PROMINENT CHINESE DURING THE RISE OF A COLONIAL CITY MEDAN 1890-1942 ISBN: 978-94-6375-447-7 Lay-out & Printing: Ridderprint B.V. © 2019 D.A. Buiskool All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the author. Cover photo: Chinese festive gate in Kesawan, Medan 1923, on the occasion of the 25th coronation jubilee of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. Photo collection D.A. Buiskool PROMINENT CHINESE DURING THE RISE OF A COLONIAL CITY MEDAN 1890-1942 PROMINENTE CHINEZEN TIJDENS DE OPKOMST VAN EEN KOLONIALE STAD MEDAN 1890-1942 (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. H.R.B.M. Kummeling, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 11 november 2019 des middags te 4.15 uur door Dirk Aedsge Buiskool geboren op 8 februari 1957 te Hoogezand Sappemeer 3 Promotor: Prof. Dr. G.J. Knaap 4 Believe me, it is so. The beginning, and not the middle, is the right starting point. ’T is with a kopeck, and with a kopeck only, that a man must begin.1 1 Gogol, Nikol ai Dead Souls Translated by C. J. Hogarth, University of Adelaide: 2014: Chapter III. 5 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 13 INTRODUCTION 15 CHAPTER 1 EAST SUMATRA. THE FORMATION OF A PLANTATION ECONOMY. 29 1. East Sumatra: Historical Overview 32 1.1 East Sumatra until circa 1870 32 1.2 From Tobacco to Oil and Rubber 34 1.3 Migrant workers 38 1.4 Frontier society 43 1.5 Labour conditions on the plantations 44 1.6 Van den Brand’s manifesto 47 1.7 Labour inspection 48 Summary 50 CHAPTER 2 THE CITY OF MEDAN. THE EMERGENCE OF AN URBAN CENTER. 53 2.1. Colonial character, layout and urban symbols 55 2.2. Town quarters 62 2.3. Medan as a regional infrastructural center 65 2.4. Townplanning, health, housing and landrights 67 2.5. Security and Justice 73 Summary 76 CHAPTER 3 CHINESE BUSINESS IN MEDAN 1890-1942 81 3.1. General Characteristics of Chinese business in Medan 83 3.2. Monopolies and revenue farms of the Chinese 89 3.2.1. Opium 91 3.2.2. Other tax farms: gambling, liquor and pawnhouses 97 3.2.3. Bagan Si Api Api and the salt monopoly 102 3.3. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Medan 1890-1942 105 Summary 110 7 CHAPTER 4 THE PROMINENT CHINESE OF MEDAN 1890-1942 115 4.1. Leadership categories 117 4.2. Prominent Chinese: The Chinese Majors 121 4.2.1. Tjong Yong Hian (1850-1911) 123 4.2.2. Tjong A Fie (1860-1921) 133 4.2.3. Khoe Tjin Tek (1876-1969) 151 4.3. Other prominent Chinese 161 4.3.1. Tjong Hau Liong (Chang Pu Ching) (1885–1963) 161 4.3.2. Tan Tang Ho (circa 1860-1918) 166 4.3.3. Tan Boen An (circa 1890-1946) 171 4.3.4. Gan Hoat Soei (circa 1890-1950) 174 4.3.5. Hiu Ngi Fen (1902-1977) 176 4.3.6. Thio Siong Soe (1889-1967) 181 Summary 181 CHAPTER 5 SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE OF MEDAN 187 5.1. Family life 189 5.1.2. The Chinese women of Medan 190 5.2. Religion 199 5.2.1. Chinese beliefs. Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism 199 5.2.2. Christian religion among the Chinese of Medan 202 5.3. Chinese non-religious organizations 204 5.3.1. Clan and professional associations 204 5.3.2. Political, cultural, and other associations 207 5.4. Chinese education in Medan 208 5.5. Public Health Care in Medan 212 5.6. Entertainment: sport, music, theatre and cinemas 218 Summary 227 CHAPTER 6 POLITICS, PRESS AND PERCEPTIONS 231 6.1. Political developments in the Netherlands Indies 233 6.1.1. Ethical policy 233 6.1.2. Chinese nationalism 235 6.2. Local Politics: Medan councils 240 6.2.1. The Town Council 240 8 6.2.2. Town Council meetings 243 6.2.3. Chinese in politics 245 6.2.4. Polarisation in the Netherlands Indies and in Medan 248 6.3. The press in Medan 1890–1942 254 6.3.1. Dutch newspapers in Medan 255 6.3.2. Chinese and Malay language newspapers in the Netherlands Indies and in Medan 258 6.3.3. Anti-Japanese sentiments in the press 262 6.4. Censorship and press violations 264 6.5. Europeans and Chinese in the press: Mutual Perceptions 271 6.5.1. Western perceptions about the Chinese 271 6.5.2. Chinese Perceptions of Europeans 277 Summary 278 CONCLUSION 283 APPENDICES 295 9 APPENDICES APPENDICES CHAPTER 1 295 1.1 Population district East Coast of Sumatra in 1905 and 1913 295 1.2 Population East Coast of Sumatra differentiation male/female 295 1.3 Percentage of the total import and export of Penang within the region including East Sumatra 295 APPENDICES CHAPTER 2 296 2.1. Population Medan 296 2.2. Marriages and birth Chinese population in Medan 1919–1928 296 APPENDICES CHAPTER 3 297 3. 1. Professions in East Sumatra in 1905 (exclusive plantation workers) 297 3.2. Tax results in Medan 298 3.3. Income Taxes Medan 1919 298 3.4. Income some Chinese citizens of Medan 1920 299 3.5. Opium monopoly 302 3.6. Gambling monopoly 303 3.7. Liquor monopoly 304 3.8. Pawnhouse monopoly 304 3.9. Salt monopoly 305 APPENDICES CHAPTER 4 306 4.1. Real estate Tjong A Fie 306 4.2. Plantation companies Tjong A Fie 307 4.3. Plantations resorting under rubber culture company Si Boelan in 1921 307 4.4. Plantation company Si Boelan in 1924 308 4.5. Plantation company Soekaradja in 1921 309 4.6. Algemeene Cultuur Maatschappij in 1924 309 4.7. Plantations under the plantation company Tjong A Fie Landen in 1924 310 4.8. Plantation Company China Kasih in 1925 311 4.9. Donations and social projects by Tjong Yong Hian and Tjong A Fie 311 APPENDICES CHAPTER 5 318 5.1. Temples 318 5.2. Christian religion among Medan population 319 5.3. Lineage or Clan associations 1920s–1930s 320 5.4. Professional associations 321 10 5.5. Cultural associations 323 5.6. Help associations 325 5.7. Dutch and Japanese language schools in 1924 327 5.8. English Language Schools in Medan 328 5.9. Chinese Language Schools in Medan 328 5.10. Chinese schools in East Sumatra 1914 329 5.11. Chinese schools in the Lower Deli District on East Sumatra 329 5.12. Numbers and percentage of Chinese students educated on East Sumatra 329 5.13. Percentage of Chinese, Indigenous and European in the lower district of East Sumatra that followed primary education 330 5.14. Hospitals and Health Care 330 5.15. Football Clubs in Medan 331 APPENDICES CHAPTER 6 334 6.1. Malay and Chinese language papers in Medan 1900–1942 334 OLD AND NEW STREETNAMES IN MEDAN 337 GLOSSARY 345 REFERENCES 351 Samenvatting in het Nederlands 371 Curriculum Vitae 375 11 12 Acknowledgements Living in Medan for many years, I started collecting material about the cities’ past. In the nineteen nineties I came to Medan as a lecturer in European history at the University of North Sumatra, and the Teacher Training College (Institut Keguruan Ilmu Pendidikan or IKIP). Over the years I spoke to a wide range of people, in the first place Mrs. Lemye Tjong Sze-Yin, daughter of Tjong A Fie, the most prominent Chinese in the history of Medan. After Mrs. Lemye I met two other important persons in Medan who offered me a wealth of information, Mr. Tan Boen Djin and Mr. Hiu Kian Jin. Mrs. Lemye mentioned the name of Kamerlingh Onnes, which paved the way for my book De reis van Harm Kamerlingh Onnes (The voyage of Harm Kamerlingh Onnes) which can be seen as a step in between into this publication about the Chinese of Medan. This book became possible thanks to the support and directions of Gerrit Knaap for which I am very grateful. He has been a very constructive and supportive patron. I also want to mention the support that I received in the past from Heather Sutherland and Leonard Blussé. I like to thank Jan Albert Buiskool, Anthony Reid, Roel van der Veen, Margreet van Till, Rogier Smeele, Tsai Yen Ling, Pauline van Roosmalen, Donna Woodward, David Freeman, Loh Wei Leng, Arief Puyono, Mohamad Fauzi, Alexander Claver, Claudine Salmon, Mona Lohanda, Martine Barwegen, Myra Sidharta, Mary Somers Heidhues, Liong Lai Tjin, Thomas Lindblad, Peter Post and Freek Colombijn who all helped me in one way or another. I like to thank the Tjong A Fie family in Medan and Maximilienne Lemye in Brussels for photo’s, the family of Tjong Yong Hian in Medan, especially Budiharjo Chandra and Rebecca Chandra, as well as Myra Tan in Medan, the Khoe family in Penang and London and the family of Gan Hoat Soei in Almere. The text has been polished by Leopold Finn which is much appreciated. As it has been such a long voyage, so much longer than the one of Harm Kamerlingh Onnes, I have to thank especially Diana, Roderick and Frederick for their endless support and stimulation over the years. Dirk Aedsge Buiskool 13 14 Introduction At the end of colonial times, in 1942, Medan was the capital of the wealthiest and economically most important part of the Netherlands Indies outside Java, whereas in 1890 it had been just a tiny village.