old_and_present_palembang .htm

The name Palembang is perhaps derived from the word limbang. This means panning for alluvial gold and, according to Van Rijn van Alkemade, during the latter half of the nineteenth century people still dived for gold in the Musi. However, the quantities found did not amount to much (Van Rijn van Alkemade 1883: 66). A more mythically-tinged account of the origin of the name runs as follows: When emissaries were sent from the great kingdom of Majapahit to establish a colony on the East Coast of Sumatra, it happened that the ship in which the passage was being made, sank near the mouth of the Musi. All that remained, a coconut (the ship had a cargo of coconuts), had to be used to reach the goal, so the coconut was cleft into two halves. These two halves were used as vessels, and the four people saved, who were brothers, took their places in them two by two. So they sailed up the river, lurching (limbang-limbang) through the rippling of the water, and finally they reached a place, which they dubbed Palimbang, which people corrupted to Palembang (Van Rijn van Alkemade 1883: 66).

One can build up a picture of the city and its inhabitants several centuries after it had degenerated into the haunt of pirates, from the impressions of the Europeans who visited Palembang in the course of last century. Just as it was in the recent past, Old Palembang was also built partly on piles and partly on rafts of bamboo and wood floating alongside the banks of the Musi. Besides these there were a few brick buildings, including the kraton and the royal graves. Transport was principally carried out by boat and De Kock thought that the river was too wide to be spanned by a bridge (De Kock 1846: 281). The built up area was situated on Ilir, the north bank. Here the remains of the old kraton are to be found, next to which a new brick built kraton with an alun-alun was constructed in 1780 (Van Sevenhoven 1823: 45). Behind the kraton stands a brick mosque dating from 1740, the architecture of which shows Western influences. Later on European districts developed in this part of the city. More downstream are a number of royal cemeteries, which also use brick. Upstream, on the north bank of the river near Bukit Seguntang, is another old cemetery (Van Sevenhoven 1823: 45; Sturler 1843: 184-190).

During the colonial period Palembang was divided into kampung, which all had names but which were also numbered. The Chinese, the Malays, and other foreigners mainly lived on rakit. These were not inhabited by either Palembang people themselves, or by Arabs. Initially the Dutch were accommodated in floating homes, which Van Rijn van Alkemade thought were nicely appointed and provided a dwelling that was both pleasant and cool (Van Rijn van Alkemade 1883: 67). The Arabs had a separate district but the other foreigners mainly lived among the other inhabitants. Van Sevenhoven said that the Chinese were forbidden to live ashore. The reason given for this was that the ruler feared the danger should this population group settle permanently and was to expand even more. As it was, whenever danger threatened, their rafts could be easily set alight. Later, however, the Chinese were able to establish a camp ashore, but on the south bank, where there were many richly appointed brick houses to be found during the colonial period (Van Sevenhoven 1823: 56). Here, by the way, once stood the small Dutch fort, which was conquered by a ruse by the sultan of Palembang in 1811, whereafter its inhabitants were massacred (De Kock 1846: 327).

As already mentioned, many Chinese lived on rakit. The floating homes of the wealthy among them mainly consisted of three parts: a front house, used as shop and warehouse; a rear section on a separate raft which contained kitchen and living quarters; and between them a raft which served as a sort of courtyard. It was also possible to come across floating bathrooms. The renovation of the rafts, after they had begun to rot, was achieved in stages, taking out the old bamboo and replacing this with new (Van Rijn van Alkemade 1883: 68). Commerce was carried out in the Chinese shops and also in small boats. Wholesale trade was dominated by Chinese and Arabs. When the Dutch arrived in Palembang they found no markets.

Van Sevenhoven (1823: 62-67) thought that the population of Palembang could be divided principally into the nobility (the priyayi) and the commoners, between whom there was a large gap. The ruler or sultan was elevated far above the nobility over whom he exercised fairly arbitrary authority. The group itself was formed of people of aristocratic descent or by those who had been raised to it by royal decree. The nobility were subdivided into pangeran, which was not a hereditary title and could only be awarded by the ruler himself; raden, the children of two pangeran; and mas-agus for the sons from a marriage between a pangeran and a commoner woman. The ordinary people were subdivided into three classes, namely the ki-mas, i.e., the sons of a marriage between the wife or daughter of a mas-agus with an ordinary man and the ki-agus, the sons of lower-ranking officials (mantri) and raden, the last-mentioned being married to a woman from the common people. The rest, the ordinary people, were divided into orang-miji, orang-fenan (servants, craftsmen, and soldiers who worked for the nobility), and debt-slaves and slaves (craftsmen and servants who did not work for the aristocracy). Besides these should also be mentioned the clergy and the officials who, it is true, formed a separate group but not a separate class. They came from the class just mentioned and were appointed or installed by the ruler. The various classes and ranks enjoyed specific rights and duties.

The gap between the ruler and the aristocracy, on the one hand, and the people, on the other hand, was great, but all the same it should not be overestimated. The aristocracy was directly related to the ordinary people, which can be seen in the fine distinctions in rank which have been mentioned above. This gap and the unity can be symbolized by the Indonesian waringin tree. As the waringin rises out of the ground, once it is firmly established it then sends out aerial roots downwards, this is exactly the way a rulership establishes itself on the humble respect of the masses, with whom it seeks and is given a genealogical tie (Van Mook 1926: 368).

On the south bank of the Musi, a few kilometres downstream, lies the oil harbour of Palembang: called, like the part of the city in which it is located, Plaju. This is where the Batavian Petroleum Company, which took over the already existing oil exploitation in 1907 and built a refinery, established itself. The oil is transported from three oil fields situated in the near vicinity: Muara Enim, Toman, and Baju Lencir. It produced petrol, kerosene, motor oil, and lubricant. Nearly one-fifth of all production of the Batavian Petroleum Company took place here. In 1912, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey began its operations and set up a refinery in conjunction with the Netherlands Colonial Petroleum Company at Sungai Gerong on the opposite bank of the Komering. In 1922 Blink mentions that a large collection of factory buildings, tanks, and chimneys, connected to each other by pipes, rails, and electric cables, was to be seen at Plaju. He thought it the very picture of industry (Blink 1922: 173). Although logically it is part of the city of Palembang, Plaju can easily be characterized as a company town. It is a Western industrial enclave in an Indonesian setting, which had little direct influence on the city of Palembang itself. Both oil companies employed a large number of Western members of staff, engineers, geologists, doctors, and other employees. These had separate housing in well situated private areas provided with every possible convenience.

Present-day Palembang

Today the Musi is still a very busy waterway. Bamboo rafts, laden with bananas drift slowly along the river, while a fleet of prahu ply their peaceful course. One sees peddlers in small painted craft, and there are small boats with vegetables and other articles which moor alongside the raft dwellings. The colourful speedboats with their elongated sides and beautifully rounded prows, which culminates in a sharp point, dominate the river. These are the taxis of the waterways and transport their passengers swiftly to the opposite side of the river. Nonetheless, the Musi no longer functions as the main street of Palembang. The wide river, the banks of which were once considered unbridgeable, has now been bridged. The town is now dominated by a bridge which was built between 1962 and 1965 with the help of Japanese war reparations. It seems that Soekarno had the plan to call the bridge after himself. However, it is said that it was students which christened it AMPERA, which is an abbreviation for Amanat Penderitaan Rakyat. Translated this is "In Memory of the Suffering of the People". Districts on both banks had to be demolished in order to build the approach roads. The former Chinese area was especially hard hit. Road traffic in the city has increased tremendously, to the cost of the local water transport. Besides this, in the course of the modernization of the city many of the little creeks have been filled in. Furthermore, administration policy is militating against living on rafts and a ban on rakit was introduced. This means that the character of the floating city is slowly but surely declining. The elongated character of the ribbon development along both banks will also gradually tend to disappear. Efforts are being made to give the city depth by setting up subcentres, especially on the Ulu side, and by expanding the road network, which is sometimes no more than two parallel roads. Palembang is one of the Indonesian cities with a town plan. This contains definitions of the various parts of the city as residential, industrial, business, and suchlike zones. It also contains a ringroad.

The bridge has paved the way for a completely new development of the city, through which, in the long run, Palembang can be modernized and will lose its typical floating character. Moreover, the differences between the two banks, the modern Ilir and the more traditional Ulu with its orientation towards adat, had lessened considerably since the opening of the bridge. Both banks are becoming more strongly integrated with each other. The modernization policy has not been without consequences for the becak, the cycle-taxis. These are not permitted on the main roads because they cause traffic delays. The becak, like the small buses which provide local transport, are decorated with a painting depicting landscapes and various other scenes.

Besides the influence of the new bridge on the development of the city and the modernization policy pursued by the authorities, there are several other changes which have been signalled. There has been a sharp increase in population by which the number of inhabitants rose from 474,971 in 1961 to 787,187 in 1980 and 1,141,918 in 1990 (Wolfram-Seifert 1992: 392). The urban area has also expanded, especially in the formation of kampung along the road to the north which leads to the airport. The segregation of the districts, which was once largely based on racial characteristics, has naturally disappeared with the departure of the Dutch. Its place has been taken by segregation based on socio- economic status. The urban middle-class is growing steadily in importance and they live in the formerly European districts. The amount of land used for public and government activities has increased sharply through the expansion of administrative and military organizations, and educational and medical facilities. Modern trading enterprises such as banks, which are now mainly in Indonesian hands, have also expanded. This has meant the growth of a completely new central business area north of the old business centre on the Musi, which has turned Palembang into a modern city. This new commercial hub is no longer oriented towards the river, but towards the surrounding districts. It reflects the increased importance of road transport (Jackson 1973: 7, 9).

The Image of the City

What to a large extent determines the typical city image of Palembang is the shape of the roofs. The angularity and storeyedness of these roofs presents a harmonious picture. Besides the modern construction in the new districts, the few surviving old and the many new Chinese shops in the old commercial district and the simple houses made of bamboo and matting set on piles along the banks, one traditional type of house dominates the city, namely the limas house.

This limas house is the Palembang adat house that is also known as the first generation house. It is supported by thick tree trunks which have been pile-driven into the marshy ground and their fronts are oriented towards the Musi. The walls are of wood and the roof, which rises to a tapered edge, is decorated on either side with three curved points which are strongly reminiscent of buffalo horns, but of which the origin is impossible to trace. In the middle between these protuberances there is sometimes a floral decoration. This signifies that the house is inhabited by a noble family. In Palembang even today there are still a number of aristocratic titles being used like raden, ki-mas, mas-agus, and ki- agus. Once these were mixed up with Chinese titles such as baba, but the latter has now completely disappeared. As a note of interest, the aristocratic titles are no longer bound to a particular function. From front to back the limas house is divided into six sections. The floor of the house is not always on the same level, but rises in step-like fashion from the front. The fourth section represents the highest level, which means that in the fifth and sixth sections (the kitchen) the floor level drops down again. On the platforms of the fourth and fifth sections to the right and left there are small rooms which have been divided off for the bride's room, room for the family-in-law, and the women's section. This internal division of the house gives an increasing intimacy from front to back and an increasing status from low to high. Guests are received in the first or second sections and only when they are aristocrats or if they fulfil an important function in the third section. The fourth section is used by the elders of the family, whose status is highest. Family gatherings are held in the third section, where the middle section abutting the fourth section is reserved for the exclusive use of the family elders. The limas houses are expensive and are rarely built these days.

A second generation house has come into being, the so-called gudang house that is almost the same as a limas house. However, the difference in floor level does not apply in the second generation house, and there is no roof decoration. There are also third generation houses, in which only the shape of the roof is still maintained. These variations in adat houses naturally mainly occur in the older districts, both in Ulu and Ilir.

The former European quarter near the fort and alun-alun lies in a hilly area, which is occupied by the university further inland. As is most often the case in such residential quarters, the drainage is of excellent quality. Gutters have been provided everywhere and the water supply is centred on two large artificial lakes which serve as reservoirs and drain off via a system of closed pipes through a creek into the Musi. The European mansions, surrounded by wide gardens and situated on stately avenues, lend this district a park-like appearance. The townhall, which is located on the edge of this area, has a special architectural character. It was designed in the colonial period by Ir. S. Snuijf and combines the function of townhall and water tower (Kerchman 1930: 345).

The mosque, alun-alun, vegetable market, and fort are situated somewhat closer to the Musi, and despite all its peculiarities, these serve to make Palembang still recognizable as a traditional Indonesian city which has been subjected to strong Javanese influence. The kraton was turned into a fort by the Dutch who banished the sultan of Palembang to Ternate. The fort has been restored on the side facing the river, but other sections of the wall are overgrown and dilapidated. The mosque, Mesjid Agung, becomes a hive of activity about noon on Friday for prayers. This is the time that one sees many men in sarong wearing a blue or black kopiah. A beggar woman receives alms from the mosque-goers, and in the front courtyard a lively trade is carried on in shirts, kopiah, sarongs, and other textiles. The call to prayer from the minaret mingles with the noise of the horns of the passing oplets and the ship's siren of the oil tanker which is busy mooring around the bend in the river on the other side near Plaju.

Plaju and Sungai Gerong form an enclave, a separate, fenced garden city with wide streets, green strips, and shadowy trees. There are large houses some of which were built by the Dutch, but others by the Americans whose houses were, however, prefabricated. These are extensive residential complexes with every conceivable facility such as swimming pools, tennis courts, shops, and hospital. Since Indonesia took over the Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij and the Nederlandse Petroleum Maatschappij, these have been renamed P.T. Shell Industries and P.T. Stanvac Indonesia, which still continued to be run by European management for a long time afterwards. In 1952, one sixth of the employees at Plaju were still European and there were only 170 salaried Indonesians. In 1970 both companies were completely absorbed into the Indonesia state-run company P.N. Pertamina. The refineries are now under wholly Indonesian management and many members of staff come from Java and other parts of Sumatra (Jackson 1973: 10). New residential complexes for lower- ranking employees have now been built. The whole complex is surrounded by fences and there are check-points at the gates for the company security service. The houses lie in the shadow of the huge oil tanks and the refinery installations, in sight of the broad wharves where the oil tankers which transport the oil, both crude and refined, to such destinations as Japan, are moored. Outside the fence are the kampung like Kampung Plaju and Kampung Bali, which are the traditional source of labour for the complex. Plaju in fact still has a dual character, no longer split along racial lines as it was during the colonial period, and the contrast is emphasized by the sturdy fence. Palembang is increasingly becoming an industrial city. Besides the oil refineries, there are large government textile, tyre, and artificial fertilizer factories. There are also many smaller industrial concerns for the manufacture of metal and where furniture is made, foodstuffs, and drinks are processed.

Sawmills, shipyards, rubber, copra, and ice factories are all part and parcel of the picture. Most of the industrial businesses are situated along the banks of the Musi River or on the outskirts of the town, while the majority of the traditional small businesses are located in the old Chinese quarter.

The ongoing process of industrialization is going to dominate the image of the city more and more. It will not be long before Palembang loses its character as the Venice of the East....

Source from Personal Website of Peter. J. M. Nas