Medan Awaits the Future
They write us from MEDAN: I promised to tell you something about Medan. That it is a shadow of its former self, you will surely believe. The well-kept houses, the neatly trimmed lawns—no longer there. Everywhere that dirty gray war color instead of the bright white of earlier times. Here and there a front gallery…
A Chinese Funeral in Medan
By Gesiena Andreae On Easter Monday, March 28, the remains of the Chinese Major, Mr. Tjong A Fie, were laid to rest near Medan entirely according to Chinese ritual, as one would expect of a good Chinese, which the deceased certainly was. Already one and a half months had passed since his death—time that the…
TO MEDAN So far, the history of Medan. But we must now turn to modern Medan, which has earned the reputation of being the most European-like city in the Dutch East Indies. Medan can be approached from various directions. The most common route, naturally, is the one taken by foreigners and tourists arriving by ship…
Letters from Deli from a young assistant
17 Dec. 1896. I would like to pay off my debt to you before the end of the year and that is why I am already starting my epistle. It is evening, because I cannot write during the day, and I am sitting on the verandah again. The first thing I am going to tell…
Deli Sketches – IV Medical care
The care for health in a region like the Delishehe, where thousands of immigrants from Ghina, Java, Borneo, Bawean, British India, etc. arrive annually to work in a climate that is more or less foreign to them, is naturally of the utmost importance. There, where forests are cut down, roads and drainages dug, swamps drained,…
Deli Sketches – In the Fields
In the fields. When it is “in the fields” again in January, every true Delian tobacco assistant comes to life. That recently completed work in the musty fermentation shed, that shuffling along the rows of sorting coolies, that staring at dark, brown, faded leaves, or whatever other nuances there are (his sister’s wool is nothing…
Deli Sketches V. The Railway
Foreigners sometimes claim that the Dutchman feels attracted to low marshy coasts when he is looking for places to settle in distant regions, while the Englishman prefers high and dry coasts with inlets that form good harbours. This is said especially by those who have seen the English flag flying on Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Colombo,…
Deli Sketches
VI. The Workers. Polonia, Helvetia, Rotterdam, Danmark, Glenorchy, St. Cyr, Arnhemia, Germania, Saentis, Bavaria, Hessia, Grien Bervie, Frankfurt, Hilversum, these names of some of the tobacco companies on the east coast of Sumatra indicate the origin of some of the explorers of that promised land. Most of the nations of Europe supplied their contingent, because…
Deli Sketches
By J.T. Cremer Medan Our Medan was once a vast wilderness,A refuge only for tiger and elephant.Then came the planters with money in their pockets,Who cleared the forest and planted tobacco.They built their houses, and—it wasn’t too refined—Visited one another in Chinese-style tunics.But now fashion here demands as much as anywhere,Now it’s stiff collars and…
Of a Chinese reception and of council meetings.
De locomotief 04-08-1920 One can be mayor and be called Baron Mackay and still lack in one’s conduct what is called “tact”. We read in the Deli newspaper that mayor Baron Mackay of Medan sent the following official letter to the wealthy Chinese council member Tjong A Fie:To my regret I discovered that you have…
Rental
Indië; geïllustreerd weekblad voor Nederland en koloniën, jrg 6, 1922, no. 13, 28-06-1922 Question 579. — As a subscriber to your magazine, I hereby take the liberty of politely requesting your answers to the following questions. I.e. Is it as difficult to obtain a home in the Indies (for example, in Medan (Sumatra)) as it…
MEDAN. A REMARKABLE CITY IN A REMARKABLE COUNTRY.
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…
THE CHINESE SCHOOL MOVEMENT
by Dr. Yap Hong Tjoen Indië; geïllustreerd weekblad voor Nederland en koloniën, jrg 1, 1917, no. 11, 13-06-1917 At the request of the editorial board to submit an article, I could not comply better than by providing a sketch of the “Tiong Hwa Hwee Koan”, accompanied by a photo of one of its schools .…
Memories from My Editor’s Life (1899—1904)
Title: Memories from My Editor’s Life (1899—1904) From Eventful Times in Deli by W. J. H. Mulier, former chief editor of Deli Courant Nothing is more difficult than being brief. Recently, when I was honored with the task of writing a few articles about my time in Deli, I re-read the heavy bound volumes, created…
The Police
V. The Police (SP 26-04-1916) V. The Police. Twenty years ago… Medan, a thriving village, was home to about 400 Europeans, 7000 Chinese, and 6000 natives and foreign easterners. The corps of armed police — general police existed only in Java — was 52 men strong and had to ensure no mischief occurred. Indeed! But…
he Millions for Deli
VELERLEI. From tempo doeloe.” (New series) I. The Millions For Deli (SP 15-04-1916) “It couldn’t go on like this! There had to be an end to this rampant trading, this usury, this speculation with Straits currencies, Spanish mats, Mexican and Hong Kong dollars, British trade dollars, all within a Dutch colony. It was against Dutch…
The Disturbances in the Straits
DC 26-02-1912 The Chinese in the Straits were quite active during the New Year festivities. Riots of varying severity occurred everywhere—in Kuala Lumpur, Teluk Anson, Singapore, and Penang. In Kuala Lumpur, the troublemakers launched an attack on the Central Police Station. One of them was killed, and ten were injured. The police only fired after…
The Chinese Unrest in Deli
Deli Courant 11-04-0885 Given the extensive coverage of the Chinese unrest in Deli and its probable causes, which has led many to view the future of this rapidly developing region with pessimism, it may not be unwelcome to some to hear a few remarks on this matter. We therefore propose to highlight some conditions that,…
The Chinese Question.
Deli Courant 07-12-1912 Although our telegrams yesterday already reported that the handling of the Indian budget has concluded with its adoption, we still provide below the explanation of the minister’s stance on the Chinese question, as evident from the Memorandum of Reply. The minister states therein: Regarding the Chinese issue, the undersigned first wishes to…
The young Chinese and the riots in Surabaya
The young Chinese and the riots in Surabaya. De Sumatra Post 13-04-1912 As we gradually receive reports about what has happened in Beijing, and hear about what is now happening in southern China, one is astounded by the unparalleled brutality and shamelessness of the Chinese journalists, who have raised a ruckus about the police’s actions…
Chinese New Year riots 1912
De Sumatra Post 21-02-1912 In Batavia, riots occurred in the Glodok and Senen districts, namely because of the display of the republican flag (prohibited in Batavia). The riots initially looked threatening, but passed off calmly. The troublemakers were arrested. Now everything is quiet. ^From Surabaya, the news comes that the singkehs there have been very…
From Our Colony
Deli COurant 24-05-1902 East Coast of Sumatra.The brochure pointed to the poor quality of food, insufficient quantities of nutrients, and recounted physical punishment, illegal confinement, and the untimely death of innocent or barely guilty individuals in deadly prisons. It described how prostitution led to syphilis and how the separation of children from their mothers sometimes…
From Our Colony
Deli Courant 23-05-1902 East Coast of Sumatra.The budget of a skilled Chinese tobacco planter can be estimated as follows: with a planting of 16,000 trees, he can expect an annual income of 112 dollars. From this, 8 dollars are deducted for shoes and clothing, 5 for tools, 8 for labor assistance, and 2.5 dollars per…
From Our Colony
Deli Courant 22-05-1902 East Coast of Sumatra. I. Medan.When, on March 23rd, I slowly sailed down the Simpang-Anas River on the government steamer De Brak, I felt that entirely different travel impressions awaited me. I was leaving the scene of years of stubborn struggle and fierce conflict to enter a region of peaceful industrial development; after…
The party at Major Tjina.
Deli Courant 23-03-1901 In response to an invitation from our Chinese Major Tjong Young Hian to attend a party at the house of Chinese Captain Tjong A Fie, a large crowd gathered on Saturday evening at Kasawan to head to the new house recently built on that street. The turnout was significant due to the…
WORLD TOUR by Charles Boon. Sumatra’s East Coast (S.O.K.)
Soerabaijasch handelsblad 22-04-1930 Like a grand pleasure yacht, the luxurious passenger ship Op ten Noort lay anchored just a ten-minute walk from the spot where the d’Artagnan had recently departed. The ship’s white color, so fitting for the tropics, evoked a sense of coolness and Dutch cleanliness. Although the Op ten Noort is not a mail ship, it boasts the dimensions…
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TOBACCO CULTURE IN DELI
J. Nienhuijs Jaba Bode 9 & 11 June 1888 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TOBACCO CULTURE IN DELI. It goes without saying, begins Mr. Nienhuys, that this cannot be a regular account of what I accomplished in Deli 25 years ago, nor a listing of all the encounters and activities there; no, I write these lines solely…
Deli (East Coast of Sumatra)
Sumatra Courant 28-04-1869 Deli (East Coast of Sumatra).Regarding the state of this empire we borrow the following particulars from a report of the Resident of Riouw of January last. The present Sultan of Deli is a wise prince; imbued with the superiority of the European institutions in the field of government and administration, he tries…
Tjina
De Expres 27-09-1912 The less pleasant relationship, which can be observed here and there between the natives and the Cuineezen and which recently led to a fight in Solo, for example, has not been left undiscussed in the native press. Besides the fact that all sorts of strange things were said about the association “Sarikat…
Coolies recruitment
In 1880, the Agreement with Chinese Leaders, also known as the “Associatie van 1880”, was established between Dutch colonial plantation owners in Sumatra’s East Coast (Deli, Langkat, and Serdang) and influential Chinese community leaders. This agreement aimed to address critical labor issues, such as high worker desertion rates and recruitment inefficiencies. By integrating Chinese leaders…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
Stories from Deli 