‘Molo Uku – Legacy of a Golden Era’** (Legacy of a Golden Era)** is a comic book that tells of the arrival of the VOC (the ‘Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie’, the Dutch East India Company) in Maluku, from a Moluccan point of view. Various elements from our history, which were essentially passed on orally, have been woven into this fictional story: events that really happened and figures who are a symbol for elements of our culture. All of this with a unique storyline as well as stunning artwork.
The aim of this comic book is to inspire readers to want to know their history more deeply. And also to recognise and acknowledge the mistakes made at that time and to learn from them, so that we can grow closer together. In that way we can finally turn this ‘black page’ (‘zwarte bladzijde’, an expression that refers to an event, occurrence or era from the past that is condemned today) of our history and get on with what matters most: “Improving our world for everyone who inherits it from us – our legacy.”
About the author: The best way to describe Erno Pickee is as an entrepreneurial teacher. He teaches entrepreneurially and teaches while running a business. His mother is Moluccan and his father is Dutch. The shared life, and also the conflict, between these two peoples lives within him. That is why he is eager to tell this perspective on the VOC, so that he can ease that conflict and create more room for “together”. He tries to do so by recalling the following maxim:
“Tell you and you’ll forget Show you and you will remember Involve you and you’ll understand”
(“If I tell you, you will forget If I show you, you will remember If I involve you, you will understand.”)
The essence is to create involvement and to raise questions such as: “Did it really happen like that?”, “How could we let these things happen?”, “Why did I not know about it?” and so on… After that one can realise: “Fiction will never be as harsh as reality.” “Your legacy is someone else’s heritage.” (“Your legacy will become someone else’s heritage.”)
Information at molouku.com
