Stories from Deli

From an assistant in Deli

Titus, 1879 Even after by the Indian Gazette n o . 203 of 1879 a decision has been taken on the well-known article 2, number 27 of the General Police Penalty Regulations for Natives, yet the great problem has not been solved at all for this assistant residence, where private industry has soared. Here, however,…
European Life on a tobacco field

Louis Couperus, 1923 The life of the young assistants at Deli was then largely dominated by excessive partying. I believe I can see that this has changed completely. Let the young people rejoice at the ‘hari-besar’, at the Boer or elsewhere, who will let them not? They work hard, as hard as Westerners only work…
In Medan

Louis Couperus, 1923 We have been in Medan for a few days now, guests of Mr. Westenenk, governor of Sumatra’s east coast, and his wife. The impressions that I have received, under the guidance and information of my host, are overwhelmingly many. I want to make an attempt to arrange them in my memory and…
Tobacco and Tobacco

1914, Augusta de Wit I first saw a tobacco field in May, flowering and harvest time was also. The pale red haze of the blossom spread in long streaks over the coarse, large-leaved green of the hill fields. And everywhere, among the high shrubs where they plucked the leaves, on the bright sunny paths along…
Tobacco in Deli

DeWit 1914 To a worse degree than ever since the beginning of this voyage I have got to feel here in Deli how far a distance separates us Westerners from the Oriental. There lies the great work of the Delian tobacco culture before all eyes. But of the tens of thousands who do that work,…
Visit to Medan

The actual planting and tilling of the soil is done by Chinese coolies, who are imported in great numbers directly from China and who have a permanent contract with the entrepreneurs, who are obliged to provide housing and partial nursing in addition to their wages. For their use, large, airy houses, so-called kongsis, are being…
In Medan

Soon! soon, from Maurik! come and see, there is a Chinese funeral coming … and hastily my friend’s lovable wife, with whom I am staying in Medan, hurries to the front yard. Her graceful slippers flap over the pebble path and, looking back, she calls in: “Please, hubby! leave your breakfast alone! – Soon! Willem,…
An American in Deli

Stuart Hotchkiss, 1924 The area, about which I am going to speak and from which our experience has been gleaned, comprises 110,000 acres. Of this area, 88,000 acres are in Sumatra and 22,000 acres in the Federated Malay States. There are planted about 50,000 acres in Sumatra and 10,000 acres in the Malay States. In…
Emigration in Deli

Boersma, 1870-1920 In response to the frequent complaint, the English committee had carried out its investigation in 1876, and in 1877 a “Chinese Protectorate” was established: a European official in Singapore and an assistant in Penang, who supervised the recruitment. Depots were set up for the enlisted people, and each coolie signed the contract for…
East Coast of Sumatra

J.L. Vleming Jr. 1926 The government of the East Coast of Sumatra is divided into five afdeelingen: Deli and Serdang; Langkat; Asahan; Bengkalis; Simalungun and the Karo lands. We will return to the division of Bengkalis in our discussion of Riau and its surrounding area. In the 1860s this region was poor, thinly populated and…