Roekmini melanjutkan
cita-cita Kartini untuk
mendirikan sarana
pendidikan bagi kaum
perempuan. Adik
Kartini yang lain,
yaitu Soematri menjadi anggota Komite
Pelaksana yang
dibentuk pada tahun
1913 untuk mendirikan
beberapa Sekolah
Kartini.
Kartini wrote many articles in Dutch-language

magazines, under the
pseudonym Klaverblad.
But most of what we
know about her ideas
comes from her personal correspondence
with Marie Ovink, with
her Dutch pen friend
Stella Zeehandelaar and
from 1900 onwards
with Abendanons
wife Rosa Manuela
Mandri (1857-1942), a
Puerto Rican woman
of Spanish origin who
became her closest
confidante. In these letters Kartini expressed
her passionate views
and ambitions for herself and for Indonesian
women. Daughters of
the elite like herself,
she insisted, should attend Dutch-language
schools in preparation
for a life of service to
society; village girls
should have access
to vocational school.
Women should be free to remain unmarried, or to choose their own husbands
in monogamous marriages.
Although Kartini was able to achieve very little of these ambitions during her
short life, her ideas inspired many later efforts to promote emancipation for
Indonesian women. In the following decades many Javanese women were
able to achieve the kind of education, life style and careers, which Kartini had
longed for. Her sisters continued to establish girls schools, and to stimulate
associations for young people to develop their capacity for self-expression.
One of the first initiatives in memory of Kartini was the publication in 1911
of Door Duisternis tot Licht (Through Darkness to Light), an edited selection of Kartinis letters. All profits from this book were donated to support the
establishment of schools for girls in Indonesia through the new Kartini Fund
established by Coen Van Deventer, Elisabeth Maas, Abendanon and other
friends. Twenty years after her death, seven Kartini Schools were flourishing
in different parts of Java, as private initiatives with government support. The
first Teachers Training College for Women was opened in 1918, and by 1939
there were 589 public schools for girls (meisjesvolkscholen).
In 1964 President Sukarno awarded Kartini the title Heroine of National
Independence, and Kartini Day is celebrated every year as a national holiday.
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F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
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P r o f i l e
Stressed the urgent need

for education and economic
self-reliance
C.Th. van Deventer (1857-1915)
onrad T. (Coen) van Deventer graduated from Leiden

Universitys Law Faculty in 1879, and was awarded the degree
of Doctor in the same year. In 1880 he married Elisabeth M.
(Betsy) Maas, and a few months later they left for Indonesia
where they lived for 17 years, first in Ambon and later in Semarang. He was a
friend of the Regent of Jepara and in 1891, on a visit to the Regents house,
he met the Regents 12-year old daughter R.A. Kartini.
Returning to Holland in 1897, van Deventer and his wife settled in The
Hague, where they frequently held conversations about colonial policies with
their friends, that had a critical note. Having invested wisely in plantation,
mining and particularly oil-mining ventures, they were independently wealthy
and van Deventer had no need for paid employment. In 1899 he published his
best-known article Een eereschuld (a debt of honour) in the journal De Gids.
He argued that the Netherlands had the moral obligation to return to Indonesia
some of the many millions which had been extracted from the colony, to
respond to the urgent need for access to education and economic self-reliance. Kartinis elder brother Sosrokartono, who had become a friend of van
Deventer, sent a copy of the article to Kartini with a letter: Mr. van Deventer
now lives more than ever for Indonesia, even more than when he lived there
a well-known public figure has called this article a milestone in Dutch colonial
history.
Van Deventer devoted the rest of his public life to colonial policy issues, and
was the principal spokesman for the new so-called Ethical Policy. In 1904
he published the influential three-part Overview of the economic situation of
the native peoples of Java and Madura, which had been commissioned by
the Minister for Colonial Affairs. In this report he made forceful arguments for
improvements in colonial governments long-standing neglect of education for
the Indonesian people as well as other aspects of social welfare.
In 1905 van Deventer was elected as a Member of the Dutch Parliament,
where he consistently spoke up for provision of more and better education, irrigation, credit facilities, roads and railways, emigration from Java to Sumatra,
and regulations to combat opium addiction.
In 1912, shortly after his election to the Dutch Senate, Coen van Deventer
and Betsy Maas made an extended return visit to Indonesia. This visit confirmed their impression that colonial policies had so far done little to promote
education. He and Betsy had been greatly influenced by the letters of Kartini,
which they had read in 1911. They noted that girls were only about five percent of children attending the new inlandsche lagere scholen, and that there
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
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Coen van Deventer

aged 26, shortly after
moving from Ambon to
Semarang.
Coen van Deventer
pada usia 26 tahun,
sesaat setelah pindah dari Ambon ke
Semarang.
P r o f i l e
Coen van Deventer,

aged 56, now a respected member of
the Dutch Senate, The
Hague 1913.
Coen van Deventer,
pada usia 56 tahun,
ketika menjadi anggota Majelis Tinggi
Belanda di Den Haag,
1913.
were only 356 Indonesian girls enrolled in all the colonys European (Dutch
language) lower schools.
In 1913 Coen van Deventer and his friends took the initiative to establish
the Tjandi Stichting and the Kartini Fonds. In 1915 he was asked about his
possible interest in becoming the next Governor-General of the Netherlands
Indies, but his sudden illness and death in 1915, at the age of 58, put an end
to these plans.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
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b o o k
2 0 1 3
P r o f i l e
Made girls education

her lifes work for more
than three decades
E. Maas (1857-1942)
etsy Maas grew up in Schiedam. Her father, a doctor, died when

she was only 12 years old. But the family could afford to send
her for a good education to a girls boarding school in Maarssen ,
which she attended from age 15 to 18,.
While in her final year at school she met the young Coen van Deventer, who
was then a first-year student at Leiden University. When van Deventer asked
Mrs. Maas-van Lutsenberg for permission to marry her daughter Betsy, he
was told that he must first complete his law degree before the engagement
could be announced. They were married in 1880 and left almost immediately
to Indonesia. They lived together in Ambon for five years, and then moved to
Semarang until their return to The Netherlands in 1897.
In The Hague, Betsy Maas lived under the shadow of a name, as van
Deventer pursued his political career. She had close contacts with many
Indonesian students, and with Kartinis Dutch pen-friends: Marie Ovink, Hilda
de Booj-Boissevain, Rosa Abendanon and the socialist member of parliament Van Kol who had been the initiator of the attempt to bring Kartini to The
Netherlands to study.
Betsy had shown great interest in the ideals of Kartini and saw her long trip
through Indonesia in 1912 primarily as an opportunity to study girls education
and to make plans to establish the Kartini schools. She was a member of the
Boards of both the Tjandi Foundation and the Kartini Fund from their beginning
in 1913, until 1938. Two years after van Deventers death, she and her friends
established the Van Deventer Foundation, aiming to provide Dutch-language
secondary schools (the Van Deventer Schools) for girls.
Betsy Maas never visited Indonesia again after her husbands death, but for
more than three decades she made the Tjandi Foundation, Kartini Fund and
Van Deventer Foundation her lifes work, and paid great personal attention to
the situation of the staff and students of the Kartini and Van Deventer Schools.
She was known for her remarkable memory for names and other details.
Every young woman graduating from the Van Deventer schools received a silver pen or pencil with the graduates name engraved in it, a personal gift from
Betsy Maas in The Hague.
In the 1930s she took on herself the enormous task of compiling the register of all the by now, in the thousands graduates of the Kartini and Van
Deventer Schools, and updating it with information on their subsequent addresses, further studies, employment, marriage and children. I find this work
a treat, she wrote, it has given me so many points of contact. There are of
course some gaps, but it is a most interesting activity.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
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2 0 1 3
Coen van Deventer

(1857 1915) and
Betsy van DeventerMaas (1857 1942).
This photo was taken
in 1880 when they
were just married,
aged 23, and shortly
before they moved to
Indonesia.
Coen van Deventer
(1857 1915) dan
Betsy van DeventerMaas (1857 1942).
Foto ini diambil pada
tahun 1880 ketika
mereka berusia 23
tahun, baru menikah
dan sesaat sebelum
mereka menuju ke
Indonesia.
P r o f i l e
Betsy van Deventer-Maas, at her home in

The Hague, ca. 1940. Although she never
visited Indonesia after her husbands
death, Betsy Maas took an intense personal interest in the Kartini Schools and
Van Deventer Schools. She served for
more than 20 years on the Board of the
Van Deventer Foundation, and kept in
contact by post with the teachers, pupils
and alumni of the Van Deventer Schools.
Each graduating student received a letter of congratulation and a silver pencil
as a personal gift from Betsy Maas.
Betsy van Deventer-Maas, di rumah
kediamannya di Den Haag pada sekitar tahun 1940. Meskipun ia tidak lagi
berkunjung ke Indonesia setelah wafatnya suaminya (tahun 1915), Betsy Maas
menunjukkan perhatian yang begitu besar
terhadap Sekolah-Sekolah Kartini dan
Sekolah-Sekolah Van Deventer. Selain
menjadi anggota Dewan dari Yayasan Van
Deventer, ia tetap melakukan hubungan
surat-menyurat dengan para guru, siswi
serta alumni sekolah-sekolah tersebut.
Setiap siswi yang lulus menerima surat
Selamat dan sebuah pinsil perak sebagai kenang-kenangan pribadi dari Betsy
Maas.
On her 80th birthday Ms. Volkers-Schipper wrote to her, on behalf of staff

and students of all the Kartini- and Van Deventer Schools:
You have been the soul of so much fine work for Indonesia. Maybe more
than you yourself have known, it has been your encouragement, your appreciation, and I may say your inspiration that has given us teachers such dedication
and devotion to our work
Betsy Maas received honours for her work from the governments of both
The Netherlands and Belgium, as one of The Netherlands greatest social
workers. She resigned from formal positions in the foundations in 1938 at the
age of 81; although troubled by illness and increasing deafness she retained
an interest in their work until her death in 1942. After making various legacies
to family and friends, she left the remainder of her considerable wealth for
the establishment and funding of a new foundation, the Van Deventer-Maas
Stichting that was to have as its main objective to promote the provision of
education to, and the development and education of Indonesians, in particular
the education of Indonesian girls.
More than 60 years after Betsy Maas death the VDMS continues to use the
income from this bequest to promote the ideals of Kartini, Coen Van Deventer
and Betsy Maas, in accordance with her wishes.
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2 0 1 3
S c h o o l s
f o r
g i r l s
Filling a gap
New schools
for girls,
1913-1942
Ben White
round 1900, less

than 5 per cent of
all Indonesian children and a much
smaller percentage of Indonesian girls
attended any kind of formal school.
In the next two decades, in line with
the new ethical policy, a complex
educational system developed, with
both inlandse (native) and Dutch
primary schools. Access to education
grew slowly, however, and by the
time of the 1930 Population Census,
less than one-third of primary school
age children were attending school.
The Kartini Fonds, the Van Deventer
Stichting, the Tjandi Stichting and the
Max Havelaar Fonds the four foundations which were later incorporated
into the Van Deventer-Maas Stichting
- all aimed to promote education for
Indonesians. They did this in different ways, and with varying degrees
of success.
During their trip to Indonesia in
1912 Coen van Deventer and Betsy
Maas met with Dutch and Indonesian
friends in Semarang to make plans
for the new Kartinivereenigingen in
Nederlandsche-Indi (Netherlands
Indies Kartini Associations, formally
established in March 1913). Kartinis
younger sister R.A. Soematri joined
the action committee, chaired by
the resident H. de Vogel, with regent
R.M.A.A. Poerboadiningrat as ViceChair, the lawyer mr. A.M. Joekes
V a n
(who later became the first chairman

of the Board of VDMS) as secretary,
and many prominent Indonesians
among the members, including
the early nationalist Dr. Radjiman.
The action committee decided that
Executive Committees for the new
Kartini Schools should be based in
Indonesia, not in The Netherlands.
The initiative was funded by one-off
donations of minimally 250 Dutch
guilders or subscriptions of 5 guilders
per month by wealthy donors (mainly Europeans living in Indonesia), and
subscriptions of members fixed at
minimally 6 guilders per year mainly
with a view to enrolling Indonesian
members. By the end of 1913, the
number of donors and contributing
members had grown to 331, including
141 Europeans and 190 Indonesians
an indication of the appeal of
Kartinis vision to both Europeans
and Indonesians.
The Kartini schools
A few months later the Vereeniging

Kartini Fonds (Kartini Fund
Association) was established in The
Hague, with Coen van Deventer
as Chair and J.H. Abendanon as
Vice-Chair of its Executive Board,
supported by 37 other Board members and additional Propaganda
Committees in most major cities
of The Netherlands. The purpose
of the Association was to collect
F o u n d a t i o n
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Coen van Deventer

aged 55 on his last visit
to Indonesia, Batavia
(1912).
It was during this visit
that plans were made for
the establishment of the
Kartini schools.
Coen van Deventer ketika berusia 55 tahun di
Batavia, pada saat kunjungannya yang terakhir
kali ke Indonesia pada
tahun 1912 bersama
Betsy, waktu mereka
mengadakan pertemuanpertemuan untuk mewujudkan terbentuknya
sekolah-sekolah Kartini.
S c h o o l s
f o r
g i r l s
Miss F.A. Schippers,

headmistress of the
Kartini School in
Semarang, reads to
the final-year pupils,
1915.
Ibu F.A. Schippers,
kepala Sekolah Kartini
di Semarang, membacakan cerita kepada
siswi-siswi Kelas VII
(terakhir), tahun 1915.
Lesson-plan for Years

1-7 at the Kartini School
Semarang, 1914, showing
the hours per week devoted to each subject.
Kurikulum pelajaran untuk Kelas 1 s/d 7, dengan
pembagian jam per minggu, pada Sekolah Kartini
Semarang, tahun 1914
10
funds for the support of the Kartini

Associations and Kartini Schools. By
the end of 1913 the Fund had grown
to 45,663 Dutch guilders. Most of this
came from one-off donations, but also
from members annual contributions
(3,340 guilders) and proceeds from
the book of Kartinis letters (edited by
Abendanon) Van Duisternis tot Licht
(2,900 guilders). Betsy Maas was a
member (and in some years, viceChair) of the Board from its beginning, and devoted much of her time
and effort to this work for the rest of
her life.
The first Kartini School opened its
doors in a rented house in Semarang
in September 1913, with 116 pupils
aged between 6 and 10 years, and
four qualified Dutch teachers under
the leadership of Miss F.A. Schippers.
Following Kartinis wishes, the school
provided Dutch-language education,
with a curriculum adapted from the
standard Dutch lower school, and
with added Malay and Javanese language from the fourth year onwards.
V a n
As the Kartini Associations first annual report explained:

'Following the wishes of Kartini,
the aim of the schools named after
her is to provide Dutch education,
considering the social advantages of
knowledge of Dutch language, so that
the children will be in a position to
participate in European advancement.
There is no reason that this should
mean abandoning what is good and
beautiful in the Javanese character'.
The teachers salaries and part of
the overheads were covered by a
subsidy from the Dutch government
subsidy. Van Deventer himself provided a substantial interest-free loan
of 15,000 Dutch guilders, and the
Kartini Fonds in The Hague agreed to
provide half of any costs which were
not covered by the government subsidy or income from school fees. With
this support, the Kartini Vereeniging
was able to purchase 1.7 hectares
of government land and build its
own school, with seven classrooms,
a teachers room and covered play
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P r o f i l e
Kartinis brilliant,
eccentric and reckless
brother
aden Mas Pandji Sosrokartono Kartinis elder brother - she

called him Mas Kartono or Mas To in her letters - was the
first Indonesian admitted to a Dutch University. He completed
secondary school at the HBS in Semarang, where he lived in the
home of a Dutch family and became a friend of Mr. and Mrs. Van Deventer.
He arrived in Holland in 1896 to study at the Polytechnic School in Delft, but
spent most of the next four years pursuing his interest in languages, enjoying
life as a popular Javanese prince, and incurring great debts, to the distress
of his father. In 1901 he passed his qualifying exams for admission to Leiden
University, where he became a favourite of Professor H. Kern. He was dismayed
by his half-sister Kardinahs arranged marriage, at the age of only 12 years, to a
man who already had other wives and children, and he encouraged Kartini and
Roekmini to make plans to join him in The Netherlands, to avoid the same fate.
He was awarded his Candidaats ( B.A.) degree in Language and literature of
the East-Indies archipelago in 1903. His further studies proceeded more slowly
perhaps because he was busy mastering 9 Eastern and 17 Western languages
and he completed his Doctorandus (M.A.) degree only in 1908. In the same
year he became a founder-member and Vice-Chair of the Indische Vereeniging,
an association of Indonesians studying in The Netherlands.
His planned doctoral dissertation on Middle Javanese language (for which he
received an interest-free loan from the Max Havelaar Fund) was never completed. The Max Havelaar Fund annual report for 1912 notes: he give the impression of great talent, but little will-power Being of the opinion that he could
only achieve the doctors degree with a masterpiece of a dissertation, he chose
a too-difficult subject and got into difficulties. He was given support only on
condition that he would choose a simpler topic. Some have claimed that his PhD
plans were deliberately sabotaged by the new Professor C. Snouck Hurgronje,
who (unlike Professor Kern) was allergic to Sosrokartonos progressive and
emancipatory ideals for Indonesian society. G.J. Oudemans, the government official responsible for keeping an eye on Indonesian students in The Netherlands,
wrote in 1917 that he was a thoroughly unreliable person, a real cast-away. His
debts at one point became so large that he moved to a secret address in The
Hague, afraid that creditors would seize his possessions.
Others, however, recognized his brilliance. During the First World War, thanks
to his extraordinary language skills, he was appointed as correspondent for the
New York Herald Tribune and subsequently wrote for other newspapers; after
the war he became a translator for the new League of Nations.
He finally returned to Indonesia in 1925, after 27 years in Europe. He became
a teacher at the Taman Siswa school in Bandung (where he was a colleague
and friend of Sukarno) and later became known as a mystical scholar and faith
healer, until his death in Bandung in 1952.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
R M Pandji Sosrokartono, R A
Kartinis elder brother, the first
Indonesian student to be admitted
(in 1896) to a Dutch university.
He remained in Europe for more
than 30 years. During the First
World War (1914-1918) because
of his knowledge of more than 20
European and Asian languages
he was appointed as war correspondent of the New York Herald
Tribune, based in Vienna. During
this time the US Army Command
gave him the rank of Major. He
returned to Indonesia in 1927 and
taught (together with Ir. Soekarno)
at the Taman Siswa School in
Bandung.
R.M. Pandji Sosrokartono, kakak
R.A. Kartini, adalah mahasiswa
Indonesia pertama yang diterima
(pada tahun 1896) untuk kuliah di
universitas di Belanda. Ia tinggal
di Eropa lebih dari 30 tahun. Pada
Perang Dunia Pertama (1914-1918),
ia diangkat menjadi wartawan
The New York Herald Tribune,
dengan gaji yang tinggi dan oleh
Komandan Angkatan Bersenjata
Amerika Serikat diberi pangkat
Mayor. Pada tahun 1927 ia kembali
ke Indonesia dan menjadi guru si
Sekolah Taman Siswa Bandung,
bersama Bung Karno.
11
S c h o o l s
f o r
g i r l s
Dictation class in
the Kartini School,
Semarang, 1915.
This was the first
of seven Kartini
Schools established
by the Indonesian
Kartini Associations
with financial support from the Dutch
Kartini Fund. Note the
portrait of Kartini on
the wall behind the
teacher.
Kelas mendikte pada
Sekolah Kartini di
Semarang, tahun
1915. Sekolah ini
merupakan sekolah
Kartini yang pertama
dari tujuh Sekolah
Kartini yang dibentuk oleh Asosiasi
Kartini di Indonesia,
atas dana bantuan
dariKartini Fund di
Negeri Belanda. Pada
dinding Sekolah di
belakang guru tergantung potret R.A.
Kartini.
area. The new building was formally

opened by the Regent of Semarang in
December 1914: in a good-humoured
speech, which the little ones listened
to with attention and approval, he
encouraged them to do their best
and come faithfully to school. School
attendance rates were good, with
absenteeism due to sickness or other
reasons only 7-9 percent.
The school was open from 8.30 am
to 12.30 pm (for Grades 1-2) and 1.00
pm (for grades 3-7), 6 days a week,
with 30-minute breaks at 9.00 and
1.00 am. The school calendar ran
from Puasa to Puasa each year. As
can be seen in the lesson-plan, fourteen subjects were taught: speech
and practical skills, reading, Dutch
What was one Dutch guilder worth, in Indonesia in 1913, and how much
would this mean in todays money? These comparisons are always difficult. One way is to look at what you could buy with it; another is to look at
how long it would take to earn it. In the Semarang region in 1913, one guilder would be enough to buy 4 or 5 kilos of milled rice (beras), depending
on the time of year. Unskilled workers on plantations in the Semarang region earned between 0.20 0.30 guilders per day (enough to buy about one
kilo of rice), and skilled craftsmen earned between 0.50 and 1.08 guilders.
In the local oil companies, unskilled workers earned 0.40 guilders and
skilled workers 1.00 guilder. In batik workshops, Javanese women earned
between 0.12 0.13 guilders per day, and men between 0.22 0.33 guilders.
One guilder therefore meant between one days and eight days wages,
depending on the sector, gender and skill.
12
V a n
language, mathematics, art- and craftwork, writing, singing, gymnastics,

needlework, nature and hygiene,
geography, history and Javanese and
Malay languages. The focus on practical learning (zaakonderwijs) was
inspired by the full life (Het volle
leven) teaching methods pioneered in
Holland by the primary school teacher Jan Ligthart (1859-1916); a form of
active learning, based on childrens
active exploration of the everyday
world around them and with plenty
of creative activity such as handicrafts and gardening.
All the teachers in the Kartini
School were women, with one exception. When attempts to find a
female Javanese teacher failed, Mas
Mangoenkoesoemo was appointed.
As the only male teacher at the school
he had to be chaperoned in the classroom: Miss Schippers, headmistress,
sits in all Mr. Mangoenkoesoemos
lessons.
Within a short time, six more
Kartini Schools were established in
Batavia, Buitenzorg (Bogor), Cheribon
(Cirebon), Pekalongan, Madioen
and Malang. In Batavia two additional Sekolah Kemadjoean Isteri,
and in Bogor one additional Sekolah
Pamulangan Isteri (Schools for Girls
Advancement) followed the same
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
P r o f i l e
Indonesias first
Professor of Agricultural
Economics
so Reksohadiprojo was the first scholarship recipient of the Tjandi

Foundation to graduate. In 1914 Iso and his cousin Basoekie, both
young graduates of the HBS Semarang, arrived in Wageningen to study
Tropical Agriculture, with scholarships from the Tjandi Foundation.
Basoekie unfortunately fell ill and died in 1915. Iso completed his studies with
very good results in 1917, but because of the war in Europe could not immediately return to Indonesia. He studied for an additional qualification in agro ecology, then took a job in a private company for a few months, and finally sailed
in January 1918 to New York, travelling overland to San Francisco and then
across the Pacific Ocean on a Dutch steamship to Batavia. On his return he
was immediately appointed Deputy Junior Agricultural Teacher in the colonial
service. Around 1930, he began teaching at the Bestuursschool (civil service
academy) in Jakarta, where young local government officials (pamong pradja)
were trained to take up positions as Regent (Bupati). He later became government agricultural adviser (Landbouwconsulent) for the province of Central Java.
In 1946 when the Indonesian revolutionary government moved to
Yogyakarta, Iso joined the independence movement. In the late 1940s he
was one of the founding fathers of Gadjah Mada University, particularly the
Faculty of Agriculture where he became head of the Agricultural Economics
Research Section in 1950. This section later became the Department of Social
Economics of Agriculture, where he became the first Professor of Agricultural
Economics and taught Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology for the rest
of his career. As one of the few Indonesians with a completed university education at that time, he was an influential figure in Indonesia and respected in
international circles. He was one of three Professors assigned by the universitys Social Research Committee to be counterparts and hosts of the Harvard
University research team (including the brilliant young Clifford Geertz) who arrived in Yogyakarta in 1952. In 1954 philanthropist John D. Rockefeller 3rd visited Yogyakarta and discussed problems of food production with Iso, who also
took him to meet some Javanese rice farmers in a nearby village. This was
one of the experiences which convinced Mr. Rockefeller to contribute funds to
the establishment of the International Rice Research Institute which focused
on the technical aspects of rice production, and the Agricultural Development
Council which devoted itself to supporting training and research in the economic and human problems of agricultural development in Asia. In 1957 he
was appointed Vice-Chairman of the UN Food and Agricultural Organizations
Committee I which had the task of preparing the Report on the World Food
and Agriculture Situation for the FAOs 9th Conference, and hosted the FAO
Regional Meeting for the Asia-Pacific in Bogor. Isos youngest son Dr. Sukanto
Reksohadiprodjo also made his career at Gadjah Mada University, teaching
economics and business management, and was the universitys Rector from
1994-1998.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Iso Reksohadiprodjo,
the first Tjandi
Foundation alumnus (graduated
from Wageningen
Agricultural University
in 1917) and
Indonesias first agricultural economist.
This portrait was
painted by his son.
Iso Reksohadiprodjo,
alumnus Yayasan
Tjandi yang pertama
(lulus dari Sekolah
Tinggi Pertanian
Wageningen pada
tahun 1917) dan ahli
ekonomi pertanian
Indonesia yang pertama . Potret ini dilukis
oleh anaknya.
13
S c h o o l s
Panorama of the Van

Deventer School,
with groups of pupils
relaxing on the lawn,
Semarang, 1928
Suasana Sekolah Van
Deventer (sekolah
menengah untuk anak
perempuan), dengan
kelompok para siswi
yang sedang bersantai
di lapangan rumput,
Semarang tahun 1928
14
principles, but used local language.

Who were the girls who attended
the Kartini Schools ? What was their
social background? The school was
not cheap, but the fees were set on a
sliding scale at approximately 1.5-2.0
per cent of the fathers or guardians
income, with a minimum of 2 Dutch
guilders per month (for those with
monthly incomes of less than 150
guilders) and maximum 6 guilders
(for those with incomes of 300 guilders or more), and additional reductions for second and third children
from the same family. The Annual
Reports note that some parents with
incomes of only 15 30 guilders were
willing to pay the school fees.
Some idea of the girls social
backgrounds can be found in the
Semarang Kartini Schools Annual
report for 1914, which gives details of
the occupations of the fathers/guardians of all the schools 119 pupils.
They show quite a wide range of social-economic groups, from Wedono
(sub-district heads, the next level
below the Regent) to railway and
batik workers and even a couple of
domestic servants. The main groups
represented were:
26 Mantris (a rank higher than a
clerk but lower than a sub-district
head)
14 Mandors (plantation or factory
foremen)
14 Jurutulis or other clerical staff
11 Wedonos and 10 AssistantWedonos
4 draughtsmen or typesetters
V a n
f o r
g i r l s
4 school teachers
3 village heads
3 traders,
and 27 others including telephone
operators, irrigation inspectors, batik
workers, railway workers, government pawnshop staff, and domestic
servants.
The girls were, thus, mainly the
daughters of the middle and lower
ranks of salaried officials and clerical
workers.
Van Deventer schools
After van Deventers death in 1915,

the Board of the Kartini Fund established a separate sister-fund, the Van
Deventer Stichting (Van Deventer
Foundation), with the aim of providing Dutch-language vocational
secondary schools for girls. Betsy
Maas was an active member of the
Foundations Board from the beginning. These Van Deventer Schools
were based on the model of the Dutch
huishoudschool, with a strong emphasis on domestic science to prepare the girls for marriage and housekeeping. The Van Deventer Schools
offered girls who had completed
lower school (at a Kartini School or
another of the growing number of
lower schools) the opportunity of
a girls-only continuing education,
which was designed to prepare them
for a restricted range of adult pathways, whether as wives and mothers
and/or as schoolteachers.
In 1917 the first Van Deventer
School was opened in Semarang.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
S c h o o l s
f o r
g i r l s
The nineteen graduating students of

the Kartini School,
Semarang, 30 March
1930.
Foto perpisahan para
siswi lulusan Sekolah
Kartini, Semarang, tgl
30 Maret 1930.
Rd. Ng. Sosrohadikoesoemo, husband of Kartinis younger sister R.A.

Soematri, made a powerful speech
to the Mangoenhardjo Vereeniging
(an association of Indonesian civil
servants) explaining the aims of the
new school and urging the members
to add their financial support to what
was already promised by the Van
Deventer Stichting and the Minister
for Colonial Affairs. Another Van
Deventer School quickly followed in
Solo. In Bandung, the Van Deventer
Vereeniging of West Java established
a third Van Deventer School, but using Sundanese language.
Unlike the Kartini Schools, the Van
Deventer Schools were residential
(boarding) schools except for those
pupils who lived close by. The fees,
like those of the Kartini Schools, were
based on a sliding scale depending
on the parents income, with a minimum of f. 10 (for those with monthly
incomes below f. 149) and maximum
of f. 25 (for those with incomes over
f. 300).
The Van Deventer Schools did, inV a n
deed, concentrate on domestic skills

but taught a wide range of subjects
they were intended to groom the
pupils for possible careers as teachers,
as well as for marriage. The subjects
taught were: Dutch, Javanese and
Malay languages; domestic science
(comprising cookery, laundry, nutrition, child care, health and hygiene);
hand work (both fine arts and handicrafts, including batik); natural science, history, geography, drawing and
singing.
Although she never visited
Indonesia after her husbands death,
Betsy Maas took an intense personal
interest in these schools. She served
for more than 20 years on the Board
of the Van Deventer Foundation,
and kept in contact by post with the
teachers, pupils and alumni of the
Van Deventer Schools. Each graduating student received a letter of congratulation and a silver pencil as a
personal gift from Betsy Maas.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
To give an idea of the level of

education provided, here are a
few examples of 3rd-year exam
questions in Domestic Science
and Mathematics:
Explain the inter-relationships between: digestion, blood
circulation and respiration
What do you consider the criteria for a good mid-day meal?
Compose a weekly menu of
Javanese meals, bearing in mind
these criteria
A man mixes 4 pikul of rice
costing f. 8.- per pikul with 4
pikul costing f. 9.25 and 4 pikul
of a more expensive variety. If
he makes 20 per cent profit by
selling the rice at 11 cents per
kati, what did he pay for the
more expensive rice?
A grobak travels a distance
of 7.128 km in 1 hours. If the
wheels revolve once per second,
what is the diameter of the
wheel?
15
S c h o l a r s h i p s
t o
T h e
N e t h e r l a n d s
A Difficult Start
Scholarships to
The Netherlands
T
The Max Havelaar Fund (19121936) and the Tjandi Foundation
(1913 1979)
16
Ben White
he first Indonesian admitted to a Dutch university,

Kartinis elder brother
R.M.P. Sosrokartono, arrived in The
Netherlands in 1896. In the next five
decades until Indonesian independence, the numbers coming to The
Netherlands remained very small;
in most years, there were no more
than 50 Indonesians enrolled in
Dutch universities. Besides private
funding, such students could receive
scholarships from four sources: the
Netherlands-Indies Education and
Study Fund, the Juliana Fonds, The
Max Havelaar Fonds and the Tjandi
Stichting. They normally provided
support only for subjects which were
not taught in Indonesia.
The Max Havelaar Fonds (1912
1936) and the Tjandi Stichting (19131979), both established by Coen van
Deventer and his friends, collected
funds to provide a small number of
talented young Indonesians with the
opportunity for university education in The Netherlands. Funds were
raised by subscription, with contributors making either a substantial
single donation, or a more modest
annual amount as members of the
Association. The selected students
received an interest-free loan for their
travel and living costs, and their
families or friends had to guarantee
to provide regular financial support
in addition to the scholarship. Both
funds received a modest government
V a n
subsidy for some years.

The Tjandi Stichting had a difficult start. Its first scholarship
student, Mohamad Iljas, failed his
qualifying exams in Delft and the
scholarship was discontinued. The
second student, the talented and
much-loved Basoekie, died of tuberculosis in Wageningen in 1915, and
only a few days after attending his
funeral the Foundations founder
and benefactor Coen van Deventer
became suddenly ill and died.
Betsy Maas, who had shown great
interest in the Foundation since its
beginnings, was appointed Board
Member, and granted life membership. The Tjandi Stichting, like the
Max Havelaar Fonds supported
only some 16 students in its first 12
years. Its first student to graduate
was Iso Reksohadiprodjo, who later
became Indonesias first professor of
Agricultural Economics.
With such small numbers of
Indonesians receiving a university
education it is not surprising that
most of those who graduated and
returned to Indonesia were quickly
appointed to good positions (mostly
in government service, occasionally
in plantation or other companies).
They were therefore, in theory in
a good position to repay the loans.
However, there were often delays in
repayment by the graduates, not to
mention those whose scholarships
were discontinued when they failed
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
t o
to pass their qualifying exams, and

a few who fell sick and died before
they could complete their studies or
before they had been able to complete
repayment. From 1920 onwards, students receiving loans from the Max
Havelaar Fonds, besides signing a
memorandum of debt, were required
to take out a life insurance policy,
naming the Fund as beneficiary, to
receive full payment of any debt that
might be outstanding in the event of
their death.
The annual reports of both these
foundations continually mention
problems of shortage of funds. Their
activities - providing a tiny number
of elite Indonesians with university
education - did not have the same
public appeal as the Kartini Fonds
and Van Deventer Stichting, and the
number of donors and members,
and their contributions, were never
great. The Max Havelaar Fonds began by giving support to six students
(all of whom had already begun
their studies in The Netherlands, on
private funds). These were all from
elite families; among them were
Raden Mas Hoesein Djajadiningrat,
brother of the Regent of Serang; the
Batak Maharadja Soetan Casajangan
Soripada, Chairman of the new
Indische Vereeniging (the first assocation of Indonesian students in
the Netherlands, established in 1908),
and his room-mate Raden Mas Pandji
Sosrokartono, R.A. Kartinis brilliant,
eccentric and reckless elder brother.
In subsequent years, due to declining contributions and problems with
loan repayments, the Fund was rarely
able to support more than one or two
students each year; after the first 12
years only 16 students had received
support. In 1936, the Max Havelaar
Fonds went into liquidation and
handed over its affairs to the Board
of the Tjandi Stichting: these included the debt-memoranda of seven
alumni who had not yet paid off their
V a n
T h e
loans, and obligation to support the

Funds single remaining student,
Kamar Roekmini who was studying
for her doctoral exam in medicine.
The Tjandi Stichting remained active, on a modest scale, for more than
50 years until it was absorbed into the
Van Deventer-Maas Stichting in 1979.
Achievements 1913-1942
R. A. Kartini (standing,
right) with her pupils
in the informal school
which she established
by on the verandah of
her house.
R.A. Kartini (berdiri,
paling kanan) bersama
siswi-siswinya di
sekolah yang didirikannya di serambi
rumahnya.
As we have seen, the Max Havelaar

Fonds and the Tjandi Stichting gave
interest-free loans to a small number of young Indonesian students to
study in the Netherlands. The students came from the upper layers of
Indonesian society, and after graduating they moved quickly into professional careers, mainly in government
service. Being among the very small
numbers of Dutch-educated graduates in the early 20th century, most
of them rose to positions of influence
in colonial society and in the new
Republic of Indonesia after independence.
The Kartini Fonds and the Van
Deventer Stichting, and the fourteen
schools which they sponsored, made
a difference in the lives of much larger numbers of Indonesian girls and
young women several thousands in
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
17
l e g a c y
Betsy Maas'
Legacy
I
Betsy van DeventerMaas in her later
years, at her home in
The Hague.
On her death in 1942
she left a large part
of her considerable
wealth to establish a
new foundation, the
Van Deventer-Maas
Stichting.
Betsy van DeventerMaas pada usia
senja, di rumahnya
di Den Haag. Pada
wafatnya tahun
1942 ia mewariskan
sebagian besar dari
kekayaannya untuk
mendirikan Yayasan
Van DeventerMaas
(VDMS).
n 1933, 75 years old and almost 20 years a widow, Betsy Maas began
to consider how to make her considerable personal wealth available for
the promotion of education for Indonesians, and particularly Indonesian
girls. In the first hand-written draft of her last will and testament, after
making various personal gifts she wrote that the sole legatee of her remaining
wealth should be a new foundation, which would have as its main objective to
promote the provision of education to, and the development and education of
Indonesians, in particular the education of Indonesian girls.
However, after the German invasion of The Netherlands in 1940, it became
clear that funds in a private foundation of this kind would not be safe from
confiscation by the occupying power. Betsy Maas therefore changed her will,
naming her cousin A. van Lutsenburg Maas as her sole heir, with no mention of a new foundation and only the vague stipulation that he should use
the funds to carry out the wishes she had made known to him, at such time
as was deemed appropriate. Her detailed wishes for the Foundation, to be
called the Van Deventer-Maas Stichting, were specified in a personal letter
to van Lutsenberg Maas. Given the uncertain future of both The Netherlands
and its colony at the time, the letter specified that the establishment of the
foundation shall be carried out even if the present Netherlands Indies, wholly
or partly, no longer falls under Dutch rule, so long as they [Van Lutsenburg
Maas and the new Foundations board members] consider that there is still the
possibility of using the funds for the benefit of the indigenous population. In
this document, and in the Foundations statutes established in April 1947, the
Foundations objective is described as the promotion of the moral, spiritual
and material interests of the indigenous population of the region that presently
constitutes the Netherlands Indies, with particular attention to be given to their
educational interests. For reasons not clear, Betsy Maas original stipulation
for special attention to be given to education for girls had disappeared from
the objectives. Special attention to the advancement of women and girls was
re-introduced as an element in the VDMS formal objectives only 22 years
later, when the Tjandi Stichting and Van Deventer Stichting were dissolved and
incorporated into the VDMS, and new Statutes were approved.
The Van Deventer-Maas Stichting was formally established in April 1947.
18
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
l e g a c y
Betsy Maas first hand-written draft of her testament, 1933. The first lines of Article 2
read: The [new] foundation has as its objective the promotion, in the broadest sense
of education, development and upbringing of Indonesians, and especially of education
for Indonesian girls
Konsep pertama surat wasiat Betsy Maas, ditulis tangan pada tahun 1933. Baris pertama dari Artikel 2 berbunyi sebagai berikut: Tujuan dari Yayasan [yang baru] adalah
untuk mendukung, dalam arti yang paling luas dalam hal pendidikan, pengembangan
dan peningkatan anak-anak Indonesia pada umumnya, dan khususnya pendidikan bagi
anak-anak perempuan
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
19
Pupils of the Van Deventer

School prepare wedding
gifts for a class-mate who
is leaving to get married,
Semarang, 1928. In the
background, some are working with sewing machines.
On the wall, a marble
plaque in memory of the
true friend of Indonesia Mr.
C. Th. van Deventer.
Para siswi Sekolah Van
Deventer sedang membungkus bingkisan untuk teman
sekelas yang meninggalkan bangku sekolah untuk
menikah, Semarang tahun
1928. Di belakang terlihat
beberapa siswi sedang
bekerja menggunakan mesin
jahit. Di dinding terpampang
sebuah plakat marmer untuk mengingatkan sahabat
sejati bagi Indonesia, Mr. C.
Th. van Deventer.
20
t o
the period 1913-1942. By the end of

the 1930s the seven Kartini Schools
were enrolling about 1500 pupils each
year many or most of them from
relatively modest social backgrounds
- for a good quality Dutch-language
education. Besides the direct benefits
to those who studied in them, the
Kartini schools also had an important demonstration effect, meaning
that more parents were willing to
send their daughters to the (co-educational) Hollands-Inlandse Scholen,
which provided an education largely
equivalent to the Kartini Schools. The
three (Dutch-language) Van Deventer
Schools had a similar impact.
Both Kartini Schools and Van
Deventer Schools were based on
cooperation between foundations
V a n
T h e
and donors in The Netherlands

and Indonesia. They attracted large
numbers of donors and members,
including many Indonesians. Shortly
before their activities came to a
virtual standstill with the German
occupation of The Netherlands in
1940 and Japanese occupation of
the Netherlands Indies in 1942, the
Kartini Fonds had a healthy financial balance of more than 200,000
Dutch guilders and the Van Deventer
Stichting a balance of almost 150,000
guilders.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
P r o f i l e
Vice-president of the
Indonesian Academy of
Sciences
ediono Tjondronegoro, born in 1928 as grandson of Kartinis

younger brother R.M. Sosroboesono, is probably the oldest living
VDMS alumnus. During the Indonesian revolution he joined the
Student Brigade Tentara Pelajar, and was wounded by shrapnel
during a Dutch mortar attack in East Java. He arrived in Amsterdam in August
1949 , with 50 other Indonesian students, all privately funded. The Dutch doctor A. Lenshoek, a friend of his father, arranged for treatment for his wounded
hand, and in 1950 he began his studies in the new Faculty of Political and
Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. He remained in Amsterdam, as
student and later Assistant (to Professor W. F. Wertheim), until 1963.
He lived in rented rooms in the houses of various Dutch families, and recalls
that he had no problems adapting to Dutch food and customs. One of his
landladies in Amsterdam was Mrs. Gruber, a Jewish widow whose family had
died in the Nazi death camps, and he also for a time lived in the house of a local Rabbi. These experiences provided him with a principled tolerance towards
all religions and cultures, which he retains till the present day. As part of the
Round Table agreements, Indonesias new Ministry of Education and Culture
provided scholarships for a number of Indonesians to study in Dutch universities. Tjondronegoro was awarded one of these scholarships in 1952, and was
able to supplement this with a small salary as part-time candidaats-assistent.
In 1958 however, when diplomatic relations with The Netherlands broke down,
the Indonesian embassy in Bonn instructed all students receiving Indonesian
government support to transfer to universities in other European countries.
Tjondronegoros choice of the University of London was rejected, since the
Embassy found the tuition fees too high. He was left with only the half-salary
from his part-time position as Assistant which he supplemented with various
odd jobs, including walking the streets of Amsterdam with a hand-cart, collecting used paper and clothing for recycling. In 1961 the VDMS provided him with
a scholarship enabling him to complete his studies for the Doctorandus Degree.
Tjondronegoro was active in the Netherlands branch of the Indonesian Students
Association PPI and travelled widely throughout Western Europe and the Soviet
Union, where he was introduced to President Kruschev and Bulganin. Returning
to Indonesia in 1963 he began teaching in the Bogor Agricultural University, and
made his career there until his retirement as Professor of Rural Sociology. He
was involved in several major research projects, interspersed with a further period of study abroad at the University of Wisconsin (1966-68). In 1977 he was
awarded the PhD cum laude at the University of Indonesia, and in 1981 he held
the Tinbergen Professorship at Erasmus University Rotterdam. From 1992-1997
he was a member of the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR), representing the academic professions. From 2008 - 2013 he was Vice-President for the
Social Sciences of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences.
The thinker: S. M. P.
Tjondronegoro as a student at the
University of Amsterdam, 1955. In
1961 the VDMS provided him with
a scholarship enabling him to complete his studies in the Faculty of
Political and Social Sciences.
Sang pemikir: S. M. P.
Tjondronegoro saat kuliah di
Universitas Amsterdam, tahun
1955. Pada tahun 1961 ia menerima beasiswa VDMS sehingga ia
bisa menyelesaikan kuliahnya di
Fakultas Ilmu Politik dan Sosial.
I am still
grateful for the
Foundations
beneficence
more than
50 years ago

V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
21
K a r t i n i
&
T j a n d i
After Indonesian independence
The Kartini Fonds

and the Tjandi
Stichting
Ben White
he Tjandi Foundation
had been able to continue
some of its work during
the German occupation, supporting
Indonesian students who had become stranded in Holland. But the
work of the Kartini Fund and Van
Deventer Foundation had come to a
virtual standstill, although their capital funds had been preserved. Their
sister organisations in Indonesia, the
various Kartini- and Van Deventerassociations linked to the Kartini and
Van Deventer schools, had also been
disbanded and their funds lost.
Following the Japanese capitulation and Indonesias Declaration of
Independence in 1945, the question
arose: should the Kartini and Van
Deventer Schools be re-opened, and
what would be their place in the new
system of education?
The correspondence from Indonesia
to The Hague gives an idea of
the confusion prevailing at the
time. In December 1945 Miss A.M.
Schiltmeyer, Headmistress of the
Semarang Van Deventer school, had
written to the Board of the Kartini
Fund in The Hague, summarizing what had happened to various
teachers and officials of the Kartini
Associations during the Japanese
occupation. In April 1947 she wrote
again with a more complete report
of developments in the years 1942
22
V a n
1947. Both these letters were handwritten on poor quality paper, and
had to be re-typed in The Hague
before the Board members could read
them. Most of the European staff of
the Kartini and Van Deventer Schools
had survived the Japanese internment camps, but the Kartini and Van
Deventer Associations had been disbanded, and the schools themselves
had been closed. Ms. Schiltmeyer
advised the Board in the Hague that
the Van Deventer School curriculum
based on the huishoudschool (domestic science) model - affectionately
known in Holland as the spinach
academy because of its emphasis on
domestic science, cooking and good
nutrition - would have to adjust to the
times:
'One must however take account of
the currently prevailing schools of
thought; I enclose a good example
about education for girls, written
by the Sundanese author Soewarsih
Djojopoespito.'
Soewarsih had written (in the Dutch
magazines Inzicht and De Groene)
'I am not advocating the kind of
education found in the Kepandaian
Poetri (girls skills) schools. This kind
of education is not only costly, but
also not adapted to societys needs
it seems to me ridiculous to train
girls for two or more years to become
elite-cooks etc., while the health ser-
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
I tried all subjects, to

bring something back to
Indonesia
osephine Sakiman was born in Sukabumi in 1944, and grew up

in Jakarta. Because of her good school grades, Josephine was
awarded a scholarship as one of the first students at the new Bogor
Agricultural University (IPB) from 1963-1967. At that time very
few students wanted to study agriculture, it was seen as the last choice, she
remembers. After graduating, she received an invitation from one of the Deans
at Wageningen Agricultural University to continue her studies for the Masters
(Ingenieur) degree in The Netherlands, because my grades were good and also
because I was fluent in Dutch language her father, a trader, had always sent
her to schools where Dutch language was taught.
Josephine was very happy studying in Wageningen (1967-1974) mainly because of the excellent facilities: I was allowed to study many different subjects
and I tried them all, so I could bring something back to Indonesia , she said.
In the late 1960s however, the university had to terminate her scholarship, as
Dutch-Indonesian relations deteriorated because of the Irian Jaya conflict. They
offered me Dutch citizenship so I could continue to receive the scholarship. But
I declined. Luckily, the Dean helped her to obtain a scholarship from VDMS,
which she held from 1970 to 1974. During this time Josephine had no personal
contact with VDMS, or with other VDMS scholars; I went once to the VDMS
office to introduce myself, but made no further visits, she told us.
The monthly scholarship allowance of 350 Dutch guilders was very important
for her. At that time, foreign students were not allowed to work, even part time.
All those years in Wageningen I hardly ever worked, just one time as a laboratory assistant.
In 1974 Josephine returned to Indonesia with her Ingenieur degree and
her Dutch husband. After three years in Flores, working for the Regional
Development Planning Board (Bappeda) they worked in agricultural development
projects in various countries, including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Germany. In
1992 Josephine returned to Jakarta. She was one of the founders of the agricultural consulting firm PT Ekokon Nusantara and worked there until 2011.
In 2010 a friend in Wageningen asked her help in sending some books to
Ambon, and Josephine came in contact with VDMS. Since then, Josephine has
been active in support of VDMS projects in East Nusa Tenggara. The VDMS
project provided training for SMA teachers for three years, and I was a member
of the team evaluating the training. She also participated in one of the Regional
Meetings in Bali, introducing VDMS to the staff of VDMS partner universities.
Josephine thinks that VDMS is currently doing a good job. But she said that
the scholarship awards should be [even] more selective: dont just look at the
candidates academic performance, integrity and commitment are also important.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Josephine Sakiman
Sukabumi, 1944
University Wageningen
1970 1974
Dont just look

at the academic
performance,
integrity and
commitment
are as important
Written by Annisa Ika Tiwi

Translation and editing: Ben White
23
K a r t i n i
After Indonesian independence: pupils in

the front courtyard of
the Kartini School in
Madiun, 1950s.
Setelah kemerdekaan
Indonesia: para siswi
di depan halaman
Sekolah Kartini di
Madiun, pada tahun
1950an
24
vice is crying out for nurses, and the

education service for well-qualified
teachers. .
Our girls must be educated as intellectual equals with boys; therefore
their education should not be limited
to implanting feminine skills [The
government] should set aside the
standardized form of girls education
and try to find new paths. Nothing
could be more useless than making
suitable wives through dressmaking,
cooking and washing, while other
paths can perhaps be more efficient
and effective for society.'
The huishoudschool model was
still advocated and practiced in The
Netherlands, and it is interesting that
this critique came not from Dutch circles, but from an Indonesian woman.
In 1948 Ms. Schiltmeyer, after consulting with her colleague Ms. Jellema,
wrote again to the Board:
'Ideas about girls education here
V a n
&
T j a n d i
have changed. The possibilities for

further development have increased.
The pathbreaking work of the Kartini
Schools is a thing of the past. Kartini
work is not completed; it awaits resumption, but in another form.'
In 1949-1950 E. Gobe (one of the
Board members of the new VDMS)
spent a year travelling through
Indonesia at the request of the
Boards of the Kartini Fund and Van
Deventer Foundation, to learn what
had happened to the Kartini and Van
Deventer Schools during the Japanese
occupation and Independence war.
All of the schools had been closed
and put to other uses (as schools of
another type, as orphanages, or as offices); all the buildings and furniture
were in a state of disrepair and one
(the Kartini School in Malang) was
reduced to rubble, having been firebombed by the TNI forces during the
first clash. Ms. Schiltmeyer hoped
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
Our project in
Surabaya pray that
all goes well
rie Anggodo Kakiailatu, the eldest of three children, spent

his childhood up to Secondary School in Jakarta. His father
was a kidney surgeon and his mother was one of the founders of the weekly magazine Tempo. In 1974 his father, who
was studying at the Leiden Academic Hospital, brought Arie and the family
to The Netherlands. In 1975 Arie completed his secondary school diploma in
Wassenaar, and began to study Industrial Technology (Industrial Design) at the
Delft Technical University.
To help support himself, Arie worked part-time in an Indonesian restaurant,
and also rented out his VW Combi to other students. Because of all this, I
was three years behind schedule with my studies. Then in 1981 I saw an announcement for the VDMS scholarships, and immediately sent off my application, he recalls. The scholarship of 550 Dutch guilders each month meant that
he could finally focus fully on his studies. The scholarship was discontinued
in 1982, when Arie was awarded nine months funding for his MA project by
the Dutch company CV Saval Kronenburg. When this project was completed,
the VDMS scholarship was reactivated for the final four months until his MA
graduation. During this time, Arie had no personal contacts with VDMS, or
with other VDMS scholars: I didnt even know who they were.
In 1985 Arie began his career in the National Investment Coordination Board
(BKPM). But after two and a half years, he left the civil service. He worked for
many years as an engineer in PT Bukaka Teknik Utama, and then set up his
own company in 1994. When the company failed, Arie (now father of three
children) joined the company PT Melu Bangun Wiweka (MBW) as Senior
Engineer and has stayed with them until today.
Arie has undertaken many engineering projects, mainly in the field of airport
infrastructure: entry gates and approaches, check-in halls, baggage carousels
and garbarata (covered walkways from departure lounge to the airplane) at
various airports including Deli Serdang, Makassar and Banda Aceh. Our new
project is the Surabaya monorail please pray that all goes well with it.
After many years, Aries links with VDMS revived when VDMS contacted
him in 2009. He worked for some months on organising the VDMS scholars
and alumni, but then had to stop, because I was falling behind with my other
commitments. He was one of the speakers at the Regional Meeting at Petra
University, and is still interested to be involved in VDMS events.
Looking to VDMSs future, Arie hopes that VDMS will assess the effectiveness of their scholarships, for example by analysing whether the scholarship
means the students can complete their studies on time, he suggested. He
hopes VDMS will make greater efforts to reach students all over Indonesia, including Papua. Whats most important is not that VDMS has existed for 100
years, but that it should continue for the next 100 years or even longer!
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Arie Anggodo Kakiailatu

Jakarta, 1957
Technical Universty Delft
1981 1982
More important than that

VDMS has existed 100 years,
is that it should
continue for 100
years or more

25
K a r t i n i
to re-open the Van Deventer School

in Semarang, with the support of the
wife of Central Javas Governor, but
with a new curriculum responding to
the request of former pupils to provide training and a qualification in
social work. Following the transfer
of sovereignty there were complex
legal issues regarding the ownership of the schools and of the assets
of the Kartini and Van Deventer
Associations, some of which had been
supported by loans from the colonial
government. Gobe concluded his
report:
The name Kartini is not forgotten,
and in Indonesia can not be forgotten,
as people continue to honour her life
and work and try to continue her
work and bring it to completion.
But it was a source of joy to find
that in Semarang, where the first Van
Deventer School was built, the name
Van Deventer still lives among an
important group of the local people,
whose initiative makes it possible to
continue the work begun by Mr. van
Deventer and Mrs. van DeventerMaas, in new form and still under
their name.
26
V a n
&
T j a n d i
Kartini- and/or Van Deventer

Associations were revived in Jakarta,
Semarang, Bogor and Bandung, until
1955 when these were merged into a
single new foundation the Yayasan
Kartini, based in Jakarta, which
continued to receive support from
Holland.
The Kartini Fonds, besides providing support to various girls schools
in Indonesia, began providing scholarships to young Indonesian women
for training (mainly teacher training)
in the Netherlands. During the early
1950s, 14 young women (12 of them
graduates of one of the Van Deventer
Schools) were supported in this way.
As the (former) Kartini and Van
Deventer schools were absorbed into
the standard educational system of
the new Republic, the Kartini Fonds
was absorbed into the Van Deventer
Foundation (in 1958) and the Van
Deventer Foundations statutes rewritten, including the new, more general objective of the promotion of the
social, spiritual and cultural development of Indonesian women and girls
and all that relates to this goal, in the
broadest sense.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n
Representation
in Indonesia
HONORARY MEMBER. Mrs.
Johanna Sunarti Nasution (19232010) the wife of General Abdul
Harris Nasution, served VDMS
for more than 20 years. She was
active in many foundations and
received many awards for her
charitable work She chaired the
Council of Deputies from 1993 until 2004, when she was appointed
an Honorary Member.
ANGGOTA KEHORMATAN. Ibu
Johana Sunarti Nasution (19232010) isterinya (alm.) Jenderal
Abdul Haris Nasution, lebih dari
20 tahun berjasa untuk VDMS. Ibu
Nas menjadi aktif dalam berbagai
Yayasan, dan menerima banyak
penghargaan atas kegiatan sosialnya. Setelah menjadi Ketua Dewan
Perwakilan VDMS dari 1993 sampai 2004, Ibu Nas diangkat sebagai
Anggota Kehormatan.
In 1993 the VDMS statutes were revised, to include a Council of Deputies in

Indonesia. The Councils first members were
Mrs. J.S. Nasution Chairperson
Mrs. S.L. Hanafiah Secretary
Mrs. O. Amir Pamoentjak Treasurer
Mrs. M. Sharif Member
Mrs. P.A.A. Schmutzer-Versteegh Member
The Council was empowered to enter into contractual arrangements with institutions (schools and universities) and individuals (scholarship recipients).
The Council of Deputies played an important role in the VDMS work for 20
years until its formal dissolution in 2012. In 2012 Mrs. Otty Pamoentjak, the
CoDs Treasurer for some years and its Chairperson from 2004-2012, was
awarded the Dutch knighthood as Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau for
her 30 years of dedicated services to the Foundation.
The VDMS is now represented in Indonesia by its Yogyakarta office, under
the leadership of Ms. Parche Manoto and her staff (see Annexe).
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
UNREALIZED. Mrs. Otty

Pamoentjak, chairperson of the
Council of Deputies from 2004
2011 and member of the Board
of VDMS from 2008 2011. Beside
her is the intended Director of
VDMS in Indonesia, Richard Mana.
Richard was born on Flores and
was a role model for many young
Floresians, having ended his career
as vice-president for Finances of
Indosat. This picture was taken in
2009 in Kupang, a couple of days
before Richard passed away, in his
hometown Bajawa, Flores, during a
duty tour.
DEWAN PERWAKILAN. Ibu
Otty Pamoentjak, ketua Dewan
Perwakilan VDMS dari 2004
2011, dan anggota Dewan
Pengurus VDMS dari 2008-2011.
Disamping beliau Bapak Richard
Mana yang baru ditunjuk sebagai
calon Direktur Kantor VDMS di
Indonesia. Richard, kelahiran
Flores dan mantan Wakil Presiden
Indosat, menjadi teladan bagi
generasi muda Flores. Foto ini diambil di Kupang pada tahun 2009,
beberapa hari sebelum Richard
meninggal dunia.
27
F i r s t
5 0
y e a r s
Finding its Way
VDMS in the
First 50 years
Ben White
hen the VDMS was

established in 1947,
A. van Lutsenberg
Maas (Betsys cousin, to whom she
had entrusted her legacy during the
German occupation) became the first
Treasurer. The Chair of the Board
was Coen and Betsys good friend
A.M. Joekes (who was at that time
a Cabinet Minister representing the
new Labour Party). The other ten
Board members were all prominent
persons, with experience of living
and working in Indonesia; among
them were three university Professors
(Baron van Asbeck, Berg, and
Logemann) and three Indonesians
(Mr. Karni, L. Makaliwy and the ophthalmologist Dr. Soewarno). Many
of them were also (or had been previously) members of the Boards of the
Tjandi Stichting, the Kartini Fonds
and/or the Van Deventer Stichting.
The VDMS officers and Board members, who received no monetary
compensation for their work, generally served for long periods, many of
them for more than 20 years (as can
be seen in Annexe Officers where
we have listed all those who have
served the VDMS as Board Members,
Treasurers or Secretaries between
1947 and 2013).
Annual Reports of the early years of
VDMS show the Foundation acting
cautiously in the new post-colonial
context, responding to a wide range
of requests from Indonesia, in four
VDMS looks
for direction,
1947-1997
28
V a n
broad categories: education, health

care, cultural development and social
work. In the first ten years of its existence (1947-1956) the VDMS Board
approved grants for a total of 278,370
Dutch guilders, including 24 grants
to schools, 4 to universities or academies, 13 to childrens homes, 13 to
libraries, reading clubs and peoples
universities, and 23 to hospitals and
doctors. Besides these institutional
grants, numerous scholarship grants
or interest-free loans were made to
individual students, in both Indonesia
and The Netherlands.
In 1956 it was decided to transfer the
work of scholarship awards in The
Netherlands to the Tjandi Stichting,
which had also benefited from Betsy
Maass legacy, and in subsequent
years received regular grants from
the VDMS to continue its work.
Looking back on the first 50 years of
the VDMS work (1948-1997), one gets
the impression of a useful but rather
scattered set of activities and projects.
Some of the grants made were substantial, and made important contributions to the development and work
of educational, medical or charitable
institutions. Examples include grants
of up to f. 10,000 to various hospitals
for purchase of expensive medical
equipment and medicines, laboratory
equipment and book-purchase grants
to numerous universities, school furniture for the Taman Siswa Schools in
Jakarta, and a series of grants to the
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
Without the books I

wouldnt have understood
what was taught
rio Djatmiko was born in Mataram in 1950 and grew up there

until completing Lower Secondary School. His father was a
businessman, and his mother a midwife. He completed his
S1 studies in the Faculty of Medicine, Airlangga University
Surabaya in 1976, and continued with studies in Surgery, which he completed
in 1982. In 1984 he was selected for training in Oncological Surgery at the
Groningen Academic Hospital, under the supervision of Professor Oldhoff. In
1991 he had another opportunity for training in Breast Surgery at the Antonie van
Leeuwenhoek Hospital, Amsterdam under supervision of Professor van Dongen.
During his training in Amsterdam Ario learned about VDMS: My teachers told
me to buy several very expensive textbooks, but I could not afford them, so I approached VDMS for a book grant. He heard about VDMS from his father-in-law,
who was a friend of VDMS treasurer Ben Urich. The grant allowed Ario to buy
the books he needed from Scheltema Holkema book store: the grant was really
useful if I hadnt had the books I wouldnt have understood what I was being
taught. At the time he was already teaching in the Medical Faculty of Airlangga
University, so the textbooks also gave him a solid grounding for his teaching.
Ario has made his career in the teaching and practice of breast cancer treatment, and has been responsible for various innovations in this field. After returning from Amsterdam, in November 1991 he pioneered the surgical procedure
using the Hook Wire on non-palpable breast cancer. In 1995 he introduced
Integrated Care replacing fragmented care in breast cancer treatment, and
in the same year he established the Surabaya Oncology Clinic, the first clinic in
Indonesia focusing on organ oriented services for breast and thyroid. In 2006
the clinic became the Surabaya Oncology Hospital, organised on the boutique
hospital model. Ario was the first surgeon to introduce short-stay surgery for
breast and thyroid cancer patients, requiring only a one-night stay in the hospital,
and a pioneer in breast-conserving treatment and post-mastectomy breast reconstruction.
Ario is now senior consultant at the Surabaya Oncology Hospital, and Senior
Lecturer in the Medical Faculty of Airlangga University. He is active in various
organizations, Head of Global Practice Regulation in the Indonesian Doctors
Association, and head of research and Development of the Indonesia Cancer
Foundations East Java branch. He likes to air his ideas in various media: I enjoy
writing articles on social, educational and humanistic topics. In 2012 he published Dilema Bangsaku: Pandangan Seorang Dokter (My nations dilemma: a
doctors view), an edited collection of his articles in Jawa Pos.
After the VDMS book grant, Ario had no further links with VDMS. Nevertheless,
he recalls that VDMS made an important contribution to his education, just at
the time when it was needed. He hopes that VDMS will continue to support to
Indonesian students who need it, just as he did more than 20 years ago.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Ario Djatmiko
Mataram, 1950
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek,
Amsterdam
Study book grant 1991
I enjoy writing
articles on social,
educational and
humanistic
topics.

29
F i r s t
The merger scheme. In

1913 the Kartinifonds
was founded by Coen
van Deventer, his wife
Betsy Maas, his sister
W. Stoop-van Deventer
and his brother-in-law
Ad Stoop. They also
gave donations to the
new Max Havelaarfonds
and Tjandi Stichting.
Altogether five stichtingen (foundations) and
fondsen (funds) were
later merged into the Van
Deventer-Maas Stichting,
which continues their
work until today.
Skema asal-usul VDMS.
Pada tahun 1913 Coen
van Deventer bersama
isterinya Betsy Maas,
adiknya W. Stoop-van
Deventer dan adik
iparnya Ad Stoop bergabung untuk mendirikan
Kartinifonds. Mereka
juga ikut mendanai Max
Havelaarfonds dan Tjandi
Stichting. Tiga Yayasan
ini dan dua Yayasan
lain akhirnya digabung
kedalam Van Deventer
Maas Stichting yang masih menjalankan misinya
sampai kini.
30
5 0
Foundation Rumah Kita for support

of its orphanages.
The VDMS also made regular and
substantial grants to the Literature
Service (Literatuurdienst) of the
Netherlands-Indonesia Foundation,
for the provision of books, academic
journals and other Dutch-language
reading materials to libraries
in Indonesia. In 1965 when the
Netherlands-Indonesia Foundation
was dissolved, these activities
were absorbed into the VDMS as
the Literature Service of the Van
Deventer-Maas Foundation.
Other grants made by the VDMS
were individual, incidental and sometimes very small. Examples are the
grants for painting materials and
harmonicas for the patients of the
mental hospital Sumber Porong in
Lawang, light reading materials for
patients in Tjikini Hospital, Jakarta,
household and kitchen equipment
(including a weaving and knitting
machine) to Mrs. Datuk Tumenggung
for display at the annual Ladies Fair
(damesbeurs) in Jakarta, a monthly
allowance to an Indonesian widow (in
V a n
y e a r s
Holland) for her daughters secondary school costs, 50% of the cost of
a German laundry-machine for an
orphanage in Jakarta, typewriters for
the magazine Basis in Jakarta, a new
pair of spectacles for a retired school
teacher in Garut, and a subsidy for
a Dutch anthropology student in
Jakarta, not for his research project
but for the school fees of two young
boys whom he claimed to have adopted.
The rather varied and dispersed
one could even say unfocused - pattern of support was perhaps understandable in the situation of newly-independent Indonesia, recovering from
the two difficult decades of the 1930s
Great Depression, the Japanese occupation and the Independence war. All
kinds of institutions and individuals
were in need of help, and the mechanisms of formal, institutional support
(whether by government, bilateral or
multilateral aid programmes or by
the large foundations such as Ford
and Rockefeller) were only beginning
to come into play. By the late 1970s
however, as many other donors (inter-
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
Bu Nas always
complimented my
handwriting
alita Qumi Pattiwael, originally from Ambon, began her studies

the Law Faculty at Airlangga University, Surabaya in 1983. I heard
about VDMS from my neighbour who was a VDMS scholarship
recipient, she recalls. She sent her application materials directly to
the VDMS office in Jakarta and was invited for an interview in Surabaya with
Otty Pamoentjak, a member of the VDMS Council of Deputies.
The scholarship award of Rp. 30,000, sent every month by Postal Order (and
later raised to Rp. 45,000), came at the right moment for Talita. Her father
was no longer working, her mother was looking after the household, and her
younger sister was still in school. At the time, Talitas tuition fees were only
Rp. 60,000 so part of the money could be used to help support the family.
Among many good memories of her scholarship years is the time Talita
met Johana Sunarti Nasution (Ibu Nas), who was then head of the VDMS
Council of Deputies. For two years, Talita wrote each month to Ibu Nas to confirm that she had received the monthly allowance. I was so happy, Bu Nas
always complimented me on my hand writing, she recalls. On her graduation
in 1988, Talita went to the VDMS Jakarta office to give them a copy of her
thesis, as a token of her gratitude. I felt I owed a lot to VDMS, and thats why
I wanted to go and meet Bu Nas and Bu Otty. They were very kind to me, and
treated me like a member of the family.
Since that last meeting, Talitas contacts with VDMS were broken for more
than 20 years. Then, in 2011, Talita heard by chance that her sisters fatherin-law was the VDMS PIC at Hang Tuah University, Surabaya. Talita then contacted VDMS and has been active in many alumni activities. In 2012 she was
invited to become a member of the Alumni Committee 2.
Talita presently works for a non-profit organization in the field of Child
Protection in Surabaya. Before that she had a rich and varied career, working
for various companies including PT Bank Pacific, PT Rasindo Indah and a notarys office. She has worked in finance, legal affairs and personnel departments
and also as a tax consultant. After some years in Jakarta she now prefers to
live in Surabaya, combining her work with service to the church. For people
of my age, our perspective on life is different from the young generation; I
have chosen to find balance in my life by helping others.
Thinking of VDMS in the future, Talita hopes the foundation will organize
activities that promote feelings of kinship among the current scholars and
alumni. And we need to promote the idea that, as VDMS has played such an
important role in our success, we should feel ourselves to be one big family. I
pray that VDMS will always bring blessings to us all - not only the scholars and
alumni, but to everyone.
Talita Qumi Pattiwael

Surabaya, 1964
Airlangga University, Surabaya
1986 1988
Bu Nas and Bu
Otty treated me
like a member
of the family

V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
31
F i r s t
5 0
national, bilateral and private foundations) had begun to be active in

the support of Indonesian education,
health care and social welfare, there
was clearly a need for a more focused
set of priorities and activities.
In 1979 it was decided to incorporate the Tjandi Stichting and
the Van Deventer Stichting into
the VDMS, as had been previously
done with the Kartini Fund and the
Literatuurdienst.
During the next two decades of the
1980s and 1990s we can see a gradual
re-focusing of the VDMS activities,
returning it closer to its mission of
supporting Indonesian education
and dividing its spending between
scholarships, training courses and
capacity-building grants. By the late
1990s there were no more grants to
hospitals, orphanages (unless for
education provision) or other social
welfare projects and all the funds
were assigned either to scholarships
or to up-grading and capacity-building projects in Indonesian education
institutions.
Another important change was the
shift in scholarships provision from
The Netherlands to Indonesia. By
the late 1960s the VDMS Board had
already decided to shift the balance
of scholarships funding from The
Netherlands to Indonesia. This was
based on three considerations: the improved quality of tertiary education
in Indonesia; the great differences
in costs of scholarships in the two
countries (in 1971, about 500 Dutch
guilders per year for a scholarship
in Indonesia compared to about 4500
guilders in The Netherlands this
difference has increased further in
the intervening years); and from the
1970s onwards the availability of
other sources of scholarships to The
Netherlands, particularly through the
Netherlands Government Fellowships
Programme and the NetherlandsIndonesia Cultural Accord. By the
32
V a n
y e a r s
late 1990s no more scholarships were

given for university or hogeschool
studies in The Netherlands, although
the window was still open for some
kinds of specialized training in the
(para-) medical field, or the upgrading of university teachers.
In keeping with the VDMS statutes and the ideals of Betsy Maas,
in recent years women have been
recipients of 68 percent of all VDMS
scholarship awards.
The VDMS, since its inception in
1947, has always had one or more
representatives in Indonesia, but the
form and character of that representation has changed over the years. The
VDMS was represented in Indonesia
for the first 25 years by a succession
of Dutch men and women, sometimes
for rather short periods because of
their frequent re-location. Exceptions
were Drs. I. Schmutzer (1959 - 1977)
and after he died in 1977 - his
widow Mrs. P. Schmutzer-Versteegh
(1977-1997). In 1982 she was joined by
three Indonesians, Mrs. J. Nasution,
Mrs. O. Pamoentjak and (secretary)
Mrs. R. Soebeno, and since 1997 representation in Indonesia has been allIndonesian.
The general division of responsibilities between the VDMS Board
in The Hague and the VDMS representation in Indonesia has been that
the Board sees to the good management of the Foundations assets and
income, decides on any changes
in the Foundations strategy and
policy, approves the annual budget
and accounts, and takes care of the
implementation of any activities in
The Netherlands. The Indonesia office has the task to implement the
Foundations policies (the scholarships programme, capacity-building
projects and training courses, alumni
relations etc.) in Indonesia.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
P a r t n e r s h i p
O r g a n i z a t i o n
From a Charity
Fund to a
Partnerships
Organization
By Edwin Kisman
s the VDMS entered the

21st century, the situation was like this. Grants
were mainly given to initiatives of
small local organizations, sometimes
through the mediation of organizations in the Netherlands. Money was
given on the basis of proposals, if
they matched the mission of VDMS.
It was a broad spectrum of activities
that were supported.
To name some:
Yayasan Perguruan Kartini
in Jakarta received a grant to upgrade its facilities and educational
tools for secondary education in
Tourism / Hospitality Industry,
and a Culinary School and Fashion
Institute.
Yayasan Rumah Kita, also in
Jakarta, to help poor children attend
elementary and secondary education.
The Propinsilat Susteran Gembala
Baik for projects in the area of
child care, schooling and training in Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang,
Bogor, Yogyakarta, Bantul, Marau
(Kalimantan) and Ruteng (Flores)
If you take a look at the map
Activities 2000, you will see many
more organizations located all over
Indonesia running schools, asramas,
poverty alleviation programmes,
V a n
teacher training, care for the blind,

orphanages, agricultural and technical education. You might call it a
gado-gado of support.
Money was given on the basis of
trust, and there was little in the way
of systematic reporting and accounting; a written report at the end of a
period was enough.
Gradually the ideas within the
VDMS board began to change.
Between 2000 and 2004 many discussions were initiated, aiming to change
the strategy and character of VDMS,
from a charity organization, handing
out money to those who asked for it
into a more active organization with
more involvement, working together
with Indonesian partners. The drive
to add real value to the money spent
was an important reason to change
the policy in this way.
As the main objective of VDMS
was to support young talented
Indonesians through education, the
idea was also that working together
with partners in that field would add
value to the educational process by
transferring know-how and skills.
Leadership conferences and workshops were organized for the VDMS
scholars. To get experience with the
upgrading of schools, a pilot project
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Teach fishing. VDMS current logo

was created in 2005 on the occasion of the pre Gardenia meeting
in Ede. We needed a stamp to
make the invitation for Indonesian
participants look official for their
visa applications. The logo represents the credo Dont give them
fish, teach them fishing and give
them a rod. If you look closely,
you see the fish hanging on a hook
attached to a rod, circling clockwise around the fish.
Mengajar memancing. Logo
VDMS didesain pada tahun 2005
menjelang pertemuan pra-Gardenia
di Ede, Nederland. Pada saat itu
VDMS memerlukan cap untuk
surat undangan demi memperlancar permohonan Visum bagi para
peserta dari Indonesia.
Logo menggambarkan semboyan
Jangan kasih mereka ikan ajarkanlah mereka memancing dan
berilah mereka alat pancing.
33
Gardenia. The participants of

the first Gardenia group, a panel
named after the hotel in Tomohon
(Minahasa) where this meeting
was held in September 2005. The
following four conferences were
also named after this hotel. The
change of policy initiated in 2003
and 2004 began to take form in
2005. In January of that year a
workshop was organized in the
Artis Zoo (Amsterdam) for the
board of VDMS. The first picture
shows participants of the pre
Gradenia in Ede (2005), after that
the first Gardenia in Tomohon
(2005) and the last the fourth
Gardenia conference in Jakarta in
2008.
Gambar pertama: para peserta
pertemuan Gardenia yang pertama (namanya dipinjam dari lokasi pertemuan di Hotel Gardenia,
Tomohan (Minahasa) tahun 2005.)
Konferensi Gardenia telah diselenggarakan empat kali di berbagai
lokasi dalam rangka pembaharuan
strategi dan kebijakan VDMS.
Gambar kedua: para peserta konferensi Gardenia ke-4, di Jakarta
tahun 2008.
34
was set up in Flores to upgrade an

SMA. For that project experts from
universities in Java were recruited to
work with the partner.
Gardenia meetings
The change of policy initiated in

2003 and 2004 began to take form in
2005.
In January of that year a workshop
was organized in the Artis Zoo
(Amsterdam) for the board of VDMS,
conducted by the organizational
training company MDF. The subject was 'project cycle management',
mainly meant to give those board
members who were not familiar with
project management a sense of the
scope and limits of a systematic approach.
In May of that year we invited some
V a n
of our contacts from Indonesia and

from the Netherlands to convene in
Ede to discuss and comment on the
policy that had been drafted during
the Artis meeting.
In September the VDMS Board
hosted a comparable conference in
Tomohon (Minahasa), in the rural
hotel Gardenia. In the five years after that four other sounding-board
events were organized, all of them
called Gardenia conference and aiming either to develop policy or to
present and discuss changes in our
policy. After Tomohon (2005) we organized Gardenia II (2006, Bali), III
(2007, Jakarta), IV (2008, Jakarta) and
V (2010, Jakarta).
Recurring agenda items at these
panel meetings were: the selection of
the supported disciplines, the stan-
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
A personal approach to
maintain a sense of unity
among alumni
asagus Ahmad Azizi was born in 1970, the youngest of

nine brothers and sisters, and grew up in Palembang,
Sumatra. His father, a Primary School Head, passed away
when Masagus was only 21. His mother then supported
the family selling kemplang, a special Palembang variety of shrimp cracker.
Masagus completed his S1 studies in Mining Technology at Sriwijaya
University, Palembang in 1995. He worked in the mining industry in Bengkulu
and Jakarta for a few years, and then in 1998 enrolled for the MA in Mining
Engineering at Bandung Institute of Technology. By chance, I heard about
the VDMS and sent my application immediately; he was awarded a scholarship in 1999, during his third semester. He received Rp. 200,000 each month,
by Postal Order. After completing his MA in 2001 Masagus began lecturing in
the Department of Mining Technology at Trisakti university, Jakarta and has
remained there until today.
Masagus had no personal contacts with other VDMS scholars, and after
graduating he had no contact with VDMS for some years. In 2008 he was
invited to join the VDMS Alumni Committee, and in 2012 became Regional
Alumni Representative for Bandung and the Jabodetabek region. Since then,
the alumni from this region have organised three activities: two training sessions in art and music for street children in Cimahi and Jakarta, and a seminar
for current VDMS scholars in Bogor, where they were encouraged to develop
ties with VDMS and the alumni.
As RR, Masagus uses a personal approach to maintain a sense of unity
among the members and make sure that any problems are openly aired. I
want the members of the regional alumni branches to stick together - not
just in my region, but everywhere. The VDMS alumni, through the regional
branches, should have a clear programme and strategy, so the alumni feel
there is some point in participating. Masagus would like to see current VDMS
scholars also involved in the alumni activities, to forge bonds with the alumni.
Activities for the current VDMS scholars should not be limited to Regional
Meetings and Leadership Conferences, but should also include the activities
organised by the alumni. For his own region of Bandung-Jabodetabek, he has
already started encouraging current scholars to participate.
Now a father of three children, Masagus enrolled in the PhD programme
in ITBs Department of Mining Engineering in 2009. He spends Monday
to Friday every week in Bandung, and the weekends at his family home in
Serang. Presently, he is a member of the Independent Investigation Team
established by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to study the
causes of the recent accident at PT Freeport Indonesia mine in Papua. His
dream is to quickly finish the PhD and return to his teaching at Trisakti
University.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Masagus Ahmad Azizi

Palembang, 1970
ITB, Bandung
1999 2001
Through the
regional branches
alumni should
have have a clear
programme and
strategy

35
Status 2000. VDMS

activities in 2000 were
like a gado-gado of projects.
Grants were mainly given to
initiatives of small local organizations, sometimes through the
mediation of organizations in the
Netherlands. Support was given
on the basis of proposals, if they
matched the mission of VDMS,
to many organizations located all
over Indonesia running schools,
asramas, poverty alleviation programmes, teacher training, care for
the blind, orphanages, agricultural
and technical education.
Status tahun 2000. Pada tahun
2002 proyek-proyek yang didanai
VDMS merupakan gado-gado
kegiatan. Banyak organisasi kecil
yang menerima dana, tersebar di
seluruh kepulauan Indonesia, adakalanya melalui organisasi perantara di Negeri Belanda. Kegiatan
yang didanai meliputi antara lain
sekolah, asrama, program penanggulangan kemiskinan, pendidikan
guru, perawatan orang buta, panti
asuhan, serta pendidikan pertanian
dan pendidikan kejuruan.
36
dardization of the scholarship allowances, the requirements for a scholarship award, the structure and level of
the scholarships, the management of
the scholarships, the implementation
of partnerships etc.
If you look at the map 'Activities
2013', reflecting the situation as it is
nowadays, you will see quite a difference with the situation in 2000. Today,
most of our partnerships are with
universities.
Organization and management
Until 2006 the activities of VDMS

were managed from the Netherlands
by the Board, which consisted of a
General Board (Algemeen Bestuur,
AB) of 9 members, mainly persons
with close ties with Indonesia and,
V a n
part of it, a Daily Board (DB, 3). The

chairman of the board from 1993 to
2004 was Rudy Brzesowsky. He was
succeeded in 2004 by Edwin Kisman,
who became director of VDMS in
2006. Edwin Kisman was then succeeded by Hans van Weerd, who
chaired the Board until 2012. His successor was Henk van Stokkom, the
current chairman.
The main responsibility of the
General Board was to ensure the
good management of VDMS investments, to determine the strategy and
to approve the policy, the annual
budget and year plan.
Day to day (micro)management,
including the approval of proposals
and the supervision of the implementation of the policy, was done by the
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
DB, which convened once a week. On

average there were 4 meetings of the
AB per year.
Proposals came from all over
Indonesia: scholarships, equipment,
support to cover operational deficits,
trainings. Scholarships were mainly
granted through institutions: universities, academies, schools, foundations, congregations.
The financial administration was
done by the treasurer Ben Urich.
The board had its office in The
Hague in a building, bought in 1972
from the former Javaanse Spoorweg
Maatschappij (Java Railways
Company), which continues to serve
as our office until today.
From 1993 on, as we have seen in
the previous chapter, the VDMS was
V a n
represented in Indonesia by a Council

of Deputies (Raad van Gemachtigden,
abbr. CoD), which provided individual scholarships to S1 (undergraduate)
and S2 (Masters) students, mainly
studying at Javanese universities and
academies. The CoD was chaired
by Mrs. Nasution, wife of the late
General Nasution. The CoD had its
office in the house of Ibu Nas in Jl.
Teuku Umar in Jakarta. When Ibu
Nas was succeeded in 2004 by Mrs.
Otty Pamoentjak as chairperson the
office moved to the premises of Ibu
Otty.
Applications for scholarships were
assessed and managed by the four
members of the CoD and processed
by a secretary. The CoD was dissolved in 2012, coinciding with the
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Status 2013.
The picture has
changed significantly since
2000. Many more
scholarships are
granted, and only
one pilot project
is supported.
Today, each year we provide more
than 600 scholarships to students,
all over Indonesia. These scholarships - mainly at bachelors/S1
level (81%) - are held at one of our
35 partner institutions, mainly universities but including a few tertiary academies and one secondary
school, located from Northern
Sumatra to Maluku and Timor.
Status tahun 2013. Gambaran kegiatan sudah banyak mengalami
perubahan sejak tahun 2000.
VDMS menyediakan lebih banyak
beasiswa, dan sekarang ada satu
proyek percobaan yang didukung.
Saat ini VDMS memberikan
lebih dari 600 beasiswa kepada
(maha)siswa di 35 lembaga pendidikan setiap tahun (81% diantaranya untuk studi S1),yang tersebar
dari Sumatra Utara sampai Maluku
dan Timor, dan menjadi partner
(mitra) VDMS. Kebanyakan mitra
tsb adalah Universitas tetapi ada
juga beberapa Akademi/Sekolah
Tinggi dan sebuah SMA.
37
Policy 2007. A diagram of the

policy of VDMS as designed in
March 2007. It specifies in fact
what was later condensed into the
Paradigm 2013. It represents the
main subjects of the policy at that
time: scholarships and projects. It
states the objectives of the activities, describes the activities and
the criteria to be met. Focus is laid
on support of East Indonesia and
the empowerment of women.
Kebijakan tahun 2007. Gambar ini
menunjukkan kebijakan VDMS seperti direkayasa pada bulan Maret
2007, dan yang kemudian diringkas
lagi menjadi Paradigma 2013.
Gambar memperlihatkan tujuan,
kegiatan dan kriteria yang perlu
dipenuhi, dengan perhatian khusus
pada Indonesia Bagian Timur dan
pemberdayaan (anak) perempuan.
38
renewal of the statutes of the VDMS.

VDMS changing policy meant that
more activities were programmed,
which needed more staff in Indonesia
to manage them. More staff required
more office space, as the office began
to burst at the seams. We needed
to move and in 2011 we did, from
Jl. Dempo to Jl. Raden Saleh also in
Jakarta. One big problem however
was not solved by that move, the serious problem of macet, the daily traffic jams in Jakarta. The time needed
for the staff to reach the office in
the morning and home at night was
sometimes more than two hours.
V a n
One year later, therefore, we took

the decision to move again, now to a
more traffic friendly city, Yogyakarta.
Yogyas character as a centre of culture and higher education, with a
number of partner universities in the
vicinity, was an added attraction.
In the meantime the staff had
grown from one secretary in 2004 to
one Office Manager and 5 members
in 2013. Communication between the
Hague and Yogyakarta was made
easier during this time by the rapid
development of modern communication technologies like e-mail and
Skype.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Paradigm 2013. The policy

of VDMS was condensed
in this paradigm. The
horizontal arrow from
left to right depicts the
course of students from
primary school until their
participation in society.
VDMS supports this
trajectory, both by granting scholarship and by
supporting and upgrading
educational institutions.
Since a couple of years
VDMS also supports the
graduates of the universities and academies in
entering the job market.
Professionalization
In 2005 the Board decided to professionalize the organization. That

meant that an organization adapted
to the new needs had to be set up
and tools to facilitate effective and
efficient management had to be developed, based on a clear-cut strategy,
As mentioned earlier, the process
effectively started during the Board
meeting in the Artis Zoo in January
2005, after two years of preparatory
strategic discussions.
A year later the implementation
started. Edwin Kisman, the chairman at that time, stepped down as
a board member and was appointed
as director of the VDMS for a period
of one year. That period turned out
to become 7.5 years as the professionalization had more objectives and
therefore took more time than originally foreseen.
Apart from setting up procedures
and standardizing existing ones, an
adequate organization was drawn
up, new programmes were developed and, last but not least, information was put into 'the Cloud'. A
Scholarship Administration System
(SAS), a Financial Administration
System (FAS), a Membership
Administration System (MAS) for
alumni, an Early Registration System
(ERS) have all now been developed,
V a n
while a Student Monitoring System

(SMS) is on the verge of being
launched.
All these activities and developments need money. To finance these
needs, the Board still uses the annual
income from the capital of the Van
Deventer-Maas Stichting, which as
explained earlier was a legacy of Mr.
Coen van Deventers widow Mrs.
Betsy Maas. Since 2008, the management of that capital has been sourced
out to a Dutch private wealth management company.
The proposals received are budgeted in Indonesian Rupiah and we pay
in Rupiah, thus taking over the risk
of the volatile exchange rate of the
Rupiah against the Euro.
Paradigma 2013. Panah

dari kiri ke kanan menggambarkan perjalanan
para siswa dari Sekolah
Dasar sampai menjadi
pelaku penuh dalam
masyarakat. VDMS bertujuan mendukung perjalanan ini, baik melalui
program beasiswa maupun melalui proyek peningkatan lembaga-lembaga pendidikan. Sejak
beberapa tahun terakhir
VDMS juga menyediakan
kegiatan pelatihan untuk mendukung sukses
para alumni dalam pasar
tenaga kerja.
Scholarships: the core business
The core business of the Van

Deventer-Maas Stichting is the granting of scholarships, which began a
century ago, in 1913, when the Tjandi
Stichting sent a couple of Indonesian
students to the Netherlands.
Scholarships for young talented
Indonesian men and women are the
red thread which connects all the
foundations that have now become
the VDMS.
Gradually the individual grants
were replaced by collective scholarship quotas, most of the time distrib-
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
39
Introduction SAS.
The Scholarship
Administration System to
manage student registrations was built in 2008
and then introduced in
Malang, by the developers, Jaap van de Putte
and David Mathei. The
Malang workshop was
attended by Persons in
Charge (PIC) of the partner universities. They
learned how to use the
system: how to enter,
how to report, and how
to search for data. The
workshop was repeated
in 2009 for a new group
of PICs.
Memperkenalkan SAS.
Sistim Administrasi
Beasiswa VDMS dikembangkan oleh Jaap van
de Putte dan David
Mathei dan diperkenalkan pada para Persons
in Charge (PIC) dari
Universitas mitra VDMS
di Malang, tahun 2008.
Lokakarya ini, dimana para PIC belajar bagaimana
memasukkan, melaporkan
dan mencari informasi,
diselenggarakan lagi
untuk kelompok PIC baru
pada tahun 2009.
40
uted through intermediate organizations. Until 2006, the administrative

data for the scholarships programme
were still kept in a card-index box.
In 2006 the development of a new
Scholarship Administration System
(SAS) started. The SAS has been applauded from the beginning by our
partners (discussed in Jakarta and
Medan) because it was expected to
make the administration more transparent and more easily manageable.
We began with a stand-alone version (based on Filemaker software).
During its development we got feed
back from partners.
In 2007 a new scholarship selection
system was introduced and tested.
The checking of applicants against
the performance criteria (IPK> 3.0)
was left to the partners, and this
caused a problem for some of them.
The number of scholarships went
down from 1050 in 2006 to 500 in
2007. The restriction of eligibility
to students who had successfully
completed their first year of study
was maintained for academies and
universities (S1 and S2), following
the advice of the Gardenia panels,
because of the high rate of drop out
in the first year. Moving up to the
second year proves that the student
V a n
has adapted him/herself in his or her

first year to the university ambiance
and has shown capability to succeed
in the chosen field of study.
Today, each year we provide more
than 600 scholarships to students
of 35 educational institutes, all over
Indonesia. These scholarships - mainly at bachelors/S1 level (81%) - are
divided on a quota basis between our
35 partner institutions, mainly universities but including a few tertiary
academies and one secondary school,
with locations ranging from Northern
Sumatera to Maluku and Timor.
The disciplines supported are: science & technology, health, agriculture
& fisheries, education and English
language. This selection was made
in accordance with the suggestions
made at the Gardenia conference,
mainly because these disciplines
were seen as meeting the needs of
the Indonesian society and at the
same time providing good prospects
for employment after graduation
in Indonesias crowded job market.
Science & technology and English
language are supposed to be the key
requirements for realizing Indonesias
ambition to become a global player in
2025.
In managing the scholarships we
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
Contribute to society
in your own field
of expertise
izamuddin Sadiq (known to his friends as Nizam) was born in

Baturaja, South Sumatra in 1976, the second of four children. He
always dreamed of becoming a teacher, following his mother who
was a teacher, and his grandfather who was a school headmaster.
He studied English Language Education at Yogyakarta State University (UNY) and
during his final year started teaching English at the Vocational Secondary School
(SMKN) Depok. After graduating he taught English at various institutions including
UNY, Indonesia Islamic University, and Gadjah Mada University.
In 2002, after the new regulation that all university teachers should have an MA
degree, Nizam entered the English Language Education MA programme at Sanata
Dharma University. To cover the tuition fees of Rp. 3,000,000 per semester, he
took various jobs as language teacher or translator, but his teaching was limited to
Fridays and Saturdays. During the second semester he saw the VDMS scholarships
announcement on the campus notice board, and applied. At that time, everything
was still done manually I sent my application by post, and received my scholarship by postal money order.
Nizam recalls I feel really fortunate to have had the VDMS scholarship. The
money Rp. 125,000 per month at that time, paid every quarter - was very helpful
for paying tuition fees or for photocopies. Nizam became a civil servant (PNS) in
2005 and for some years taught English language in many institutions including the
tourism Academy Buana Wisata, the Adisucipto Technical Academy (STTA), and
The National Veteran Development University (UPN) Yogyakarta. In 2009 he was
appointed as tenured Lecturer in English Language at Universitas Islam Indonesia;
since then, I dont teach any more in other places.
Nizam was active in the UNY Student Executive Board and the Student Press
Institute; after graduating he was elected head of the UNY Central Alumni
Association, and presently he is Head of UIIs English Language Department. He
doesnt expect any personal gain from these activities, but asks what he can contribute to the organization.
The same principle underpins his work as Head of the VDMS Alumni
Associations Central Java and Yogyakarta regional branch. Actually, after completing his MA in 2007 he had no further contacts with VDMS, until he was invited to
a regional alumni meeting at the UGM University Club in 2009. He was elected
regional branch head in September 2012. I always dream that our alumni can
come together to learn, share and encourage just like the VDMS training course
motto says. Nizam hopes that VDMS alumni will contribute to society, in their own
fields of expertise. This, he says, fits the motto of VDMS. The alumni have received
support for their own studies, they should now make a contribution to society
and to progress. Nizam has organized various alumni activities including a Seminar
on Public Speaking and an English Language Workshop, and more activities are
planned for the near future.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Nizamuddin Sadiq
Baturaja, 1976
Sanata Dharma University,
Yogyakarta
2003-2005
I always dream
that our alumni
can come
together to
learn, share and
encourage

41
Early Registration. The

poster to announce
the start of the registration of scholarships. Before this
year, one problem was
that the announcement and promotion
of VDMS scholarships
and recruitment and
selection of new students by the PICs,got
off to a too-slow
start. From 2013 onwards an online Early
Registration System
(ERS) will be opened
each February, with
a strict three-week
registration period.
Students meeting our
criteria can apply by
completing the forms
online.
Registrasi Dini. Poster
pengumuman pembukaan masa registrasi
beasiswa VDMS. Pada
tahun-tahun sebelumnya VDMS mengalami
keterlambatan dalam
pengumuman beasiswa serta rekrutmen
dan seleksi calon penerima beasiswa oleh
para PIC. Mulai tahin
2013 Sistim Registrasi
Dini (on-line) dibuka
setiap bulan Februari,
dengan masa registrasi 3 minggu yang
diperlakukan secara
ketat. Calon beasiswa
yang memenuhi syarat
dapat melamar dengan mengisi formulir
on-line.
42
had to deal with a couple of logistical

problems for which we have developed tools.
In 2008 an online Scholarship
Administration System (SAS) was
introduced. It made the granting system quite transparent. The system is
operated at three authorization levels:
the highest, the Administrator, at our
office in Yogyakarta, the second, that
of the Persons in Charge (PIC) at the
universities/partner institutions, and
at the bottom the students, who can
view their personal page, either by
computer or by smart phone.
The next step in the smoothing of
the granting chain was the direct
payment (since 2010) of the students
monthly scholarship allowance to
their bank account, on a fixed date
each month. The student receives
an sms message informing him/her
that the payment has been made, and
must acknowledge receipt within
three days by sms to maintain the
V a n
flow of payments. This has dealt

with any problems of long delays or
irregularities in payment in case of
internal problems in the financial administration at the universities.
Internet banking is also considered
to be a part of the education of the
VDMS scholars who are supposed to
become global citizens sooner or later.
Another problem, which was addressed this year, was that the announcement and promotion of VDMS
scholarships, and recruitment and selection of new students by the PICs,
got off to a too-slow start. From 2013
onwards an online Early Registration
System (ERS) will be opened each
February, with a strict three-week
registration period. Students meeting
our criteria can apply by completing the forms online. They are then
selected by the PIC of their university and/or the Administrator at our
office. There is close contact about
the selection between the Person in
Charge (PIC) at the partner institution
and the Administrator at our office.
Student interest in the first implementation of the ERS was overwhelming:
2.500 students tried to apply, 1.400 of
them successfully (meeting the criteria) of which 370 were selected in the
end. This is quite an improvement on
the often-laborious process of recruitment and selection of new students
we used to see.
The last obstacle to be addressed
was the coaching of the students.
Although the partner universities in
their agreements with VDMS have
undertaken to do that job of coaching, it seems to be a too time consuming and heavy task for PICs, who are
burdened with many other tasks and
other priorities.
We therefore decided to divide the
process into two parts: monitoring
(assessing the progress and problems
of the student) and coaching (triggered by an alert arising from the
monitoring).
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
Once I got the

scholarship my room
was full of books
illa Sejahtera was born in 1989 in Dili, on the island of

Timor (at that time, part of Nusa Tenggara Timur). The
third of four children, she grew up in the midst of the conflict leading to Timor Lestes independence, and when she
was in Primary School Grade 4 she moved with her family to Jayapura (Papua)
and a year later, to Kafemenanu, East Nusa Tenggara. Her father is a construction worker (formerly a small contractor, whose business closed down during
the independence conflict) and her mother looks after the household.
When she completed secondary school in 2007, Milla decided to move to
Kupang to study Mathematics at Nusa Cendana University. She learned about
the VDMS scholarships from the head of the Mathematics Department, who
was also her academic advisor and involved her in his research projects. She
was awarded the scholarship in her second year. The scholarship was very
useful I used it to pay my tuition fees each semester, and once I got the
scholarship my room was full of books!.
While she was a student and receiving the scholarship, Milla did not participate in any VDMS activities. But in my last year, when my graduation was approaching, I got to know Pak Edwin [VDMS Director] and became active in the
Kupang regional branch of the VDMS Alumni Association. Since then she has
organised various activities, including a Regional Meeting for VDMS scholars
in Kupang, a Tree-planting hike, and an inter-university drama competition.
With her friends in the regional branch she is now planning a mangrove-planting event.
Milla is currently in Bandung (since April 2013) waiting to hear the results of
her scholarship application for the MA in Mathematics at Bandung Institute of
Technology. In Bandung, she translates comic strips to pass the time and earn
some income. Before then she worked as adjunct lecturer at Timor University
in Kafemenanu, and as a private mathematics tutor, and also worked for a local NGO. Her ambition is to get a tenured position in the university, and save
money to buy some land of her own.
When asked about her ideas for VDMS in the future Milla said: I hope that
in future, VDMS activities will give priority to students in their final year, to
enhance their soft skills. And those alumni who have found jobs should be
offered training to help them succeed in their careers. Maybe, if the activities
accommodate the needs and interests of the alumni, more of them will get
involved, as they will see the benefits, she added, and alumni who are most
active could be given certificates or other forms of reward, so they will feel
their contribution is appreciated.
Milla Sejahtera
Dili, 1989
Nusa Cendana University,
Kupang
2008 2011
I hope that
priority will be
given to
students in their
final year to
enhance their
soft skills

V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
43
Teacher training. A
Train the Teachers
workshop given by
our Board member
prof. Onno Terpstra
and his wife Tineke, a
professional teaching
team. Organized at
Ma Chung University
in Malang. Lecturers
of partner universities from all over
Indonesia participated
in this training.
Working together with
partners was an important aspect of our
new strategy. To facilitate that, we have
invested when and
where needed in the
skills of our partners.
Pelatihan guru.
Lokakarya Melatih
para guru disediakan
oleh suami-isteri
Prof. Onno Terpstra
dan Tineke Terpstra,
keduanya pelatih
profesional, pada
Universitas Ma Chung,
Malang. Peserta latihan adalah dosen universitas Partner VDMS
dari berbagai wilayah
Indonesia. Sesuai
dengan strategi baru
kerjasama dengan
para mitra, VDMS
berusaha mendukung
peningkatan kemampuan mitranya.
We can now more easily and

quickly identify students encountering problems in their studies, and
invite the university to carry out the
counseling and coaching as needed.
For the first part we are now developing an (again) online Student
Monitoring System (SMS), in which
the students themselves have to report on their progress twice a year.
The results are saved in a database
that can be accessed both by the PIC
of the students university, and by the
Administrator at our Yogyakarta office. If necessary the Administrator
can inform the Vice Rector for
Student Relations about any student
who is encountering problems.
Building capacity of our partners

and students
Working together with partners

was an important aspect of our new
strategy. To facilitate that, we have
invested in the skills of our partners,
when and where necessary.
In the period 2006-2008 we organized the following workshops for
our partners:
2006 How to write a project proposal', for SMK Teknik, in Bandung
2006 Round table English Education
in Indonesia, in Manado
2007 School Management for
Yasukda in Bajawa
44
V a n
2007 How to start an Agro business

for Taman Tani in Salatiga
2007 Financial Management for
SMK Teknik, in Bandung
2008 Train the trainers in Malang
2008/2009 Introduction to the
online Scholarship Administration
System (SAS) in Malang.
Apart from these, there were separate meetings for PICs in 2009 (Bali),
2011 (Yogyakarta, twice) and 2012
(Bali).
For the VDMS scholars we have
organized workshops since 2008, to
extend their education beyond what
they learn at university. The idea is
to help them prepare themselves to
enter Indonesias tough and demanding job market by offering soft skills
training, for the development of their
personal, social and intellectual abilities..
Further soft skills training activities we have provided include
Leadership Conferences and Start
a career workshops, the last during
regional meetings of grantees, for
instance in Padang, Manado, Kupang
or Ambon.
A leadership conference covers the
whole spectrum of skills a leader
should master - team building, presentation, self reflection, problem
solving, strategic analysis to name
a few. The participating student is
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
Got some extra money

to spend on
soft skills training
fdal Ade was born in Kerinci (Jambi, Sumatra) in 1990, the

second of three children. His mother is a primary school
teacher, and his father a farmer. Since his school days, Afdal
dreamed of entering higher education so that he could support
his family. In 2007 he began studies in Management at Padang State University,
but found that this was not the right choice of subject and transferred to the
Department of English Language Education at the same university.
In 2009, a senior classmate told him about the VDMS scholarships. He was
on the point of graduating, so he suggested I should apply instead. He met the
UNP Person-in-Charge for VDMS, and was awarded the scholarship. Afdal found
the scholarship of Rp. 330,000 per month very useful, splitting the money three
ways: Rp 100,000 towards tuition fees, another Rp. 100,000 for books, and the
remaining Rp. 130,000 for participation in international seminars and courses:
Im very happy that the VDMS scholarship provided some extra money for
seminars and training to upgrade my soft skills.
Living away from his family since 2007, Afdal has had to be clever in earning
and managing money. Before being awarded the VDMS scholarship, he was
already active in the UNP student press, and sold some articles and photos to
local and national media. Ive always been interested in Journalism and can earn
extra money for tuition and living costs.
Afdal has been active in various student organisations. This is one reason why
the PIC at UNP entrusted the coordination of the VDMS scholars to him: I
would often be asked to contact the other scholars when VDMS was planning
some activity. He participated in the VDMS Leadership Conference in Medan,
in 2012. After the LC, I got together with a few other VDMS scholars in West
Sumatra and we opened a kafe mini, where we sold local foods from the region. But the caf lasted only four months, because we were all too busy.
Afdal graduated in September 2012. He now teaches English Language at the
Melbourne English School, and also at the Salemba UI private tutoring centre,
both in Padang. He plans to apply for a scholarship to the MA programme in
English Language Education at La Trobe University, Australia. Its in process, but
my IELTS [English language] scores are still too low . He still writes free-lance
for various local and national media and is starting to achieve his dream of supporting his family.
Looking to VDMS in future, Afdal suggested that the VDMS scholarship awards
should be [even] more selective. These VDMS scholarships are really something good, and offer various activities to the scholars besides the scholarship.
So only the best should be chosen. VDMS needs alumni who will maintain a
sustainable programme of activities. In West Sumatra, Afdal and other AA
members organised a blood donor event in April 2013, and are planning a Breast
Cancer public information programme later in 2013.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Afdal Ade
Kerinci, 1990
UN Padang
2009 2012
VDMS needs
alumni who
will maintain a
sustainable
programme of
activities

45
Leadership
Conference. A group
of students showing
that they regained
their energy after
a one-week leadership conference in
Puntondo, south of
Makassar. The workshops are most of
the time organized
in out-of-the-way
locations far from the
temptations of modern
society. The Puntondo
premises were paradise-like, with birds in
the morning whistling
the Carmen opera
of Bizet.
A leadership conference covers the whole
spectrum of skills a
leader should master
- team building, presentation, self reflection, problem solving,
strategic analysis to
name a few..
Konferensi
Kepemimpinan.
Mahasiswa peserta
menunjukkan semangatnya seusai
mengikuti konferensi
kepempimpinan di
Puntondo selama
seminggu (sebelah
selatan Makassar).
Konferensi ini biasanya diselenggarakan di
lokasi terpencil, dikelilingi keindahan alam
serta suara burung.
Konferensi leadership
meliputi perangkat
kemempuan yang
perlu dimiliki seorang
pemimpin, diantaranya team building,
gaya presentasi, refleksi diri, pemecahan
masalah, analisis
strategi.
46
familiarized with the qualities of a

leader and learns that, to be a leader,
he/she has to develop these at a certain point in life, preferably as soon
as possible.
The workshops are usually organized in out-of-the-way locations
far from the temptations of modern
society. No television, and receiving
at best just a bad signal on the inevitable smart phone, but surrounded
by beautiful nature; silence, only the
sound of birds. For a week the 16 students most of whom have not met
each other previously, and come from
different universities - are thrown together and work in teams on certain
V a n
everyday social problems. At the end

of the week they present their collective solutions, which are evaluated by
themselves and the trainers.
The Start a Business training was
from the beginning a face2face
event. The first one was organized in
2009 in Malang. Last year we converted this training into a blended learning program. It started with an online trajectory of one month, with 105
participants. The top 16 students of
this first part were invited to attend
the face2face workshop during which
they could develop and present the
business plans they had prepared.
In some future workshops we plan
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
My ambition is to
improve agriculture
in my village
Munir Hatab was born in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. His father was a farmer, and also the imam at the local mosque, and
his mother looks after the household. Munir was a shy child
lacking in confidence, but his family placed great value on his
education. Since most of the people in his community are smallholder farmers,
in 2009 Munir chose to study Agriculture at Hasanuddin University, Makassar:
Thats always been my ambition, to improve agriculture in my village.
Munir heard about VDMS from a senior class-mate who was a VDMS scholar. The scholarship helps to cover the costs of his practicals. I prefer to have
the money coming every month rather than every semester, so I can put it
towards my living costs and practicals.
One experience which made a great impression on him was the VDMS
Leadership Conference in Balikpapan in May 2012. When I was voted as the
participant whose personality had improved most rapidly, that was a special
moment. Before this, Munir admits, he was shy and unconfident, but the LC
gave him a lot of inputs about leadership and personal development. I feel
really fortunate and grateful for the chance to learn to deal with my shyness in
the LC, he said with some emotion.
Munir also participated in a VDMS Regional Meeting at Unhas, and now
has frequent contacts with the other LC and RM participants, using SMS and
Facebook. Paradoxically, these new friends are VDMS scholars in other universities, while Munir hardly knows the VDMS scholars at Unhas, having only
met them briefly at coaching clinics with Unhas PIC.
Munir, now in his final year at Unhas, has been active in various on-campus
organisations like the dakwah, and in scientific writing competitions. Besides
that, he and four friends are starting a new business called Banana House.
Bananas are one of the main products of his home village and the business is
based on various kinds of processed banana foods and snacks. The inspiration
for this came when he participated in the VDMS E-learning Entrepreneurship
Programme Start a Business. I was disappointed that I wasnt selected as
a finalist for the training course in Yogya, but I have used my proposal to make
a start. Munir plans to complete his studies in December 2013; now that his
father has passed away, he wants to make a success of the Banana House as
soon as possible, to support his family.
Looking to the future of VDMS, Munir thinks the VDMS is doing a good job.
But he would like to see VDMS entrepreneurship programme providing still
more activities. I think it would be good if the VDMS gave more inputs to the
scholars and alumni who want to succeed in business, not just through competitions like what we had recently. Finally, Munir hopes that all VDMS alumni
will contribute their new knowledge and skills to society, in line with VDMS
motto learn, share, and encourage.
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A. Munir H atab
Bulukumba, 1991
Hasanuddin Universty,
Makassar
2010 - 2013
It would be good
if VDMS gave
more input to
scholars and
alumni who
want to succeed
in business

47
Entrepreneurship.
Kustomo, a chemistry student from
Semarang, preparing
snacks and selling
these the next day on
the street in Malang.
He is practicing sales,
far from the chemical bond theories he
is used to, as part of
an assignment during
a 'Start a Business'
(SaB) training workshop. The first SaB
was organized in 2009
in Malang. Last year
we converted this
training from f2f into
a blended learning
program. It started
with an online trajectory of one month.
Kewiraswastaan.
Kustomo, mahasiswa
kimia dari Semarang,
berusaha menjual
kue buatan sendiri
di jalanan Malang.
Latihan ini, cukup
jauh dari teori-teori
ilmu kimia yang ia
pelajari di universitas, adalah bagian
dari tugasnya dalam
Lokakarya Latihan
Mengembanhgkan
Usaha (SaB). Latihan
SaB ini yang diselenggarakan pertama
pada tahu 2009 di
Malang, sekarang
telah dikembangkan
menjadi blended
learning (pembelajaran terpadu) dimulai
dengan kursus on-line
satu bulan.
48
to invite successful entrepreneurs to

share their experiences, the pitfalls
they encountered and the rough
times and glorious moments they
had. Also other areas, such as health
care and academic skills will get a
place in our plans.
During Regional Meetings, where
the VDMS scholars of partner institutions in a region meet each other,
Start a Career trainings have been
organized, the first in 2009 in Padang.
These trainings focus on skills like
How to make a portfolio, How to act
and behave during an interview and
How to present myself. Also modern
media like Facebook and Twitter are
brought in. Of course we stress, as in
all our activities, the importance of a
good working knowledge of English.
We try to stimulate the learning of
V a n
English by rewarding students who

have achieved a Toefl score of 500, a
level we will gradually raise.
A pilot project on Flores
Until 2008, besides the scholarships

programme, we ran around 35 small
projects and donations. Since then
these have gradually been phased
out, on the grounds that we did not
have the capacity to oversee such a
large, varied and spatially scattered
set of activities.
In 2009 we started a pilot project
to upgrade the SMA Regina Pacis in
Bajawa in Flores. This island was chosen because East Indonesia was one of
the spearheads in our policy. A quick
survey of the region by the Centre
of East Indonesian Studies (Salatiga),
resulted in the choice of SMA Regina
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
A l u m n u s
P r o f i l e
A big moment when

I was selected for the
entrepreneur training
izky Amelia was born in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan in 1990,

the first of four children. Since she was a small child she wanted
to be a teacher, following in the footsteps of her parents who are
both secondary school teachers. She has lived in Banjarmasin all
her life, and now as a student she still lives at home.
In 2009 Rizky enrolled in the English Language Education Department at
Lambang Mangkurat University. In 2011 a senior class-mate told her about the
VDMS and her scholarship application was successful. The scholarship has
meant that the burden on her parents is greatly reduced. Before, whenever
I needed anything I had to ask my parents, now I can buy books and other
things myself, she said. The VDMS programme is really good. Our performance is monitored and our grade average mustnt drop below 3.00. This
makes me study harder, and every semester we get a coaching clinic with the
Person-in-Charge.
Rizky has often participated in VDMS events. Luckily, Pak Basirun (the PIC
on her campus) often organizes informal get-togethers so the scholars get
to know each other. Pak Basirun often invites us to share a meal during the
coaching clinic. She also participated in the 7th Regional Meeting in Makassar
in 2011. A big moment for me was when I was selected as one of the 16
finalists of the VDMS 4th E-Learning Entrepreneurship Programme Start a
Business in February 2013, and was invited to the five-day entrepreneurship
training course in Yogya. I really learned a lot about entrepreneurship.
As part of the course Rizky made a Business Plan for a Private Tutoring
Agency in Banjarmasin: I hope to get it started very soon so it will become
more than just a proposal. Having just graduated in May 2013, another of her
ambitions is to be selected for Diktis Domestic Post-Graduate Scholarship
programme, to study for an MA at Malang State University later this year. I
hope to get the MA as soon as possible, then go back to Banjarmasin to start
the Tutoring Agency.
Rizky also hopes to start a Regional Branch of the VDMS Alumni Association
in Banjarmasin: If we have a regional branch, I can help to spread the word
about VDMS and our useful activities. She thinks the current VDMS programmes and activities are doing a good job and suit the needs of the VDMS
scholars and alumni.
Rizky Amelia
Banjarmasin, 1990
Lambang Mankurat University,
Banjarmasin
2011 - 2013
I hope to get my
business started
very soon so
it will become
more than just a
proposal

V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
49
Pilot project. A computer

lab filled with computers provided in 2009
by VDMS to the SMA
Regina Pacis in Bajawa
in Flores. Apart from
this, teacher training
was given in general
teaching skills, and in
English language and
mathematics.
The school is expected
to become a learning
centre for the surrounding schools in the region
and for the other schools
of the Yayasan Yasukda
to which this school belongs.
Proyek percobaan,
Lab komputer pada
SMA Regina Pacis,
Bajawa (Flores), dengan
peralatan komputer disediakan olah VDMS. Para
guru juga diberi kursus
latihan ketrampilan
mengajar, Bahasa Inggris
dan Matematika. SMA
ini diharapkan menjadi
pusat pembelajaran bagi
sekolah-sekolah lain di
wilayah ini, dan sekolahsekolah Yayasan Yasukda
lainnya.
50
Pacis as an ideal candidate, to be

transformed into a learning centre
for the surrounding schools in the region and for the other schools of the
Yayasan Yasukda to which this school
belongs.
For VDMS the aim of this project
was to gather experience and know
how on how to run a capacity-building project in all its stages, from the
preliminary quick survey of the region to the auditing and evaluation
at the end. Standard procedure in the
whole project was providing tools
and manpower (expert teams) to the
beneficiaries, rather than money.
Training was provided by teams
of the Sanata Dharma University
in Yogyakarta (teacher training),
the Petra University in Surabaya
(financial management) and the
Soegijapranata University in
Semarang, especially their Faculty
of Psychology (motivation and selection of students). The main focus
of the teacher training, besides
general teaching skills, was on
English language and mathematics.
Methodology training resulted in
a shift from a teacher-centred into
a student-centred approach, which
appears to have had a significant
impact. Also the motivational trainV a n
ing of teachers and student has had

positive effects, leading to a beneficial
change of attitude.
VDMS Alumni: Learn, Share and

Encourage.
An essential part of our organization is the links with past graduates

who have been supported by VDMS.
Making an up-to-date register of
our alumni was relatively easy for
those who have been entered in our
database (set up in 2008) but quite
difficult for those from the earlier
period. And not all the younger ones
have the habit of reporting changes of
address, e-mail or mobile phone number. We now have 550 alumni in our
online Membership Administration
System (MAS). We publish a monthly
electronic newsletter and keep an
alumni Facebook site.
The value of the alumni organization is in its networking and experience sharing capability.
In 2009 we tried to set up a centralized national organization, but for a
number of reasons including the
sheer extensiveness of Indonesia
- that did not work well. Recently we
have changed the paradigm, following the emergence of active and motivated regional alumni groups, for
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Alumni Association.
Meetings of Regional
Representatives of
the VDMS Alumni
Association, here in
Kupang, Yogyakarta
and Bandung.
In 2009 we tried to
set up a centralized national alumni
organization, but
for a number of reasons including the
sheer extensiveness
of Indonesia - that
did not work well.
Recently we have
changed the paradigm,
following the emergence of active and
motivated regional
alumni groups including those in West and
Central Java, Padang,
Palembang, Makassar
and Kupang.
example those in West and Central

Java, Padang, Palembang, Makassar
and Kupang. Hopefully these nodes
will grow organically and merge
in the long run into a federation or
national organization. The value of
such a network is expressed by the
VDMS alumni motto 'Learn, Share
and Encourage'. As we believe in the
concept we facilitate the development
of alumni activities by putting staff
members in our Yogyakarta office at
the disposal of the regional groups
V a n
to help them with coordination, communication (inter- and intra-group),

producing material and, in some
cases, providing financial support for
their activities.
While the VDMS will always strive
to improve its strategies, policies and
management, we feel that the efforts
made in the past decade have left us
with a well-focused, transparent and
efficiently working organization.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
Asosiasi Alumni.
Pertemuan Perwakilan
Regional Asosiasi
Alumni VDMS di
Kupang, Yogyakarta
dan Bandung. Usaha
membentuk asosiasi
alumni pada tingkat
nasional pada tahun
2009 kurang berhasil.
Akhir-akhir ini kegiatan Alumni VDMS
lebih menitikberatkan tingkat wilayah,
setelah munculnya
kelompok-kelompok
alumni yang aktif
dan bersemangat
di berbagai wilayah
seperti Jawa Barat,
Jawa Tengah, Padang,
Palembang, Makassar
dan Kupang.
51
T h e
F u t u r e
The Changing World of Indonesian Education
Looking to the
Future
Ben White
ince the VDMS began its

work, there have been enormous changes in Indonesian
education. As noted in a recent stateof-the-art survey, recent decades
have seen major changes in the education system and major improvements in the education chances of
Indonesian children and adolescents.
But there are still major challenges, in
both access to and quality of education.
When our story began in 1913, less
than five percent of all Indonesian
children went to school. Today, the
primary school enrolment rate is
quite high at around 95 per cent, but
of every 100 children entering primary school, only about 81 per cent will
graduate, 66 per cent will continue to
lower secondary school, and 57 per
cent will continue to senior (general
or vocational) secondary school.
One of Kartinis dreams, however,
has been realized: the gender gap in
school enrolments has almost disappeared, at all levels from primary
school to university. More important
today is the gap between regions, and
between rich and poor, especially at
upper secondary (SMA) and tertiary
(university and academy) levels. Most
of the children who do not advance
from primary to junior secondary,
and from junior to senior secondary
school, continue to come from poor
families, although the gap has somewhat narrowed over time. There is a
need to lower the costs of education
52
V a n
to children from poorer families, to

improve the quality of the schools
serving them and to subsidize the
brightest of the children from poor
backgrounds, not just to complete
primary school but to achieve the key
transfers from primary to secondary
and higher levels of education.
As one recent study in nine
Indonesian regions concludes:
'Young people in Indonesia today
are deeply concerned with education:
they are concerned about the quality
of the education they are receiving;
they are preoccupied with their own
academic performance as individuals;
they worry about getting into the appropriate training programme or university; and they worry about getting
a job that will be interesting and enable them to become independent. For
the most part, they are engaged with
the education process, in an active interrogation of the education system'.
Indonesias higher education system is now one of the largest in the
world, with about 5.2 million students enrolled in more than 3500
institutions of higher learning: 453
universities, 93 institutes, 1757 high
schools, 1015 academies and 167 polytechnics. There is enormous variation
in the quality of education provided
by these institutions. Research has
shown that there is a large problem of
mismatch between the qualifications
provided and the skills demanded in
the labour market; and there is still
a need for access to be broadened to
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
T h e
F u t u r e
students from lower socio-economic

classes through the provision of merit-based scholarships.
The VDMS scholarships programme
currently focuses on this problem,
by offering scholarships to talented
students from modest economic backgrounds.
We also aim to contribute though
still in a modest way to the mismatch problem, by offering the
VDMS scholars a variety of soft skills
through short on-line and face-toface courses and workshops. As our
alumni data base expands we will
be able to get a better picture of the
experience of the alumni in finding
employment and building careers.
V a n
The VDMS Statutes, in their latest

(2013) version, give us a broad mandate allowing for a degree of flexibility and adaptability to changing
times:
'The objective of the Foundation is
the promotion of the spiritual, intellectual and material welfare of the
Indonesian people with specific attention to education; at the same time
the social, spiritual and cultural development of Indonesian women and
girls, and everything broadly related
to this, will be promoted []
This support can be provided in
the form of scholarships, stipends,
training, or support of an educational
project'.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
The gender gap. Since 1913 one of

Kartinis dreams has been realized:
the gender gap in school enrolments has almost disappeared,
at all levels from primary school
to university. Here a group of
students, participating at one of
VDMS Leadership Conferences in
2009.
Kesetaraan gender. 100 tahun
setelah 1913 sebuah impian R A
Kartini telah tercapai: hampir tidak ada lagi ketimpangan gender
dalam partisipasi pendidikan, pada
semua tingkat dari SD sampai
perguruan tinggi. Disini terlihat
peserta Leadership Conference
VDMS pada tahun 2009.
53
T h e
Variety of skills.
There is a mismatch
between the qualifications provided by educational institutions
and the skills demanded in the labour market. Entrepreneurship
and meeting challenges are part of
the Start a Business
and the Leadership
Conferences organized
by VDMS. Walking a
rope was one of the
challenges during an
LC.
Kemampuan beraneka-ragam. Kwalifikasi
formal para sarjana
sering tidak memenuhi
tuntutan kemampuan
pasar kerja profesional. Kewiraswastaan
serta kemampuan
menghadapi tantangan menjadi
bagian dari kursus
Start a Business
dan Leadershop
Conference yang
diselenggarakan olah
VDMS. Disini terlihat
perserta LC menghadapi tantangan berjalan diatas tali
54
F u t u r e
As we have seen, in the last decade

the VDMS has become a professional
organization with clear goals, strategies and procedures. But there is
always a need for periodic re-thinking and possible changes to adapt to
changing contexts and new challenges. As we enter the VDMS second
century, the VDMS Board has initiated a new series of discussions on
our strategy, which we intend soon to
extend to a broader circle of experts.
The provision of scholarships in tertiary education (by both government
and private sector sponsors) has been
evolving very fast in recent years,
and the VDMS is now a rather small
fish in a large and growing pond.
In the big state universities, several
thousand students now receive scholarships each year, from a variety of
government and corporate sponsors.
In smaller private universities and
academies, in contrast, scholarships
are much harder to obtain. This suggests that in future we may wish to
think carefully about where VDMS
can still make a difference, and where
is VDMS support most needed, in line
with our mission.
VDMS has always chosen to provide
V a n
modest scholarships in order to make

them available to as many qualified
students as possible. At present, our
scholarships cover only a part of the
students costs, and are available only
after the student has completed one
year in the university. However, there
are questions whether, under this
system, VDMS scholarships are really going to the poor or to those who
need them most. In contrast, government scholarships aimed at the poor
cover (in principle) all the students
costs including both tuition fees and
living costs.
We presently have partnership agreements with 35 tertiary institutions
(providing them with scholarship
quotas ranging from 10 to 25 scholarships each year) and only one secondary school. Our partners include both
top-level state universities (such as
UGM, UI, ITB and IPB) and some of
the best private universities as well as
more modest private universities and
academies (such as the Al-Fathinah
midwifery school in Jakarta). In future
years we will be thinking about be the
pros and cons of adopting more secondary schools (with scholarships and
other capacity-building support) and
then helping the most talented (poor)
graduating students to continue to a
university or other tertiary institution.
More blending and integration of our
projects and capacity building with our
scholarships will be also discussed.
As we think about how best to use
the VDMS modest resources to promote the ideals and vision of R.A.
Kartini, Coen van Deventer and Betsy
Maas, we will always welcome good
ideas and dialogue, and we encourage
readers of this book to contribute to
the dialogue by sending their ideas (in
Indonesian, English or Dutch language)
to the VDMS ideas box which can be
found on our website www.vandeventermaas.org.
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
o f f i c e r s
OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS OF THE VAN

DEVENTER-MAAS FOUNDATION, 1947 2013
On behalf of the Board of the Van Deventer-Maas Foundation, we offer our thanks to all those who have served the
Foundation as Board Members, representatives in Indonesia or in other functions, since the establishment of VDMS in 1947.
B Board Member
CB Chair of the Board
Sec Secretary of the Board
Treas Treasurer
Those serving for more than > 20 years
have been given a * sign
*van Rees, S.L., Sec. 1961-1982

Rooy, Ir J., B 1994- , 2nd Treas. 1999- 2002
Sandberg, Jhr Mr A.H., B 1994- 2008
tTen Siethoff, L. M., B 2011-2012, sec/treas 2012*Soewarno, Dr M., B 1947-1948, 1951-1968
Stokkom, H. J. Th., B 2011-2012 CB 2012 Stokvis, J.E., B 1947-1951
Strumphler, Mr C.H., B 1959-1977
*Suyderhoud, F.J., Treas. 1965-1998, Vice-CB 1998- 2002
Swaan, Ir W., 1961-1972
Telder, Ir P., B 1954-1961
Terpstra, Prof dr O.T., B 1994- 2009
Thooft, Mr J., B 1982-1993
Thung, Prof Dr T.H. B 1955-1960
Urich, B., B 1990- , Treas. 1995- 2012
Urich, D MD, B 2011-2012
*de Visser, Mr J., B 1963-1993, 2nd Sec. & 2nd Treas.
1987-1993
van Weerd, Dr. Ir. J. H. B 2002-2004, Vice CB 2004 2006,
CB 2006 - 2012
Westra, S.H.L., B 1982-1989
White, Prof Dr B.N.F., B 2011 *de Zwaan, Ms. L., Assistant 1947-1987
Baron van Asbeck, Prof Mr Dr P.M., B 1947-1948

Berg, Prof Dr C.C. B 1947-1960
*Brzesowsky, R.H., B 1978- 2007 , Sec. 1982-1987 ,
Vice-CB 1987-1993, CB 1993- 2004
*van den Burg, Dr A.P.J. Sec. 1947-1953, B 1954-1998,
CB 1964-1966
van Doorn, Dr C.L., B 1955-1972
de Fouw, Mr O., B 2011 *Fredriksz, W.M. 2nd Sec. 1985-1987, Sec. 1987-2005
Fruin, Mr Th.A., B 1947-1960
Gobe, E. B, 1947-1954
De Groot, W., Sec. 2008 2011
Hartman, Dr Ir R. A., B 2002-2009
ten Hove, G. Th., B 1998- 2012
*de Iongh Wzn, Ir D., B 1947-1980
Joekes, Mr A.M. CB 1947-1961, B 1961-1962
Karni, Mr, B 1947-1952
Kisman, Drs R.E., B 1998- , 2nd Sec. 1998- 2002,
Vice-CB 2002 2004, CB 2004 - 2006
*de Koe, Mr D.F., B 1969-1994, 2nd Treas. &
2nd Sec. 1977-1985, CB 1985-1993
*Koets, Dr P.J., B 19501988, CB 1961-1964
Kraal, Prof Dr A., B 1967-1989, CB 1969-1985
de Langen, Prof Dr C.D., 1951-1967
van Leeuwen, Mr F.H., B and 2nd. Sec. 1967-1977
van der Linde, Dr K. D., B 2004 - 2007
*Locher, Prof Dr G.W. B 1955-1978
*Logemann, Prof Dr J.H.A., B 1947-1966, CB 1966-1969
*van Lutsenburg Maas, Ir A., Treas. 1947-1965, B 1947-1975
Makaliwy, L.H.P.S., B 1947-1948
Mans, Ms. Mr C. C., B 1987-1989
van Milligen de Wit, A.N., B 1987-1995
Muller, Prof Mr Ir Th.N., B 1959-1972
Van Oven, Mrs. Mr B. C., B 2009-2012 Vice-CB 2012 Pamoentjak, Mrs. O. A., B 2008 2012
Passchier, Prof Dr J., B 2011Purvis, R., Sec. 2005 - 2008
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
Representatives in Indonesia
Colenbrander, Ir B.W., 1958-1961
Coreelmont, M.Ch.E., 1956-1961 (Neth. New Guinea)
Grootenhuis, drs G.W., 1961-1962 (Neth. New Guinea)
Koets, Dr P.J. 1948-1950
Beerling, Prof Dr R.F., 1949-1956
*Hanafiah, Ms. S.L. 1998- 2004
Mijnlieff, W.J., 1957-1958
Muller, Mr Ir Th.N., 1954-1958
*Nasution, Mrs. J.S., 1982-2004
Nijhuis, N., 1956-1961 (Neth. New Guinea)
*Pamoentjak, Mrs. O. A., Treas. 1982- 2004, CB 2004- 2011
Schmutzer, Drs I.A.M., 1959-1977
Schmutzer-Versteegh, Ms P.A.A., 1977-1997
*Sharif, Mrs. M. 1998- 2011
*Soebeno, Ms. R., Sec. 1982Steenbrugge, Ms. H.E., 1954-1956 (Neth. New Guinea)
Strumphler, Mr C.H., 1956-1957
* Members of the VDMS Council of Deputies
after its establishment in 1993
/
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3
55
s o u r c e s
Sources
National Archives, The Hague:
Max Havelaar Fonds 1911-1936
Kartini Fonds 1913-1958
Tjandi Stichting 1913-1979
Elisabeth van Deventer-Maas personal archives
Van Deventer-Maas Stichting, The Hague:
Annual Reports 1948-1998
Bemmelen, Sita T. van (1982) Enkele aspecten
van het onderwijs aan Indonesische meisjes, 19001942. Doctoraalscriptie in Contemporary History,
Utrecht University.
Bilkes, Rosa (2012) De spinazie academie: 125
jaar Haags Huishoudonderwijs. The Hague:
Haags Historisch Museum.
Bosmans, J. 'Joekes, Adolf Marcus (1885-1962)',
in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland 3.
Den Haag (orig. 1989). http://www.historici.nl/
Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn3/joekes
Colenbrander, H.T. and J.E. Stokvis (1916)
Leven en arbeid van Mr. C. Th. Van Deventer. 3
vols. Amsterdam: Van Kampen & Zn.
Deventer, C. T. van (1899) Een ereschuld. De
Gids III, pp. 205-257.
Deventer, C.T. van (1904) Overzicht van den economische toestand der Inlandsche bevolking van
Java en Madoera. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Dros, N. (1992) Changing Economy in Indonesia.
Vol. 13: Wages 1820-1940. Amstserdam, Royal
Tropical Institute.
Goudoever, W.A. van (1957) Onder de hoede van
een naam. Leven en werken van Elisabeth M.L.
van Deventer-Maas 1857-1942. Amsterdam: P.N.
van Kampen & Zoon.
de Jong, Barbara C. (2013) Verleden en actualiteit van de pedagogiek van Ligthart

http://www.onvoltooidverleden.nl/index.
php?id=148 accessed 16 August 2013
Kartini, R.A. (1911) Door duisternis tot licht:
gedachten over en voor het Javaansche volk van
Raden Adjeng Kartini. Compiled and edited
by J. H. Abendanon. The Hague, Semarang and
Surabaya: Van Dorp.
Kartini, R.A. (1987) Brieven aan Mevrouw R.M.
Abendanon-Mandri en haar echtgenoot met andere documenten. Compiled by F.G.P. Jacquet.
Dordrecht: Foris Publications/KITLV.
Parker, Lyn and Pamela Nilan (2013)
Adolescents in Contemporary Indonesia. London:
Routledge.
Poeze, Harry A. (1989) Indonesians at Leiden
University, in W. Otterspeer (ed.), Leiden
Oriental Connections 1850-1940. Leiden: E J Brill/
Universitaire Pers, pp. 250 267.
Poeze, Harry A. , with Cees van Dijk and Inge
van der Meulen (1986) In het land van de overheerser, Vol. I: Indonesirs in Nederland 16501950. Dordrecht: Foris Publications/KITLV.
Suryadarma, Daniel and Gavin W. Jones eds
(2013) Education in Indonesia. Singapore: ISEAS.
Taylor, Jean G. (2012) Kartini in Digitaal
Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. Trans. E.
Locher-Scholten. URL: http://www.historici.nl/
Onderzoek/Projecten/DVN/lemeta/data/Kartini
[15/04/2012]
Tjondronegoro, Sediono M.P. (2008) Mencari
Ilmu di Tiga Zaman, Tiga Benua. Bogor: Penerbit
SAINS.
Jacquet, F.G.P. (1979) Deventer, Conrad Theodor

van (1857-1915) Biografisch Woordenboek van
Nederland. Den Haag (orig. 1979)
56
V a n
F o u n d a t i o n
J u b i l e e
b o o k
2 0 1 3

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Van Deventer-Maas Stichting

100 years of support

Ben White & Edwin Kisman

his small book celebrates the work of the Van Deventer-Maas

The Cover. The cover

Profiles of the founders

R.A. Kartini (1879-1904)

A. Kartini (1879-1904) was one of the eleven children of the

Written by Ben White

The klaverblad (clover-leaf) sisters: (from

Kartini wrote many articles in Dutch-language

Stressed the urgent need

C.Th. van Deventer (1857-1915)

onrad T. (Coen) van Deventer graduated from Leiden

Coen van Deventer

Written by Ben White

Coen van Deventer,

Made girls education

etsy Maas grew up in Schiedam. Her father, a doctor, died when

Coen van Deventer

Written by Ben White

Betsy van Deventer-Maas, at her home in

On her 80th birthday Ms. Volkers-Schipper wrote to her, on behalf of staff

round 1900, less

(who later became the first chairman

The Kartini schools

A few months later the Vereeniging

Coen van Deventer

Miss F.A. Schippers,

Lesson-plan for Years

funds for the support of the Kartini

As the Kartini Associations first annual report explained:

aden Mas Pandji Sosrokartono Kartinis elder brother - she

Written by Ben White

area. The new building was formally

language, mathematics, art- and craftwork, writing, singing, gymnastics,

so Reksohadiprojo was the first scholarship recipient of the Tjandi

Written by Ben White

Panorama of the Van

principles, but used local language.

Van Deventer schools

After van Deventers death in 1915,

The nineteen graduating students of

Rd. Ng. Sosrohadikoesoemo, husband of Kartinis younger sister R.A.

deed, concentrate on domestic skills

To give an idea of the level of

he first Indonesian admitted to a Dutch university,

subsidy for some years.

to pass their qualifying exams, and

loans, and obligation to support the

As we have seen, the Max Havelaar

The Van Deventer-Maas Stichting was formally established in April 1947.

Pupils of the Van Deventer

the period 1913-1942. By the end of

and donors in The Netherlands

ediono Tjondronegoro, born in 1928 as grandson of Kartinis

Written by Ben White

After Indonesian independence

The Kartini Fonds

I tried all subjects, to

osephine Sakiman was born in Sukabumi in 1944, and grew up

Dont just look

Written by Annisa Ika Tiwi