Stories from Deli

Indie

For a long time, the magazine has featured the work of Mr. W. H. M. Schadee, whose exceptional roadways are highly suitable for automotive traffic, effectively compensating for its non-central location.

There is no longer any fear of being overshadowed by, for example, Tebing Tinggi or Pamatang Si Antar, which may have seemed a threat at one time. Medan has now definitively become the center of administration, commerce, industry, social, and scientific life; it offers possibilities for development and growth, the limits of which cannot be defined. Indeed, its growth in recent years has been tremendous, and the changes are so numerous that it would be difficult to recognize the Medan of, say, 25 years ago in today’s city, if it were not for the fact that its original layout — aside from the expansions on the outskirts — remained the same. Moreover, one would hardly find any building dating back to that “primordial era.”

The very modest place of the time — although even then it had undergone development and had a distinct character, so different from other Indian cities: it had something lively, something bright and fresh, something “European” without looking like any European city — has grown into a city with more than 30,000 inhabitants. And its size corresponds to its population, being many times larger than a European city with the same number of souls.

The very wide, beautifully maintained roads and avenues, the robust, cement “parits” (drains) that are regularly flushed by high-pressure water, the utmost cleanliness, strictly monitored also in the districts and kampoengs of Chinese, Klingens, and natives, the spacious, meticulously maintained and beautifully landscaped estates of nearly all new European residences (a true garden city) have made Medan a place of which no less a person than Dr. Hendrik Muller, I believe, the man who has seen so much of the East, testified that in his opinion, it is unrivaled in the East for its cleanliness and extraordinary friendliness.

There must be an explanation why this place is so distinct from other Indian cities. Indeed, it is not difficult to provide: it is a young city, created not around a significant native center, but around a European hub: the enterprise of the Deli Company located in the area of Kampoeng Mëdan Poeteri (from which Medan derives its name). However, the decisive factor, in my opinion, is the very peculiar spirit that prevails on the east coast of Sumatra, stemming from the nature of tobacco cultivation itself: it is that spirit of daring, of decisiveness, of fresh entrepreneurial spirit, of “getting things done,” which is maintained and fueled by the continual influx of robust, European forces. Moreover, one was not hindered in one’s actions by a slow and sluggish administrative mechanism.

Private initiative, which found strong nourishment in the circumstance that “the earning hand is generous,” knew how to help itself when the government did not. The “kebon life” with its strict regularity, its discipline, its struggle also against various adverse factors, was a good training ground for acting on the broader field of general interest. Thus, as soon as general interests required collaboration — which naturally occurred with the multiplying issues of social importance — one could expect good outcomes.

For instance, Medan had already demonstrated long before the introduction of the decentralization principle, through the municipal fund established in 1886, that various local improvements could be achieved through private cooperation. Much was done for the maintenance and improvement of roads, street lighting, etc., and had there not been the difficulties associated with the rights to the land being in different hands, more could have been done in terms of housing construction and systematic expansion of the city. Fortunately, that misery is over now, thanks to the goodwill of the Sultan of Deli, who voluntarily relinquished his rights to a large part of Medan and the surrounding areas, greatly simplifying the issue of housing construction.

Indië; geïllustreerd weekblad voor Nederland en koloniën, jrg 3, 1920, no. 42, 14-01-1920

Let’s take a walk through this attractive place, which gives us some impression of its appearance and its importance. We imagine that we arrive in Medan by train from the port of Belawan. Immediately, we are struck by the bright, large station with its double platform and its vast marshalling yard. The crossing of this yard, just south of the station, by pedestrians and carriages experienced so much disruption from the busy train traffic and the shunting that it was finally decided to construct an overbridge, which indeed was carried out on a grand scale. The significant expansion that these districts, located on the other side of the railway, have undergone in recent years made this overbridge urgently necessary.

Leaving the station, where numerous carriages of all kinds are ready to transport passengers to all parts of Medan, we immediately see the beautiful esplanade, the tanah lapang, as the locals say, in front of us. This approximately square grass field, surrounded by a wide, shaded promenade and then by the main road, creates a pleasant impression. Not nearly as large as Batavia’s Koningsplein, for example, it is much cozier. Yet, it is also spacious enough to give a sense of freshness. On the east side, where the station is located, there stands a simple monument commemorating the subjugation of Tamiang; on the north side, opposite the White Society, across the road, there is a music pavilion. Fortunately, this beautiful grass field is — unbuilt. In the evening, it offers a cheerful, colorful view as it then serves as a sports field for both Europeans and locals.

In a sense, this esplanade forms the center of Medan. Around it, we find several buildings that are significant for Medanese life and, more broadly, for the cultural area of Deli: on the south side, the Medan Hotel, currently the oldest hotel in place, the Chartered Bank, the store and offices of Güntzel and Schumacher; along the broad road on the west side, notable are the building of the Dutch Trading Company, the Protestant church, the Javanese Bank, and the building of the municipal council. Previously, when Medan still had a large military garrison, the site of these last-mentioned buildings was occupied by unattractive wooden sheds that together formed the tangsi or barracks.

Finally, the north side is almost entirely taken up by the beautiful White Society and the large post and telegraph office, built in a somewhat Eastern style, at the northwest corner. This building replaces the small post office built in 1883 and the telegraph office of the Eastern Extension, which was located at the northeast corner. There was an urgent need for a larger post office, if only to handle the mails, which in the ‘good old days,’ meaning the time before the war, sometimes arrived five times in one week.

The corner by the post office is one of the most remarkable points in Medan. Opposite the post office lies the large, modern Hotel De Boer, which has been renovated and enlarged several times and evolved from a relatively simple pastry shop. This hotel-restaurant has increasingly become the center of fashionable life. Well into the evening, it is a dazzle of light and a cheerful buzz of numerous guests and visitors who mostly enjoy the lovely Indian evening on the stone terrace.

The road leading north from this hotel, the broad Laboehan road, takes us to the area largely occupied by the Deli Company. Also, several residences of the Deli railway staff, the administrator, and the higher employees are found here. This part of Medan is distinguished by distinguished tranquility. It is like a large park with wide, majestic avenues, and cool, shady yards. Special mention deserves the lane of the Deli Company, at the end of which, amid a magnificently landscaped yard, lies the grand residence of the chief administrator. Nearby rises the imposing new office building of the same Company.

In the vicinity, there are also many remarkable institutions and buildings such as the pathological laboratory, which can be considered the Grand Headquarters from where measures are taken, among others, to prevent and combat epidemics; the hospitals, the immigrant asylum, the immigration office, residences of doctors, etc.

The extension of Deli Avenue is formed by the Serdang road, which continues east over the railway. Here especially, we enter the territory of the Deli Railway Company, which has, among others, a beautiful, new office building.

Diagonally opposite lies the Freemasons’ lodge, which is found in no significant Indian town.

Various cross-lanes lead to this Serdang Road, including the beautiful road on which lies the building of the Medan Nursing Home, equipped according to all the demands of the times and modern medical science, a true blessing for Medan, as well as the homes of the Deli railway employees. The racetrack is also found in this part of the city.

Remaining on the east side of the Medan-Delitua railway, we pass the line that diverges to Tebingtinggi and then enter a part of Medan that forms a distinctive Chinese district. Here one could (or at least could in the past) witness the passion with which the Chinese engage in gambling, while places of entertainment (?) of much lesser repute once formed the attraction of this part of the city for John Chinaman.

More uplifting, also in a literal sense, is the impression one gets from the enormous water tower of the company ‘Ajer Bersih’ (Clear Water), which indeed acts as a boon for Medan, supplying the whole city with the finest bathing, drinking, and flushing water, originating from a rock face at Roemah Soemboel (Delian Doesoen) and transported via a pipe more than 30 km long to the plains. Mentioning further the district located even further south where numerous ‘natives’ of different nationalities live, such as Mandailing and Minangkabau officials, clerks (writers), teachers, journalists, etc., and finally one of the residences of the princely family and the impressive, newly built Mosque in splendid Moorish style, this provides a brief overview of the east of Medan.

A road takes us here across the railway to the main road, where, among other things, the beautiful Sultan’s Palace is located, and a bit further south both the European and native cemeteries. If we turn back on our steps and follow the Palace Road (djalan astana), as the main road is called here, it leads us along a row of mostly European residences, to the heart of Medan, called Kesawan, a wide road or main street, with numerous large stores, shops, furniture workshops, etc., etc., of Europeans, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Malays, Arabs, in short, representatives of all those nations — and there are many — who seek a livelihood in prosperous Deli.

An unprecedented bustle of pedestrians, bicycles, cars, freight carts, and rental carriages, mainly of two types: the dos-a-dos and the ‘karëta séwa’, prevails here almost all day, and after sunset, the many two-wheeled rickshaws or karèta hongkong pulled by Chinese are added.

This main street, especially with the side streets coming off from the east side and the streets running parallel to it, forms the industrious, bustling part of the city, collectively called the ‘pasar’, although certain parts are specifically designed as marketplaces, some of which are covered. Strikingly, despite all the hustle and bustle, the great clarity and cleanliness, which is strictly maintained here, are notable.

A great contrast to this busy, bustling, sun-baked part of the city is the quiet, shady lane-crossed villa park, usually called the Polonia quarter, named after the Polonia enterprise of the Deli Company, to whose site leads a delightful, richly shaded, rural-tranquil road, the Polonia Road. It is particularly this part of the city to which Medan owes its fame as a ‘garden city’. It is the most favored quarter by Europeans and owes its rapid expansion to this. What a wonderful place to walk, especially in the early morning, when the mountains of Batak country, clearly visible from here with their peaks enshrouded in thin mists, display all their majestic beauty. Separated from the commercial district by the beautifully winding Deli River (Petani River), this lovely place can be reached from the ‘city’ along three roads, especially the northernmost and southernmost of which offer pleasant walks in themselves. The northernmost begins halfway down the road on the west side of the Esplanade and leads past officers’ homes and the benteng, by which the latter a beautiful bridge is located. Turning left over that bridge, one passes a lovely grass field with tennis and football fields. However, one can extend one’s walk a bit further by going straight past the benteng over a second bridge, which crosses the Beboera (the Bataks call this river Laoe Boerah, which joins the Deli River a little further downstream). Here the large Government road splits into two; straight ahead is the road to Soenggal and further, left, bends the road leading to the Batak highlands and beyond.

The southernmost road starts at the end of the ‘Kesawan’ and is called Soeka Moelia. This leads to the quarter where various government buildings are located, such as the government and controller’s office, the land council hall, the house of the assistant resident, the prison. A bridge over the river along this road allows one to turn into several wonderfully shaded avenues, for example, past the building of the electric central or past the imposing residence of the governor, and then to wander to one’s heart’s content along Manggalaan or Polonia Road or Cannon Road and however all those lanes and roads might further be called, with their larger and smaller houses, all more or less ‘villas’ in well-maintained gardens, boasting all the splendor of flowers and shrubs and trees, as only the tropics can produce.