But both representations sharply contrast the picture of Dutch colonial
households conjured by Indonesian women and men who worked as servants.
The latter noticeably avoid such expressions of affect, both in how those relations
are remembered and in what sorts of emotions are made visible in the
telling. Our attempts to elicit feelings were among those that fell flattest. In response
to the question "How did you feel about working for the Dutch?" Ibu
Kilah answered with a blunt, mocking response that emphasized the material
rather than the emotional economy of those relations: "My feeling? I was happy
because I was paid five and a half silver coins." Later, when asked what her
relationship with her employer was like, she responded