Indra Harsaputra, Malang – Sex workers across the country might bemoan their reduced income during the fasting month of Ramadhan as local administrations ban them from operating.
But in Malang, East Java, they can still make money, thanks to the cigarette factories that invite them to work there, rolling cigarettes.
Cigarettes play an important role in moving the economic wheel in the town, which has about 300 cigarette factories – big and small – some of which have been in operation since the 1930s. The oldest one, Bentoel, remains in the business until today.
Before cigarettes were produced on a large scale, men who enjoyed smoking bought tobacco at the market and rolled it with corn husks.
My great grandfather who died a long time ago liked smoking corn husk-rolled cigarettes. According to him, they tasted natural and he could choose the flavor he liked best. If he wanted a clove flavor, he would put cloves into the cigarettes.
When he was smoking or rolling the cigarettes, he was fully absorbed in the activity and did not want anyone to disturb him because he was afraid he might do something wrong or not get the flavor right.
Before the Bentoel factory started operating, its founder, Ong Hiok Liong, sold cut tobacco in his house on Jl. Wiromargono 32, Malang. Today, the house of Pak Ong, which is what he was affectionately called, has become the Bentoel Museum.
Just like the men, many women also liked tobacco, but they preferred to chew it. Chewing tobacco was believed to strengthen the teeth. Not only indigenous Indonesians, but many Dutch women living in Malang also enjoyed chewing tobacco.
"But there were also many Dutch and indigenous women who liked to smoke. I have several pictures showing that. Many people in Malang became addicted to smoking as it was very cold in the town and they felt smoking warmed them up," said Dukut Imam Widodo, the author of Malang Tempo Doeloe (Malang in the Past).
The second cigarette factory was established on June 13, 1931. It was called Naamloose Vennotschap (NV) tot Exploitatie van Ciggarettenfabrieken Faroka, belonging to a Belgium company, NV Tobacofina. The company operated in many countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland and Zaire. Besides cigarettes, it also produced shag tobacco and shag papers.
In Malang, the factory was built on a 32,000-square-meter property located in Industrieweg, now known as Jl. Peltu Sudjono. Faroka launched its first product on April 2, 1932. Among the products of Faroka were Kansas, Wembley, Blue Ribbon, Richmond, Monaco, Aida, Golden, Eagle and Davros
In his book, Dukut said Faroka was the most sophisticated factory of its age. The factory, which produced cigarettes without cloves, was quite modern because it used machines with sophisticated technology and the tobacco was imported from America, China and Macedonia. At that time, production reached 60,000 cigarettes daily.
This was clearly different to the production of Pak Ong, which was still done in a traditional way and with a few employees. Like David and Goliath, Pak Ong and Faroka competed to win the market.
There were more competitors with the growing cigarette industry in Malang. Until the year of 1960, Malang had the cigarette factories of PT Grendel, Banyubiru, Atoomcy, Podo Rukun, Lima Jari, CV Sam Sam Sam, Sempati, PT Tugu Mas, PT Gita Widjaja, Kian Gie, PT Rambon, Damai, NV The Djie Siang, PT Thong Gwan, PT Baut and Betel. The cigarette brands include Mancot, Mourad, Dieng, Moskwa, Dapoean, Crown Bird, Double Ace and Prince.
Pak Ong was not intimidated by the competition. He kept making efforts to improve the company management and add to the variety of the products. Besides which, Pak Ong, who believed in the supernatural, would often visit Mount Kawi, which was thought to bring good luck.
It is said Pak Ong got the name of Bentoel after praying at Mount Kawi. Located in Wonosari village, Malang, it is a popular place where people seek blessings, with the hope of finding their soul mate or becoming rich. Visitors often pray at the cemeteries of Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono. The two were followers of Indonesian hero Pangeran Dipenogoro, who escaped to Malang because they were chased by the Dutch troops. Pak Ong was said to meditate at the cemeteries of Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono, before he had a dream about a man selling bentul, a kind of food made from taro. The name was then used as the brand of his cigarettes. The factory was first known as Stroetjes Fabriek Ong Hok Liong.
"Every Friday Legi (according to the Javanese calendar), Pak Ong organized a nightlong wayang (puppet) performance in Gunung Kawi. At that time, his employees were obliged to watch it. But in the past five years, there have been no more wayang performances," said Dyarkasi, a guide at the Bentoel Museum.
When Japan occupied Java, including Malang, on March 7, 1942, Bentoel and Faroka were forced to close down. This is because all foreigners, except the Germans, were detained by the Japanese.
The Japanese took over Faroka and deployed their own experts to produce the cigarettes. But after Japan surrendered without any condition to the allied troops in 1945, Faroka took over the Republic of Indonesia and then in 1949, following a negotiation with the Indonesian government, NV Tobacofina took over the factory again.
As for Bentoel, after it was closed down temporarily, Ong Hok Liong reopened it, employing several former Indonesian soldiers. He hired them because he wanted to hide them from the NICA troops, whose members were soldiers hired by the Dutch, which had succeeded in occupying Surabaya in the battle known as the November 10 war of Surabaya.
The Indonesian fighters retreated to Malang, which became the last defense resort. During the day, the fighters worked in the factory while at night they attacked the Dutch military post in Malang. Pak Ong gave them money, food and cigarettes.
Even though the factory had been closed for years, people had formed a lasting attachment to Bentoel and were still interested in its products when it reopened. In 1950, Bentoel was developed and became a corporation in the form of Naamloose Vennotschap (NV), with about 3,000 employees.
But Faroka did not survive that long. The area where the factory used to stand is now used by Bentoel and two other companies that do not produce cigarettes.