deputy Tuan Kebun that if such slanders were continued I would, if necessary, ask to meet these secretive slanderers head on. We parted amicably.
[61] I had indeed written for the Sumatra Post, though not under the name of Pontjo Drio.59 But such an activity was my absolute right and my own responsibility. Similarly, my contacts with the leaders of the Deli railway strike or with the contract coolies were entirely my own affair.
Herr Graf, the leader of the plot against me, possessed Ausdauern (persistence) in his slanders, as he did in all his work.60 But Hazejager was also endowed with this well-known German characteristic, only with him it was a persistence in honesty to his friends. And neither was the Tuan Maskapai ready to accept accusations against someone he knew, and his German Ausdauern made him want to come face to face with the accused before believing anything.
Once more Hazejager raced up to me. “Tuan Besar Graf is continuing to whisper all those accusations against you. And now he is adding to his own opinion that Tan Malaka does not know the meaning of gratitude. ‘Just think,’ he says, ‘that inlander Tan Malaka, who was formerly supported by Herr Dr. Janssen in the Netherlands, is now betraying him. Schrecklich nicht wahr? [Terrible isn’t it?]’”
The following morning a rushed and panicky Dr. Janssen arrived at my house. I had not yet got dressed nor had a chance to invite my guest to take a seat before Dr. Janssen was sitting down and speaking with a red face and labored breath. All the accusations—about meetings with the contract coolies, writing in the newspaper, and having contact with the strike leaders of the Deli railway—were laid out before me once again.
“If this is true,” said Dr. Janssen, “it is a stab in the back.”
I answered with a question: “And do you also believe the other slander, that I studied in the Netherlands at your expense?”
“Ach, ja,” said Dr. Janssen. “I don’t believe a word of it, and that is why I came to see for myself. Get dressed quickly,” he continued. “This morning there is a meeting of some of the Dutch employees from the whole of Senembah Mij. and I would like you to be present.”
[62] I did not for one moment imagine that that morning I would be among the Tuan Besar from all branches of Senembah Mij. And what was even more amazing, none of the Tuan Kecil were present, and neither was my colleague who had wanted to become the “head” above me. It is understandable that I was quite surprised when Dr. Janssen addressed a question to me about the plantation schools. In fact my colleague Tuan W should have been present to give such information.
The question came out of the blue, while I was looking out of the corner of my eye at all the Tuan present. I knew only one or two of them, including the Tuan Besar from Tanjung Morawa, Herr Graf, Enemy No. 1. Whenever my eye caught his, he quickly turned away. He was indeed a deceitful person; even if he did possess that German Ausdauern, he was unable to meet the eye of an inlander who stood in the right.
In such an atmosphere I felt it inappropriate to give a lengthy discourse on the education of coolie children. In addition, I had already made a decision as to my future work. I spoke briefly, directing my remarks to the following conclusion: “The primary goal of the education of coolie children, as with children of any nation or class, is to sharpen their intelligence, strengthen their will, and refine their feelings. Aside from this, we must implant the desire and habit of working with the hands, and the feeling that such work is valuable for the society and is no less honorable than work with the brain alone. Senembah Mij. in particular, and Deli in general, would not lose by having many skilled and unskilled laborers in the area who were capable and efficient and who possessed the desire to have a high standard of living. It is true that there would be no immediate return on the money that Senembah Mij. invested in this way, but in the long run this expenditure would be repaid many times over in increased efficiency and consumption.”
[63] I was aware that I was speaking to the deaf, but it was well for these Tuan Besar of the plantation to hear that the coolie children were human too. Here and there I had heard many arguments that schooling for the coolie children was just a “waste of money.” What is the point of educating coolie children? They will become even more “impertinent” than their fathers. This or that foreman can write and count a little, and for this five years in primary school was not necessary. Kario had only attended the village school but was able to run the electrical system. What sort of schooling did Mubal or Sastro have? Yet they could make up all kinds of medicines. Ninety-nine percent of the coolies on the plantation were illiterate, but they could plant tobacco. You just have to order the coolie children to hoe, and that is the end of the matter. To give them schooling in agriculture, trades, or teaching would only be creating havoc in the plantation, increasing the number of malcontents, and increasing the membership of Sarekat Islam.
This was the logic of the Dutch on the plantation, the former idlers of the Netherlands. I knew also that these Tuan Besar saw Dr. Janssen, who had proposed the setting up of schools for Senembah Mij., as an idealist, an ethisch, and a stupid person, and that they ridiculed him behind his back.
In the time of Tsarina Katharina in Russia, if I am not mistaken, there was a prime minister by the name of Potemkin. In answer to the Tsarina’s questions he would simply say, “The people are happy, the crops are flourishing, hai Tuanku.”61 If the Tsarina wanted to see with her own eyes the happiness of the people and their economic progress, Potemkin would take her to a beautiful village, specially prepared beforehand. This beautiful village decorated for the Tsarina’s visit was known as Potemkin village. The Tsarina was kept in Potemkin’s pocket to keep her from seeing the dirty and miserable villages, and was brought out only to admire this decorated one so that to her it seemed true that “The people are happy, the crops are flourishing.”
In Senembah Mij. there was also a Potemkin village and a Tsarina Katharina. Potemkin was incarnated as the Tuan Kebun and the Tsarina as Herr Dr. Janssen enthroned in the Netherlands. The Potemkin village in Senembah Mij. had been set up at Dr. Janssen’s request for the contract coolies who had worked for a long time. They had their own houses and gardens. Now, aside from the Potemkin village, we had a Potemkin school to warm the heart of the idealist ethisch Dr. Janssen. The Tuan Kebun kept Dr. Janssen in his pocket (read, his Chrysler auto) to see and admire only the Potemkin village and school.
[64] I knew that not long afterwards Dr. Janssen would be returning to the Netherlands. I, his protege, would be left alone among the Tuan Besar who hated my skin color, my political views, and even my work. My main objectives had already been achieved. I had gained experience among the contract coolies and I had earned enough money to repay the debts to my village and to my former teacher. In fact a large part had already been repaid, and the reserve funds I had been putting away would be sufficient to erase the rest if necessary.62 I had been shutting my eyes and ears too long to the situation in this unfortunate society. Once it seems I went too far in writing of the behavior of the Dutch on the plantation, particularly towards the women contract coolies. A written response came from a woman whom I had known as Miss Mathilde Elizas, an educator, now the wife of Horensma, my former teacher.63 The short message read: “If you don’t like it there, then come back to us. Really, there is enough other work to do.”
After the meeting of the Tuan Besar, Dr. Janssen invited me to take a stroll with him. I was no longer hesitant to make the decision, and I said, “You’ve seen for yourself the atmosphere on the plantation, particularly toward me as an Indonesian. When you leave Deli shortly, the school for the coolie children will be turned into a school for hoeing. It’s better that I ask permission to leave from you personally.”
I do not remember what Dr. Janssen said; perhaps he made no comment at all. How could someone as sensitive as he not understand my course in life, my struggle, and the difficulties I faced? That night Dr. Janssen invited me to the house of Dr.
