John Lilipaly, who served in the PvdA House of Representatives from 1986 to 1998, has died. This is reported by party colleague Lodewijk Asscher, who wishes his relatives strength. Lilipaly was the first MP of Moluccan descent and devoted many years to integration and education. He was 79 years old.

Lilypaly was born in 1944 in Ihamahu on the Molucca island of Saparua and came to the Netherlands at the age of 5. After graduating from the Pedagogical Academy, he taught at an elementary school and later taught at the academy himself. He then worked for years in the Ministry of Education, eventually becoming Education Inspector, a post he exchanged for membership of Parliament in 1986. Shortly before, he had switched from the PPR to the PvdA.

As the son of a KNIL soldier who also had to drive daily from Vlissingen to the ministry in The Hague, he was confronted with prejudice and racism after the train hijackings in Wijster and De Punt in 1977. In 1987, in an interview with the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, he recalled that he was sometimes confronted with it on the train. “Are you kidnapping?” A fellow passenger had bitten him.

“Chamber must reflect the population”

Education, a path he ended up on because his father didn’t support him in a career as a professional soccer player, is the most important tool against racism and integration problems. Education was therefore the subject on which he spoke as a member of the PvdA. “The only thing you can do is make people of color resilient,” he thought at the time. “It has to start with education, that’s where the roots lie.”

Although the Netherlands had treated the Moluccan community coldly for decades, and he had made his entry into Dutch politics precisely by speaking out against it as deputy chairman of the Moluccan Welfare Association, he said shortly after taking office that he did not want to stay long at the story. “On the contrary, we must move forward as a people.”

He also said, at the time the only MP of color, that Parliament should reflect the composition of the population and that he could help. That’s why he campaigned for years for ethnic minorities, education and – like Zeeuw, who also spoke for his party about the Oosterschelde – for improving water quality.

John Lilipaly was also the father of Carolijn Lilipaly, the presenter of MTV, NOS, Canal+ and CNBC Europe.