Stories from Deli

Nederlansche Handel-Maatschappij

Banking in Medan NEDERLANDSCHE HANDEL-MAATSCHAPPIJ (NETHERLANDS TRADING SOCIETY) Principally a financial institution, carrying on a large general banking business, the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij, or Netherlands Trading Society, may be said to be one of the principal organizations that have made the Dutch East Indies what they are to- day. It owns or supervises many thou- sands…
Hotel de Boer

Visitors to Medan have the choice of two very good hotels. The Hotel de Boer, opposite the new Post Office, is a handsome building of considerable extent, surrounded by a large number of apartments in the bungalow style. Located at the north-west corner of the Esplanade at a handsome dining-hall and rich-looking aparments for guests…
Tjong A Fie

Chinese Major of Medan (Deli), Sumatra (east coast), was born at Moy Hian, Canton, and that name he chiefly uses in this country. In China, however, he is known as Tjong Jiauw Hian, whilst his name in Chinese Government circles is Tjong Foeng Nam. During his childhood he was very studious, but his parents were…
Ban Lian

HANDEL MAATSCHAPPIJ “BAN- LIAN ” (ESTABLISHED 1915) This company was formed in Medan with a capital of F. 500,000 for the pur pose of carrying on business as general import and export merchants and commission agents. It is entirely financed by Chinese capital, and its bankers are the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China,…
Medan and East Coast of Sumatra

SUMATRA : THE EAST COAST In an economic sense particularly, the island of Sumatra is making gratifying progress.Already the areas producing coffee, rubber, and tea are very extensive, and expansion is taking place in connection with those and other products. On the east coast and at Atjeh alone during the first six months of 1916…
Coolies Affair

After 1900, some Officials for Chinese Affairs became involved in other coolie matters, when they were charged with the inspection of labour conditions in the Indies and the accompaniment of direct repatriation of coolies. When Hoetink returned to Batavia in 1900, he was temporarily placed at the disposal of the Director of Justice to fulfil…
Arranging the Emigration of Coolies

Making arrangements for the direct emigration of Chinese workers or ‘coolietrade’ from China to the Indies was one of the most important special assignments for the sinologists. In the 1860s and 1870s, this was done to provide for temporary needs; in the 1880s and 1890s it was aimed at regular emigration to the Indies. After…
Postal service

In 1905, Chinese appreciation for Hoetink is evident from a booklet introducing the Chinese Postal Service that was compiled on his initiative in Medan. This service was mainly intended for Chinese coolies working in outlying plantations for whom it was impossible to send letters and money to China. The introduction to the Regulations of the…
Tjong Yong Hian and the Chaochow Railway

When the Imperial Chinese Railway Administration was established, director-general Sheng Hsuan-huai was looking for Overseas Chinese to finance a railway line. Sheng summoned Zhang Pi-shih, one of the wealthiest overseas Chinese capitalists, on his way to Hong Kong, to discuss ways and means of raising shares. Zhang Pi-shih has established a commercial empire in Southeast…
Thio Thiau Siat

Thio Thiau Siat or Zhang Bishi left his home in rural Tai-pu county, Kwangtung province, to seek his fortune in Southeast Asia when only seventeen. Sources disagree as to the exact social status of his family but he definitely experienced poverty in his youth. Determined to make his fortune in Southeast Asia, he was able…