Stories from Deli

Dixon, 1913

The assistant, who had been working at that enterprise for years and whom the coolies had awe of, had all but one of the beds sown, and had given the tandil order to ensure that the next morning also the not yet according to instructions. Finished beds would be ready.

The next morning, on his tour of the ward, where the tandil was present as usual, so everything was pretty well except for two beds of a coolie, which still looked as untidy as the night before.

To his question to the tandil why this coolie had not obeyed the order, the tandil gave the stereotypical answer that he had already told the man several times, but that he did not want to correct it.

“Tell him again now,” said the assistant.

The tandil transmits the order in Chinese, but the coolie pretends not to hear anything and continues with entirely different work.

The assistant, who is getting bored of this, now calls it out to the coolie himself.

He looks up, takes his ax, which is lying next to him, and says in broken Malay: “Kaloe mau potong, potong la sendiri!” (If the piece has to be cut, cut it yourself).

Furthermore, he does not seem to care about the case. The situation is now becoming critical.

The coolies working nearby watch stealthily, but attentively while spying on the tuan as to how he will get out of this thorny matter.

Meanwhile, the tandil cackles in Chinese at the cheeky rascal, who now and then gives a rude answer. The assistant does not have much time to change his mind. He feels that something must be done.

His prestige against the tandil and coolies is at stake. If the man then does not want to, he must go to the office of the administrator, who can have him punished by the inspector for not following orders given.”Tell the coolie,” he now orders the tandil, “to go to the office with him.”

“Baik, baik” (good, good) replies the coolie. However, instead of going along, he walks in a completely different direction. This is a bit too harsh for the assistant.

He now approaches the man himself and wants to take his arm. The coolie has apparently been waiting for this, for he quickly turns and bites the assistant’s hand. The tandil now throws away his planter’s stick and seizes the coolie. Both are covered, but luckily the coolie is below. The Chinese, mad with anger, tries to break free, but the assistant now holds a gun.

With the effort of combined forces and with the help of a few Javanese, he was finally being overcome. He was brought to the office and sent to an inspector for punishment. He was sent to the “box” for about three months.

In this case, therefore, an experienced assistant, no fault of his own, withstood an attack on his part, without the slightest provocation, which fortunately ended exceptionally well.

 The coolie in question turned out to be a highly dangerous individual.

From: Dixon, C.J., 1913. De assistent in Deli: practische opmerkingen met betrekking tot den omgang met koelies. JH de Bussy.