Popular Australian entertainer Marty Rhone began life as Karel van Rhoon in the former Netherlands East Indies. His father Eddy van Rhoon was of mixed Dutch and Chinese heritage and his mother Judith (nee Bagshaw) was fifth generation Australian. Together, they gave Marty a rich and wonderful heritage: he is Read more
From ‘The Artist’s View,’ a column written by Petrus Spronk for his local newspaper. At the time of writing, the fifth of December, I pause to remember and momentarily celebrate what was once an important annual event during my childhood. Childhood: The Time Of Our Life Traditionally, on this day, Read more
From ‘The Artist’s View,’ a column written by Petrus Spronk for his local newspaper. When I was a young boy I lived in Haarlem, Holland. Across the road from our house was a canal. For a long time this canal represented the edge of my life. The edge of life Read more
From ‘The Artist’s View,’ a column written by Petrus Spronk for his local newspaper. Any war does not, as the historians like to have it, run from, let’s say, 1940-1945 as was the case with the WW2, but has reverberations till long after the date. Some to this very day, Read more
From ‘The Artist’s View,’ a column written by Petrus Spronk for his local newspaper. Memories of the last century. The last century, which holds the roots to the tree which will grow in the next. From my childhood I remember my room in a distant Dutch attic. My room where Read more
In the beginning: My name is Petrus Spronk, a name which got me introduced once, when I was on tour with my portable ceramic workshop in Ireland, as a one-man Rock & Roll-band. As a result I had a lot to live up to, but being in Ireland I did. Read more
This article was written in 2006 Mathilde is the popular producer and presenter based in the Sydney office of SBS Dutch Radio. Born: Djalan Semarang, Jakarta on 3 March 1950 Arrival in Australia: 27 May 1981 Qualifications/Training: Secondary education: Rotterdamsch Lyceum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tertiary education: Diploma – Ecole HÙteliËre Read more
Lolo Houbein, of Aldgate in the Adelaide Hills, came to Australia from The Netherlands with her husband and children in 1958 at the age of 24. She did not speak English, yet eleven years later she matriculated as an adult student and Lolo is now an accomplished and prolific writer Read more
In 1953 my parents and my four siblings migrated to South Australia. We initially spent six very hard months in Glossop, Berri, where we lived in an old workman’s out shed while my father was seeking house and work in Adelaide, while staying with Australian friends he had met in Read more
When and why did your parents move to Australia? I grew up during war. Dad was a soldier; my mom raised me. As a teenager, I arrived in Australia with my family, parents and brothers, in 1956. When we arrived, we didn’t speak a single word English. My aunt had Read more