Stories from Deli

Epperlein and Nazi

Epperlein is a cafe and bakery owned by Mr. E, Epperlein. He first opened its shop as a pastry shop in Wilhelmina Street around 1919 offering good German bread and pastry. It advertised as the first electric machine made bread in Medan. Epperlein opened its Lunch room in Kesawan in 1933, offering delicious European food,…
Shoushan gong

Shoushan-gong or Siu San Keng is a stylish old temple dedicated to Guanyin , located at Labuhan Kota, north of Medan. The Chinese settlement at Labuhan antedates that of Medan. In 1973 Labuhan was incorporated into the municipality of greater Medan . A set of two stone inscriptions set up on the occasion of the…
Kesawan in 1930s

The Winkelstraat of Kesawan starts with the office of Varekamp & Co., publishers of the Sumatra Post and next to Varekamp the house of Tjong A Fie. In the shopping street there were all kind of shops like Gerzon’s, clothing store. Tip Top The fashion house De Zon opened on 16 October 1939 is the…
Literature on Coolies

W. Dharmowijono. Van koelies, klontongs en kapiteins : het beeld van de Chinezen in Indisch-Nederlands literair proza 1880-1950 A Brief review of the literature The plantation coolies, especially the coolies in East Sumatra, are the most described of all coolies. The first-known novel about life on a tobacco plantation is the two-part Hans Tongka’s career (1898)…
Coolies: ‘A Sad History of Suffering and Injustice’

Coolies: ‘A Sad History of Suffering and Injustice’, W. Dharmowijono. Van koelies, klontongs en kapiteins : het beeld van de Chinezen in Indisch-Nederlands literair proza 1880-1950 Preface A „coolie‟ is explained in the Dictionary der Nederlandsche Taal as a colored worker, used in the East and West Indies for all kinds of services, especially for…
Reflections

It was what you call “a heavy department,” which the assistant of the Congis six, seven and eight had been placed under his control at the super-company where he was placed after returning from leave. High, dry bokits, very hilly with swampy ravines, so that he had to constantly walk up and down slopes to check…
Animals

When the young man arrived in Deli, the first thing he noticed was that the living nature with its plants and animals there was so completely different from the old, familiar variations in the motherland. He saw himself moved into a whole new world. When he left he had not realized that he had now also said…
Revenge

The busy work in planting had reached its peak. It is true that the Chinese field coolies had planted their fields and the young tobacco plants were standing in the ground on the last pett branch (field), but the entire planting still required a great deal of care and labor. Those young plants still had to be…
Unusual Conversation

In the nick of time, in the first week of August 94, the Delian leave member managed to get on board in Amsterdam and was thus able to fulfill the order of his tobacco company to return immediately to Deli in connection with the now World war broke out. No one could predict how this trip…
The Delicious

Hendrik Groiter, Tabakkers It was a peculiar mishmash of personalities that, around 900, held sway over tobacco companies, or rather, the planters’ stick. The vast majority of them had not received any training in Europe that had prepared them for work in Indian cultures. Not until much later were the diplomas and other proofs of good conduct…