TJONG A FIE

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Fon Prawira, the grandson of Tjong A Fie (TAF), has informed BPPI that he is going to organize an exhibition to commemorate 88Th year of TAF. For those who is not familiar with TAF, probably this information will be helpful.


(source : KITLV Leiden)

Tjong A Fie - a Hakka entrepreneur and one of the founding fathers of Medan - came from Canton in 1875 and made his fortune in the plantation industry together with his brother, Tjong Yong Hian. He built up good connection with the Sultan of Deli and the Dutch planters and was appointed as 'Majoor der Chineezen' or the Chinese community leader. He was a famous philanthropist which became one of the founders of the Colonial Institute (the present Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen or the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam). His house in Kesawan was completed in 1900, a hybrid Chinese - European - Art Deco court-yard house. The design of this house is very similar to his relative's mansion in Penang, a more famous tycoon Cheong Fatt Tze. He initiated the opening of the railroad to connect Medan with the port of Belawan which later became "Deli Spoorweg Maatschappij" (Deli Railroad Company). In 1913 Tjong A Fie donated the bell tower for the old City Hall building.

Fon and other members of the TAF Family struggle for years to save their grandiose Chinese Mansion in Ahmad Yani Street, Medan, Indonesia. And also to keep the history alive after decades of the good old days. Everyone who knows the history of TAF and sees the Mansion agrees about importance of this heritage. And many stakeholders tried to do something, tried to raise awareness, but the real conservation of the building itself and good marketing of the TAF history somehow don't happen yet. Especially if I think about the similar mansion in Penang, Malaysia, Cheong Fatt Tze, which now becomes a boutique hotel and well-maintained or how Singapore sells their Chinatown to the international tourists.

I wish all the best for the TAF family who has just established the TAF Memorial Institute and launched its website. Hopefully the Exhibition will rejuvenate the spirit to conserve the Mansion, the area around it (Kesawan which is architecturally interesting) and the history of Medan.

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