Demolition of the 1927 market building in Tanah Abang, 1973
By the early 1970s the largest textile market of Indonesia was still housed in a single storey building that dated back to 1927. The market was too small and many sellers used the surrounding streets to set up their textile stalls. There was usually non-stop traffic chaos around Pasar Tanah Abang during the day. In 1973 Jakarta’s Governor Ali Sadikin (1927-2008) gave the green light to demolish the old pasar and to build a new four storey concrete market complex with a parking deck on the roof.
Nightmare for market traders
The two years between the demolition and the re-opening of the new pasar were a real nightmare for the market traders. As there was no alternative space, the city council had approved that textile sellers could set up their kiosks in the surrounding streets, with the result that Jalan Wahid Hasyim and Jalan Fachrudin were two open air markets for nearly two years. When the new Pasar Tanah Abang opened in 1975 it had room for more than 4,300 kiosks.
Multiple fires
The new Tanah Abang market complex suffered from serious fires on several occasions. One block of the pasar complex burnt down on 30 December 1978, a second block went up in flames on 13 August 1979. In both cases the sections were able to be rebuilt, but a destructive fire in 2003 meant the end of the four-storey market building. Between 2005 and 2010 the two new 18-floors Blok A and Blok B were constructed, and Pasar Tanah Abang is now the largest textile market in southeast Asia. On this photo from 1973, taken by Kartono Ryadi for Kompas, the demolition of the 1927 pasar has commenced.
Jalan Haji Agus Salim, now Jalan Pamekasan, in 1971
A suburban scene on Jalan Haji Agus Salim nearly half a century ago. The photo has been taken on the most southern end of the road which is now known as Jalan Pamekasan (between Jalan Imam Bonjol and the intersection of Jalan Sumenep with Jalan Sudirman). We are looking north towards Jalan Imam Bonjol, which is not visible on this photo. The single level house on the right stands on the corner with Jalan Sumenep and still stands today although it is empty and in poor condition. In between the two double storey houses is the turnoff to Jalan Kusuma Atmaja (formerly Jalan Tosari).
Jalan Pamekasan
On 1971 maps this street is already mentioned as Djalan Pamekasan, although the street sign on this photo still says Djalan Haji Agus Salim. The northern end of this street, between Medan Merdeka and Gereja Theresia was known as Laan Holle until July 1950 when it changed into Jalan Sabang although today it is still often referred to as Jalan Sabang and taxi drivers in Jakarta have no problem locating it when you mention this previous street name.
Becaks
By 1960 the road had been renamed into Jalan Haji Agus Salim, after the Indonesian journalist, diplomat and statesman Agus Salim (1884-1954), even south of Gereja Theresia which was previously known as Jalan Gereja Theresia (or: Theresiakerkweg in colonial days). What today is known as Jalan Gereja Theresia was previously named Jalan Sunda (or Soendaweg). On this photo we see a few becaks, which was still a common mean of transport in Jakarta in 1971.
The former offices of the Nederlandsch Indische Gas Maatschappij (Netherlands Indies Gas Company), in 1972 already known under its current name PLN. This characterful building does still exist today and is located on the southeastern end of Medan Merdeka Timur, officially the first building on Jalan Ridwan Rais, the street that was known in colonial days as Prapatan Gambir. The Netherlands Indies Gas Company (NIGM) was founded in 1863. Just before World War II the company operated 11 gas plants and 33 power plants.
After independence
It became the Dutch Overseas Gas and Electric Company (OGEM) as of 1950. Indonesia nationalized the business in 1958. The OGEM, which continued its operations elsewhere in the world, got a compensation of 18 million guilders but it was not until 1978 that the Indonesian government had paid off the entire amount. The original ornaments and stained glass windows can still be seen today inside this characterful PLN building.
source: Beeldbank Cultureel Erfgoed, The Netherlands
Sinterklaas in a convertible car on Tanah Abang Heuvel, 5 December 1947
Sinterklaas or Sint-Nicolaas is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. The feast of Sinterklaas celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December. It is celebrated annually with the giving of gifts on Saint Nicholas’ Eve (5 December) in the Netherlands and on the morning of 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day, in Belgium, Luxembourg and northern France (French Flanders, Lorraine and Artois).
Sinterklaas Overseas
The tradition has also been celebrated in overseas territories of the Netherlands, like Curaçao and Suriname, and also in the Dutch East Indies/Indonesia. Here Sinterklaas and a few Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) are driving in a convertible car on Tanah Abang Heuvel on 5 December 1947, with happy children and other spectators enjoying the scene.
Three girls in front of the clockmaker shop J.Groeneweg on Jalan Majapahit in 1947
Three lovely girls having a laugh in front of the shop of clock and watchmaker Mr. J. Groeneweg on Rijswijkstraat 5 (now Jalan Majapahit). This workshop was just south of society De Harmonie, which was on number 1 on this street. In between was the office of the Kadaster (Land Registry) on number 3. The three girls are all three stylishly dressed, the left girl in a typical late 1940s fashionable dress, the other two girls in traditional batik jarik andkebaya, which was a common way of dressing for women in Indonesia, even until well in the 1970s. It’s a pity that this is entirely absent on the streets in modern day Jakarta.
Groeneweg
Mr. J. Groeneweg already operated his clockmaker workshop at this address in the early 1930s. In 1951 the name of this shop changed into “Saparoea, formerly J. Groeneweg”, and was operated by Mrs. Th. Groeneweg-Sahaneja, who obviously was family, maybe his wife, or a sister-in-law. We can only guess what has happened. Newspapers and telephone books do not reveal this. The street Rijswijkstraat was known as the Fransche Buurt (French Neighbourhood) from the second half of the 19th century onwards, due to the presence of many French shops and boutiques, of which Leroux Bakery and Oger Frères tailors were the most well-known. It was a stylish and luxury shopping street, certainly until the early 1940s. In 1950 the name of this street changed into Djalan Harmonie, which would have been an appropriate streetname until De Harmonie itself was tragically demolished in 1985, but by 1951 the street already obtained its current name Jalan Majapahit (then spelled as Djalan Madjapahit).
Girls
We don’t know how the lives of the three girls continued. It could well be that they are still alive today. If so, they most likely are now in their early 90s.
photo: Cas Oorthuys, source: Netherlands Photo Museum
