The Ceramplein was home to the neighborhood association Ceram, an organization that has put quite some effort into the Indischebuurt's development at the time. For example, the association vowed to build a public library, which was effectively realized in the Molukkenstraat in 1930. The socialist association successfully opposed the plans to erect a Dutch Reformed church on the Ceramplein, as well as contributed to the end of the district's isolation from the rest of the city due to almost constantly closed train track barriers (busy due to increased railroad use through the 1930s) by pushing for a raised rail track. Today the neighborhood is also known for its many neighborhood initiatives, among them the Makassarplein Association and the Meevaart Association. Thus, local initiative in the Indischebuurt is a long-lasting and effective tradition.
From 1978 until 1988, Ceramplein 32 was squatted by the ‘Anarchist Front Nuns’, as the locals affectionately called the Ursulines of Bergen (a convent in a coastal town in the North Holland region). The latter sisters squatted this property in 1978 and tried to make themselves as useful to the neighborhood as possible by paving roads, giving movement therapy for adults and lecturing on peace.
At the 1st Ceramstraat, left of the square, there is a local war memorial. The bronze sculpture on the concrete base is by the artist Arend Soerink and was made in 1969. On the bench at the edge of the park there is a granite plaque with the text: Their life for our freedom: 1940 - 1945. Annually there is a memorial gathering here to pay dues to those who perished in the war.
In 2003, the memorial service was disrupted by a group of neighborhood kids, who came to attend a short performance by the rapper Raymzter. The youth demanded autographs from the musician and prevented him from leaving. After the artist attempted to flee the square, he was pelted with eggs. The gathering, which was in the meantime trying to pay homage to the war victims with a two-minute silence fell prey to the incident and was also lapidated by eggs. The police were trying to calm the youth, but to no avail. In the subsequent years efforts were made to make the commemoration pass in a quiet and dignified manner.