In November 2025, my new friend Ratnawati shared this photo with me.

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She is a museum educator and took the photo of the screen while present at a high school class presentation on the topic of Malang tourism history, given by Dwi Cahyono, businessman and owner of the Tempo Doeloe Museum. (Rumah Makan Inggil.) My grandfather, Karel H. G. Bos, was mentioned during this lecture because of the photo. He explained the latest data obtained from a family member of Karel Bos while she was visiting Malang. This was regarding the widely circulated opinion that Karel Bos built the twin buildings because he had twin boys.

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(Note: Mr. Dwi Cahyono has two museums in Malang: the Tempoe Doeloe Museum and the Panji Museum.)

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Ratna asked me if I knew who was in the photo pictured with Mr. Dwi. I DID! It was my "second mom", my aunt Joan Bos.

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Not only that, but I knew the backstory of the photo, as I clearly remember my aunt telling me. My aunt Joan told me that on a visit to her hometown of Malang with friends, she decided to check out the Tempo Doeloe Museum. She wanted to go to this museum especially because a portion of the museum was dedicated to the time period of her childhood in Malang. Her friends/travel companions did something else, so she visited the museum on her own.

She told me of how she was stopped in her tracks while enjoying the displays and exhibits. She saw a photo of her dad!! And of his architectural works! My aunt was so instantly overcome with emotion that she started crying in the museum. She said that the museum owner came out to see if she was okay, to which she exclaimed, "THAT'S MY DAD!" And from there they made a connection and shared information. This photo was taken as a result of that interaction.

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A huge thank you to Ratnawati for sharing this photo with me! And a huge thank you to Mr. Dwi Cahyono for sharing the photo with the class, and to both for allowing me to share the photo on this website.

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STAY TUNED: Ratnawati is writing a book!

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