THE PERANAKAN OFFICERS' FAMILIES I N NINETEENTH CENTURY JAVA

by

Ong Hokham

Introduction

The pic ture usually presented of colonia l socie ty i n the Netherlands

Indies was one of soc ia l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n along r a c i a l l ines . The

Indonesians formed the agrar ian base, the Foreign Orienta ls (Chinese and

Arabs) the commercial middle c l a s s and the Europeans were the top of the

s o c i a l economic pyramid. Like the Europeans, the Chinese were migrants

t o the Indies which came slowly under domination of the f i r s t

mentioned group. Unlike the Europeans the Chinese coming t o Indonesia

had no p o l i t i c a l ambition, while t h e i r emigration to Java was loosely

organised and by individuals. The only connection the emigrants had

were the north coasta l Chinese trading communities i n Javanese harbor

c i t i e s which predated the a r r i v a l of the Dutch.

This paper i s an attempt to look a t the soc ia l and c u l t u r a l react ions

of the Chinese i n Java, t h e i r posi t ion between Indonesians who were

s t i l l powerful p o l i t i c a l l y and soc ia l ly a t the beginning of the

nineteenth century and the Dutch whose power grew during t h a t century.

This study w i l l a l s o t race the formation of a c a p i t a l i s t c l a s s among

the Chinese, or b e t t e r , among the peranakan ( loca l born ~ h i n e s e ) , i t s - character and developments. This paper w i l l take as example three

peranakan o f f i c e r s ' famil ies of East Java i n order t o (have a c loser look

a t t h e i r connections.

The Peranakan

A Chinese t r a v e l l e r t o Java i n the 18th century Ong Tae-hae, no

r e l a t i v e of the w r i t e r as f a r as he knows, remarked t h a t "when the

Chinese have s e t t l e d f o r several generations i n foreign countries

without ever returning t o China, then they eas i ly fo rge t the teachings

of t h e i r ancestors 2nd Chinese sages. They adopt the way nat ives e a t

and dress, read t h e i r books. They do not object t o c a l l themselves

Javanese and become Moslems. Because these people (Chinese Moslems) have

become numerous, the Dutch have placed them under a Kapitan who

supervised them1'. I) Indeed u n t i l the ea r ly nineteenth century Chinese

Moslems i n Batavia had t h e i r own head. The l a s t one died i n 1827, a

ce r t a in Kapitan Abdul ~ a f a r . ~ ) By t h a t time the Chinese Moslems might

probably have been considered "native" enough t o need t h e i r own quarters

and head. Of more relevance t o t h i s piece i s t h a t o r ig ina l ly the term

peranakan u n t i l around the end of the 18th century was exclusively used

f o r those Chinese who were Moslems, and has only l a t e r come to mean simply

the loca l born Chinese.

During the nineteenth century the term peranakan was used t o

d is t inguish the loca l ly s e t t l e d and born Chinese from the new a r r i v a l

singkeh/totok. I n the post-independence period the d i s t i n c t i o n

between peranakan and totok was probably no longer based on bi r thplace

as well as on c u l t u r a l o r i en ta t ion . The peranakan did not speak any

longer Chinese and was strongly loca l ly and Western influenced i n

t h e i r c u l t u r a l or ienta t ions . Even today, some 30 years a f t e r

independence, chi ldren of peranakan Chinese w i l l s t i l l know some Dutch

i f they are not Dutch-speaking. The totok Chinese would s t i l l know how

t o speak Chinese and used to send t h e i r children t o Chinese schools.

Usually within the Chinese migrant famil ies though, the speaking,

reading and wri t ing of Chinese i s l o s t a f t e r the th i rd generation.

Losing one's nat ive language as a language of comunication i s not so

unusual f o r i t happens today t o e thnic groups such as the Javanese i n

Jakar ta .

An important f a c t o r influencing the peranakan community was tha t u n t i l

the end of the nineteenth century there were no Chinese women who

emigrated t o Java. When fo r instance i n 1815 somehow a Chinese woman

arr ived s t r a i g h t from China i n Semarang she became an object of

cu r ios i ty and public i n t e r e s t ; especia l ly her f e e t and dress a t t r ac ted

crowds of Chinese t o come and see her. 3)

In shor t a totok Chinese woman among the Chinese cornunities i n Java

during the nineteenth century was a greater r a r i t y than a totok-European

woman among the Europeans. Peranakan ~ h i n e s e had therefore some

Indonesian woman as t h e i r ancestress i n Java which somewhat influenced

t h e i r dress , language, connections, customs and so on. These things are

beyond the scope of t h i s study but might perhaps come up during the

discussions.

Of greater importance f o r t h i s paper was t h a t l i f e f o r the peranakan

community was i n the pecinan (china-town/Chinese quar ters) to be found

i n many towns of Java and which originated from regula t ions t o have

Chinese l i v e i n spec ia l ly designated quar ters of every town during the

nineteenth century. Movements outside these Chinese quar ters were only

allowed with spec ia l t r a v e l passes. I t must be sa id t h a t Chinese quar ters

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government bus inesses a s pos s ib l e , r i s k i n g g r e a t sums of money. A sudden

f a l l i n p r i c e s of t he s l i g h t e s t economic depress ion would lead t o

spe c t acu l a r bankruptc ies . Indeed those Chinese bankruptc ies were a

major source of t en s ion between t he Chinese and the Dutch o f f i c i a l a s

w e l l ' a s i n t he p r i v a t e community, f o r t h e Dutch tended t o blame t h e

Chinese f o r a t tempt ing t o escape h i s f i n a n c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s by

bankruptc ies and h id ing a s much a s p o s s i b l e of h i s money away from

c r e d i t o r s . S ince weal th was so d e c i s i v e f o r t he i n f l uence of a Chinese

o f f i c e r , t h e government was n a t u r a l l y always p u t i n a dilemma when

faced wi th a Chinese o f f i c e r who had gone bankrupt o r had l o s t h i s

weal th through over-speculat ion. I n such cases t h e Chinese o f f i c e r

would be asked t o r e s i g n h i s pos t i f h e was no t dismissed a s an o f f i c e r

f o r h e no longer could f u l f i l l h i s f unc t i ons adequately wi thout h i s

source of patronage and wealth. lo) For h i s wea l th was a l s o used a

g r e a t d e a l t o s t and guaran ty f o r Chinese bus ine s s , Dutch c r e d i t s t o

Chinese and s o on. The wealthy Chinese o f f i c e r u s u a l l y s tood guaranty

f o r i nd iv idua l Chinese businessmen and t r a d e r s , o f t e n r e l a t i v e s of

him o r i n some way known t o him ( t h a t i s , r e l a t i v e s of r e l a t i v e s ) .

I n f a c t wi thout such gua ran t i e s from wealthy Chinese, no Chinese

would be a b l e t o g e t i n t o a shopkeeping bus ine s s o r t r ade .

It i s w i th t h i s background t h a t we w i l l now have a c l o s e r look a t t h e

c a r ee r s of some of t he se e l i t e f a m i l i e s i n Eas t Java , t he Han-family

of both Surabaya and Pasuruan, t he Tjoa of Surabaya and the The-also - of Surabaya. \. Han, Tjoa and The

The evidence f o r t he genealogy of t he se f a m i l i e s i s found i n the

Chinese a n c e s t r a l a l t a r t a b l e o f t e n c o l l e c t e d t oge the r i n a

so-ca l led a n c e s t r a l house. The t a b l e t s of each gene ra t i on a r e pu t

on one she l f whi le a younger gene ra t i on would be p u t on a lower s h e l f .

At the top of t he se s h e l f s t h e r e would be a lone t a b l e t , o r a p a i r

(depending on the i n c l u s i o n o r n o t of t he Indonesian ances t r e s s ) of

t a b l e t s r ep r e sen t i ng t h e f i r s t Java-Chinese ances tor . The number of

t he se s h e l f s cons t ruc ted i n descending t e r r a c e s i n d i c a t e t he number

of genera t ions t he fami ly has been i n Java , whi le d a t e s on the

t a b l e t s a l s o supply in format ion about d a t e of b i r t h s and dea ths . 11)

Although t h e r e a r e legends w i th in t he Han-family of an ances to r .

having a r r i v e d sometime i n t he l a t e 17th cen tury , t he f i r s t ance s to r

on t he a l t a r t a b l e was from a f t e r t he middle 18th cen tury . I n t he

l a t e 18th cen tury t h e r e might even a l r e a d y have been Captain Han.

However, t he f i r s t important ance s to r of t h i s fami ly i n East-Java,

probably the most important geranakan o f f i c e r fami ly , were t h e two

famous Han-brothers of t he B r i t i s h interregnum which s o l d them landed

e s t a t e s i n East-Java. Mayor Han Tjan-p i t of Surabaya, probably t he f i r s t

o f f i c e r wi th t he t i t l e of Mayor brought the e s t a t e s of Panarukan and

Basuki from R a f f l e s . Following h i s example h i s younger b r o t h e r ,

Kapitan Han Tikko of Pasuruan, bought t he landed e s t a t e s of Banyuwangi

where he r u l e d a s a Javanese b u p a t i w i th r i g h t s of t a x a t i o n , own

admin i s t r a t i on and po l i c e . Han Tik-ko went f a r t h e s t among the two

b r o t h e r s i n assuming a l l t he t rappings of a semi-sovereign l and lo rd ,

which b u p a t i s were a f t e r a l l a t t h a t time. Han Tik-ko moved i n t o t h e

Banyuwangi kabupaten, had himself shaded by an umbrel la of a Tumenggung

and assumed a l l t he o t h e r pa r aphe rna l i a of Javanese t r a d i t i o n a l r u l e .

Ra f f l e s f l a t t e r e d them f u r t h e r by g r a n t i n g them a coa t of arms. 12)

The r e s u l t s of t h i s a f f a i r f o r Han TLk-ko ended, however, t r a g i c a l l y .

I n h i s ambit ion t o become a near-feudal l o rd he had bought t he

e s t a t e of Banyuwangi f o r too h igh a sum of money and t r i e d now t o

repay i t back by imposing very h igh t a x a t i o n on t he peasant ry . The

r e s u l t was a r e v o l t i n 1814 of Banyuwangifs peasant ry cos t i ng t he l i f e

of t h e Landlord of Banyuwangi and a few Engl i sh s o l d i e r s . The fami ly

of Han Tik-ko escaped t o Pasuruan. Although the Engl i sh were a b l e t o

suppress t h e r e b e l l i o n wi thout too much c o s t , R a f f l e s decided t o buy

back t h e e s t a t e s from t h e two Han-brothers, i nc lud ing t hose of Han

Tjan-p i t i n Panarukan and Besuki, a l though they were a success .

F i n a n c i a l l y the a f f a i r had been d i s a s t r o u s f o r t he Han Tik-ko

fami ly and only some government subs idy and land-gran ts f o r t h e

l i f e t i m e , i t seems, of Han Tik-ko's h e i r i n Pasuruan helped the fami ly

t o su rv ive the c r i s i s . 1 3 ) " ~ o t h e r source of suppor t came from t h e

l o c a l Bupati fami ly , N i t i a d i n i n g r a t , who he lped them t o g e t s t a r t e d i n

the sugar bus iness i n which t he Han fami ly of Pasuruan was involved

u n t i l t h e economic c r i s i s of 1923 i n the sugar i ndus t ry .

During t h e whole n ine t een th cen tury we f i n d a Han a s Kapitan of

Pasuruan wi th d e s c r i p t i o n s t h a t he was a son, grandson, o r even g r e a t

grand son and s o on of t he former Landlord of Banyuwangi Han Tik-ko.

The Han-family a l s o promoted t h e i r b r o t h e r s , t h e i r sons-in-law, o r

brother-in-law f o r pos t s o r government c o n t r a c t s o r revenue i n o t h e r

p l ace s w i th in t he res idency of Pasuruan such a s Bangi l , Malang and even

i n o t h e r r e s i denc i e s such a s Surabaya.

Another prominent fami ly i n Surabaya wi th some i n f l uence i n o the r p l ace s

of t h i s res idency was t h e Tjoa-family which, according t o t h e i r a l t a r

t a b l e , i s by now a s o ld a s two hundred yea r s . The f i r s t T joa a r r i ved

i n Surabaya i n t he 1750's and l i k e t h e f i r s t Han was probably n o t

very wealthy nor famous. However, u n l i k e t h e Han-family, t he Tjoa-family

has some f i r m e r h i s t o r i c a l b a s i s .

The f i r s t Java-Tjoa a r r i v e d i n a time of t r oub l e s i n Surabaya where

two noble f a c t i o n s were f i g h t i n g f o r supremacy. The daughter of a

Tumenggung Onggojoyo sought re fuge wi th t he s t i l l poor Chinese merchant,

Tjoa, from t h e enemy. Out of t h i s a f f a i r t h e r e r e s u l t e d a marr iage between

t h e Chinese merchant Tjoa and Nai Roro Kinjeng, b u t a t t h e i r dea th i n

t h e 1790's t h e two were bur ied s epe ra t e ly : h e wi th t h e fami ly grave of

t h e Tjoa fami ly i n Surabaya and she w i t h i n the bupa t i b u r i a l grounds

of Surabaya. U n t i l today, once a y e a r , the Tjoa-family of Surabaya

holds a ceremony a t t h e grave of Nyai Roro Kinjeng w i t h i n t he bupa t i

b u r i a l grounds of Surabaya.

More important f o r t he Tjoa-family from t h i s noble connect ion was t h a t

i t h e fami ly f o r t u n e was made through t h i s marr iage . The merchant T joa

i rece ived on t h i s account i n t h e l a t e 18 th cen tury t h e government farms

I revenue and became a wealthy man. Every succeeding Tjoa increased t h e

wealth of t he family. However, i t was n o t u n t i l 1814 t h a t a T joa

became 1uitena;t of t h e Chinese i n Surabaya and l a t e r Captain. A f t e r

t h a t we f i n d Tjoa-names i n v a r i o u s o f f i c e r p o s t s i n East-&a such

a s Surabaya, S idoa r jo , Gresik e t c . More i n t e r e s t i n g , however, i s t h a t

the Tjoa-family was t h e c l o s e s t t o a Chinese l i t e r a t i fami ly which a

peranakan family eve r came t o . A f t e r the second h a l f of t h e 1850's

t h e r e was a Tjoa a t t h e b u r i a l grounds f o r t h e Bupat i fami ly of

Surabaya. U n t i l today t h e Tjoa fami ly of Surabaya holds annual ly a

meeting a t t h e grave of t h i s f i r s t ance s t r e s s . 14)

I Through t h e marriage between t h e f i r s t T joa i n Java and t h e daughter

.., of a bupa t i t h e fami ly f o r t u n e was made. The father- in-law helped

the f i r s t Tjoa i n h i s bus ine s s and wi th ob t a in ing government revenue

farms. The weal th w i th in t h e continued t o i n c r e a s e w i th succe s s ive

1 genera t ions . However, i t was n o t u n t i l 1814 t h a t a family member

- became l u i t e n a n t of t he Chinese i n Surabaya and l a t e r Captain. The

1 Tjoa-family was perhaps one of t he few peranakan Chinese f a m i l i e s who

( produced what we could c a l l l i t e r a t i . The family had always had a

1 g r e a t i n t e r e s t i n bo th Chinese a s we l l a s Javanese l i t e r a t u r e ,

published books on Chinese law, t he "Ta Tsing Lu Li", i n order t o end

t he endless d i s r u p t i v e fami ly q u a r r e l s over i n h e r i t a n c e s , ano the r

s p e c i a l t r a i t of peranakan s o c i e t y , about which more l a t e r . U n t i l today

t h e fami ly has kep t a t r a d i t i o n of i n t e r e s t i n phi losophy and r e l i g i o n ,

being among o t h e r s s t r o n g l y in f luenced by i dea s of Annie Besant and

theosophy.

More t y p i c a l of a peranakan Chinese o f f i c e r ' s fami ly i n many o t h e r

towns of J ava was t he The-family of Surabaya which had almost a n

unbroken success ion of Chinese o f f i c e r s i n t he fami ly wi th sons

i n h e r i t i n g t h e f a t h e r ' s p o s i t i o n on the f a t h e r ' s dea th . Again t h i s

family came a f t e r the middle of t he 18 th cen tury when we f i n d t h e

appointed Captain of the Chinese i n Surabaya probably through h i s

connect ions a s son-in-law of Mayor Han of Surabaya. Unlike t he

prev ious f a m i l i e s t he peranakan connect ions was t hus d e c i s i v e h e r e i n

t he r i s e of a peranakan o f f i c e r ' s family. I n any case t he f i r s t

Captain The was succeeded i n 1825 by h i s son who became Mayor of t h e

Chinese of Surabaya a t t he age of 30 and d ied i n 1851 t o be succeeded

aga in by . a The. A1 t oge the r t h i s fami ly produced f o u r Majors of t h e

Chinese cous in ( f i r s t degree) . A Han of Surabaya wi th a daughter

married t o a f i r s t cousin, a Tjoa, s a i d t o t he w r i t e r of t h i s paper ,

t h a t t h i s was " t o p r e se rve wealth w i t h i n the family".

However confused i n h e r i t a n c e law was among t he Chinese dur ing t he

n i n e t e e n t h cen tury , a s a gene ra l r u l e one could assume t h a t a l l t h e

l e g i t i m a t e sons g o t a sha r e w i t h probably t he e l d e s t one r ece iv ing

through u n o f f i c i a l channels t he most. 15) Laws of primogeniture, a t

times t r i e d by Chinese, d id n o t seem t o have been i n f o r c e among

peranakan Chinese. Daughters, however, were on ly g iven a dowry and a

legacy i n t he f a t h e r ' s w i l l on h i s dea th and t h i s could only be a smal l

f r a c t i o n of the f a t h e r ' s weal th.

Never the less , wives ' f o r t unes played an impor tan t p a r t i n t he s u r v i v a l

of t he se e l i t e f ami l i e s . Probably e v e r s i n c e 1854 when Chinese were

o f f i c i a l l y s u b j e c t t o Dutch laws of bus ine s s , t h e r e was a s epa ra t i on

of f i n a n c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y between husband and w i f e among wealthy

Chinese. Q u i t e o f t e n we read t h a t when the husband went bankrupt i n

h i s bus ine s s h e continued t o l i v e we l l o r i n l e s s wealthy circumstance

b u t s t i l l su rv iv ing a s well-to-do on h i s w i f e ' s income and wealth.

One l a s t a s p e c t of t h e government revenue fa rmers and o f f i c e r ' s

f a m i l i e s should perhaps be d i scussed . The counter - fami l ies were t h e

ones who d id no t g e t the farms o r government con t ac t s , bu t were equal ly

wealthy because of i nhe r i t ance and were o f t en b ro the r s o r c l o s e l y

r e l a t e d t o t he o f f i c e r s and lessee-holders . The only way f o r t he se

wealthy b u t "deprived" persons was t o engage i n c l andes t i ne s a l e s of

opium, having c l andes t i ne pawnshops e t c . i n order t o expand t h e i r

weal th , a s a f t e r a l l , a l l c a p i t a l i s t s wanted t o do. A t t imes t h e r e

was a c o n f l i c t of i n t e r e s t between the o f f i c i a l government revenue

farmer and c l andes t i ne opera tor ; and a t t imes a common i n t e r e s t .

The second case could f o r i n s t ance a r i s e when i t was i n t he

o f f i c e r ' s o r candidate l e s see h o l d e r ' s i n t e r e s t t o have t h e p r i c e of

t h e revenue farm a s low as pos s ib l e . Grand c l andes t i ne s a l e s of opium

f o r i n s t ance o r c l andes t i ne opera t ions of pawnshops would b r ing t h e

auc t ioning p r i c e of those state-monopolies lower and were t h e r e f o r e

i n t he i n t e r e s t of t he o f f i c i a l government farmers. These r e l a t i o n s h i p s

were o f t en b a f f l i n g t o t he Dutch and al though t r e spas se r s of t h e

government revenue farms-were u sua l l y f i n e d , not even g iven p r i son

terms, when f i nd ing too many entanglements, t h e government went over

t o i t s l a s t expedient: p o l i t i c a l e x i l e .

This l a t t e r c a se could perhaps be b e s t exemplif ied by t h e 1852

c l andes t i ne opium case of Pasuruan when t h e Dutch r e s i d e n t through

the e f f o r t of a newly appointed p a t i h (bupa t i ' s main a s s i s t a n t )

discovered a wide n e t of c l andes t i ne opium s a l e s .

Brothers , gous in s e t c . of t he l o c a l Chinese o f f i c e r s of Pasuruan and

Bangil were involved. It must be pointed out though t h q t i n t h i s

case i n t e r e s t s of smugglers and o f f i c i a l revenue farmers co l l i ded .

Not only t h i s b u t the c l andes t i ne s e l l e r s of opium were, l i k e t he

o f f i c e r s , c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o t h e l o c a l Javanese o f f i c i a l s through

t h e i r wives. I n viewing t h i s mess the Dutch f i n a l l y s e n t a warship t o

Pasuruan and a r r e s t e d t h e ones involved i n c l andes t i ne s a l e s of

opium and ex i l ed them t o the Moluccas. A p o l i t i c a l measure was o f t en

necessary t o c lean t h e mess, a s was t h e opinion of Dutch o f f i c i a l s . 16)

The r o l e of the e l i t e Chinese f a m i l i e s came t o an end wi th t h e

a b o l i t i o n of t he auc t ioning of government revenue farms and i t s

take-over by the government. With it came an end t o t he patronage of the

revenue farmers ' f ami l i e s . Slowly qua r t e r and pass systems f o r Chinese

were abolished i n t h e 20th century; i n s h o r t t h e r e was no more need f o r

Chinese peranakan heads. The a r r i v a l of l a r g e r q u a n t i t i e s of to toks

from China caused a f u r t h e r d e c l i n e of t he Chinese peranakan o f f i c e r s '

f ami l i e s , f o r most of them did n o t speak Chinese and t r e a t e d the to tok

badly. Yet , because of r i s i n g Chinese na t i ona l i sm i n China, t he Dutch

needed t o know p r e c i s e l y about these to toks and t he peranakan o f f i c e r s

f a i l e d them i n t h i s . Hence, t h e Dutch f e l t t h a t a s i n t e rmed ia r i e s wi th

to tok chinese they had f a i l e d , whi le t he peranakan community d id n o t

r e a l l y need any longer s e r v i c e s of Chinese o f f i c e r s s i n c e they had

grown accustomed enough t o Dutch r u l e and i t s r egu l a t i ons . I n s h o r t t he

importance of the Chinese o f f i c e r s ' p o s i t i o n , and wi th them the

o f f i c e r s ' f a m i l i e s , d ied wi th t he 20th century.

F i n a l l y t he e l i t e peranakan Chinese f ami l i e s would a l s o s u f f e r heav i ly

i n t he 20th century. F i r s t t he r e was the economic c r i s i s of 1923;

another blow came i n 1928 wi th i t s long depression. However, t he l a s t

blow came wi th peranakan Chinese p o l i c i e s i n i nves t i ng i n r e a l e s t a t e

i n J ava ' s towns.

A Dutch (NICA) r egu l a t i on , would f i x house-rents a t pre-war l e v e l s ;

thus an income of F. 25.000 i n pre-war t imes would s t i l l be Rp. 25.000

dur ing t he times of i n f l a t i o n i n the pos t '45-period.

Soc i a l and Cu l tu r a l l i n k s

According t o the book of genealogies of r egen t s of East-Java owned by

t he N i t i a d i n i n g r a t fami ly t h e r e was a branch of t he Han family who 1 '

married w i th in an a r i s t o c r a t i c Javanese fami ly , the Bojonegoro bupa t i s .

They became Javanese and Moslems. The Tjoa marriage with a p r iyay i

fami ly of Surabaya was t he re fo re no g r e a t except ion dur ing t h e e a r l y

n ine teenth century and indeed according t o s c a t t e r e d information t he re

were s eve ra l b u p a t i s of East-Java e i t h e r wi th Chinese blood o r being of

Chinese descent.18) I n t he above-mentioned b ig case of c l andes t i ne

opium s a l e s the l e ade r s ' fami ly t i e s wi th h igh l o c a l o f f i c i a l s

e s p e c i a l l y angered t h e Dutch and was f u r t h e r evidence of family t i e s

between wealthy Chinese, even o f f i c e r s , with l o c a l p r i y a y i , such t i e s

being prof i t a b l e f o r bus iness too. 19) The Dutch were of t e n suspic ious

of c lo se t i e s between wealthy Chinese and p r iyay i f o r they feared t he

cor rupt ing inf luences of money. It became a b a r r i e r t o promotion

among the pr iyayi .20) While t he p r i y a y i a f t e r t he second ha l f of t he

19th century may have l o s t a g r e a t dea l of t h e i r power and a t t r a c t i v e n e s s

as prospec t ive family t i e s , peranakan s o c i e t y became inc rea s ing ly more

s t a b l e . I n s h o r t a f t e r the middle of the 19th century in te rmarr iage

between wealthy Chinese and p r i y a y i seemed t o have stopped.

The peranakan Chinese though continued t o main ta in a l i f e s t y l e which

was s t rong ly influenced by l o c a l Chinese c u l t u r e , Javanese c u l t u r e and

Western c u l t u r e . Wealthy Chinese f a m i l i e s kep t a gamelan, o f t e n a famous

one obtained from a p r i y a y i fami ly , co l l ec t ed Javanese a r t works such

a s k r i s s e s , wayang and s o on. Some f a m i l i e s such a s t h e Tjoa had a g r e a t

d e a l of i n t e r e s t i n Javanese l i t e r a t u r e . The f i r s t Chinese pub l i she r s

of books such a s Tan Khoen Swie of Kedi r i a f t e r a l l published a g r e a t

dea l of Javanese l i t e r a t u r e and manuscripts , probably evidence f o r t h e

i n t e r e s t among peranakan f o r such works.

Na tu ra l l y t he Chinese were a t t r a c t e d too t o t he Dutch s i n c e they were

a f t e r a l l t he r u l i n g group i n s o c i e t y and i t was s o u se fu l t o have

con t ac t s wi th them. As e a r l y a s t h e middle of t he n ine t een th century

t h e Resident of Pasuruan repor ted on t he l e ade r of t h e c l andes t i ne

opium case , Han Lam Tjang - a member of t he Han family, a s a man who

spoke and wrote i n Dutch and was of g r e a t c u l t u r e . Not a l l t h e o f f i c e r s

probably spoke o r wrote Dutch b u t had a smat te r ing of i t and some knew

it very wel l . A d e s c r i p t i o n i n t h e 1870's of a Chinese f e a s t i n t h e

The-house of Surabaya had i t , f o r i n s t ance , t h a t t he r e was Western

music and ball-room dancing i n which t h e The-daughters p a r t i c i p a t e d . 21)

The Chinese f e a s t s were probably t he phenomena of keeping s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s

on a l l s i d e s through cu l t u r e : t h e r e was gambling f o r t he Chinese gues ts

and food, a wayang performance f o r t he p r iyay i and Western music and

food f o r d h e Europeans. Yet, it was no t a l l pub l i c r e l a t i o n s t o have

gamelan and Western music, f o r many a wealthy Chinese was pas s iona t e ly a- i n t e r e s t e d i n expressions of t h e two cu l tu r e s .

However, when f i n a l l y t h e peranakan Chinese e s t ab l i shed i n e a r l y 1900's

t h e i r school system, t he Tiong Hwa Hwee Koan schools , it was t o b e

Chinese and English r a t h e r than Dutch.

Nevertheless one could n o t he lp b u t d e t e c t a c o l o n i a l no t e a s s o many

people l i v i n g i n a colony had peranakan a t t i t u d e s towards Chinese

c i v i l i z a t i o n . The reasons given f o r e s t a b l i s h i n g schools on a Chinese

b a s i s were r e f e r ences t o and quoting Westerners who defended,and

pra ised Chinese c iv i l i z a t i on22 )and n o t because of peranakan own

confidence i n Chinese c u l t u r e which was a t y p i c a l c o l o n i a l a t t i t u d e .

However, i t was t h i s co lon i a l s o c i e t y where e s p e c i a l l y those o f f i c e r s '

Chinese f ami l i e s achieved t h e i r success.

FOOTNOTES

1. Ong Tae-hae, The Chinaman abroad: A Desultory Account of the Malay Archipelago p a r t i c u l a r l y of Java , tr. W.H. Medhurst.

2. F. de Haan, Oud-Batavia (Gedenkboek ui tgegeven door h e t Bat. Genoot van Kunsten en Wetenschappen naar aanle id ing van h e t 300-jarig bes taan d e r s t a d i n 1919) (2 vo l s . Batavia , 1922) 511.

3. Liem Thian Yoe, Riwayat Semarang (Semarang 1933) 90 f f .

4. L.H.W. van Sandick, Chineezen bu i t en China. Hunne Beteekenis voor de ontwikkeling van Zuid-oost Azie, s p e c i a a l van Nederlandsch ~ n d i E ('s-Gravenhage 1909) 144 f f .

5. Ong Hokham, The Residency of Madiun. P r iyay i and Peasant dur ing t h e Nineteenth Century. Ph.D. Yale Un ive r s i t y 1975.

6. P.H. Fromberg, Verspreide Geschr i f ten (Leiden 1926) 309-315.

7. D.E. Willmott , The Chinese of Semarang. A Changing Minori ty Community i n Indones ia (Cornell Un ive r s i t y P re s s , 1970) 135-136.

8. V. P u r c e l l , The Chinese i n Southeast Asia (Oxford Univers i ty Press 1 9 6 6 ~ ) 406 f f .

9. Algemeen Verslag Pasuruan, e s p e c i a l l y of t he 18501s, Arsip Nasional Rep. Indones ia (ANRI) .

10. ANRI, P o l i t i e k Verslag Pasuruan 1867, 1868 e t c .

11. I n 1957 t h e author took a t o u r wi th D r . G.W. Skinner t o t he Chinese a l t a r houses of East-Java, where he comes from.

12. J. Bas t in , "The Chinese E s t a t e s i n East-Java dur ing t he B r i t i s h Administrat ion" i n : ~ndones i ; V I I ( Ju ly 1954) 433-449.

13. B t . 1825 Pasuruan, ANRI, I nhe r i t ance Hantikko.

14. The Boen Liang, "Riwajatnya f a m i l i e Tjoa d i Soerabaia" i n : - - Matahari ( ~ x t r a - n u m e r , Semarang 1 ~ u g u s t 1934) ;

- Buku Per inga tan "The S i e Siauw Yang Tjoh Biauw" 1883-1939. (The The-family Altar-house) P r i v a t e l y p r in t ed , Surabaya 1939.

15. Fromberg, Verspreide Geschr i f ten .

16. A N R I , Berkas opium case 1853 Pasuruan.

17. Ms: N i t i a d i n i n g r a t , regent of Surabaya.

18. Van Sandick, Chineezen Buiten China, 179.

19. ANRI, Berkas opium case 1853.

20. Ong Hokham, he i n s c r u t a b l e and t he Paranoid: An I n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t t he Sources of t h e Brotodin ingra t Affa i r" in : R. McVey ed. , Southeast Asian T rans i t i ons . Yale Univers i ty P re s s 1978.

21. M.T.H. Pe re l ae r , Nederlandsch-1ndiE. Java. Leiden 1883.

22. L. Suryadinata, P o l i t i c a l Thinking of t he Indonesian Chinese, 1900- (Singapore Univers i ty P re s s 1979) 4 f f .

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHINESE COOLIES I N EAST SUMATRA.

FROM MIDDLEMEN INTO ECONOMIC MAGNATES

Tengku Luckman S i n a r , S.H.

The coming of t h e Chinese immigrants t o t h e E a s t c o a s t of Sumatra h a s been

regarded a s a s p e c t a c u l a r phenomenon. The c o o l i e c l a s s from t h i s tough

r a c e had been e x p l o i t e d , b u t 40 y e a r s l a t e r they had f r e e d themselves,

and s i n c e t h e beg inn ing of t h e 20th Century succeeded i n monopolis ing t h e

e n t i r e economy of t h i s r e g i o n .

Before t h e middle of t h e 19 th c e n t u r y t h e Chinese played only a minor r o l e

on t h e E a s t c o a s t of Sumatra. The Chinese armada had v i s i t e d Kempai (near

t h e Haru Bay) i n 662 AD which they named "Kien-pinrl o r " ~ a m - ~ i e t " ~ ) and

l a t e r on, t h e kingdom of Haru (Aru) o r t h e p r e s e n t D e l i , which was c a l l e d

"Alu" o r "Yalu" by t h e Chinese, s e n t a m i s s i o n t o Kublai Khan i n 1282 AD. 2)

A t t h e end of t h e 8 t h c e n t u r y t h e r e was a c i v i l war i n China and Chinese

t r a d e s u f f e r e d . A s a r e s u l t of s e v e r a l excava t ions we made i n Kota China

(Labuhan D e l i ) and Kempai i s l a n d we found p l e n t y of a r t i f a c t s from t h e

T'ang, Sung, Yuan and Ming p e r i o d s . Kota Cina could be t h e "Mohosin" o r

"Bokkasin" once quoted by I Tsing i n 695 AD. 3)

There i s a p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t Kota Cina was once t h e Chinese q u a r t e r of

t h e p o r t ef Haru, e s p e c i a l l y d u r i n g the Southern Sung Dynasty between t h e

12th-13th c e n t u r y , t h e t ime when v a r i o u s Chinese t r a d i n g s h i p s had v i s i t e d

t h e o u t e r p o r t s of t h e S r i w i j a y a kingdom.4) Kota Cina was probably

abandoned i n t h e l a s t per iod of t h e Southern Sung Dinas ty .

I n t h e 15 th cen tury t h i s r e g i o n was a g a i n v i s i t e d by t h e Chinese armada.

The Ming H i s t o r y (Book 325)5) conf irmed t h e v i s i t of S u l t a n Husin from

Haru d u r i n g t h e r e i g n of t h e Emperor Yung Lo (1407). The t r a d e between

t h i s r e g i o n and China a t t h a t t ime c o n s i s t e d of jungle produce b a r t e r e d

w i t h Chinese p o r c e l a i n , s i l k and beads. I n t h e y e a r 1412 t h e Chinese

Moslem Admiral Cheng Ho, headed t h e t r a d i n g m i s s i o n t o Haru. S u l t a n

Husin was succeeded by h i s son S u l t a n Alamsyah who s e n t s e v e r a l m i s s i o n s

t o China i n 1419, 1421 and i n 1423. I n 1431 Cheng Ho a g a i n v i s i t e d Haru

b u t a f t e r t h i s no more m i s s i o n s were s e n t t o China. Haru could be

reached from Malacca w i t h i n f o u r days and f o u r n igh ts6)and exported Hoang

Lien ( c o p t i s t e e t a ) and o t h e r perfumes. I f we compare t h e map of Mao

Yuan-Yi wi th t h e s t o r y of Ma Huan, Haru' s topography f i t s w i t h t h e

p r e s e n t D e l i . The r o u t e s of t h e Chinese t r a d i n g s h i p s t o D e l i can be seen

i n Wu-peichih (1 433 AD) . 7) --- A f t e r t h e Portuguese occupied Malacca i n 1511, t h e d i r e c t t r a d e between

t h i s reg ion and China ceased. From 1539 u n t i l 1710 AD t h e r e g i o n of t h e

E a s t c o a s t of Sumatra was a bone of c o n t e n t i o n between t h e Achinese Empi

and t h e Malay Empire (Johor-Riau) , from t h e middle of t h e 18 th cen tury

u n t i l t h e middle of t h e 19 th cen tury between Acheh and Siak; and l a t e r

between t h e Dutch and t h e B r i t i s h .

The f e r t i l e land of t h i s r e g i o n , which had been abandoned and became t h e

n e s t of p i r a t e s , was now g r a d u a l l y co lon ised by t h e people from Johor ,

Riau, Aceh and t h e Minangkabau c o l o n i s t s i n Batubara and Denai, from t h e

17th cen tury . The Karo and t h e Simelungun people went t o t h e c o a s t a l

a r e a s and t h e Mandai l ings t o t h e South, and they l a t e r mixed w i t h t h e

Malay p o p u l a t i o n and worshipped Is lam, and became, a s they a r e c a l l e d ,

t h e "Melayu ~ e s i s i r " (Coas ta l Malays). 8)

An e a r l i e r , complete , up-to-date r e p o r t about t h i s r e g i o n was made by

t h e head of a B r i t i s h miss ion , John Anderson, who was s e n t h e r e by t h e

B r i t i s h a u t h o r i t y i n Malaya t o make agreements w i t h t h e c o a s t a l s t a t e s i i

1 8 2 3 . ~ ) I n t h i s r e p o r t i t i s s t a t e d t h a t v e r y few Chinese were h e r e a t t l

t ime. The i n t e r - i s l a n d t r a d e was monopolised by t h e Batubara Malays w i t h

t h e i r f a s t schooners o r by t h e Buginese. He saw "a v e r y few Chinese i n

Deli" and n o t enough e l sewhere t o b e worthy of n o t e . Then t h e B r i t i s h

e n t r e p o t s of Penang and Singapore brought about a major change. S t r a i t s

Chinese t r a d e r s had e s t a b l i s h e d s t r o n g l i n k s w i t h a l l t h e Malay s t a t e s

of t h e Eas t c o a s t between S i a k and Temiang by t h e time t h e Dutch extendec

t h e i r i n f l u e n c e t o t h i s r e g i o n . I n Asahan t h e import and expor t d u t i e s ,

a s w e l l a s t h e opium and gambling monopolies, had been e n t r u s t e d t o a

Penang merchant named Boon Keng, whose daughte r marr ied i n t o t h e Royal

fami ly .

When t h e Dutch army invaded Asahan i n 1863, Boon Keng's i n f l u e n c e and the

s u p p o r t h e could muster i n Penang were a g r e a t h e l p t o t h e S u l t a n of

Asahan's r e s i s t a n c e t o t h e Dutch f o r over 20 y e a r s . One of t h e major

reasons advanced i n favour of permanent Dutch occupa t ion of Asahan was

t h a t o therwise I ! . . . . . t h e Chinese t r a d e r s would spread B r i t i s h i n f l u e n c e

and explo id t h e country even more than before". 10)

The g r a d u a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t of Dutch power i n t h e E a s t c o a s t i n f a c t a f f o r d

f u r t h e r o p p o r t u n i t y f o r t h e Chinese e n t e r p r i s e s . Malaya's Chinese f i r m s

cont inued t o supply opium t o t h e Bataks and c o n t r o l l e d s p i r i t and gamblin

monopolies of most s t a t e s h e r e , even import and e x p o r t s e d u t i e s . By 1876

-the Dutch Res iden t could r e p o r t t h a t I ! . . . . . t h e t r a d e of t h i s Residency

111 i s e xc lu s ive ly i n t he hands of t he Chinese ...... , most of whom were

connected wi th f i rms i n Singapore and Penang. 11)

When t he Dutch Resident of Riau, Netscher , f i r s t v i s i t e d De l i i n 1862,

he met only some 20 Chinese shopkeepers-mostly goldsmiths. 12)

To avoid f u r t h e r c l a she s , t h e B r i t i s h and t he Dutch signed a t r e a t y c a l l e d

"Traktaa t van London" (London Trea ty) of 1824. The B r i t i s h handed over

Bencoolen t o the Dutch and the Dutch handed over Malacca and t h e i r claims

t o t he Malay S t a t e s i n Malaya i nc lud ing Singapore. They solemnly promised

no t t o i n t e r f e r e i n each o t h e r ' s spheres of i n f l uence , b u t the t r e a t y

was e f f e c t i v e only on paper , f o r i n p r a c t i c e bo th p a r t i e s continued with

t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s as before . I n S i ak , t h e Dutch succeeded i n p r e s s ing t he

weak Su l t an I sma i l i n t o a p o l i t i c a l c o n t r a c t , which was s igned on t h e 1 s t

February 1858. I n t h i s c o n t r a c t i t was s t a t e d t h a t a l l t h e s t a t e s on t h e

Ea s t coa s t of Sumatra from Siak n o r t h t o Temiang were "dependencies" of

S iak , and t h e Dutch were then a b l e t o take t he oppor tun i ty t o pac i fy t he

reg ion a c t i n g a s t he Overlord of Siak. I n f a c t , the c la im of S iak t o t he

reg ion involved " r e s t ed only on one conquest by Su l t an Abdul J a l i l

Syaifuddin (1791-1811)". 13)

I n 1862 t he Dutch s e n t an armada headed by t he Resident of Riau, Netscher ,

t o r e a l i s e t h e i r ove r lo rd ' s c la im t o t he c o a s t a l s t a t e s on t he Eas t coa s t

of Sumatra. I n De l i the Dutch g o t the f i r s t f oo tho ld , whi le Serdang,

Asahan, Batubara and Temiang r e s i s t e d the Dutch pene t r a t i on .

I n 1863 an0Arab who was connected by marr iage t o t h e De l i Royal fami ly ,

named Said Abdullah b i n Alsagah, s e n t smal l samples of Qli tobacco t o

a Dutch tobacco t r a d e r i n Surabaya. 14)

On the 7 th J u l y 1863 messrs . Fa lk , Kuyper, E l l i o t and J. Nienhuys from

the Dutch tobacco f i r m "Van Leeuwen en Mainz & Co." a r r i v e d i n Del i with

t he "Josephine". They obta ined a leasehold f o r 20 yea r s from t h e Sul tan .

Nienhuys res igned from t h a t f i r m and formed h i s own company t o buy

tobacco i n Del i from the n a t i v e s . The f i r s t sample s e n t t o Rotterdam i n

March 1864 was h a i l e d a s ". .. . . . goede k w a l i t e i t hoppig en goed brandend

dekblad". 15) Then Nienhuys decided t o grow the tobacco himself i n

Martubung (near Belawan) by import ing 88 Chinese c o o l i e s from Penang. The

good f u t u r e prospec ts of Del i fo rced t h e Dutch Ind i e s Government t o speed

up the conquest of t he whole Eas t coa s t of Sumatra. With t h e Government

B e s l u i t no. 1 dd. 25-8-1865, t he Dutch Governor General s e n t an

Expedit ionary Force, which comprised: 16)

I . Half a b a t a l l i o n of I n f a n t r y c o n s i s t i n g of 1 o f f i c e r , 25 a r t i l l e r i s t s ,

2 pcs. f i e l d guns, 2 mor ta rs of 12 inch , 2 doc to r s w i th s t a f f , 179 Dutch

s o l d i e r s and 227 n a t i v e s o l d i e r s .

2. The Warships "Dj ambi" , "Amsterdam" , "Sindoro" , "Montrado" , "Delf z i j 1"

"Dasseen" and o t h e r b o a t s , i nc lud ing 1000 marines wi th 49 guns.

Soon Serdang and Batubara were overrun, bu t n o t Asahan and Temiang where

g u e r i l l a r e s i s t a n c e ended 20 yea r s l a t e r .

When D e l i , Langkat and Serdang were secured f o r f u r t h e r e x p l o i t a t i o n ,

Netscher agreed t h a t t he Su l t an of De l i could i s s u e a leasehold f o r 90 yc

t o Van den Arends/Nienhuys tobacco company on t he 8 t h A p r i l 1867. Soon

a f te rwards many tobacco companies came t o open f u r t h e r e s t a t e s , such a s

Sunggal (1869), Sungai Bras and Klumpang (1875).

I n 1868 t h e p r o f i t from the s a l e s of De l i tobacco i n Europe were enormou:

which a t t r a c t e d more and more f o r e i g n companies t o i n v e s t t h e i r c a p i t a l

i n De l i . Nienhuys, Jansen and P.W. Cramer combined with t he Dutch Royal

F i n a n c i a l Group N.H.M. and formed a new tobacco synd i ca t e c a l l e d t he

De l i Maatschappij (1 866).

The f i r s t Dutch c o n t r o l l e r i n D e l i , Cats Baron de Rae t , wrote i n h i s

d i a ry :

I ! . . . . . . g r adua l l y more Chinese have s tayed i n Del i . They number over the

1000 now".

Following Nienhuys l e ad , a l l the new f i rms used Chinese exc lu s ive ly f o r

c u l t i v a t i n g the tobacco p l a n t s , though Indians were o f t e n employed f o r

more r o u t i n e labour. The De l i Mij. a lone brought 900 Chinese from Penang

when i t began i t s ope ra t i on i n 1869. I n 1872 the number of t he Chinese

popula t ion of De l i climbed t o over 4000. At t h i s time t h e Dutch army was

busy c rush ing t h e Sunggal Rebel l ion lead by Datuk Kec i l . I n t he Dutch

Expedit ionary Army hundreds of Chinese c o o l i e s were used i n t he r e a r

guard t o c a r r y t h e m i l i t a r y equipment, and p l en ty of them were k i l l e d

du r ing t he sk i rmishes . Every year throughout t he 1870-80's thousands of

Chinese c o o l i e s were brought from t h e s t r a i t s s e t t l e m e n t s (Malaya) t o

suppor t the s p e c t a c u l a r l y expanding economy of Southeast Asia. The tobacc

companies i n Del i acqui red t h e i r Chinese c o o l i e s through the Kongsi

system. The Kongsi-headman was a l l o c a t e d a p iece of v i r g i n land with some

s eed l i ngs , and the f i n i s h e d tobacco l e a f was bought from him a t t h e end

of t he yea r . This system was d i scont inued by about 1870, i n favour of a

d i r e c t c o n t r a c t between a European Manager a s s i s t e d by h i s Chinese

" ~ i n d a l s " o r headman ("Kang thao" i n Hokkian o r "Kung Theeu" i n Hakka) ant

the i nd iv idua l Chinese coo l i e . Advance payment had been-g iven a t h a l f -

monthly i n t e r v a l s u n t i l t h e end of t he year when he brought h i s crop

t o the E s t a t e manager who pa id him according t o h i s e s t ima t e of t he

q u a l i t y of t h e crop. D e l i t h u s b rought t h e Chinese c o o l i e s i n t o a much

c l o s e r r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h a European employer than any of t h e o t h e r major

employers i n t h e Nanyang (Southeas t A s i a ) . Fol lowing t h e Anglo-French

Chinese Convention of 1868 governing Chinese e m i g r a t i o n , t h e r e c r u i t m e n t

of l a b o u r e r s i n China and t h e i r passage t o t h e S t r a i t s were conducted i n

a t o l e r a b l y c i v i l i s e d manner.

With t h e excep t ion of a smal l and d e c r e a s i n g number who s a i l e d t o Singapore

on Hainan junks , t h e migran ts t r a v e l l e d on c h a r t e r e d s teamers which

reached Singapore i n 6 t o 8 days. A f i r m i n t h e p o r t would p u b l i c i s e t h e

coming and d e p a r t u r e of one of i t s s h i p s and p r o s p e c t i v e m i g r a n t s would be

brought i n by Kehtaus ( o l d e s t a b l i s h e d immigrants) from t h e same a r e a

a s t h e new immigrants (Singkehs) . The Singkehs would immediately work f o r

some a s s o c i a t i o n s who pa id t h e i r f a r e s . The f a r e on t h i s c r e d i t b a s i s was

u s u a l l y about $ 12 and t h e Kehtau would g e t a ~ r o f i t f o r himself o r

$ 5-8. No w r i t t e n c o n t r a c t was s igned b u t t h e Singkehs were bound t o t h e i r

employer f o r a t l e a s t a year by a mix ture of l o y a l t y , f e a r and f o r c e . 17)

I n view of t h e 1876 of t h e 1876 Labour Commission i n t h e S t r a i t s , abuses

occurred l e s s i n the immigrat ion t o t h e S t r a i t s than i n t h e emigra t ion

from t h e r e , p a r t i c u l a r l y t o Sumatra. Indeed abuses i n r e c r u i t m e n t f o r

Sumatra, bo th r e a l and a l l e g e d , were t h e main spur behind a g i t a t i o n

l e a d i n g t o t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of t h e Chinese P r o t e c t o r a t e . This a g i t a t i o n

was begun by Chinese employers of Singapore and Johor mot iva ted by s e l f

i n t e r e s t and, perhaps , ph i lan thropy . 18)

T h e i r p r i n c i p a l organ was t h e Gambier & Pepper S o c i e t y dominated by <- Theochiu p l a n t e r s who s u f f e r e d from labour s h o r t a g e because of

compet i t ion f o r Theochiu l a b o u r e r s o f f e r e d by t h e p l a n t a t i o n s of Del i .

They p e t i t i o n e d t h e government i n 1871 a g a i n s t t h e f o r c i b l e d e t e n t i o n

and d i s p o s i t i o n of Singkehs and f o r t h e p revent ion of bad c h a r a c t e r s from

kidnapping Singkehs. There was an organ ised system of kidnapping Singkehs

i n Penang f o r s e r v i c e i n D e l i dur ing e a r l y 1870.

Khoo Tean Tak, t h e boss of t h e Toh Pek Kong S o c i e t y i n Penang, had a

v i r t u a l monopoly over t h e d i s p o s i t i o n of indeb ted immigrants t o D e l i

through t h e v a r i o u s c o o l i e b r o k e r s i n Penang, a lmost from t h e beg inn ing

of D e l i tobacco p l a n t a t i o n s , they acqui red an extremely bad r e p u t a t i o n

among Singkehs.

"There e x i s t s i n t h e Chinese labour market a p e r f e c t h a t r e d of t h e name

of D e l i , which o p e r a t e s n o t on ly i n i m i c a l l y t o t h a t p a r t i c u l a r p l a c e b u t

s o a s r e g a r d s t h e whole i s l a n d , s o much t h a t Chinese who w i l l s h i p

v l l l i n g l y t o Langkat o r Serdang, i n ignorance of t h e p r e c i s e l o c a l s of

t h e s e p l a c e s , w i l l become p e r f e c t l y mad i f t h e word D e l i be heard on

board". 19)

L ike o t h e r f r o n t i e r s o c i e t i e s , e a r l y D e l i lacked an e s t a b l i s h e d j u d i c i a l

and p o l i c e system, o r even a code of c i v i l i s e d conduct. Holding complete

economic power over t h e i r employees, t h e p l a n t e r s tended t o assume e q u a l

j u d i c i a l power. The S u l t a n of D e l i had i n i t i a l l y given t h e p l a n t e r s wide

powers o v e r t h e i r employees, though r e s e r v i n g f o r h imse l f t h e t r i a l of

t h e most s e r i o u s o f fenders . The S u l t a n ' s p o l i c e f o r c e was woefu l ly

inadequa te and p l a n t e r s were r e l u c t a n t t o l o s e t h e s e r v i c e s of b o t h t h e

o f f e n d i n g worker and someone s e n t t o guard him throughout t h e l eng thy

procedure.

During t h e p e r i o d 1874-7 D e l i acqui red a name f o r v i o l e n c e . At tacks on

p l a n t e r s and t r a d e r s became a m a t t e r of f r e q u e n t occur rence , cu lmina t ing

i n t h e d e a t h of s e v e r a l p l a n t e r s . I l l - t r e a t m e n t of workers by p l a n t e r s

was probably one of t h e main causes. Bataks and l o c a l Malays i n i t i a t e d

most of t h e a t t a c k s , and runaway Chinese workers i n c r e a s i n g l y jo ined i n

a s t h e absence of s e t t l e d a u t h o r i t y became a p p a r e n t .

The f i n a I g r ievance commonly mentioned a g a i n s t D e l i was t h e d i f f i c u l t y of

r e t u r n i n g because of t h e d i s t a n c e , from one of t h e c e n t r e s of Chinese

l i f e , ~ a r t i c u l a r l ~ Singapore. I n f a c t t h e c o n t r a c t c o o l i e s i n D e l i escape

from d e b t on ly a f t e r a v e r y long p e r i o d , i f a t a l l .

For t h e Sumatra p l a n t a t i o n s t h e most impor tan t p o r t was Swatow.

Theochius were regarded a s t h e b e s t a g r i c u l t u r i s t s , fol lowed by

Hailohongs and, t o a l e s s e r e x t e n t t h e Khehs. The o c c u p a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e

of t h e d i f f e r e n t Chinese d i a l e c t groups i n Northern Sumatra d i f f e r e d

widely. While Theochius, fol lowed by Hakkas, predominated on t h e e s t a t e s ,

t h e r e were always a s u b s t a n t i a l number of Hokkians i n t r a d e . As a r e s u l t

of t h e g r a d u a l i n t e g r a t i o n of D e l i i n t o t h e economy of Nether lands I n d i a ,

where Hokkians were t h e l a r g e s t and l o n g e s t e s t a b l i s h e d group, they

numbered 243% of Chinese i n t h e "Cultuurgebied" of t h e E a s t c o a s t of

Sumatra by 1930. Cantonese came t o t h e a r e a mainly a s c ra f t smen, and by

1930 formed 21,1% of t h e t o t a l a s a g a i n s t 21,8% Theochius. Hakkas were

a c t i v e i n smal l t r a d e a s w e l l a s e s t a t e l abour . Though they r e p r e s e n t e d

o n l y 87% of t h e Chinese i n t h e Cultuurgebied i n 1930, they had long h e l d

a v i r t u a l monopoly of o f f i c i a l p o s i t i o n s throughout n o r t h e r n Sumatra a s

"Captain China'' (Chinese headman) under a "Plajor" appointed by t h e Dutch.

This t r a d i t i o n probably began w i t h t h e predominance of Chang Chen Hsun

( a l i a s Thio Tiau S i a t ) , a Ba tav ia based Hakka who went t o Acheh a s

c o n t r a c t o r t o t h e Dutch invading army, and by 1877 was farming most of

t h e government monopolies of t he Eas t coas t of Sumatra.

Labour c o n t r a c t s s igned before the P ro t ec to r of Chinese i n t h e S t r a i t s i n

1889 f o r Eas t Sumatra amounted t o 11,793, p lu s 5176 d i r e c t recru i tment i n

China; and i n 1890 8972 p lu s 6666 d i r e c t recru i tment i n China. 20)

The Del i tobacco i ndus t ry was a t t he he igh t of i t s p ro spe r i t y i n 1877-90.

J.T. Cremer from the Del i M i j t r i e d t o g e t more Chinese labour by

t r a v e l l i n g t o China himself i n 1875. ~ r e m e r ' s conclusion was t h a t the Del i

Mij should send t r u s t e d Laukehs back t o China t o persuade t h e i r f r i e n d s

t o migra te t o Eas t Sumatra without any con t r ac t s . It was a success. Then

t h e o the r 5 tobacco concerns joined fo r ce s i n 1886 i n a more ea rnes t

at tempt t o b r ing about d i r e c t migra t ion . They s e n t D r . J . J . M . de Groot,

o f f i c i a l Chinese i n t e r -p re t e r i n Batavia , t o tour South China, and he made

a c l eve r and succes fu l scheme through the German f irms t he re and the

German Consul i n Swatow t o put p r e s su re on the Chinese government,

e s p e c i a l l y a s t h e Germans a l s o had a l a r g e share i n Del i tobacco. D r . d e

Groot and t h e German Consul i n Swatow used a l l t h e i r i n f l uence on the

h igher o f f i c i a l s of Chaochu, and br ibed some of the jun ior ones, u n t i l

t he o f f i c i a l permission was obtained f o r f r e e emigra t ion t o Sumatra i n

Apr i l 1 8 8 8 . ~ ' ) I n 1875-6 t he r epu t a t i on of Del i was a t i t s worst and was

accentuated by t he v io l ence s o o f t e n used by Kehtaus and brokers i n t h e

S t r a i t s t o compel unwi l l ing Singkehs t o board the s h i p s f o r Del i . It was,

however, p r a c t i c a l l y impossible f o r t h e De l i p l a n t e r s t o f i l l t h e i r labour

requirements under the condi t ions of 1875-77. I n those yea r s , t he r e fo re ,

they begaX a t tempt ing t o b r ing more Chinese d i r e c t from China, and

employed Javanese more widely i n the f i e l d s . I n 1879 t h r e were 4000

Chinese coo l i e s being imported, and t h i s f i g u r e r o s e t o 18.352 i n 1888.

But between 1880-90 t h e r e was a dec l ine , t he main cause being t he a t t i t u d e

of Chinese o f f i c i a l s , e s p e c i a l l y the Amoy a u t h o r i t i e s . 22)

I n China t he re was continuing p re s su re aga in s t immigration t o Del i .

The Heng Thye r e c r u i t i n g house was plagued by people threa ten ing t o

complain t o o f f i c i a l s about t he kidnapping of r e l a t i v e s unless they

were br ibed t o keep q u i e t . The Cent ra l Government i n Peking i t s e l f was

involved i n the oppos i t ion of emigrat ion t o De l i , p a r t l y because of i t s

d e s i r e t o p l ace Chinese consuls i n t he Netherlands Ind i e s .

The continuing cu r r en t of oppos i t ion prevented t he p l a n t e r s from ever

obta in ing a s f u l l o r a s su re a supply of labour a s they requi red . So

t he p l a n t e r s were i nc rea s ing ly t o look t o o the r sources t o f i l l t h e i r

labour requirements. Ind ian workers had never been numerous. The few

Indians (Klings) who signed con t r ac t s i n Malaya f o r work i n De l i were

breaking t h e laws of t he B r i t i s h Tndian C n v ~ r n m ~ n t cn n . r n n + . r . l l l - . +L---

-1 was only one a l t e r n a t i v e ; Javanese labour was r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e , why n o t

use i t ?

There were recru i tment o f f i c e s e s t ab l i shed i n Java , a huge r e s e r v o i r of

underemployed Javanese c o o l i e s , and ample cooperat ion from Dutch o f f i c i a

i n Java. Immigration of Javanese coo l i e s recomenced i n t h e middle of

1890s, and quickly surpassed t he Chinese f i g u r e s .

With t h i s new development began the notor ious " ~ o e n a l e Sanctie" ( forced

labour) f o r the Javanese coo l i e s .

Though the indentured Chinese coo l i e s g r adua l ly dwindled i n number, t h e

t o t a l Chinese popula t ion i n t h e Eas t c o a s t continued t o grow. A more

balanced community was now emerging, of t r a d e r s , shopkeepers, small farmc

f ishermen and lumbermen, although they s t 1 1 remained a smal l minor i ty .

According t o t h e annual r e p o r t from the "Deli P l a n t e r s Vereeniging" (Del:

P l a n t e r s Assoc ia t ion) , between Apr i l 1915 - March 1916 the t o t a l number (

Chinese c o n t r a c t c o o l i e s i n t he tobacco e s t a t e s was 37.608, and i n 1917

t h e t o t a l Chinese popula t ion i n t he Eas t coas t was 99.236 of whom 92.646

were males. Most of t h e Chinese female popula t ion were wives of

Tandils /cl i ief t a n d i l o r Laukehs, b u t very seldom the wives of Singkehs.

Most of the Singkehs were too poor t o pay t h e dowry i n China, o r i f they

were married they l e f t t h e i r wives i n China with t h e i r parents and s e n t

whatever money they could save back t o them.

Prof . Parker wrote: 23)

"Chinese emigrants , h e r e a s elsewhere, a r e slow t o b r i n g t h e i r own womar

wi th them u n t i l arrangements a r e made f o r permanent cemeteries , and u n t ~

a f e e l i n g of j u s t i c e and s e c u r i t y i s engendered i n t h e i r mindstt.

The Hainan Chinese (Hailams) d id n o t , under any circumstances, want t o

b r i n g t h e i r f a m i l i e s t o a fo r e ign country. These Chinese people came t o

Del i a s s e rvan t s , cooks, ho te lkeepers e t c . They usua l ly l i ved toge ther

wi th Javanese women and s e n t money t o t h e i r f ami l i e s i n China.

The most important Chinese t r i b e s i n t he E a s t coas t of Sumatra were:

1 . The Punt i s o r Cantonese:

These were n a t i v e s of Kwangtung Province. They l a t e r he ld p ro fe s s ions a s

goldsmiths, c ab ine t makers, t a i l o r s and t r a d e r s i n co t t on c lo th . On t h e

e s t a t e s t h e i r numbers were no t p l e n t i f u l .

Most of the Chinese p r o s t i t u t e s i n Del i a t t h a t time were from t h i s t r ibe

2. The Hakkas o r Khehs:

"They d i f f e r from t h e i r fe l low Chinese mainly i n t he f a c t t h a t among

them the women don ' t bind t h e i r f e e t . This , however, i s s t r i c t l y t r u e

only of t he Kwangtung Hakkas". 24)

I n D e l i we found them a s shoemakers, r a t t a n t r a d e r s , and t i n p l a t e makers.

The tobacco e s t a t e s such a s Po lon ia ( t h e Po lon ia a i r p o r t Medan a t p r e s e n t ) ,

Mariendal , Beka l la were opened w i t h t h e f i r s t Hakka c o o l i e s . One of t h e

Dutch e s t a t e managers remarked:

"The Hakkas work v e r y c l e a n , b u t have t h e weakness of smoking opium".

The Hakkas were famous dur ing t h e i r long s t a n d i n g i n s u r r e c t i o n a g a i n s t

t h e Dutch t r o o p s i n West Borneo.

The Chinese "Major" i n D e l i , t h e famous m u l t i - m i l l i o n a i r e Chong A F i e ,

(and h i s b r o t h e r Chong Yong Hian) were a l s o Hakka.

3 . The Hokloes:

The wellknown s u b - t r i b e s i n D e l i were t h e Theochius and t h e Hailhok Hongs.,

n a t i v e s of Swatow, and were most ly c o o l i e s on t h e e s t a t e s .

4. The Hailams:

The i r n a t i v e land was t h e i s l a n d of Hainan. Most of them l a t e r became

house s e r v a n t s , cooks and h o t e l c l e r k s .

5. The Arnoys o r Hokkians:

From t h e d i s t r i c t of Hsiang Shou Fu. Both i n D e l i and J a v a they were a c t i v e

a s t r a d e r s .

6 . Other s m a l l e r t r i b e s , some of which o r i g i n a l l y came from Liuchiu and

Chaochiu Peninsu la , u s u a l l y c a l l e d t h e Liuch ius and Chaochius, and t h e

Hokchius from Hokkian prov ince . Most of them were b o a t owners i n Belawan

and Bagan S iap i -ap i . *

The Cantonese and Hakkas were a l s o busy woodcutters , who s o l d f i r e wood

t o t h e e s t a t e s . The greengrocers and p i g b r e e d e r s w e k mos t ly former

c o o l i e s , who, a t t h e end of t h e i r c o n t r a c t s , r e n t e d t h e land from t h e

Malay kampong people. I n 1915 t h e Manager of t h e D e l i M i j , Van Vollenhoven,

gave s e v e r a l p l o t s of land which were n o t s u i t a b l e f o r tobacco p l a n t i n g

t o t h e Chinese t o be used f o r g reengrocery and p i g farms. These were

mos t ly Chinese from Swatow and Tsau Tsu Fu. However t h e S u l t a n of D e l i

was a g a i n s t t h i s a c t i o n , a s f r e e Chinese o u t s i d e t h e e s t a t e s were

cons idered a s i n t r u d e r s by t h e Malays.

Wherever Hakkas o r Hokloes were found they always formed t r i b a l s e c r e t

s o c i e t i e s . Though Chinese S e c r e t S o c i e t i e s were fo rb idden i n Nether lands

I n d i a , branches of Penang and Singapore s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s c e r t a i n l y

e x i s t e d among Chinese p l a n t a t i o n c o o l i e s .

I n t h e per iod of 1881-4 t h e r e were a s e r i e s of v i o l e n t i n c i d e n t s between

t h e "Ghee Hin" S e c r e t S o c i e t y which r e p r e s e n t e d p r i m a r i l y Theochius, Hakkas,

and Hailams, and t h e "Ho Seng" S e c r e t S o c i e t y r e p r e s e n t i n g Hokkians and

Hakkas from F i u Chew, S t e r n e r measures were taken by t h e Dutch i n 1881

t o suppress t h e s e s o c i e t i e s . 25)

Many gang wars between t h e S e c r e t S o c i e t i e s e r u p t e d i n Borneo, Riau a.

i n Del i . Should t h e v i c t i m s ever be brought t o c o u r t by t h e Dutch, mo

of them denied a l l knowledge of t h e a c c u s e r s . When t h e Chinese bound

themselves under o a t h a s members of t h e s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s , i t was v e r y

d i f f i c u l t t o persuade them t o t e l l t h e t r u t h a s w i t n e s s e s i n f r o n t of

t h e c o u r t because of t h e i r s o l i d a r i t y f e e l i n g s .

The former Res iden t of Riau, Graaf l and , wrotez6) t h a t t h e f i r s t s e c r e t

s o c i e t y i n Riau was t h e Ghee Hin b u t l a t e r ano ther s e c r e t s o c i e t y cam

Singapore, t h e Ghee Hock, i n t h e i s l a n d of Kundur.

I n 1876 t h e s e two s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s came i n t o open c o n f l i c t . Another s

s o c i e t y was t h e Maisan, where most of t h e members were from t h e "Tan"

I n D e l i t h e names of t h e s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s were s t i l l remembered w i t h

f e a r . 27)

The s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s were v e r y v e r y powerful, and l i k e t h e Mafia they

c o n t r o l l e d t h e l i v e s of t h e i r members, gave them long-term l o a n s a s

working c a p i t a l t o t r a d e o r open shops, and even a r ranged t h e i r weddi

ceremonies. The s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s a l s o he lped t h e i r members t o occupy

t h e economic f i e l d i n t h e E a s t c o a s t of Sumatra. They had connec t ions

w i t h t h e i r branches i n Penang, Singapore and Hongkong, and became a

s o r t of Chamber of Commerce which c o n t r o l l e d , and i f necessary i n c r e a

p r i c e s everywhere, which had t o be fol lowed even by t h e shops i n t h e

c u t of t h e way p l a c e s . I t h i n k t h i s s o r t of p r a c t i c e s t i l l e x i s t s and

s t i l l i n o p e r a t i o n h e r e . Before t h e s e c r e t s o c i e t i e s were deep ly invo

i n " respec tab le" b u s i n e s s , t h e c o n d i t i o n of t h e . C h i n e s e c o o l i e s i n t h

19th c e n t u r y i n D e l i was f a r worse. P r o f . P a r k e r , who v i s i t e d D e l i i n

1888 w r o t e 2 8 ) t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e c o o l i e s were i n a p o s i t i o n l i t t

removed from v i r t u a l s l a v e r y . I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e they had t o s i g n bon

t o s e r v e f o r a minimum t ime of 5 y e a r s a t f i x e d wages, then they had

t o guaran tee repayment of t h e i r passage money and o u t f i t , and every

encouragement was g iven t o them t o extend t h e i r term and t o spend a s

of t h e i r money a s p o s s i b l e i n t h e b r o t h e l s and o t h e r p l a c e s provided

f o r t h e i r r e c r e a t i o n . The food they bought and t h e opium they smoked

brought p r o f i t a t t h e i r expense t o e i t h e r t h e Dutch I n d i e s Government

t h e e s t a t e managers; l o a n s were f r e e ; t h e p e n a l t y f o r breach of

d i s c i p l i n e was heavy, and t h e "laws of evidence" were such t h a t t h e xi

man could p r a c t i c a l l y "work t h e case" i n h i s own i n , t e r e s t .

Gambling, w i t h a l l i t s t r e a c h e r o u s r e s u l t s , was growing. Before 1876,

under t h e S u l t a n ' s a u t h o r i t y , i t was n o t a l lowed i n t h e e s t a t e s excep

.the c a p i t a l of Labuhan D e l i , and on ly dur ing Chinese New Years; b u t from

t h e t ime t h a t i t was taken over by t h e Dutch government t h e gambling houses

were e x p l o i t e d t o d e l i v e r a s much p r o f i t a s p o s s i b l e t o t h e c o f f e r s of

t h e Dutch Treasury. Along t h e road from Labuhan t o Medan a l o n e t h e r e were

no l e s s than 7 gambling c a s i n o s a t t h a t time.29) The r e s u l t was t h a t many

Chinese c o o l i e s became s o poor t h a t they even s o l d t h e i r own daughte rs

t o t h e Malay nobles .

The end of t h e 19 th cen tury saw t h e beg inn ing of t h e f l o o d of f o r e i g n

machine-made goods, which had ex t inguished n a t i v e Malay c r a f t and a r t s ,

and t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n en masse of an i n d u s t r i a l and c a p i t a l i s t system

a l i e n t o Malay exper ience . I n t h e f a c e of t h e s e i n n o v a t i o n s t h e Malay

has lagged behind t h e European, Chinese o r even Ind ian . The main reason

f o r t h i s i s n o t always l a z i n e s s , of which t h e Malay i s too r e a d i l y accused,

b u t a f a i l u r e t o s p e c i a l i s e coupled w i t h a f a i l u r e t o a c q u i r e and r e a l i s e

t h e importance of c a p i t a l . What a European m o r a l i s t r e g a r d s a s l o s t t ime,

t h e Malay r e g a r d s a s t ime gained. A Chinese f i s h d e a l e r , f o r i n s t a n c e ,

en joys i n r e t u r n a monopoly of t h e c a t c h e s a t a low p r i c e , thus

d e p r i v i n g t h e Malay of p roper remunerat ion f o r h i s l abour . For t h e Malay,

t h e r e i s a reason: t h e f a i l u r e t o save h i s own c a p i t a l f o r t h e f u t u r e .

The Muslim law a g a i n s t t a k i n g i n t e r e s t a l s o m i l i t a t e d a g a i n s t t h e use

of c a p i t a l . I f a Malay wants t o e n t e r commerce, he f i n d s t h a t h e n o t

on ly l a c k s t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o n t a c t s which European and Chinese commerce

has e s t a b l i s h e d over c e n t u r i e s , b u t t h a t h e a l s o h a s t o f a c e t h e a c t i v e *

o p p o s i t i o n of those s o j o u r n e r s i n h i s n a t i v e land . Then t h e Chinese %-

became "Governement Onderdanen" ( d i r e c t s u b j e c t of t h e Dutch I n d i e s

Government) and g r a d u a l l y s t r a n g l e d t h e social-economic l i f e of t h e Malay.

At t h e end of t h e 19 th Century, w i t h t h e h e l p of t h e Dutch I n d i e s

Government and t h e e s t a t e concerns, t h e Chinese had ob ta ined t o t a l

occupat ion of t h e t r a n s p o r t a t i o n s e c t o r i n t h i s r e g i o n , which was once i n

t h e hands of t h e Batubara Malays.

I n 1887 t h e Dutch I n d i e s Government r e a d i l y opened 21 small harbours f o r

g e n e r a l t r a d e with Penang. Penang became a t t h a t per iod a d i s t r i b u t i o n

p o i n t from where a l l s o r t s of smal l b o a t s s a i l e d t o t h e v a r i o u s small

harbours on t h e E a s t c o a s t of Sumatra, and from where t h e goods were

shipped t o Europe. And Penang became a l s o t h e s t a p l e of import goods, t h e

s o c a l l e d "Pasar Goederen" which were n e a r l y a l l i n Chinese hands.

The s h i p p i n g companies which were i n o p e r a t i o n between Penang o r Singapore

t o E a s t Sumatra s i n c e May 1892 were i n t h e hands of t h e b i g Chinese

s h i p p i n g magnates, such as :

Chong Moh Steamship Coy. w i t h t h e s h i p s "Hokwei" , "Langkat" and "Rosa";

Ban Hui, owner of t h e s. s. "Sum Tor" s a i l i n g between S ingapore , S i a k ,

Bengkal is and Bagan Si-Api-api; Oei Soe i I n , owner of t h e s.s. "Marie

Austin"; Khoo Tiang Po owner of t h e s.s. "Chan Tai" (Penang, Asahan,

Batubara) ; A Hing owner of t h e s . s. "Flying Fish" (Penang, Asahan, Kualu

Tjong Ho w i t h t h e s . s . " J i n Ho" (Penang, ~ a n g k a t ) and many o t h e r s . 30)

The Dutch p l a n t e r s encouraged Chinese s e r v i c e s a s food s u p p l i e r s ,

c o n t r a c t o r s , e t c . f o r t h e p l a n t a t i o n s . Former Chinese c o o l i e s now became

shopkeepers and s e t t l e r s . Some of them became m i l l i o n n a i r e s , such a s

Chong A F i e , Tan Tek Hong, Seng Hap e t c . Most of t h e Chinese f i r m s i n

D e l i were a f f i l i a t e d w i t h Chinese f i r m s i n Penang and Singapore. Even

t h e i m p o r t a t i o n of Rangoon and Saigon r i c e was i n t h e i r hands, helped

by t h e Dutch I n d i e s Government. I n t h e 19 th Century t h e r e g i o n of E a s t

Sumatra was s c a r c e l y popula ted , b u t a f t e r t h e tobacco boom i t was

populated by Chinese, I n d i a n s and Indones ians from o t h e r r e g i o n s and the

Malays became a m i n o r i t y . Each group maintained i t s own c u l t u r a l i d e n t i t

and l i v e d i n i s o l a t i o n from each o t h e r , and t h e s e a r e a s can s t i l l be

i d e n t i f i e d i n t h e C i t y of Medan from t h e names of Kampong Kl ing ,

Kampong Mandai l ing e t c . T h a t ' s why t h e Chinese i n t h i s r e g i o n s t i l l keep

t h e i r own languages and customs i n t a c t , and we can s t i l l f i n d Chinese

people who cannot p r o p e r l y understand o r speak Malay ( Indones ian) . I n th

Chinese companies they seldom used Malays o r o t h e r Indones ians a s

employees, b u t always used people of t h e i r own r a c e , who, they argued,

could work b e t t e r .

The monopoly and t h e consignment systems which occupied such an importar

p l a c e among them, they had a d j u s t e d t o t h e n a t i v e s ; which now has t h e

popular nickname of "Tjon-System". They l e n t e v e r y t h i n g t h a t was needed

t o t h e n a t i v e kampong people. Soon t h e Chinese became i n d i s p e n s a b l e , anc

wi thout us ing any v i o l e n c e knew how t o make t h e n a t i v e s f o l l o w t h e i r go:

S t e p by s t e p they could mas te r s e v e r a l ways of l i f e , and t h e n a t i v e s not

had t o s t e p a s i d e from t h e compet i t ion . 3 1)

Many of t h e Chinese who had come t o t h e r e g i o n t o work on t h e p l a n t a t i o r

o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n , climbed t h e economic pyramid t o become weal thy

merchants o r t r a d e r s , whi le remaining a d i s t i n c t i v e l y s e p a r a t e r a c i a l

community. U n t i l about 1920 t h e Chinese-control led t r a d i n g network had

been making i n r o a d s i n t o much of t h e t r a d e i n ~ l a n t a t i o n produce. Goods

cont inued t o f low, b o t h l e g a l l y and i l l e g a l l y , and o u t of t h e dozens of

smal l p o r t s s i t u a t e d a long t h e f u l l l e n g t h of t h e Ease Sumatran Coast.

The Chinese merchant community cont inued t o monopolise t h e t r a d e . By

t h e 1920s, Medan and Pematang S i a n t a r p resen ted good examples of t h i s

expanding Chinese merchant community. I n S i a n t a r , t h e Chinese q u a r t e r

qu ick ly became t h e c e n t r e of economic l i f e i n t h e c i t y and i n Simelungun

a s a whole. 32)

We s t i l l h e a r t h e legend of how t h e l a t e m i l l i o n a i r e Chong A F i e came t o

D e l i from China wearing only s h o r t s and c a r r y i n g a s t i c k , and w i t h i n a

s h o r t t ime became a m i l l i o n a i r e and promoted by t h e Dutch I n d i e s

Government t o "Majoor" of t h e Chinese. He gave a dona t ion t o t h e Medan

C i t y Counci l ( t h e p r e s e n t b r i d g e a t Kampong K e l i n g ) , t o t h e S u l t a n of

D e l i (ha l f t h e expenses f o r t h e Mesjid Raya) and t o h i s n a t i v e China

( they ra i lway between Swatow and Chau Chu Hu) and had t h e monopoly of

opium import i n t o t h i s reg ion . He was a l s o t h e owner of t h e D e l i Bank.

G.C. A l l e n wrote33) , of a Chinese named Tan Tang Ho who came t o Medan

d i r e c t from China i n 1880 w i t h o u t a c e n t i n h i s pocket , b u t 20 y e a r s l a t e r

became t h e s o l e agen t of famous European made b i c y c l e s , sewing machines

and c i g a r s and was a m i l l i o n a i r e . A l l t h e s e m i l l i o n a i r e s were g iven t i t l e s

by t h e Dutch I n d i e s Government of "Majoor", "Kapitein" o r "Luitenant"

of t h e Chinese a s a new middle c l a s s group. The i r s a l a r i e s were pa id by

t h e government, and t h e i r d u t i e s were on ly t o r e p o r t any th ing t h a t

happened i n s i d e t h e Chinese community, t o h e l p t h e government

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n i n c o l l e c t i n g t a x e s among t h e Chinese, t o r e p o r t any

newcomers e t c . They were a l s o appointed a s members of t h e Dutch c o u r t s

(Landraad, P o l i t i e ) .

As i t was-the c o l o n i a l p o l i c y , t h e average monthly wage f o r an u n s k i l l e d

worker i n D e l i i n 1926 was F1. 19.50 accord ing t o thef inimum wage

s t a n d a r d s a s s t i p u l a t e d i n t h e v a r i o u s c o o l i e o rd inances . But on t h e

o t h e r hand t h e E a s t ~ u m a t r a ' s tobacco p l a n t a t i o n s s p e n t i n 1927 more

than F1. 53.000.000.- i n t h e r e g i o n i t s e l f . So one could have expected

t h a t t h e combined spending of p l a n t a t i o n workers a l o n e might have

c r e a t e d an i n c r e a s e i n market demand f o r f o o d s t u f f s and s imple consumer

goods, made r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e by t h e Chinese. During t h e d e p r e s s i o n

year of 1923 t h e p e r c a p i t a impor t s of t h e E a s t Sumatra popula t ion were

F1. 1.144 a s compared wi th F1. 665 f o r Java and F1. 519 f o r West

~ u m a t r a . ~ ~ ) The reason t h a t peasan t a g r i c u l t u r e i n E a s t Sumatra a l s o d i d

n o t respond t o t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s o f f e r e d by i n c r e a s e d market demand f o r

f o o d s t u f f s was simply t h a t t h e r e was l i t t l e room l e f t f o r t h e expansion

of peasan t a g r i c u l t u r e , hemmed i n a s i t was on a l l s i d e s by t h e

p l a n t a t i o n s . A l l t h e b e s t land t h a t was a v a i l a b l e i n t h a t r e g i o n had

a l r e a d y been a l l o t t e d t o t h e p l a n t a t i o n s a s concess ions , s o t h a t t h e

l o c a l p e a s a n t s d i d n o t have a c c e s s t o enough land t o produce enough

food t o meet demand.35) Beside rubber , t h e E a s t Sumatran peasan t a l s o

exported o t h e r p roduc ts , n o t a b l y copra , pinang n u t s , pepper lumber and

f i s h and from t h e Karo Highlands such a s p o t a t o e s , v e g e t a b l e s and f r u i ,

I n terms of e x p o r t v a l u e t o t a l peasan t e x p o r t s from E a s t Sumatra r o s e

from F1. 5 ,7 m i l l i o n (4,8% from t o t a l expor t ) i n 1913 t o a l e v e l of

F1. 32 m i l l i o n i n 1920 (14% from t o t a l e x p o r t ) . Almost a l l of t h e

e x p o r t e r s were Chinese f i r m s . 36)

Chinese c a p i t a l and i t s economic power m u l t i p l i e d and i n f i l t r a t e d i n t o

k i n d s of s e c t o r s . At t h e end of t h e 19th c e n t u r y they managed t o b u i l d

t h e f i r s t Chinese School i n Medan, "The Medan Boarding School", a t a t

when t h e r e was n o t a s i n g l e school b u i l t by t h e Dutch I n d i e s Governmen

f o r t h e Indonesians h e r e . The on ly r e a c t i o n from t h e Dutch c i r c l e was

t h a t t h e school was u s i n g Chinese and Engl i sh languages and headed by

Chinese t e a c h e r s from Malaya and i n t h i s way had promoted t h e B r i t i s h

i n t e r e s t more r a p i d l y . 37)

To c o u n t e r a c t t h i s , t h e Dutch opened t h e f i r s t "Holland-Chineesche Sch,

i n 1917.

The Dutch A s s i s t a n t Res iden t of Simelungun, J. Tideman, a l s o descr ibed

t h e Chinese i n S i a n t a r a s c o n s t i t u t i n g a commercial c l a s s , which formec

a predominant element i n t h e busy commercial d i s t r i c t of t h e c a p i t a l o.

Simelungun. 38)

Chinese c a p i t a l investment i n t h e p r e s s can be seen from 2 p o i n t s :

F i r s t t h e forming of newspaper p u b l i s h i n g houses and second from t h e

p u b l i c a t i o n of newspapers i n t h e Malay language and newspapers i n Chin1

c h a r a c t e r s . The f i r s t Chinese owned Malay newspaper was t h e "Andalas" ,

t h e P r e s i d e n t D i r e c t o r of t h e p u b l i s h i n g house was M r . Oei Beng Seng.

He a l s o publ i shed t h e "Sumatra Bin Poh" i n Chinese language. These pap1

prospered a s most of t h e pages were f u l l of adver t i sements from var iou :

Chinese f i r m s . One example of Chinese power through mass media i s g ive]

h e r e . The e d i t o r of a Malay language newspaper " P e r t j a Timoer" i n Medal

M r . Musa, had t h e courage i n 1912 t o launch a c r i t i q u e on t h e powerful

Chinese Mayoor Chong A F i e . Musa wro te t h a t Chong A F i e was a k indhear ,

man, who d u r i n g t h e coming of t h e f a s t i n g month Ramadhan had g iven a

minimum of F1. 0 ,10 t o each of t h e thousands of poor people. But besidc

w r i t i n g about t h e g e n e r o s i t y of M r . Chong A F i e , Musa made a mis take

of a l s o exposing t h e h i s t o r i c a l background of how M r . Chong A F i e

obdained h i s wea l th . That made M r . Chong A F i e v e r y annoyed, and n o t

long a f te rwards Musa was k icked o u t from " P e r t j a Timoer" wi thout any

reason. But n o t o n l y t h a t , even " P e r t j a Timoer" i t s e l f ceased t o e x i s t

i n January 1913.

Most of t h e prominent a r t i c l e s i n t h e Chinese-owned newspapers were

f u l l of propaganda promoting M r . Sun Yat Sen ' s Kuomintang Government and

campaigns f o r t h e boycot of Japanese-made goods. A f t e r 1922 more Chinese

newspapers were publ i shed i n Medan. Thanks t o t h e s u c c e s f u l an t i - Japanese

a r t i c l e s i n t h e "Sumatra Bin Poh", t h e Chinese Community had succeeded

i n c o l l e c t i n g more than F1. 10.000.000.- t o b e s e n t t o China.

Although t h e Malay language used i n t h e Chinese-owned newspapers was

v e r y bad, t h e newspapers could s u r v i v e , thanks t o t h e s u p p o r t of t h e

adver t i sements . 39)

A s f o r Medan, an American t r a v e l l e r i n 1920 observed t h a t :

"Many of t h e s t o r e s and a l a r g e p a r t of t h e t r a d e of Medan a r e i n t h e

hands of Chinese who, a s u s u a l , a r e extremely prosperous.

The i r r e p r e s s i b l e Chinese immigrant c o o l i e s seem d e s t i n e d t o become t h e

f i n a n c i a l power of Sumatra ....... ,,40)

When i n December 1941 t h e Japanese armies began t o conquer Malaya, t h e

Chinese S e c r e t S o c i e t y (Tr iad Brotherhood) members had p a r t i c i p a t e d i n

t h e Anti-Japanese a c t i v i t i e s and were t h e r e f o r e r u t h l e s s l y suppressed .

But i t d i d n o t h i n d e r them v e r y long and a b r i s k t r a d e and smuggling

of r i c e , f o o d s t u f f s , copra , opium and tobacco w i t h some p i r a c y

developed when o p p o r t u n i t y o f f e r e d .

Gradua l ly t h i s t r a d e expanded n o t on ly a long t h e c o a s t b u t a c r o s s t o

E a s t Sumatra, w i t h a s e c r e t network which enabled smuggled goods t o be

wide ly d i s t r i b u t e d among t h e smal l Chinese t r a d e r s . 41) . Towards t h e l a r g e Chinese community i t s e l f i n North Sumatra, t h e Japanese

'r - decided t o t a k e a moderate and c o n c i l i a t o r y l i n e . Soon a f t e r t h e occupa t ion

began Chinese c m u n i t y l e a d e r s were r e a s s u r e d by t h e new m i l i t a r y

a d m i n i s t r a t i o n t h a t coopera t ion w i t h t h e regime would s e e t h e Chinese

f r e e from i n t e r f e r e n c e w i t h t h e i r e s t a b l i s h e d l i f e - s t y l e and economic

a c t i v i t y . By J u l y 1942 t h e main t h r u s t of Japanese p o l i c y was c l e a r :

t o p rov ide Kuomintang l e a d e r s wi th a monopoly of access t o t h e Chinese

community and t o encourage Chinese businessmen t o r e t u r n t o t h e i r pre-war

l e v e l s of economic a c t i v i t y . The Overseas Chinese A s s o c i a t i o n i n Medan,

f o r example was allowed t o form a "Defence Corps" t o a s s i s t t h e r e g u l a r

p o l i c e and t h e Japanese Army i n guarding t h e Chinese s e c t i o n of t h e c i t y .

About t h e same t ime, t h e Sumatera Timur Shu-Chokan (East Sumatra

Res i s tance) o rdered a l l Chinese o r g a n i s a t i o n s t o merge themselves w i t h i n

an en la rged Kuomintang Assoc ia t ion . By t h e end of t h e y e a r a number of

prominent Chinese, p a r t i c u l a r l y s e v e r a l j o u r n a l i s t s and i n t e l l e c t u a l s

sympathet ic t o t h e communist movement i n China, were a r r e s t e d and a l l

YLef t Wing'' Chinese p u b l i c a t i o n s banned. A number of them who managed t o

evade t h e Japanese n e t tu rned t o e s t a b l i s h i n g c l o s e r working r e l a t i o n s

w i t h some of t h e Indonesian M a r x i s t s who were beg inn ing t o work w i t h i n

the Japanese a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . 42)

With t h e s e t t i n g up of t h e new Sumatra Gunseikanbu i n 1943, t h e 25th

Army Command f u r t h e r s t r e n g t h e n e d t i e s w i t h t h e Chinese b u s i n e s s c o m u n i

A p o l i c y d i r e c t i v e of A p r i l 1943 f o r example, s t a t e d t h a t :

"For t h e p r e s e n t , t h e Overseas Chinese s h a l l b e u t i l i s e d f o r economic

purposes b u t t h e i r s o c i a l power s h a l l b e g r a d u a l l y checked. Chinese bank

and n a t i v e f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s which a r e cons idered e s s e n t i a l s h a l l

be o rdered t o re-open immediately.

S ince t r a d e between Malaya and Sumatra occupies a s i g n i f i c a n t p l a c e i n

t h e economic a c t i v i t i e s of t h e Chinese i n b o t h a r e a s , t h e Chinese i n

Sumatra s h a l l b e p e r m i t t e d f u l l y t o engage i n t h i s t r a d e ; ....... t h e

economic a c t i v i t i e s of t h e Chinese i n Sumatra s h a l l b e unhampered a s muc

a s p o s s i b l e ....... ,143)

By t h e end of t h e y e a r Chinese merchants from Sumatra and Malaya/Singapo

were once a g a i n i n f u l l c o n t r o l of t h e t r a d e a c r o s s t h e Malacca S t r a i t s ,

t h i s t ime f r e q u e n t l y wi th Japanese s i l e n t p a r t n e r s and w i t h Japanese

m i l i t a r y p r o t e c t i o n . E s p e c i a l l y i n E a s t Sumatra, Chinese c o n t r o l of t h e

wholesa le and r e t a i l marke ts was back t o i t s pre-war l e v e l s .

I n 1945 t h e Japanese sur rendered and t h e Republic of Indones ia was

proclaimed and t h e A l l i e d ( B r i t i s h - I n d i a n ) f o r c e s g r a d u a l l y landed wi th

t h e t a s k of d i sa rming t h e Japanese t roops . T h i s l e a d t o armed c l a s h e s

wi th t h e v a r i o u s Indones ian youth armed groups.

I n 1946 l o t s of ca rgoes be ing smuggled a c r o s s from Sumatra t o b a r t e r

w i t h guns were "highjacked" by p i r a t e s n e a r the c o a s t of Malaya. I t was

mos t ly done by C e l l 12 of t h e Ang Bin Hoey (ABH) S e c r e t S o c i e t y .

Every shop i n Sungei Nibong (Penang) p a i d p r o t e c t i o n money and every

Chinese v i l l a g e r t h e r e became a member of t h e Ang Bin Hoey. A l t e r n a t i v e 1

arrangements were made t o r e l o a d cargoes on t o smal l s h i p s and t o t a k e

them t o E a s t Sumatra f o r s a l e . The Ang Bin Hoey headman thus became r i c h

and opened import-export f i r m s i n Penang and elsewhere. Some of t h e

C e l l 12 l e a d e r s sought r e f u g e i n Bagan Si-Api-api. They were t h e promine

l e a d e r s who were i n r e v o l t a g a i n s t t h e Republican Forces i n September

1946. One of t h e Perak S e c r e t S o c i e t y l e a d e r s , Lim Ah Hah, was r e p o r t e d

t o be i n Sumatra i n 1949. The widespread i n f l u e n c e of S e c r e t S o c i e t i e s

(Brotherhood of T r i a d S o c i e t y ) was recognized by bo th t h e Chinese

'Kuomintang and t h e Chinese Communists, each of which d e l i b e r a t e d how b e s

t o a t t r a c t and u t i l i z e the movement f o r i t s own purposes.

The Communist d o c t r i n e and t h a t of the Tr iad Brotherhood had one p r i n c i p l e

i n common, i n theory a t l e a s t , namely, t h e supremacy over the common man.

I n Penang, c e r t a i n members of C e l l 4 and C e l l 12 of t he Ang Bin Hoey,

encouraged by t h e i r l e ade r s , were found t o be he lp ing t h e Communists.

I n mid-1951, 5 Ang Bin Hoey members l e f t f o r the E a s t coa s t of Sumatra. 44)

S ince e a r l y December 1945 t h e r e were r e g u l a r c l a she s between t h e Chinese

youths and gangs of Indonesian youths and Chinese shops and warehouses

were ra ided f o r s t o l e n o r hoarded goods. 45)

General ly s e i zed were f o o d s t u f f s , c l o th ing , machinery e t c . I n response

Chinese youth began forming v i g i l a n t e defence groups. Soon v i o l e n t c l a she s

occurred. Open a s s o c i a t i o n by l e ade r s of t h e Chinese bus ine s s community,

p a r t i c u l a r l y those heading t h e Overseas Chinese Assoc ia t ion , wi th t he

B r i t i s h and N I C A now provided a p e r f e c t r a t i o n a l e , f o r t h e ven t i ng of

long pent-up ant i-Chinese f e e l i n g s .

On December 12 t h e Overseas Chinese Assoc ia t ion i n Medan r epo r t ed i n a

telegram s e n t t o General Chiang Kai Shek t h a t :

"Since t he A l l i ed Forces have taken over Sumatra and owing t o t h e s p e c i a l

s i t u a t i o n , t he p o s i t i o n of hundreds of thousands of overseas Chinese

becomes more d i f f i c u l t . The s a f e t y of the l i v e s and p r o p e r t i e s of t he

Chinese i s no t assured . We hope u rgen t l y t h a t t he Cen t r a l Government of

China w i l l send an envoy t o t h i s p l ace , who i s given f u l l a u t h o r i t y t o

look a f t e r t h e i n t e r e s t s of t h e Overseas Chinese i n Sumatra". 46)

S i x days l a t e r the Assoc ia t ion announced t h a t i t would r a i s e a "Home

Guard" (Poh An Tui) t o defend Chinese p rope r ty aga in s tka t t a ck . I n t h e

s t r e e t s t he armed youths became even more convinced of Chinese

involvement i n Br i t i shIDutch a t tempts t o de s t roy t h e Republic . 47)

Pemuda a t t a c k s on Chinese co rnun i t i e s became more f r equen t , soon almost a

d a i l y occurrence. Clashes wi th Chinese youth became more in tense . 48)

During the Dutch f i r s t aggress ion ( Ju ly 21, 1947), t he Dutch occupat iona l

f o r ce s were a s s i s t e d by u n i t s of Chinese Secu r i t y Corps, t he Poh An Tui . 49)

On September 4, 1947 s e v e r a l thousand Chinese had marched through Dutch

occupied Medan i n p r o t e s t a g a i n s t a t r o c i t i e s committed a g a i n s t t h e

Chinese community by armed Republican groups. The l e ade r s of t h e

demonstrat ion handed a p e t i t i o n t o t he Dutch Res ident , G e r r i t s e n ,

demanding t h a t Dutch fo r ce s remain i n Sumatra Timur u n t i l law and order

had been r e s t o r e d . 50)

By e a r l y September 1947, fo l lowing d i r e c t i n t e r v e n t i o n by t h e Chinese

Consul i n Medan, t h e Dutch I n d i e s Government and t h e Commander i n Chief

of t he ~ u t c h Forces gran ted permission f o r t h e Poh An Tui t o be expanded

t o 3000 men.51) By e a r l y October 1947 however, a c t u a l Poh An Tui s t r e n g t

had reached only about 1000, made up of 15 o p e r a t i o n a l u n i t s pos ted a t

s e v e r a l p l ace s a l l over t he occupied Eas t Sumatra. It was disbanded on

March 31, 1948.

I n t h e meantime b a r t e r t r a d e s t i l l went on between t he Republican

t e r r i t o r y and Malaya. Among t he b i g g e s t purchasers of b a r t e r t r a d e from

Eas t Sumatra and s u p p l i e r s e t c . i n r e t u r n were Hanson, Wah Giap & Co

i n Singapore and i n Penang v i a Lee Tek Kong, formerly t he owner of Black

Cat Coy. i n Tanjong Ba l a i Asahan. There were now b i g p r o f i t s t o be made

i n t he b a r t e r t r a d e , even though the bu lk of p r o f i t s ou t of t he t r ade

continued t o f low t o t he Chinese middlemen i n Sumatra, Malaya and

Singapore, many of t he new Indonesian t r a d e r s a l s o became r i c h men du r in

1948.

The.Chinese Trading Assoc ia t ion , f o r t he f i r s t time reopened a f t e r t h e

Second World War on the 24th January 1948 i n Medan, was a t tended by more

than 300 important prominent members. They e l e c t e d a s Chairman M r . Hsu

Hua Chang.

Conclusion

The Chinese r o l e i n t h i s r eg iona l economy a f t e r 1950 had increased

enormously s i n c e 1942. A s t h e importance of the smal lho lders t r a d e aspec

of t h e economy increased a s a p ropo r t i on of the t o t a l r eg iona l economy,

so too d id t he importance of t he Chinese merchant community: a s middleme

f i n a n c e r s and o rgan i ze r s52 ) , and a t p r e s e n t a s i n d u s t r i a l i s t s .

I n the development of the Dutch I n d i e s economy, Chinese immigrants were

used by t he Dutch t o r e i n f o r c e t h e i r po l i cy . I n e a r l y days, t h e VOC

l e a sed lands t o them a s we l l a s t o o t h e r people and farmed out t he

c o l l e c t i o n of t axe s and t o l l s ; under the "Culture" system, Chinese becam

middlemen s o t h a t I t . . . . . a l l t h a t t he n a t i v e s s o l d t o Europeans they s o l

through Chinese, and a l l t h a t t h e n a t i v e s bought from Europeans they

bought through Chinese". 53)

The Chinese con t ro l l ed a l l t h e opium shops, pawnshops, and gambling

houses where l o c a l earn ings o f t e n found t h e i r way. During the p r e sen t

century when the number of Chinese ex-coolies has i nc r ea sed , t h e i r

i n t e r e s t s have widened and t h e i r i n f l uence i n i ndus t ry , t r a d e and

commerce increased too. The Chinese a r e a c l o s e l y k n i t community wi th

few s o c i a l t i e s e i t h e r wi th Europeans o r wi th t h e Indonesians. They

cha l lenge smal le r European concerns on the one hand, and on t he o t h e r ,

they have exper ience i n t r a d e and a money economy which i s supe r io r t o

t h a t of t he r u r a l popula t ion . They t r a v e l l e d i n t o t he i n t e r i o r , buying u

such produce a s kampong rubber, tobacco, co f f ee , kapok, r i c e and tap ioca

and f i s h from the fishermen. They n o t only pay a low p r i c e , bu t the

peasants and t he fishermen a r e paid before hand and then have t o borrow

money s o t h a t the same Chinese t r a d e r s become money lenders a s wel l . They

take goods t o s e l l i n the Chinese bazaar . They s e l l b a t i k s i n Chinese-owned

b a t i k f a c t o r i e s . They a r e t he t r a d e in te rmediar ies .

This r a i s e s many d i f f i c u l t problems, e s p e c i a l l y i n remoter d i s t r i c t s

where peasants a r e o f t en a t the mercy of the Chinese middlemen f o r t he

s a l e of t h e i r produce, and i n so many i n d u s t r i e s where Chinese have

e s t ab l i shed a nea r monopoly. I n pre-war t imes, only a handful of Indonesians

were engaged i n commerce o r i n f inance , and an even smal le r propor t ion

had pos i t i ons of importance i n t he v a s t admin i s t r a t i ve system of Dutch

t rade . The Indonesian was a producer of raw ma te r i a l s . His earn ings

depended on movements i n world t r a d e , on f l u c t u a t i o n s con t ro l l ed by the

s tock exchanges of Amsterdam, Singapore and New York and London. Whether

o r n o t he could buy cheap goods, c lo thes f o r h i s fami ly , a b i cyc l e o r a

mi r ro r , depended on dec is ions taken by Chinese t r a d e r s who c o n t r o l t he

balance of expor ts and imports. 54)

The t r i shaw (Becak) boys a r e Indonesians whose Becak a r e owned mostly

by Chinese. Because too many Becak a r e a l ready i d l e , no new l i cence

number p l a t e s a r e being issued by the Medan Ci ty Government. But t h e r e a r e

o the r ways. The Chinese taukehs evade t h i s r e s t r i c t i o n simply by

a t t a ch ing the same number t o two or more Becak. With t he cheap Indonesian

labour eas)ly a v a i l a b l e , Chinese-owned smal l i n d u s t r i e s (manufacturing

i n d u s t r i e s , consumer goods i n d u s t r i e s , i n d u s t r i e s f o r *vice and

r e p a i r i n g equipment f o r t he p l an t a t i ons ) a r i s e . At the time of t he

w r i t i n g of t h i s paper, nea r ly 75% of a l l k inds of i n d u s t r i e s i n Eas t

Sumatra a r e f u l l y or p a r t i a l l y owned by Chinese W . N . I . (Warga Negara

Indonesia o r Indonesian c i t i z e n of Chinese o r i g i n ) , nea r ly 99,99% of

shops with a l l k inds of t r ades . The W.N. I . Chinese, now us ing b e a u t i f u l

Indonesian names have absorbed m i l l i o n s of d o l l a r s of c r e d i t investments

from the Indonesian government banks. When r e c e n t n a t i o n a l i s t i c tens ion

rose h igh among the n a t i v e Indonesians, e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r the Cen t r a l

Government i ssued the P.P. no.14/1979 (Government Ordinance) backing

the s o c a l l e d "Weaker Economic Group" ( i . e . the n a t i v e Indonesians) the

W . N . I . Chinese e a s i l y switched t o the new s i t u a t i o n . They even appointed

t h e i r Indonesian d r i v e r s t o become so c a l l e d "Directors" and they handled

them from behind the door. They have a say ing i n Medan:

"You may g ive food t o the n a t i v e Indonesians b u t never teach them how

t o provide f o r food".

I FOOTNOTES

1 . O.W. Wolters , Ea r ly Indonesian Comerce. A Study of t he Or ig ins of S r i v i j a y a ( I t h a c a 1967) 229-248 f f .

2. Yuan Shih, chuan 12, I l a .

3. I Tsing, Fan Yih Ming-i-tsih, chapter I11 f f .

4. E.E. McKinnon & S.H. Tengku Luckman S ina r .

5. Chang Ting-yu a .o . , Ming-shih, chuan 325 (Peking 1974) 8416.

6. Ma Huan, Ying-yai shenglan (1 45 1) . 7. Mao Yuan-yi, Wu-pei ch ih (1621) chuan 240;

See a l so : J . V . M i l l s , "Malaya i n the Wu Pe i Chih Charts" i n : Journa of the Royal A s i a t i c Socie ty , Malayan Branch XV (1937:3) 42 f f .

8. S.H. Tengku Luckman S i n a r , S a r i Sedjarah Serdang (Dengan ada t i s t i a Melaju dan teromba S e r i Paduka Gotjah Pahlawan) Djl .1: Sebelum abad ke-XX. Medan 1971.

9. J. Anderson, Mission t o t he Eas t coas t of Sumatra (Edinburgh 1826)

10. H. Hanunerster, Bi idrage t o t de kennis van de Afdeling Asahan (Amste 1926) 50.

1 1 . Koloniaal Vers lag 1876, 18.

12. P.J. Veth, "Het Landschap De l i op Sumatra" i n : - TAG (1877:2) 155.

13. A-. Reid, The Contest f o r North Sumatra. At jeh , t he Netherlands and I B r i t a i n , 1858-1898 (Kuala Lumpur 1969) 45. I

14. W. Brandt (ps. W.S.B. K loos t e r ) , De Aarde van Del i . 's-Gravenhage 1

15. A. Hoynk van Papendrecht, Gedenkschrif t van de Tabakmaatschappij Arendsburg t e r gelegenheid van haar 50 j a r i g bes taan , 1877-1927. Rotterdam 1927.

16. Tengku Luckman S ina r , S a r i Sedjarah Serdang, vo l . I , 72.

17. Report on 1876 Chinese Labourer 3-11-1876. Appendix 22 SSICP, x l i i -

18. E. Thio, "The Singapore Chinese P ro t ec to ra t e : Events and Condit ions Leading t o i t s Establishment, 1823-1877" i n : JSS. Socie ty XVI (1960

19. W. Knaggs t o Lavino 25-8-1875. A.R.A., Buitenlandse Zaken, Dossier

20. Annual Reports of Chinese P r o t e c t o r a t e SSGG.

21. H.J. Bool, De Landbouwconcessies i n de Res ident ie t e r Oostkust van Sumatra (S.1. e.a. f o l . ) 6-10.

22. A.J.S. Reid, Ea r ly Chinese Migrat ion i n t o North Sumatra.

23. Parker , The Chinaman i n Hawaii.

24. D. MacIver, A Chinese-English Dict ionary. Hakka-dialect a s spoken i Kwangtung. Rev. ed. by M.C. Mackenzie. Shanghai 1926.

25. W.H.M. Schadee, Geschiedenis van Sumatra's Oostkust (2 vo l s . Amster 1918-1919) vo l . I1 45; A.G. de Bruin, De Chineezen t e r Oostkust van Sumatra (Leiden 1918) 38-52.

26. A.F.P. Graafland, "Schets de r Chineesche Ves t ig ing i n de Afdeeling Karimon" in : BKI X X X V I I (1 888) 505-545.

27. See the d a i l y Nieuws van den Dag 2-3-1885.

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A

I MAJOOR JANTJE AND THE INDISCH ELEMENT I N BETAWI FOLKMUSIC I

by

Mona Lohanda

Augus t i jn Mich ie l s "was h i s o r i g i n a l name, a l though f o r n a t i v e people ,

Creo le and Chinese, h e was b e t t e r known a s "Majoor ~ a n t ~ e " ~ ) , " k a p i t e i n

d e r Papangersl ' , d e s p i t e t h e f a c t t h a t h e a c t u a l l y acqui red t h e rank of

"Kolonel t i t ~ l a i r " . ~ ) The word "Papangers" might be d e r i v e d from Pampangos

of Lupon4), v e r y m i l i t a n t people , known f o r be ing good s o l d i e r s i n the Spanish

army, who took r e s i d e n c e i n 1633 i n t h e e a s t e r n p a r t of o l d c i t y Ba tav ia .

These Papangers people then became a p a r t of Mard i jkers s o l d i e r s group i n t h e

Dutch E a s t I n d i a Company army. A s i s w e l l known, Mard i jkers means f r e e

man, non-slave. Mardeca people , a r e a l s o mentioned by Rumphius a s "vreemde

inwoonders" and d i f f e r e n t from e i t h e r t h e Dutch o r n a t i v e s . The o l d e s t

Mard i jkers might s t i l l b e a r Portuguese names such a s De Sousa, de Lima,

e t c . , b u t l a t e r a t c h r i s t e n i n g occas ions they were g iven Dutch names

a f t e r t h e i r w i t n e s s . So, a c e r t a i n P i e t e r of Bengalen, a f t e r h i s

c h r i s t e n i n g , would be c a l l e d P i e t e r J a n s z , fo l lowing h i s w i t n e s s , M a t t h i j s

J a n s z.

Not only d i d they a p p a r e n t l y look d i f f e r e n t from n a t i v e people , b u t a l s o

from t h e Dutch m i l i t a r y e s t a b l i s h m e n t . While t h e ' I n l a n d e r s ' were d i v i d e d

i n Javanese c o r p s , B a l i n e s e , Buginese o r Ambonese c o r p s - s o t h e Mard i jkers

formed a corps. They developed t h e i r own u n i t s under t h e i r c a p t a i n s ,

l i e u t e n a n t s , e t c . bear ing Dutch and Portuguese names.

Majoor ~ a n t j e ' s a n c e s t r y went back t o n e a r l y t h e end of t h e seventeen th

cen tury t o t h e time of t h e c h r i s t e n i n g of " T i t u s van Bengala, L i j f f e i g e n

van Signora Dehan, g e t u i j g e n P i e t e r Mich ie l s en Monica van Bengala" on

2 J u l y 1694. 5

T h i s T i t u s van Bengala was then c a l l e d T i t u s Mich ie l s who became "kap i te in"

i n 1728 and r e s i d e d i n t h e n o r t h e a s t , p a r t of B a t a v i a where t h e p r e s e n t

Portuguese Church ( o r Buitenkerk) remains. This p a r t of t h e c i t y was a l s o

no ted a s t h e c e n t r e of Mard i jkers i n h a b i t a n t s . The f i r s t son of T i t u s

Mich ie l s was Andries Mich ie l s , who had t h r e e sons , i . e . T i t u s , Andr ies ,

and Jonathan. The t h i r d son, Jona than Michie l s , w i t h whom t h e g l o r y of

t h i s Mard i jkers fami ly began, was born on 1 9 A p r i l 1737. He was t i t l e d

" O L I ~ l u i t e n a n t d e r In landsche B u r g e r i j of d e r Papangers" and bought

t h e count rys ide of T j i l e u n g s i r f o r 29.500 r i j k s d a a l d e r s i n 1776. Two y~

l a t e r , h e purchased Kalapanoenggal, l o c a t e d a t t h e boundary of T j i l e u n

from t h e Dutch E a s t I n d i a Company f o r 26.400 r i j k s d a a l d e r s .

Kalapanoenggal and T j i l e u n g s i r were c a l l e d "vogelberg" because of t h e

number of b i r d n e s t s .

Jonathan Michie l s mar r ied Agraphina Abraham - whom F. d e Haan assumed

former ly a maid-slave, and by h e r c h r i s t e n i n g became "anak mas" of a D

lady6)- on 15 J u l y 1759. From t h i s mar r iage came t h r e e sons and two

daughte rs , i . e . Andr ies , P i e t e r , and Augus t i jn , E l i z a b e t h and G e e r t r u i

They were J o n a t h a n ' s l e g i t i m a t e c h i l d r e n , f o r h e a l s o had s e v e r a l

i l l e g i t i m a t e ones. Augus t i jn M i c h i e l s , our Majoor J a n t j e , was born

on 6 January 1769.

According t o Jonathan M i c h i e l s t es tament of A p r i l 1788, h i s w i f e was t

h e i r e s s of a l l h i s p o s s e s s i o n s b e f o r e Andries and Augus t i jn . I n t h e

meantime, A u g u s t i j n encountered s t r o n g o b j e c t i o n s from h i s fami ly towa

h i s mar r iage on 9 October 1788 t o Maria Wilhelmina d e B r u i j n , daughte r

of t h e l a t e l i e u t e n a n t of Papangers , J a n F r e d e r i k Lourens. A new w i l l

was made i n 1800, a f t e r t h e mother ' s d e a t h , t o p a s s t h e fami ly i n h e r i t

t o t h e f i r s t son, Andr ies , and then a f t e r him t o P i e t e r , t h e second s o

But P i e t e r Mich ie l s d i e d on 28 October 1 8 0 5 ~ ) , s o it was t h e t ime f o r

Augus t i jn Mich ie l s t o appear on t h e s t a g e t o g l o r i f y h i s Mard i jkers

fami ly i n t h e Dutch E a s t I n d i e s hemisphere.

As w e l l a s t h e i n h e r i t a n c e coming i n t o h i s hands, A u g u s t i j n l s m i l i t a r y

c a r e e r a l s o progressed s t e a d i l y . I n October 1789 h e was "Vaandrig d e r

In landsche Burger i j " , then he acqui red t h e rank of "Luitenant d e r

in landsche c h r i s t e n e n " i n September 1800.

On 13 March 1801 h i s new t i t l e was marked a s " k a p i t e i n l u i t e n a n t d e r

Burger i j " , and on 30 March 1804 he was appoin ted a s "Capi te in l u i t e n a r

onder Papangers of Mardi jkers" . By t h e d e a t h of h i s b r o t h e r , P i e t e r , t

ob ta ined t h e t i t l e of I t k a p i t e i n d e r Papangers met den rang van c a p i t e i

d e r Burger i j " i n November 1805. L a t e r ill September 1807, a f t e r twenty

y e a r s of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e , h e asked f o r r e s i g n a t i o n under t h e t i t l e of

"Oud-Majoor d e r Burger i j " o r "Kolonel t i t u l a i r " . And y e t l i k e o t h e r

Mard i jkers , Augus t i jn , a m i l l i o n a i r e , never l i v e d i n Weltevreden wherc

t h e Dutch and European dwelled t o g e t h e r . He remained i n "ech te

Mardi jkerbuurten" i n t h e neighbourhood of Ancol.

The f i r s t mar r iage gave him Wilhelmina M i c h i e l s , b o i n on 13 A p r i l 179(

Jona than M i c h i e l s , 18 March 1791, Agraphina August ina M i c h i e l s , 23 Sex

1 7 9 2 ~ ) , Augustina Michie l s , 12 J u l y 18019), and Michie l s , born on 22 June

1803. lo) H i s f i r s t w i f e , Maria Wilhelmina de Bru i j n , d ied on 21 J u l y 1803

which t e l l s u s t h a t she never came t o o r experienced t h e exuberant

l i f e i n , T j i t eu r eup o r T j i t r a p .

T j i t r a p land came i n t o Dutch Eas t I n d i a Company possess ion through Raden

Sakee. He and h i s b r o t h e r , Pangeran Ar i a Poerbaya, son of Su l t an Ageng

from Bantam Su l t ana t e , were once ex i l ed i n Ceylon, and r e tu rned l a t e r t o

Batav ia i n 1730 where Poerbaya d ied . Raden Sakee s e t t l e d i n T j i t r a p and

was the f i r s t l andlord . I n 1756 t he Dutch Eas t I n d i a Company so ld t h i s

land t o Johan Andries Baron von Hohendorff. A f t e r a long time of pass ing

through s e v e r a l owners, t he land came i n t o Augus t i jn ~ i c h i e l s ' possess ion

i n 1817. He purchased T j i t r a p from Anje l ina Cathar ina V a l e n t i j n f o r

91.000 g u i l d e r s l l ) a n d then a l s o took neighboring count rys ide along t h e

main road from Batav ia t o Buitenzorg, t h a t included T j i l e u n g s i r ,

~ a l a ~ a n o e n ~ ~ a l l ~ ) , Tj ipamingkis , T j imapag, Tanahbaroe, T j i ba roe sa , and

Nanggewer . 13)

The d i s t a n c e from T j i t r a p t o Batavia i s about "22 palen" (around 33 km;

a paal i s about 1,5 km) and "1 1 ,5 palen" t o t he North-East of Buitenzorg.

The house, which had a very n a t i v e landscape of r i ve r -va l l ey s , sawahs,

canary t r e e s and t h e l i k e , undoubtedly gave an amazing view, f o r t h e r e

a l s o "echt-Indische hu is" wi th s e v e r a l bu i l d ings around. The main bu i l d ing

was c a l l e d "Gedong Panjang" where t he owner r e s i ded . The upper p a r t was

c a l l e d "Gedong ~ o e h o e r " ' ~ ) , whi le somewhere around l a y t h e r u i n s of

"Gedong Kramat" which was Raden Sakee ' s g rave , t he f irkt landlord of

T j i t r a p . Decorated i n Moorish s t y l e , Majoor J a n t j e ' s s tudy was t he p l a c e

where he kep t h i s c o l l e c t i o n of weapons, coa t of arms, banners , and a l s o

h i s gamelan s e t . These b e a u t i f u l n a t i v e ins t ruments were on ly played

once a year on I January a t t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c e l e b r a t i o n of t he g r e a t

"slamatan" f o r t he house. 15)

The l i f e i n T j i t r a p was very glamorous and spec t acu l a r , f o r t he landlord

extended h i s charm and h o s p i t a l i t y t o everyone, h i s v i s i t o r s , f r i e n d s ,

even t o t he ne'er-do-wells a s F. de Haan mentioned i n De l a a t s t e de r

Mardijkers . 16) He b u i l t s e v e r a l annex bu i l d ings f o r h i s v i s i t o r s '

comfort and provided s e r v i c e and a t tendance . It was a g r e a t g a i e t y

t o l i v e t he r e . The day passed through e a t i n g , d r ink ing , s t r o l l i n g o r

r i d i n g and card-playing. Everyone r e v e l l e d i n being e n t e r t a i n e d by

Majoor J a n t j e ' s s l ave s , ho r se s , wine and music.

J . B . J . van Doren, who came t o t he I n d i e s a s second l i e u t e n a n t of Cavalry

i n 1822 and v i s i t e d T j i t r a p , s a i d t h a t Majoor J a n t j e might have one

hundred maid-slaves, and twenty-five of them were charged wi th se rv i

t h e t a b l e dur ing a meal. There were indeed 320 persons who worked fc

him i n T j i t r a p house. 17) A music corps of t h i r t y people might be taE

from the se members which was c a l l e d "he t muziek corps d e r Papangers'

s e t up i n about 1827-1829 when t h e Majoor was promoted t o be colonel

They wore h a l f - m i l i t a r y costume wi th tu rbans around t h e i r heads.

During t h e p a r t y , they played European music f i r s t , followed by Chir

music, cha r ac t e r i z ed by f l u t e and cymbals, and l a s t l y t he gamelan

o r c h e s t r a played a g r e a t p a r t i n e n t e r t a n i n g t he audience. It was a1

an everyday p a r t y , and s i n c e t h e landlord was a l s o a l ove r of "tanda

p a r t i j" , such en te r ta inment accord ingly happened i n the evening. Maj

J a n t j e , i n h i s Javanese costume of sarong and kabaya, a k r i s s e t on

w a i s t , opened t he tandak-dance wi th one of h i s maid-slaves, a s h i s g

accompanied by o the r maid-slaves, came a f t e r him t o s e t a dancing r o

It was only t he unmarried male gues t s who had t he l i b e r t y of p a r t i c i

i n such dancing row. The lady dancers would even be very provoca t ive

making a l o t of movements wi th t h e i r hands and bodies , snapping t h e i

looie p l ea t ed sarong aga in and aga in t o l e t t h e gentlemen ca t ch a g l

of t h e i r b e a u t i f u l s l ende r forms.19) While t h e landlord and h i s gues

were enjoying t h e i r meal, the musicians marched around t he t a b l e ,

l i ven ing up t he meal ceremony wi th t h e i r music. And by the t ime gues

f i n i s h e d t h e i r e a t i n g , they made a walking row each s i d e of t a b l e ,

parading around the dining-room, led by t h e l and lo rd . So i t was a v e

chee r fu l p a r t y , where t he h o s t , gue s t s , musicians, and s l a v e s j o i n t l ,

took t h e i r p a r t . A no t e s a i d t h a t be s ide s t h e i r r a t h e r s t r a n g e appea

w i th ha l f -mi l i t a ry costume and turbans , t h e i r performance of Europea;

music was r e a l l y good. 20)

I n h i s Chinese music corps , s e v e r a l s l a v e s were a l s o involved, such ;

Roenoeng o r Leytjoen from T j i t t a , a Chinese f l u t i s t , Layan, from Bal:

a Chinese musician and a l s o a s t a b l e boy, who, a f t e r t h e landlord di t

were publ icy so ld . 21)

Undoubtedly, a l l t h i s g a i e t y and worldly p l ea su re demanded an enormol

expense of money; f o r example, t he whole household depended on 3280

gantangs of r i c e i n a month, even Majoor J a n t j e ' s dogs needed 28 gant

To h e l p suppor t such a b i g expendi ture , Majoor J a n t j e leased a l l h i s

land possess ions t o the Chinese, i n a d d i t i o n t o h i s o the r a s s e t of

'!vogelnestjes" which were a l s o pub l i c l y so ld a f t e r h i s death. 22)

Augusti jn Michie ls en tered h i s second marriage on 23 May 1819 wi th Davida

E l i s abe th Augusti jn, who had a l r eady l i ved wi th him a f t e r the f i r s t wi fe

d ied i n 1803. Davida E l i s abe th , a f r e e C h r i s t i a n and probably a s l ave i n

her maidenhood, was a r a t h e r shy woman who p re f e r r ed t o keep h e r s e l f

unnoticeable.

Yet h e r dea th on 3 October 1827 s t rong ly caused a b ig change t o Majoor

J a n t j e ' s i nne r pe r sona l i t y .

His family papers seemingly d id no t show l eg i t ima te ch i l d r en of t h i s second

marriage. There were only adoption c e r t i f i c a t e s o r announcements of

s eve ra l sons and daughters . Michiel Augusti jn Michie ls , whose mother

was Minerva, was adopted i n Apr i l 1815. I n August 1819, Engelina Michie ls ,

daughter of Angelina from Batavia, was adopted. Then i n January 1821,

daughter of Thal ia from Tabanan, acquired t he name of Augustina Michiels .

A l i t t l e boy of e i g h t years o ld , S ien joe , was adopted i n May 1824 and

took a new name, Andries Michiels . Another adoption c e r t i f i c a t e of May

1830 s t a t e d Johannes Wilhelmus J u l i u s Michiels a s the adopted son of

Augusti jn Michiels . His mother was Janikoe. Under adoption c e r t i f i c a t e

of 4 August 1857, a l i t t l e maid-slave, Nonna, from Batavia , born a s

daughter of Geloan from B a l i , adopted by Augusti jn Michie ls , became

Gee r t ru i j da Michiels , whi le t he mother was then ca l l ed S a a r t j e . 23)

Twenty-seven January 1833 marked t he l a s t day of Augusti jn Michie ls ,

"kolonel t i t u l a i r de r Papangers", one of "de r i j k s t e grondeigenaar van Java"

when t h i s &markable f i g u r e i n Indisch h i s t o r y of t he Netherlands-India

d ied i n Semper Idem, h i s former house i n Batavia. For $e l a s t time h i s

music corps of Papangers played f o r him, no t a s on j o l l y e n t e r t a i n i n g

n igh t s bu t i n a sorrowful b u r i a l ceremony, a f a r ewe l l t h a t a l s o marked

t h e end of t he l a s t well-known Mardijkers i n Netherlands-India h i s t o r y .

A l l h i s land possessions were d iv ided among h i s ch i l d r en , whi le t o s i s t e r s

and b ro the r s he l e f t a c e r t a i n sum of money. From h i s testament of

29 March 1831 we then know tha t : t o Agraphina Augustina Michie ls , t he

only l i v i n g daughter of h i s f i r s t marriage, he l e f t the land of

Kalapanoenggal; s i s t e r s E l i zabe th Michiels and Pe t rone l l a Michiels

r e s p e c t i v e l y were given fou r thousands gu i lde r s . Brother T i tu s Michiels

had f i v e thousands, whi le o the r b ro the r , Freder ik Michiels received

four thousand gu i lde r s . A n i ece , Geer t ru ida F rede r i ca Wannemaker obtained

f o u r thousand gu i lde r s . To Willem J u l i u s he gave e i g h t thousand g u i l d e r s ,

and t o t he orphanage of t h e Reformation Church i n Batavia he granted

f i v e hundred g u i l d e r s every year . Michiel Augusti jn Michie ls , 16 years

-12 :-r--: +-A ~ : f . . , , : , , r . : , T::,,,,, ,,A nnnamhn A l ~ e ~ l c + i n = M i r h i o l a

received T j i l eungs i and Tj ibaroesa . Andries Michie ls , 6 years o ld , t

given t he heirdom of T j i t eu reup (o r T j i t r a p ) and Naggewer. Wilhelmi~

Michiels , one year and fou r months o ld , was l e f t the Soekaradja lanc

His legacy a l s o included h i s va r ious gardens, and i n add i t i on of th:

a non-Christian woman, Jap Hok Nio, was permit ted t o c u l t i v a t e t he '

Tanj ong Priok.

A s e c r e t s ta tement (Onderhand a t tached t o h i s testament

dec lared the l i b e r a t i o n of h i s maid-slaves, i . e . "Car l ina van Macass

Liankiauw of An t j i e van Boegis, Geloan of S a r t j i e van B a l i j , Wilhelr

of Kiouwha van Batavia, Pamela of Rasima van Batavia". While anothe:

s ta tement which was a t tached t o h i s 1831 testament dec lared t h a t :

"August van Java; Seneen van Batavia; Kaijman van Batavia; Korne l i s

Japaar van Batavia , met z i j n vrouw Tjoenl ien of Gambeer van Kloenko~

en met z i j n moeder Lasina van Batavia; Sumbaua van Sumbaua; S ina of

van Eende; Redjab van Macasser met z i j n vader S p a d i l l e van Macc.; K,

van Mandhar; Solo van Eende; Damon van Macasser; Arleking van Batav.

Basta van Maros met z i j n vader Basso van Maros en z i j n moeder Paulir

van Boegis en haa re dogter B i t j a van Batavia; Daud van Batavia, met

vrouw Sara of Sahia van Bima en haa re zoon Eton van Batavia; P a l l a s

Magarij; T j iauwt j ing of T j o k j a i j van R o t t i e ; Boesoek of Reibien van

Batavia; Geluk of B ie t j oe van Mangarij; J u l y of Adonis van Doessong

Kodja van Batavia; Papoe van Ceram; P lu to van Ceram; S ied ien of Oed

van Batavia; B ie t j oe van Pekalongan; Baroe van Mandhar; Sa le van Ba

M a t t i j van Batavia, met z i j n moeder Roosje van Sumbaua. Poassa van

Batavia" should no t be so ld and should remain wi th Augusti jn Michie

h e i r s and h e i r e s s . Despite t h i s s ta tement , V . I . van de Wall found 01

l a t e r t h a t most of these persons were pub l i c ly so ld i n two p a r t i e s .

Belonging t o the f i r s t p a r t y were "de onderscheidene bekwame muzijk,

"Mentor - c l a r i n e t blower; Seneen - v i o l i n i s t ; P lu to - f l u t i s t ; Orpl

o r Alpheus - c l a r i n e t blower; K i t j i e l o r Redjap - f l u t i s t ; Kommies I

Arne - v i o l i n i s t , a l l from Batavia; Sa l a sa from Maccassar - c l a r i n e t

blower; Vic tor from Bugis - f l u t i s t ; Tonking o r Colene t ta from Sema.

h a r p i s t ; Geluk o r B i e t j o e and To l l a s , both from Manggarai were trum

o r c l a r i n e t blower and hornblower; Kodja - v i o l i n i s t ; Korne l i s o r J.

c l a r i n e t blower; Seneen - bassoon blower; Kaijman - v i o l i n i s t ; Daoe~

hornblower; M a t t i j - bass p layer ; Boesoek o r Reibien - f l u t i s t ; Siec

o r Oedin - bass p layer and v i o l i n i s t , a l l from Batavia; Papoe o r Bar

and Plu to , both from ~ e r & , were hornblower and trumpeter'; Redjap ar

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nog een kompleet s t e l , nu e e r s t onlangs voor den overledenen u i t Europa

aangebragte nieuwere groot Turksch muzijkinstrumenten en muzijk van de

l a a t s t e ~ i t ~ a v e n " . ~ ' ) I t i s unknown t o which new master these musicians

served t h e i r g i f t e d a b i l i t i e s afterwards. But there i s very s t rong reason

t o assume t h a t one of Betawi t r a d i t i o n a l folkmusic has a very long h is -

s t o r y da t ing from Majoor J a n t j e ' s e r a . The people c a l l i t " tanj idor"

which according t o Paramita R. ~bdur rachman~ ' )mi~h t be taken from a

Portuguese word "tanger" meaning t o play music. A tangedor means a person

who plays music outdoors. I n the same way, orang Betawi has a l so s imi l a r

meaning fo r t he word " tanj i" . Tanji means music, so 'maen t a n j i ' i s

playing music, a p a r t of 'manjak' .33) But as t o how the people came t o

c a l l t h i s orches t ra " tan j idor" , no one can give any convincing

explanation. 'Dor' s y l l a b l e , a s the musicians ind ica t e , might be taken

from the sound of a drum s t r i k i n g , dory d o r y dor.

I n t h i s Betawi folkmusic, Western musical instruments, e spec ia l ly brass

instruments and percussions, and Indonesian t r a d i t i o n a l instruments a r e

commonly played together. Western components such as c l a r i n e t , f l u t e ,

cornet , trumpet, trombone, tenor-tuba, side-drum, cymbals, he l icon,

p is ton , become leading instruments when they play old songs which they

ca l l ed "lagu-lagu lama d a r i jaman Blanda". A combined use of brass-drum,

side-drum, cymbals and t r i ang le i n 'lagu-lagu lama d a r i jaman Blanda'

might have or ig inated from the beginning of the t an j ido r e r a which

presumablyinher i ted from European and Mardijkers o r Papangers so ld i e r s . 34)

And whenever they play "lagu-lagu Betawi a s l i " , t r a d i t k ~ n a l instruments

l i k e Chinese o r Sundanese f l u t e , gambang, kendang, kecrek, rebab, gong,

e t c . , lead the main tunes. Obviously the re i s a s t rong inf luence of

Chinese and Sundanese i n it.

Tanjidor r e p e r t o i r e s have seve ra l c l a s i f i c a t i o n s , f o r example:

a. lagu-lagu lama d a r i jaman Blanda comprising marches and waltzes;

b. lagu-lagu Betawi a s l i , o r Kromongan, show a g rea t inf luence of Chinese

tunes;

c. lagu-lagu Sunda, o r Jaipongan;

d. lagu-lagu Melayu modern which i s more f ami l i a r as ' irama dangdut'.

Because I wish t o emphasize Indisch element of t h i s folkmusic, t h i s paper w i l l

only d iscuss the c l a s s of 'lagu-lagu lama d a r i jaman Blanda'. Although

t an j i do r , nowadays, i s incompatible with other Betawi f o l k a r t s such a s

lenong and topeng Betawi or komedi stambul, i t i s s t i l l an indispensable

p a r t of a "hajatan", e spec ia l ly i n wedding p a r t i e s a t the beginning of the

performance, "lagu-lagu lama d a r i jaman Blanda" should be played f i r

i . e . march and waltz35), even though c u l t u r a l l y t h a t does not belong

ceremony. I t i s as i f i t i s j u s t t o l e t people know the i d e n t i t y of

t an j ido r and t o r e c a l l i t s own long s tory .

According t o what musicians say, march r e p e r t o i r e s , among o the r s , a]

mares Merin (Marine ?) , mares Aksel, mares Matakarol, mares Duelmus

(Wilhelmus ?), mares Kranton, mares Bipet , e t c . They have a l s o

something t h a t i s ca l l ed welcoming march ('mares Selamet Dateng') wl

i s t yp ica l t an j ido r , played a t the very beginning. On the o ther hanc

wal tz r epe r to i r e s a re no t o f t e n performed any more. To mention some

them are: Uas Sakosol, Uas 11, Uas 111, Uas Delmus (Wilhelmus).

Unfortunately, these r e p e r t o i r e s a r e no t t raceable any more f o r the:

o r i g i n a l songs, f o r the musicians learned them i n s t i n c t i v e l y by heal

by e a r , using t h e i r own pronounciation i n mentioning them and t h e i r

musical i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , much given t o improvisation and, of course,

a r e no musical t ex t s .

~ e f o r e the war, t an j ido r was commonly performed on New years ' Eve ar

Day, e i t h e r Dutch o r Chinese, which they ca l l ed "ngamen ke l i l i ng"

("display around"). I t was the time when many t an j ido r groups from I

o u t s k i r t s rushed t o the c i t y t o "display aroundt' and ce l eb ra t e the i

day of the year. No doubt, the two c l a s ses of 'lagu-lagu lama' and

'lagu-lagu a s l i ' were mostly played. The Chinese might enjoy the sol

Chinese f l u t e and cymbals, and the European su re ly would have a cerl

kind of nos t a lg i a f o r the g lor ious pas t .

I t a l s o should be noted t h a t t an j ido r d id no t grow o r develop i n tht

c i t y of Batavia. A recent prel iminary survey36)shows a c u l t u r a l map

t a n j idor areas t h a t mainly occupy former "Batavia Onmelanden". The 1

boundary goes up t o Krawang d i s t r i c t , while the Eas tern p a r t extend:

t o Tangerang. The Southern p a r t i s Bogor d i s t r i c t . Since those bounc

a r e a l s o marginally p a r t of other cu l tu re s , a s t rong inf luence on ei

t an j ido r group of c e r t a i n areas i s remarkably conspicuous. For in s t i

many t an j ido r group of Western boundary (Krawang, Bekasi, Rengasdeni

show a s t rong c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Sundanese music of kl iningan. J a i p o ~

i s a new developed vers ion of t an j ido r , some people say.37) While i l

Tangerang area , ' lagu-lagu Betawi a s l i ' o r Kromongan a r e s t i l l domil

t an j ido r music. Accordingly, t an j ido r groups of Southern areas

i n Ciseeng, Parung, Cibinong, should s t i l l be ab le , and some of the1

t o maintain i t s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of 'lagu-lagu lama jaman Blanda', thc

i t might unders tandably b e v e r y d i f f i , c u l t t o do t h e s e days.

I t can be presumed t h a t due t o Indones ian pop music development, t h i s

c e r t a i n kind of lagu-lagu lama i n t a n j i d o r r e p e r t o i r e s could n o t l a s t

any longer . Apart from lagu-lagu lama, lagu-lagu Betawi a s l i o r Kromongan

do n o t even e n t i c e t h e young Jakar tanese any more. I t i s unders tandable ,

s i n c e J a k a r t a i n h a b i t a n t s a r e much more newcomers from o t h e r e t h n i c c u l t u r a l

o r i g i n s than orang Betawi a s l i . Another d i scourag ing a s p e c t comes from t h e

orang Betawi themselves, f o r i n Betawi s o c i e t y , a r t and a r t i s t s do n o t

have a r e s p e c t a b l e p o s i t i o n . 38)

H a j i i s t h e most r e s p e c t a b l e one over t h e o t h e r s , even "orang dagang" i s

considered a b i t h i g h e r than "panjak".

To speak about Betawi c u l t u r e would be more f o l k l o r i c because i t s c u l t u r e

b e a r e r s completely r e l y on o r a l t r a d i t i o n i n every c u l t u r a l t r a n s m i t t i n g way.

On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e r e a r e n o t many w r i t i n g s about them, e i t h e r of orang

Betawi o r t h e Betawi c u l t u r e . Dutch w r i t e r s and h i s t o r i a n s d i d w r i t e about

many a s p e c t s of B a t a v i a , how they perce ived i t a s a c o l o n i a l s o c i e t y , a s

'Koningin van h e t Oos ten ' , how t h e Dutch government was involved i n i t s

development and changes, how I n d i s c h s o c i e t y and c u l t u r e was c r e a t e d i n

t h i s m e l t i n g p o t , b u t they h a r d l y e v e r touch t h e i n n e r l i f e of Betawi.

I t i s l i k e l y t h a t orang Betawi and t h e i r c u l t u r e s t i l l s u f f e r t h e same

unbroken view of o t h e r s , even i n t h e s e days. S u r e l y t h e non-Betawi could

n o t t a k e a l l blame. The f a c t t h a t t h e r e i s a v e r y h igh r a t e of i l l i t e r a c y

among orang ;etawi3')might a l s o c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e poor c-ondit ion of any 'r-

knowledge about Betawi people and c u l t u r e .

Being a p l a c e where such g r e a t p l u r a l i t y grew i n t h e c i t y and " p a r t i c u l i e r e

l a n d e r i j e n " developed i n t h e count rys ide a t t h e same time, Ba tav ia cou ld

n o t h e l p f a l l i n g under t h e non-Batavian r u l i n g c l a s s . I n o t h e r words,

orang Betawi never r u l e d t h e i r own land .

But t h i s i s n o t t o sugges t a g r e a t weakness of Betawi i d e n t i t y , though

t h e r e may have been an element of i t . A s t r u g g l e i s apparen t i n t h i s

"kesenian t a n j i d o r l ' t o keep t h i s i d e n t i t y a l i v e , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n such

I n d i s c h element which a r e g e t t i n g r a r e t h e s e days. I n c o n t r a s t t o o t h e r

forms l i k e gambang kromong, lenong, topeng, rebana, kroncong, e t c . , o r i g i n a l

f u n c t i o n f o r topeng Betawi performance. So fo l lowing t h e p a t h of long

cont inu ing h y b r i d i z i n g process on Batav ia , orang Betawi and Betawi CL

a f t e r a l l , t a n j i d o r has t o remain i n i t s Betawi world, ready f o r any

r u s h i n g change and new-fashioned t h i n g s .

t a n j i d o r tends t o b e l e s s known. The word " t a n j i " and i t s meaning, though

a r e s t i l l i n t a c t , used t o b e combined w i t h o t h e r s . For i n s t a n c e , " j i k r e s "

( t a n j i and orkes ) means a group who mos t ly p l a y s modern popular tunes.

"Jinong" ( t a n j i and lenong) i s t a n j i s e t up f o r lenong performance a s

mQsical i l l u s t r a t i o n . While " i ipenn" ( t a n i i and topeng) has s i m i l a r

FOOTNOTES

1 . F. de . Haan i n "De l a a t s t e der Mardijkers" ( i n : B K I 73 (1917) 219-254) wrote h i s fami ly name Michielsz. , V . I . van de WX and J . B . J . van Doren put Michiels , whi le most of h i s family papers kept i n Ars ip Nasional J a k a r t a use Michiels . See: V . I . van de Wall, Ind ische Landhuizen en hun Geschiedenis (Batavia: G. Kolff & Co, 1932) 69-101; J . B . J . van Doren, Fragmenten u i t de r e i z e n i n den Indische Archipel . 2 vols Amsterdam: J . D . Sybrandi, 1855-1856.

2. Van Doren, Fragmenten, 230.

3. See h i s Testament da ted 29 Maart 1831 and Van de Wall, Ind ische Landhuizen, 87.

4. Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indie, 295-296.

5. De Haan, "De l a a t s t e de r ~ a r d i j k e r s " , 223.

6. Ibidem, 230.

7. B.S. Batavia no. 172.

8. Augustina Agraphina married f i r s t t o Jacobus Anthonij Beijvanck i n 1809 and secondly t o Pe t ru s Henricus Menu i n 1844. She died on 4 February 1875. She was the only l i v i n g daughter of h i s f i r s t marriage when Augusti jn Michiels d ied i n 1833. She go t t he heirdom of Kalapanoenggal. See p. 7.

9. There was a l s o another Augustina Michie ls , a daughter of Tha l i a from Tabanan, adopted by Augusti jn Michiels on 12 January 1821. See a l s o p. 6-7.

10. Based on h i s family papers and genea logica l f i c h e s c o l l e c t i o n i n Arsip Nasional J aka r t a .

1 1 . Van de Wall, Ind ische Landhuizen, 80.

12. Bought by h i s f a t h e r , Jonathan Michiels . See p. 2. - 13. Tjipamingkis and Tjimapag were Andries ' heirdom, which passed t o

Augusti jn i n 1805. Tanahbaroe was bought i n 1808, S j i ba roesa i n 1810, and Nanggewer toge ther w i th T j i t r a p i n 1817.

14. "Loehoer" means "high" or "uppern i n Sundanese language.

15. Van de Wall, Ind ische Landhuizen, 72.

16. De Haan, "De l a a t s t e de r Mardijkers", 243.

17. They comprised of :

1 major-domo, c a l l e d Corner 1 s t a b l e master , c a l l e d Rensy 2 stewards, c a l l e d Michi l and F i l i p s 1 gardener, c a l l e d Du Puy 1 guard, c a l l e d De Puy 4 draught i n spec to r s , i . e . Wahatima, Rominken, Landenborg, J u l i u s 2 djoeragans 1 wakil djoeragan 1 c e r t a i n Djans 1 c e r t a i n Radin S a l i e 7 Moors, i . e . Alimohamat, Seyd Al i e , Goepa, Sapiero, Tjan ,

Mahoka and Naysan 1 i n spec to r f o r b i r d n e s t s 1 1 i n spec to r s

2 pedat i -dr ivers 5 men f o r melat i-garden 2 men f o r pineapple-garden 1 man f o r coconut-garden 9 men f o r vegetables-garden 2 g r a s s c u t t e r s f o r cows s t a b l e 3 men i n Tj ipanas where t he bathhouse of the ho t sp r ing was 6 men wi th montly allowance 1 mandoer f o r fire-wood 3 men under djoeragans 4 "ronggeng-players" 2 "gambalang-players" 2 "topeng-players" 1 Chinese barber 1 s add l e r 24 men i n the s t a b l e f o r 362 horses 1 mandoer i n the s t a b l e 1 c a r r i e r 1 man f o r Majoor horse c a l l e d "Kalm" 2 men f o r "de Mer r i e s t a l " 20 men f o r bakery 28 g r a s s c u t t e r s f o r ho r se s t a b l e 48 " f r ee men" i n the house

and 117 s l aves .

Van de Wall, Indische Landhuizen, 85.

18. Van Doren, Fragmenten, 223; Van de Wall, Ind ische Landhuizen, 83.

19. This looked q u i t e t y p i c a l of wayang cokek dance i n Betawi c u l t u r

20. P.P. Roorda van Eysinga, Handboek der Land- en Volkenkunde, Gesc Taal-, Aardri jks- , en Staatkunde van ~eder landsch-1ndiZ (3 vols . Amsterdam: L. van Bakkenes, 1842) vo l . 11, 354.

21. Van de Wall, Ind ische Landhuizen, 84.

22. Testament Augusti jn Michie ls , 29 March 1831.

23. From family papers , r e spec t i ve ly : Fam A. 109 (Michiel Augusti jn Michie ls ) ; Fam M. 120 (Engelina Michiels) Fam M. 135 (Augustina Michiels) Fam M. 136 (Andries Michiels) Fam J. 82 ( J . Wilhelminus J u l i u s Michiels) Fam M. 137 (Geer t ru i jda Michiels)

24. His Testament of 1831 and Sec re t Statements a r e kep t i n : Testament Boek Batavia (1833), Arsip Nasional J aka r t a .

25. Van de Wall, Ind ische Landhuizen, 92-93.

26. A very accu ra t e d e s c r i p t i o n of 1622 t o l d u s about t h i s v a r i e t y a1 mixture: "There cannot be anything more cur ious , o r any spec t ac l e more e n t e r t a i n i n g , than t o see i n s o l a r g e a c i t y , such a mu l t i t ude o: d i f f e r e n t na t i ons l i v i n g - a l l of them a t t h e i r own dwell ings - ;

t h e i r manner. One s ee s , every moment, new customs, s t r ange manne: v a r i e t y of h a b i t s , and f ace s of d i f f e r e n t co lours - black , whi te brown, o l i ve . Every one l i v e s a s he p l ea se s ; every one speaks h i : Notwithstanding such a v a r i e t y of customs, s o oppos i te t o one anc one observes an union verv s u r ~ r i s i n e amone these c i t i z e n s . whict

pure ly the e f f e c t of commerce, which i s the comon sou l t h a t a c tua t e s t h i s g r e a t body of people; s o t h a t they move uniformly and harmoniously i n every r e s p e c t , and l i v e e a s i l y and happ i l y under the g e n t l e and prudent laws e s t ab l i shed under t h e Eas t I n d i a Company".

See: John Crawfurd, A Desc r i p t i ve D ic t i ona ry of t he Ind ian I s l a n d s and Adjacent Count r ies , Kuala Lumpur, Oxford Un ive r s i t y P r e s s , 1971, p. 44-45.

27. Muhadj i r , "Dialek Melayu J a k a r t a dewasa i n i " i n Husein Wij aya (ed) Seni-Budaya Betawi, J a k a r t a , Pustaka Jaya , 1976, p. 156-179.

28. Most of t he time such k ind of performing a r t s a r e combined i n one show, f o r example, i n a lenong performance, t h e r e a r e always dances, songs and music, and p lay . See Y u l i a n t i Paran i , "Tanjidor sebaga i ungkapan s e n i pertunjukkan" i n Tanj idor sebuah laporan pengamatan lapangan, J a k a r t a , LPKJ, 1980, p. 81-93.

29. I p r e f e r t o use Ind i s ch s o c i e t y f o r the whole per iod of Dutch occupation, 1 from t h e Company time t o the I r i a n Bara t d i spu t e i n 1963, t o emphasize t he Western a s p e c t s i n n a t i v e s o c i e t y and t o look i n t o marginal meetings of both.

30. F. de Haan, Oud Batav ia , Bandoeng, A.C. Nix & Co., 1935, p. 603-605. and Priangan, De Preanger-Regentschappen onder h e t Nederlandsch Bestuur t o t 1811, Batav ia , G. Kolff & Co., 1912, vo l . I V . paragraphs . 1778, 1781, 1783 and 2834.

31. V . I . van de Wall, op. c i t . p. 92. I 32. Paramita R. Abdurrachman, "Kroncong Moresko, Tanj idor dan Ondel-Ondel;

sebuah dongengan se ja rah" , Budaya Jaya , no. 109, June 1977.

33. "Manjak" i s t he verb of "panjak". Panjak i s a r t i s t a s c a l l e d by orang Betawi a s l i . See Mona Lohanda, "Tanjidor d i dalam kehidupan sang seniman", i n Tanj i d o r , sebuah laporan pengamatan lapangan, op. c i t . p. 46-58.

34. Frans yaryadi , "Tanjidor sebaga i ungkapan musik" i n Tanj idor , sebuah laporan pengamatan lapangan, i b i d . p . 97-123.

35. According t o the musicians, "mares" ( f o r mars) and 'has" ( f o r wal tz ) . I 36. Tanj idor , sebuah laporan pengamatan lapangan kesenian Tanj idor d i

daerah J a k a r t a dan s ek i t a rnya , Mei - Oktober 1979 J a k a r t a , Departemen T a r i - Lembaga Pendidilian Kesenian J a k a r t a , 1980, 166 pages.

37. Her Suganda, "Tanji Kesenian r akya t yang belum d ike t ahu i asalusulnya" Kompas, 14 Maret 1978.

38. See Mona Lohanda, op. c i t .

39. Lance Cas t l e s , "The E thn i c Prof < l e of Jakar ta" , Indones ia , no. 1 Ap r i l 1966, p. 153-204. - - a i d P a t r i c k Guiness, "The A t t i t u d e and Values of Betawi Fr inge Dweller i n ~ j a k a r t a " , B e r i t a Antropologi , no. 8 , 1972, p. 78-159.

PAPbKS U P 1 HL: U U 1 LH-1N UWlY E31HlU

HISTORICAL CONFERENCE held at Lage Vuursche, The Netherlands

23-27 June 1980

Edited by Gerrit Schutte

and Heather Sutherland

RELlG 'JS LND CRQSS - C JLTURAL STUDIES L I B R A k Y

C R . . J U A T E S C H O O L . G A C J A r M A C ? UNI\'ER!',ITY

: NV : l01sg/-/ 201 -D ,-

L A E E L : 99L Sch -- P r S ' IBJ :

Published by the Bureau of Indonesian Studies under the auspices of the Dutch and Indonesian Steering Committees

of the Indonesian Studies Programme Leiden / Jakarta 1982

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