Heritage Corner

I have entered the new year of 2020 with a dream. Confirmation of a dream that has been in my whole system for years: how to transform heritage societies in Indonesia to become professional organizations? Professional in the sense that cultural heritage is recognized as a profession united in an association, with code ethics and remuneration standard. Cultural heritage professionals would be able to work fulltime officially as independent experts or attached to institutions with peace of mind to know that he or she has no worry about steady and proper income. After more than three decades of the cultural heritage movement in Indonesia, it is time to recognize the roles and importance of heritage societies; the pioneers, the volunteers, the followers and anyone who stand up to save Indonesian heritage. During one of the modules as the pre-PhD student at the Leiden University last week, I shared my dream to find out how to make heritage societies in Indonesia as professional entit

The theme of plantation doesn’t receive much attention as deserved from the industrial heritage professionals and researchers in Indonesia specifically and in Asia generally. But for Medan, the theme of the plantation is very relevant and urgent.  Medan is the capital of North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, a city of about 2, 5 million inhabitants. The city is a multicultural society with influences from India, China, Europe, Java, Malay, Aceh, Batak, and other ethnicities.  This multiculturalism due to the fact that in the colonial era the Dutch-Indies government has imported labors from outside to open plantations. The local ethnics, Batak and Malays, have refused to cooperate with the colonial government, enforced the authorities to attract the Indians and Chinese overseas especially from the Malacca Straits to come to Medan. The tobacco was introduced in 1863 by the Dutch and soon it took over the world market together with the Cuban cigars. There were 120 thou