Margoredjo Koffie and The Struggle Against Europeans Hegemony Over Coffee Comodity

A range of jars contains various type of coffee from all over Indonesia in Dharma Boutique Roastery (DBR), former major coffee brand of Margo-Redjo that hailed as the first company who owned by non-Europeans that gained success as coffee exporter in Dutch East Indie, present days Indonesia.

An advertisement about Margo-Redjo in De Locomotief
newspaper in 1948. (source: delpher.nl) 

A cup of Java, please! a term widely known in coffee outlets mainly in the United Kingdom and the United States. According to an explanation from the United States National Coffee Association (NCA) page, it was explained that coffee plants were originally grown in the Arabian Peninsula, specifically in Yemen, until in the 17th century Dutch merchants who exploring the eastern world hemispheare under the so-called first enterprise in the world,  Veerenidge Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) tried to cultivate it outside Arabian Peninsula. In the beginning, to cultivate coffee outside the Arabian Peninsula turned into failure when they tried to cultivate it in their new colony in Ceylon. But things changed drasticaly when VOC tried it in their most valuable colony of Java, in Indonesian Archipelago. Its not getting so long until this plant became one of the most valuable commodity for VOC commerce acitivity, even when the power shifted into Den Haag after the collapse of the VOC in 1799. This coffee commodity from Java is really a world famous, and the word Java sometimes associated with coffee. A computer-programming language, founded in 1995 by James Goosling that so popular before even use Java as their name and did you remember whats their icon? Its a cup of coffee! 

House of Tan Tiong  with the strong Indische style architecture in 
Kebonkarang, Semarang. The people mostly recognize the house as 
Rumah Kopi Wotgandul, as its not far from Wotgandul neigborhood.

Semarang, the main port city in Central Java was a silent witness to how valuable the trading of coffee commodities in Java was. In 1913, it was noted that the Dutch colonial government recorded 25,852 tons of export of coffee ore from the Dutch East Indies worth 16 million guilders or 437 million dollar in todays money. Most of the traders were dominated by Europeans, however  in the early 20th century a non-European trader emerged from Semarang, as well manage into the ranks of world-class coffee traders from the Dutch East Indies, present days Indonesia. It was Tan Tiong Ie, born in Semarang in 1883 initially tried His luck as a salt trader. Unfortunately,  the business went into bankruptcy and forced Him to move to Bandung and open a bakery. Tan Tiong Ie then returned to his hometown, Semarang and opened an ice plant factory, and finally in 1928, He begin the business that would perpetuate His name, Margo-redjo Koffie. 

According to Alexander Claver's book titled "Dutch Commerce and Chinese Merchants in Java: Colonial Relationships in Trade and Finance, 1800-1942", it is stated that Tan Tiong Ie was the first successful Chinese entrepreneur as a coffee trader and producer in the Dutch East Indies. It was also stated that in the times of economic depression that hit the world in 1930s, Margorejo managed to survived during this difficult times. Partly due to product diversification factors run by the company, which is officially named Koffie Branderij Margoredjo, by making various products based on the prices and qualities. The most expensive product is clearly the Margo-redjo brand, and the cheapest one was Tjap Grobak Idjo. Among the two products, there are other brands such as Tjap Pisau, Tjap Orang-Matjoel, Koffie Sentoso, Koffie Mirama and so on.  This was a breakthrough from His oldest son, Tan Liang Ho who has a strong enthusiasm in the marketing and public relation field. He even act as a copywriter as well as designer for Margo-Redjo advertisement. No wonder, once He has a position as the chairman of Radio Vereeniging "Midden Java", one's of the earliest broadcasting network in Dutch East Indies. He's nominated to seat in the board of advisory for Nederlandsce Indies Radio Omroep Maatschappij (NIROM), the government national radio broadcast company in 1936. 

The stand of Margo-Redjo in annual exhibition title
 Jaarmaarktstand in 1929, designed Liem Bwan Tjie.
(source: Stichting BONAS)

The triumph of this company began to recede after the Pacific War, which then spread to the Dutch East Indies and caused the end of Dutch rule which fall into Japanese hands until 1945. In the early days of the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies there was a panic among the citizens of Dutch East Indies. Pak Basuki Dharmowijono, grandson of Tan Tiong Ie who is now continuing the sustainability of the Kopi Margorejo business said that His great-grandfather also experienced panic when Japan began to enter the Dutch East Indies. He mentioned in His story over that hard period that His Grandfather decide to moved the machines to the Sultanate of Surakarta Palace in Solo to prevent it to be plundered by Japanese.

After Indonesia's independence and the chaotic period during the Revolution for Independence that lasted until the beginning of 1950, it seems difficult for Margo-redjo to regain its position like before, as a major coffee producer and distributor. But the glory of Margo-redjo Coffee in the old days still can be found on Jalan Wotgandul Timur 14, a two-story house with an Indisch architecture. In the same place currently Pak Basuki continues His grandfather legacy with its new name, Dharma Boutique Roastery (DBR), right in where the business started, not so far from Chinatown of Semarang. In the place that also widely known as Rumah Kopi (eng:House of Coffee), a variety of raw coffee ore is processed and then marketed in the form of ore that has been roasted. A wide selection of Indonesian coffee ores ranging from Robusta and Arabica type of Coffee from various locations in Indonesia such as Bengkulu, Gayo-Aceh, Mandailing, Flores, etc. are available here. This outlet serves its customers mainly from various cafes in Semarang from 09.00 to 15.00.

Kali Semarang, Main Artery of Commerce in Semarang

Kali Garang taken from the Jatibarang Dam in 2016. The Kali Garang was the main water sources for Kali Semarang. 

Kali Semarang was a river that divides the city of Semarang, a branch of Kali Garang (Eng: Garang River) from the west part of the city and flows to the Java Sea. The development of Semarang City was really depends on Kali Semarang, as the major commerce hub of the inner city of Semarang since centuries ago. One of the traces was the toponym of Kampung (Eng: village) along Kali Semarang which is an age marker of its vital role for commercial activities for Semarang City. One of them was Kampung Pabean which is now part of the Kecamatan Semarang Utara areas. In this Kampung, used to be the location of customs/ tax posts for the boat which passing through Kali Semarang to trades in the hinterland of ​​Semarang City. There’s a fun fact that on that time where customs post was marked by a large tree trunk that was chained and floated across the river as a barrier in the river flow. This is where the name of Boom Lama was coming from, as the word Boom in Dutch means tree, refers to the tree trunk that has a functions as the entrance gate. The name of Boom Lama still used today as the name of one of the major roads not far from its location.

Kali Semarang taken from the opposite of Dokter Djawastraat, nowadays 
Jalan Kol. Sugiono, nearby Kampung Melayu Semarang in 1900.
(Source: Leiden University Library) 

The settlements then grew following the flow of Kali Semarang such as Kampung Melayu, Pedamaran, Sumeneban, Sebandaran, Kelengan, Sekayu, Bedagan, etc. A journalist from Semarang, Liem Thian Joe who published his book titled Riwajat Semarang, back in 1933 stated that trading activities moved to the Boom Lama area after previously concentrated in Mangkang, in the western part of Semarang city today. Liem Thian Joe said that consider to have the better facilities of the Boom Lama's position as well as its closer to the downtown of Semarang. Thus the Kampung Darat  gained its name as its the location when people who firstly cames to Semarang at that time will ndarat, step their foot in land.

We have to remember that the Semarang city at that time was way smaller than the condition nowadayas. The city of Semarang on 18th century was refers to the part of the city that now called as Kawasan Kota Lama Semarang, an area which is developed from the VOC base which was established in the Sleko area in 1705. This trading post was surrounded by a defensive wall which had five bastions, which later well known as Vijfhoek fortress which means a pentagon. In 1748, due to the increasing commerce activity in Semarang, the VOC main base in Batavia, nowadays Jakarta raised the status of the leader of its trading post in Semarang into governor and its became the center of the area of the Noordoostkust (eng: North East Coast) of Java region. Vijfhoek as the main base of the VOC in Sleko then became unable to accommodate more European migrants, until later this settlement expanded rapidly. It was unknown exactly when European settlers began to organize the area outside Vijhoek as settlement but referrings to the Atlasof Mutual Heritage website, its shows that in 1787 a plan was made to expand the city defensive wall complete with urban arrangement with road networks and various facilities such as church, military barracks, health service facilities, civil service facilities, etc. Interestingly, the road network and the parcels of land were almost unchanged, compared to the current conditions with this map that comes from the past three centuries.

The Groot Boom with the boat tethered on the edge of Kali Semarang taken from the high stories of Uitkijk, ca. 1870-1910
(source: Rijksmuseum)

As the settlements grow bigger, its port as the major trading hub also grow either.  Trading activities in Kali Semarang developed a main port near the European residential area, which is located in the Sleko area, known as Groote Boom. Until now, the remnants of its glory still existed, one of them was the Watchtower to arrange the traffic in Kali Semarang, or in Dutch called as Uitkijk. Its located in the land owned by PT. State Gas (PGN) in Sleko as in the 19th centuries the land was part of the Coal fired Power Plant owned by Nederlandsch Indische Gas Maatschappij. The growth of the trade activity in the city of Semarang then strengthens its position as the main port in the central part of Java Island. Semarang may not  have vast fertile land as its located in swampy and barren land, but its port became its major power. Rural areas in the hinterlands of Central Java that rich in agricultural products are very dependent on the City of Semarang to trades their products. Plus the very prosperous kingdom region in the south, the Vorstenlanden, consist of the Yogyakarta Sultanate, Surakarta Sunanate, Praja Mangkunegaran and Praja Paku Alaman relied heavily on Semarang towards their trades activity.

The schutsluis (locks) that connected Kali Semarang and Kali Baru in 1927.

(Source: Leiden University Library)

The role of Boom Lama then shifted after the construction of the Nieuw Kanaal  also called as Kali Baru in 1872 and was completed in 1878, a response from the increasingly crowded commercial activities after the opening of the Suez Canal. Then the trade activity moved to Nieuw Haven , a new modern port  nowadays known as  Tanjung Emas Port. This canal simplifies the previously winding path of the Semarang River flow, into straight canal, right away approaching the Groote Boom position. The project was equipped with the construction of a new lighthouse and prior to adjusting the water level of the Kali Baru and Kali Semarang, a Sluis (eng: Locks) also built and equipped with a breakwater on each side.

Nieuwe Kanaal also known as Kali Baru, the new canals that also became part of Port of Tanjung Mas Semarang, taken from the top of Willem III Lighthouse in 2017.

The stories about the triumph of Kali Semarang are now no longer traceable. The increasingly dirty condition of the Kali Semarang, coupled with the decreasing water flow and width of Kali Semarang made its impossible for the boat to afloat and passing the river into the downtown. I heard from the locals in Kampung Melayu that the last time He saw boat passing through the Kali Semarang to through His Kampung was in the beginning of 1980’s decade.  Even the Uitkijk building now left in ruins as its looted by the mob during the Reformation in 1998. The locks that used to regulate the boat traffic from the Kali Baru to Kali Semarang was no longer functioning, and above it is now built a pumping house to prevent the Semarang city from the flood. It was a blessed to have the Kali Semarang in the old days but todays its seems no longer anymore as its even endangered the settlers from the flood. Flood was a serious problems in the Semarang city moreover in its northern part as its also facing the serious land subsidence problems. The last four years the government put a serious efforts to revitalized Kali Semarang by dredging and swept away the ilegal settlement on the banks of the river to keep the streams flows well. The people also persuaded not to littering into it, so now its really depends on the people of Semarang for their willingness to preserve it. Will they?