When foreign merchants settled in the treaty ports of China and Japan in the nineteenth century, they constructed houses entirely surrounded by verandahs. This type of building, which may be called the verandah house, was the most popular house-type among Europeans living in tropical Asia. As the verandah house did not originate in Europe, it must have been created in colonial Asia by European colonists as they adjusted their life-style to the colonial environment.
 This article argues a relationship between the changing European life-style in the colonial environment and the birth of the verandah house, using historical documents and drawings. It concludes that the verandah house was probably first devised in the frontiers—areas remote from the colonial centers—such as plantations, resorts, or military bases, where it was hard to find people skilled in European building techniques and to acquire the necessary materials. Although in the early stage of development, such a house-type was scorned by European newcomers and intellectuals, it was accepted widely by colonial society, where people sought comfort by employing many servants.

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In 1912 and 1913,the Indische Partij propagated not only Indies nationalism and independent “national existence” based on the territorial principle but also Indies citizenship, that is, equal citizenship for all persons who recognized the Indies as their fatherland, regardless of race, class, sex or ethnicity. The party had attracted strong support among the Indo-Europeans, that is, people of mixed native and the European blood. But after the government refused to recognize the party as legal organization and exiled three of its leaders to the Netherlands, the once-enthusiastic support disappeared without leading to social disorder. In 1919,the Indo-Europeesch Verbond (Indo-European Union) or IEV was established and soon developed into the leading organization of Indo-Europeans. The IEV, strongly oriented to the European blood, aimed to promote the social and economic interests of Indo-Europeans as a component of Dutch society in the Indies.
 This change meant that Indo-Europeans abandoned Indies nationalism based on the territorial principle and attempted to assimilate themselves with the Dutch based on blood orientation. Apart from the political situation, especially the surge of native nationalism and the emergence of political parties that accompanied the opening of the Volksraad (National Council) in 1918,this shift of political attitude by the Indo-Europeans was also affected very much by the change of their socio-economic position.
 Their social position through their long history was not fixed. In the 19th century, many of them were impoverished lower clerks. The major factor in their inability to compete with the totok, the Dutch newcomers, was their inferior education. As their poverty worsened towards the end of that century, anti-Netherlands sentiment among them grew stronger. This sentiment was channeled into Indies nationalism and culminated in their tremendous support of the Indische Partij.
 But from the beginning of the 20th century, the socio-economic situation of the Indo-Europeans began to change drastically. Educational opportunities improved greatly under the Ethical Policy, although this benefitted the natives much more. The development of the economy and expansion of government services during the first three decades of the 20th century brought significant changes in the labor market for Indo-Europeans. These changes brought them to higher social status. From about the time of World War I, the majority of the Indo-Europeans came to constitute a middle class, and their competitors in the labor market were no longer the totok but the educated natives. At the same time, the upper stratum of Indo-Europeans began to assimilate completely with that of the Dutch. As far as the Dutch and the Indo-Europeans were concerned, the process of formation of social order in a so-called plural society was thus completed in the 1920s.

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Many of the cities in Southeast Asia were created by colonial powers or transformed from forts, port towns or even villages to modern cities during the colonial period. From around the turn of the century they exuded a strong European atmosphere as attested by a comment and a drawing (Fig. 1) made by Osano Sase-o, a Japanese cartoonist who accompanied the Japanese troops invading Batavia in March 1942.
 How did the indigenous people perceive colonial cities, which were exogenous to Southeast Asia? This is the question I shall address here. In order to answer this question, specifically in relation to the Netherlands Indies, I review six novels, four published by Balai Poestaka and two by others, and try to glean common themes, topics, and expressions related to colonial cities. The six novels are Sitti Noerbaja—Kasih Ta'Sampai (1922) by Mh. Roesli, Salah Asoehan (1928) by Abdoel Moeis, Kalau Ta' Oentoeng (1933) by Selasi, Roesmala Dewi (Pertemoean Djawa dan Andalas) (1932) by S. Hardjosoemarto and A. Dt. Madjoindo, Student Hidjo (1919) by Marco Kartodikromo, and Rasa Merdika—Hikajat Soedjanmo (1924) by Soemantri. One reason why I chose these novels was that I had first editions at my disposal. As is exemplified by Sitti Noerbaja, there are sometimes marked differences between the first editions and the post-World-War-Two editions with respect to the usage or non-usage of terms and expressions evocative of the colonial period.
 Results of the review show that the six novels have few passages directly describing the characteristics of colonial cities. However, it is remarkable that they more or less exclusively use the same term kota to refer to cities and towns. In contrast, most writings in the nineteenth century use the term negeri or negri for this purpose, which means “country” and “region” as well as “city” and “town.” This shows, it is suggested, that indigenous people already shared the same term and similar ideas about cities and towns by the time these novels were written.
 Four themes or topics are gleaned from the six novels pertaining to images of colonial cities: love and “freedom”; the question of “I” or “saja”; modern education and administration; and clock time and western calendrical dates. The central theme of the novels revolves around love in the face of social convention and tradition. The hidden theme in this connection is freedom or merdeka. The story about the person who craves for the fulfillment of love, that is, freedom from social convention, is narrated in terms of “saja.” Other than Sitti Noerbaja, which generally uses “hamba” to describe “I,” the novels on the whole prefer “saja” to “hamba” or “akoe” in referring to “I.” It is argued that “saja” began to be used in the meaning of “I” by Europeans in translating European writings and stories into Malay and talking to the indigenous population in Malay. However, the Europeans tended to use “saja” only in talking to their equals or superiors; to their inferiors they tended to use “akoe.” The meaning of “saja” became more “democratized” as its usage spread among the indigenous population through schools, newspapers, political gatherings, meleséng (lectures and sermons) after Islamic Friday prayers, and so on.
 Behind freedom and “I” at the center stage of the novels, there stand two themes seemingly constituting the background of the novels' stories. (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)

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The origin of dangdut, the most popular music in Indonesia, is said to be musik Melayu, which was played by orkes Melayu in the 1950s. But it has not been clarified how musik Melayu, which was only played in the Malay Peninsula, the east coast of Sumatera, and West Kalimantan, became popular and firmly established in Jawa, particularly in Batavia before the 1950s.
 This paper highlights the change and development of orkes Melayu in the late 19th century and early decades of the 20th century through the development of bangsawan and Komedi Stamboel, pre-modern theatre in Indonesia and Malaysia. In the late 19th century, bangsawan was not widely popular among the Javanese in Jawa because of its high Malay language and musik Melayu. But in the early 20th century, musik Melayu began to spread among Javanese people through Komedi Stamboel and other troupes which imitated the style of Komedi Stamboel. Under these conditions, samrah Betawi, which was greatly influenced by bangsawan, was formed at Batavia in 1918. Because Malay language called Melayu Betawi had been used as a common language among the inhabitants of Batavia, it was relatively easy for them to accept and enjoy Malay theatre and music. Musik samrah played in samrah Betawi was also influenced by musik Melayu in terms of the composition of musical instruments, scale and rhythm. The characteristic of musik samrah was the use of the harmonium, a typical Indian musical instrument, as a result of which musik samrah was often called orkes harmonium.
 It is likely that this orkes harmonium was the same as orkes Melayu which was often called orkes harmonium in the 1930s.

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