Brilio.net/en - The old house is inhabited. The gate is two meters high and the doors are mostly closed all the time. The huge doors and windows are made of thick teak woods. There are only few people who stop by or visit the house, including the tourists who are curious to see the inside of the house.
Yet, not many people know that this old building is a historical evidence of Lasem as the center for opium trading in Indonesia in the 19th century. The locals often called it Lawang Ombo Opium House. Located at Dasun Street, Soditan Village, Lasem, Rembang, Central Java, the building is only 100 meters away from Babagan River.
Not far away from Lawang Ombo, there are many old buildings belonging to the Chinese residents. One of those buildings is a large two-story wooden house, which now belongs to Ong Kiem Liang. He bought the house from the first owner named Go Ing Kwie.
The house is quite spacious with plenty of wooden carvings on its doors. Now, the second floor of the house functions as a Buddhist monastery by its owner.
Gandor Sugiharto Santosa (71), the elder living in Dasun told Brilio.net, Friday (8/1) about the history of Lawang Ombo. The house was established around 1830s by Captain Liem Kim Siok, a great merchant. In one of the rooms of the house, there is a large water tunnel with a diameter of 60 centimeters. The tunnel was used to smuggle opium.
The water tunnel is connected to Babagan River and the sea as well. By using small fishing boats, the smugglers secretly unloaded the drugs from vessels to Lawang Ombo through that tunnel. The opium smuggling was conducted due to Dutch opium-monopoly.
At that time, Lasem became the center for opium trading, making it known as Javas opium funnel. As written by James R Rush in his book entitled Candu Tempo Doeloe (Komunitas Bambu, 2012), the majority of opium consumers were Javanese. The opium was dispatched from Bandar Lasem, and then distributed to various cities in Java, such as Surakarta, Yogyakarta, and Kedu (Rush, 2000: 157).
The opium-smuggling operation had been carried out since the 19th century, involving Chinese merchants, Dutch colonial officials, as well as indigenous officials from several areas in Java. In conducting this business, Chinese businessmen employed indigenous people as porters and security guards. Meanwhile, the small fishing boats (Jung) used to smuggle the opium were also led by indigenous people.
Little China Town
The interdependence of indigenous people and Chinese remains the same until now. Today, Lasem is known as an old multi-ethnic city. Located in Rembang, Central Java, the district is also called little China town.
The Chinese citizens living here are generally elderly people, said Baskara (34), a Lasem resident who is also a local cultural activist. They are the descendant of previous Chinese generations who settled own in Lasem.
In the 19th century or earlier, opium dealers in Lasem were Chinese merchants. The Dutch colonies made pacht system through an auction mechanism in which the participants were Chinese merchants as well.
James R. Rush stated the representative of Chinese, who was responsible for managing the trade in the colonial areas, was chosen to streamline the rules. Then, they were given a title of Captain, Lieutenant, or Major. Nonetheless, those were not military titles.
Later, pacht system was renewed by enacting a new policy, namely the Opium Regie as a consequence of ethical politics. Under the system of Opium Regie, all opium-related issues were concentrated in the capital. All products, tastes, and qualities were equalized. Meanwhile, the factories which were previously managed by local pacht were only allowed to produce derivative products such as opium, including opium and Tylenol.
Opium Regie was reputedly the most expensive opium in the world. In 1903, the price of this opium was 10 times more expensive than the opium sold in the Singapore market. During that year, the Regie revenue reached about 20 million guilders and contributed 15,87 % ( 246,601,957.62 - in 2013, based on the calculation done via International Institute of Social History) of colonial revenue in total. In 1910, Opium Regie made 240 thousand guilders or equivalent to 2,959,223.49 (137%), much more than the pacht of opium had earned in the past 10 years. In 1914, the Dutch reported earning the biggest revenue.
In the 19th century to early 20th century, consuming opium has become a common habit for the indigenous people in Lasem. This habit is justified by Lasem residents.
Ging Lo Wan or Karjani (86) revealed that sucking opium had become a common practice. I was about seven years old at that time. I saw many adults in Lasem consuming, he told Brilio.net.
Kliwon (47), head of RT 03/02 Pecinan Village, Lasem claimed to have found a used opium pipe in his yard. At that time, I dug a hole in the ground to bury my dead goat. Then, I found an opium pipe, he said.
The dispute over the habit of consuming opium was initiated by R.A Kartini in her letters (Surat-Surat Kartini. RenunganTentang dan Untuk Bangsanya translated by Sulastin Sutrisno, 1979). In her letter, she called opium as an anathema (The softhearted Javanese princess has to say in that manner). The epidemic was worse than the plague itself; it was the opium.
In the post-independence era, the opium was still distributed freely. Indonesian government even sold opium in exchange for weapons. In 1971, the regulation of opium-trading problem had just been formulated by a coordinating institution called BAKOLAK INPRESS 6/71. As the outcome, the presidential instruction No. 6 in 1971 was released and it was still continued to be revised until the release of Law No. 35 in 2005. Nonetheless, the drug is still consumed by Indonesian citizens until now, in which the majority is younger generations.
A World Heritage City
Lasem, once led by the Duke, has now become one of the districts in Rembang. Since the 13th century, Lasem has become the center of a long history of many great kingdoms, starting from Majapahit, Demak, Pajang and Mataram Kingdom. Moreover, Lasem, once led by Tumenggung Widyaningrat (Oei Ing Kiat), had fought against the Dutch in 1740-1743.
Lasem is no longer known as the center for opium trading. Today, this district is looking forward to the future by encouraging Lasem to be designated as a World Heritage city, along with the release of Regional Regulation No 5 in 2014 about the management of cultural heritages by local government.
The numbers of historical building still stand in Lasem. There are about 241 old buildings spread over 20 villages in Lasem, said Baskoro, the member of the Rembang Heritage Society to Brilio.net.
Multi-cultural societies in Lasem are very strong. In this district, there are 23 boarding schools. The oldest one is Al-Hidayah Boarding School, built by Kiai Mashum in 1917. Moreover, there are three old pagodas as well. The oldest one is Cu An Kiong, established in the 15th century when Laksamana Cheng Ho went along the Coast of Java. In fact, Lasem is older than other areas in Indonesia, such as Jakarta, he said.
Now, the local governments and communities work together to develop Lasem so that it can be designated as a World Heritage City by UNESCO. There are many efforts that have been carried out to achieve it. One of them is by promoting the city through the internet radio, which now has been able to be listened by publics, namely http://kesengsemlasem.listen2myshow.com/.
Some tourists also begin to visit Lasem to retrace its history. Baskoro admitted that he often accompanies the tourists who want to go to Lasem. Several tourists want to visit Lawang Ombo to find out the trace of opium-smuggling as well as to see several pagodas in Lasem. Hopefully, Lasem soon can be a World Heritage City. We believe that Lasem is qualified. he said.