Companion volumes to Buddhist KTP and Shadow of the Sun — applying the same fusion of history, social psychology, and autoethnography to 'plonco' (traditional hazing) and the beauty myth.
The Inherited Cruelty:
Colonial Origin of Hazing in Indonesian Education System
Warisan Luka: Psikologi Plonco dari Kolonial hingga Kampus Kita
Plonco is not an indigenous tradition of character building. It is a colonially implanted ritual of violence — inherited from Dutch military discipline and ontgroening, then naturalised by Japanese and post‑independence systems. Its persistence is driven by a psychological engine: seniority‑based authoritarianism, cognitive dissonance (“I suffered, therefore it must be meaningful”), and chain oppression that disguises trauma as pembentukan karakter (character building).
This book argues that true educational liberation cannot happen until the plonco script is named as colonial residue, unmasked as pseudoscientific “toughness”, and replaced with penyambutan merdeka — initiation rites rooted in the archipelago’s own traditions of welcome, not humiliation.
Central argument at a glance
The book traces plonco’s lineage to Dutch ontgroening (student hazing) and KNIL military discipline, reinforced by Japanese gakko ren, then rebranded as kaderisasi nasional. The psychology of chain oppression is dissected through cognitive dissonance, identification with the aggressor, and the Lucifer effect. The final chapters propose Penyambutan Merdeka — decolonised initiation grounded in Indonesian adat welcome rituals, not violence.
Prologue: Sebuah Pengakuan — Aku, Plonco, dan Luka yang Kutertawakan
Autoethnographic confession: the heat, the shouting, the moment the “funny memory” revealed itself as trauma.
Chapters 1–2: Akar Kolonial & Ritus Penerimaan
From Dutch ontgroening and KNIL discipline to Japanese military drills, and the transformation into modern ospek/plonco.
Chapters 3–5: Topeng Kekerasan, Darah & Air Mata, Panggilan Karakter
The psychology of chain oppression, documented fatalities, and the deconstruction of the “mental baja” myth.
Chapters 6–8: Ritual Kontemporer, Kembali ke Asrama, Penyambutan Merdeka
Digital plonco, interviews with perpetrators and victims, and the decolonised alternative based on Indonesian adat welcome traditions.
The Golden Standard:
Beauty, Colonialism, and the Indonesian Face
Standar Emas: Psikologi Cantik dari Kolonial hingga Klinik Kecantikan
The golden ratio mask is not a universal ideal. It is a colonial pseudoscience — a 19th‑century European anthropometric tool used to rank faces by proximity to whiteness. In Indonesia, this ghost haunts every whitening cream advert, every nose job consultation, every tanned skin shamed in a family photo.
This book traces how Dutch racial science, colonial beauty hierarchies, and the nyai (concubine) system implanted a deep inferiority complex around Indonesian features. It then dissects the psychology of internalised colonialism — the “DNA call” that makes a Javanese mother worry her child is “too Indon”. The final movement proposes Estetika Merdeka: a decolonised aesthetics rooted in archipelago beauty traditions, not European measurement.
Central argument at a glance
The “golden ratio” beauty standard was weaponised by 19th‑century European anthropologists (Topinard, Fritsch) to rank races. Dutch colonial Indonesia inherited this — from the nyai system (where mixed‑race children were valued closer to whiteness) to advertisements for bleaching creams in colonial newspapers. Independence did not erase the script; it internalised it. Today’s cosmetic surgery, dating app preferences, and skin lightening industries are not “modern” — they are colonial continuations.
Prologue: The Mirror That Lies
Autoethnographic opening: the first time the author was told he looked “too Chinese” or “not pribumi enough” — and the birth of the question.
Chapters 1–3: The Golden Ratio Hoax & Dutch Racial Science
How European anthropologists invented “scientific” beauty hierarchies and imported them to the Indies via colonial schools and photography studios.
Chapters 4–6: Nyai, DNA Call, and the Psychology of Internalised Colonialism
The concubine system, mixed‑race hierarchies, and Fanonian analysis of how the colonised learns to hate their own face.
Chapters 7–9: Klinik Kecantikan, Dating Apps, and Estetika Merdeka
Contemporary rituals of colonial beauty, and the decolonised alternative — celebrating Indonesian diversity without shame.
The Inherited Cruelty and The Golden Standard are designed as companion volumes. One dissects the colonisation of belonging (plonco as initiation violence). The other dissects the colonisation of beauty (golden ratio as pseudoscience). Both ask the same question: What feels “natural” and “traditional” in Indonesian life is often just old violence in respectable clothing.
They follow the proven architecture of Buddhist KTP (naming the wrong dictionary) and Shadow of the Sun (excavating the gap between caricature and substance) — but applied to two urgent, underexamined domains of everyday Indonesian experience.
Both manuscripts are in active development. Detailed outlines, sample chapters, and the full author’s proposal are available on request. The books are written for a general educated audience — particularly Indonesian — and sit at the intersection of decolonial history, social psychology, and autoethnography. They are intended to be published as a pair (or as standalone volumes) and share the same intellectual DNA as Buddhist KTP and Shadow of the Sun.
The author is available for speaking engagements, media interviews, and academic collaborations on decolonising Indonesian traditional hazing, beauty standards, and the psychology of colonial residue.