In 1838, he left on one of his father's ships for Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies, where over the next two decades he held a series of colonial government posts.
Initially employed in the general accounting department, in the following years he was promoted to administrative officer, although he disliked financial work.

In 1842, he was appointed comptroller of the troubled district of Natal, Noord Sumatra, Dutch East Indies (now part of Indonesia).
Financial irregularities and a deficit in funds — at least some of which dated to before his time in office — led to a serious reprimand from the governor of Sumatra's west coastal region, General Andreas Victor Michiels, and to a temporary suspension.
Aggrieved, he wrote a revenge play De Oneerbare (The Dishonorable Man), later published as De bruid daarboven (The Upstairs Bride).
He would later include a version of this episode in his satirical novel Max Havelaar.

Although the general was later shown to have been in the wrong in the matter of the reprimand, Douwes Dekker himself acknowledged that he was not well suited to administrative work.
He annoyed his colleagues not solely by his errors and delays but by not adhering to the unwritten rules of the local civil service.
Eventually, after refunding the deficit out of his own pocket, he was put on temporary leave and then transferred elsewhere.
In 1838, he left on one of his father's ships for Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies, where over the next two decades he held a series of colonial government posts. Initially employed in the general accounting department, in the following years he was promoted to administrative officer, although he disliked financial work.
In 1842, he was appointed comptroller of the troubled district of Natal, Noord Sumatra, Dutch East Indies (now part of Indonesia). Financial irregularities and a deficit in funds — at least some of which dated to before his time in office — led to a serious reprimand from the governor of Sumatra's west coastal region, General Andreas Victor Michiels, and to a temporary suspension. Aggrieved, he wrote a revenge play De Oneerbare (The Dishonorable Man), later published as De bruid daarboven (The Upstairs Bride). He would later include a version of this episode in his satirical novel Max Havelaar.
Although the general was later shown to have been in the wrong in the matter of the reprimand, Douwes Dekker himself acknowledged that he was not well suited to administrative work. He annoyed his colleagues not solely by his errors and delays but by not adhering to the unwritten rules of the local civil service. Eventually, after refunding the deficit out of his own pocket, he was put on temporary leave and then transferred elsewhere.
Multatuli