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‘Madat makan orang’; opium eats people: Opium addiction as a public health issue in late colonial Java, 1900–1940

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2020

Abdul Wahid
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Abstract

By the 1890s the Dutch had noticed the escalation of opium addiction in colonial Indonesia. They believed that opium consumption had brought about health problems and other negative socioeconomic effects. Yet, the profitability of opium took precedence over its negative social effects in the Dutch East Indies government's policy, which until the end of the 1920s made almost no substantial efforts to address addiction. It was nongovernmental organisations which took the initiative to install medical facilities for addicts and launch diverse anti-opium campaigns. These organisations marked the rise of modern philanthropic activism in the field of public health as part of the flourishing sociopolitical movements of that time. They also represent the nascent civil society in late colonial Indonesia.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 1-2 , June 2020 , pp. 25 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore, 2020

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Footnotes

The author would like to thank Prof. Jan Luiten van Zanden and Prof. Remco Raben for their supervision, two anonymous reviewers for their critical and constructive comments, and to the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada for technical support. This article was originally a sub-chapter in the author's doctoral dissertation, ‘From revenue farming to state monopoly: The political economy of colonial taxation in Indonesia, Java ca. 1816–1942’ (Utrecht University, 2013). All translations are mine unless otherwise indicated.

References

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14 Takashi Shiraishi introduced this term to portray the rise of social activism among urban-based middle class Muslim batik traders in Solo, who sought a way to strengthen their economic position against the dominant Chinese businessmen. This led to the establishment in 1912 of Sarekat Dagang Islam, which later transformed into Sarekat Islam, the first modern Islamic mass-organisation in Java. See Shiraishi, Takashi, An age in motion: Popular radicalism in Java, 1912–1926 (Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asia Program Publications [SEAP], Cornell University, 1990)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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17 For a recent study on the discourse of modernity in late colonial Java, see van der Meer, Arnout H.C., ‘Performing colonial modernity: Fairs, consumerism, and the emergence of the Indonesian middle class’, BKI, special issue, ‘New urban middle classes in colonial Java’, 173, 4 (2017): 503–38Google Scholar.

18 Abdul Wahid, ‘From revenue farming to state monopolies’, pp. 122–30.

19 Rush, Opium to Java, p. 218.

20 Chandra, ‘What the numbers really tell us’, pp. 103–5.

21 The first conference was organised in Shanghai in 1909, while The Hague hosted the next two conferences in 1911 and 1912. Beside the Netherlands, the other participating countries were Great Britain, France, China, Spain, Japan, and the United States, which was the main driving force behind these anti-opium conferences. See Chatterjee, S.K., Legal aspects of international drug control (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1981)Google Scholar; and for the Dutch perspective see Leeuw, Ed and Marshal, Ineke Haen, eds., Between prohibition and legalization: The Dutch experiment in drug policy (Amsterdam: Kugler, 1994)Google Scholar.

22 Machoedoem, Soetan, Djaoehkanlah dirimoe daripada tjandoe [Distance yourself from opium] (Weltevreden: Balai Pustaka, 1920), p. 13Google Scholar.

23 Rush, Opium to Java, pp. 34–5. In his famous autobiography, Thomas de Quincy described that taking opium did indeed have immediate positive physical effects such as relaxation, happiness, and pain relief; but over the longer term, opium also produced negative effects such as pain, fatigue, mental disorder, and even death. Quincy, De, Confessions of an English opium eater (London: Taylor & Hessey, 1867), pp. 22–3Google Scholar.

24 Dikötter, Frank, Laamann, Lars and Xun, Zhao, Narcotic culture: A history of drugs in China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), p. 80Google Scholar. Zhou Yongming argues that opium smoking was invented by Chinese living in Batavia, which was then brought to Mainland China and Formosa via Hong Kong by commuting Chinese traders. Before that drinking opium syrup and chewing or eating opium were the only known methods of consuming opium, in particular among Westerners. Yongming, Zhou, Anti-drugs crusades in twentieth century China: Nationalism, history, and state building (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999), pp. 12–13Google Scholar.

25 Rush, Opium to Java, pp. 39.

26 Charles TeMechelen, ‘Rapport Uitgebracht in Voldoening aan ‘s Gouvernement Besluit d.d. 9 Juli 1885’, Special Collection, KITLV, H 422 (a–c); Leiden University Library.

27 1 mata is equal to about 0.38 grams or 380 milligrams.

28 In Semarang, as reported by the local Resident, opium smokers were Chinese and Javanese, mostly traders, craftsmen, and labourers, and a few peasants. Only a few Arabs and Eurasians smoked opium. ‘Opium rapport, staat (en voorsteden) en Afdeeling Semarang’, KITLV, H 422 (a), folio 1555.

29 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opiumregie over het jaar 1914 [Report concerning the Opium regime Service for the year 1914] (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1915), pp. 15–17.

30 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opiumregie jaar 1924 (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1925), pp. 34–5.

31 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opiumregie jaar 1925 (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1926), p. 34.

32 Ibid., p. 35.

33 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opium- en Zoutregie jaar 1940 [Report of the opium- and salt regimes for the year 1940] (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1941), p. 21.

34 In 1940 there were four Europeans registered as opium users, all of whom were over 50.

35 Scheltema, J.F., ‘The opium trade in the Dutch East Indies I’, American Journal of Sociology 13, 1 (1907): 103–4Google Scholar.

36 Rush, Opium to Java, pp. 239–40.

37 Chandra, ‘What the numbers really tell us’, p. 123.

38 Souterwoude, Elout van, De Opium-vloek op Java [The curse of opium in Java] (‘s-Gravenhage: Anti-Opium Bond, 1890), pp. 36–50Google Scholar.

39 de Mol van Otterloo, Antonie, De Opiumschuivers in het Hospitaal [The opium smoker in the hospital] (Utrecht: Kemink, 1933), pp. 2–3Google Scholar.

40 The management board consisted of: D.U.W. Weenink van Loon (chair), A.J. Bliek (secretary), M. Tuiten (treasurer), Lie Teng Ho, Na Keng Hoei, A.V. Klaus, Mrs. Mansell, Khouw Hong Nio, Lie Tjian Tjoen, Lie Teng San, Mej. M. Myers, G. Bannink, Kan, Khouw (members). The Dutch preachers were members of the Nederlandsche Zending Vereeniging (NZV), while the Chinese preachers were serving in several Chinese churches in Batavia. Anti-opium Hospitaal Vereeniging te Batavia, Eerste Jaarverslag (1 April 1915–31 Maart 1916) [Anti-Opium Hospital Association, First annual report {1 Apr. 1915–31 Mar. 1916}] (Batavia: Boekhandel Kourant), pp. 8–16.

41 Ibid., p. 18.

42 At the time, the colonial government had just started to develop a modern hospital system with medical facilities for ordinary citizens, including the indigenous population. Opium addiction, however, was not considered yet as a health or medical problem, hence no single hospital provided medical treatment for opium addicts. Sjoerd Zondervan's recent dissertation on the hospital system in the Indies, for example, does not mention opium addiction as part of the colonial system. Sjoerd Zondervan, ‘Patients of the colonial state: The rise of a hospital system in the Netherlands Indies, 1890–1940’ (PhD diss., University of Maastricht, 2016).

43 The new board consisted of the following figures: A.Vermeer (chair), A.K. De Groot (secretary), G.J.P. Vernet (treasurer), Gouw Khiam Kiet, Na Oen Soei, Dr. N.A.C. Slotemaker De Bruine, M. Tuiten, J.B. De Wilde (members), Ong Cheng Seng, Kwe A Soe (propagandists), Dr. E. Vogelesang, Lim Ping Swan, Kho Ken Bie, Kwie Sin Tjhwan, dan Jo Tok Heng (correspondence). Berichten Uitgaande van de Antiopiumvereeniging [News from the Anti-opium Association], 4, 1931, p. 19.

44 This organisation gained legal status on 8 Nov. 1926 with the following management structure: P.R.W. van Gesseler Verschuir (chair), Mejuffrouw K. Jochems (second-chair), L.K. Wennekendonk (secretary), Prof. H.M. Neeb (medical adviser), and Mrs. J. van der Weijden van Heutsz, R.A.A. Wiranatakoesoema, Tjen Djin Tjong, Poey Kok Gwan, Ong Soe Aan, Yap Loen (members). Except Mr. Wiranatakoesoema, the Regent of Bandung (a Muslim), the remaining board members were active in Bandung's Catholic churches. The NIAOV's statute mentions explicitly that the organisation was based on Christian beliefs. Jaaarverslag 1927 der Nederlandsch-Indische Anti-Opium Vereeniging te Bandung [Annual report 1927 of the Dutch East Indies Anti-Opium Society in Bandung] (Bandung: Maks & van der Klits, 1927), p. 2.

45 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opiumregie jaar 1928 (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1929), pp. 39–41.

46 ‘De Opening van Het Opium-Paviljoen’ [The opening of the Opium Pavilion], Berichten Uitgaande van de Antiopiumvereeniging 7, Dec. 1931, pp. 8–9.

47 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opium- en Zoutregie regie jaar 1940 (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1941), p. 35.

48 Anti-opium Hospitaal Vereeniging te Batavia, Tweede Jaarverslag (1 Apr. 1916–31 Mar. 1917) [Anti-Opium Hospital Association, second annual report {1 Apr. 1916–31 Mar. 1917}] (Batavia: Boekhandel Kourant, 1918), pp. 10–12.

49 AOHV, in its annual report of 1917 (ibid.), criticised the government's refusal to provide subsidies for the medical treatment of opium addiction. Interestingly, in this edition the AOHV harshly criticised Sarekat Islam and Budi Utomo, two leading Indonesian mass organisations, for their silence on opium addiction. Such criticism contrasts with Rush's study (Opium to Java, p. 253), which mentions that Budi Utomo showed an interest in the opium problem and approached the Dutch about it. No publications by the colonial anti-opium organisations mention cooperation with Indonesian nationalist organisations.

50 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opium- en Zoutregie regie jaar 1940, p. 38.

51 Warta Anti-opium Vereeniging [News from the Anti-Opium Association] 11, Nov. 1940, pp. 2–3.

52 Berichten uitgaande van de Anti-Opiumvereeniging, June 1931, p. 31.

53 Jaarverslag 1927 der Nederlandsch-Indische Anti-opium Vereeniging te Bandung [Annual report 1927 of the Netherlands Indies Anti-opium Association in Bandung], p. 5. In 1933, the two opium clinics in Bandung provided therapy to 633 addicts, half of whom were sent by the AOV Batavia. Out of 633 patients, 545 were Chinese, 65 Indigenous, 5 Europeans and Other Foreign Asians; 36 were female and the rest were male. Bonebakker, A., An, Ong Soe, Soei, Khouw Eng, Ervaringen en Herorienteering ten aanzien van het Opiumbestrijdingswerk [Experiences and reorientation in regard to the work of the fight against opium] (Batavia: Druk Vorkink, 1934), p. 5Google Scholar.

54 ‘Verslag over het jaar 1927 Van het Anti-opiumwerk in het zendingshospitaal Immanuel te Bandoeng Uitgebracht door Dr. De Mol van Otterloo (Geneesheer-Diirecteur) [Report for the year 1927 of the Anti-opium work in the mission hospital Immanuel in Bandung conducted by Dr. De Mol van Otterloo (Director-Physician)]’, in Jaarverslag 1927 der Nederlandsch-Indische Anti-opium Vereeniging te Bandung (1927), Bijlage E.

55 Sioe, Kwa Tjoan and Hong, Tan Kim, ‘Opiumontwenningskuren met Blaarserum’ [Opium detoxification with blister serum], Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië, Afl. 2 (1 Feb. 1931): 140–67Google Scholar.

56 de Mol van Otterloo, Antonie and Bonebakker, A., ‘Over de doeltreffendheid van de ontwenningskuur volgens Modinos voor opiumschuivers’ [On the effectiveness of the Modinos detoxification method for opium addicts], Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië 71, 4 (1931): 862–72Google Scholar; Hegt, F.J.H. Noordhoek, ‘Ontwenningskuur bij opiumschuivers volgens de method van Modinos’, [Detoxification of opium addicts by the Modinos method], Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië 71, 4 (1931): 898–903Google Scholar; Ongkiehong, H.F., ‘Een Beschouwing over de Behandelingsmethoden van Opiumschuivers’ [A thought about the treatment method of opium addicts], Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië 71, 4 (1931): 962–8Google Scholar.

57 De Mol van Otterloo, De Opiumschuivers, p. 5.

58 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opium- en Zoutregie Jaar 1937 (Batavia: Landsdrukkerij, 1938), pp. 64–5.

59 De Mol van Otterloo, De Opiumschuivers, p. 10.

60 De Nederlandsch-Indische Grooteloge van de Internationale Orde van Goede Tempelieren is a transnational theosophical organisation based in North America, which developed in the Netherlands in 1890s and in the Indies in 1910s. In the Indies, this organisation attracted Europeans, Chinese, and Indigenous members and was actively involved in the anti-opium campaign. See its profile in Booy, De, Internationale Orde van Goede Tempelieren, 1927–2 Januari 1937 (npp: IOGT, 1937)Google Scholar.

61 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opium- en Zoutregie Jaar 1940, pp. 36–7. The IOGT received f3,200 and f2,000 for its nazorg programme, which included routine medical check-ups, psychological counselling, etc. In 1939, the NIAOV also received f2,800 from the government for a similar programme.

62 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opiumregie Jaar 1923, p. 36.

63 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opiumregie Jaar 1928, p. 41.

64 The material included the book Fatamorgana en Andere Verhalen, Lesboekje in verband met het opiumvraagstuk in Insulinde (AOV Batavia, 1935) containing basic information for youth on opium, its origins, potential dangers, and guidance on avoidance. The Volkslectuur [People's Reading] Commission calculated that until 1940, there were about 3,500 anti-opium titles in Dutch, Malays, Javanese and Sundanese distributed throughout the Netherlands Indies (Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opium- en Zoutregie Jaar 1940), p. 39.

65 Verslag Betreffende den Dienst der Opiumregie Jaar 1930, p. 36. On the importance of the pasar malam or night fair in Java as a site of colonial modernity performance see van der Meer, ‘Performing colonial modernity’, pp. 503–38.

66 Chandra, ‘What the numbers really tell us’, p. 123.

67 Cribb, ‘Opium and the Indonesian Revolution’.