Restaurant and Dancing Yen Pin on Koningsplein Noord, 1947
Two young boys, one with a cigarette (!), having a chat with the famous restaurant and dancing Yen Pin at the background. This venue was based on what was then called Koningsplein Noord or Gambir Utara number 14. The owner at the time was a certain Mr. Koeh Boen Tjoen. The dancing, which included a restaurant and bar, was established by Mr. Khouw A. Tong and opened on 3 October 1941. It was located opposite the Deca Park in a building that previously was known as the Carlton Club.
Live music and band
The Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad of 4 October 1941 mentions: “In the early evenings one can sit on the outdoor terrace enjoying delicious Chinese dishes while listening to a live string orchestra. Later in the evening it is only a short stroll to the dance hall, which is cooled and has an excellent dance floor and live band. One can also choose out of three bars where guests are being served by European and Chinese bartender girls. The interior is entirely furnished in Chinese style”.
Still present in 1957
Yen Pin was still present in 1957, but it is unknown when it ceased and when the building was demolished.
photo by Cas Oorthuys; source Netherlands Photo Museum
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
Jalan Hayam Wuruk, formerly Molenvliet Oost, in 1951
A rare colour photo of an iconic building on Jalan Hayam Wuruk 56-57, formerly Molenvliet Oost. On the left is the famous Tek Sun Ho “Eerste Weltevredensche Koffiebranderij” (First Coffee Roastery in Weltevreden), Weltevreden being the district which is now known as Jakarta Pusat. This coffee roastery was based along Molenvliet Oost since 1878.
The fourth generation (!) of the same family, now called Widjaja, is still doing business in coffee roasting and operating the Bakoel Koffie cafe in Cikini in the lovely row of architectural 1920s shops along Jalan Cikini Raya. This cafe is still a frequent and welcoming oasis for us at the end of historic researching and exhausting photo taking day activities in Jakarta. Bakoel also has an activity based cafe in Bintaro Sector 7.
On the right of this picture is NV Lim Tjoei Keng, a business in all kinds of car tools and accessories. A picture of Jalan Hayam Wuruk is never complete without the equally iconic washing ladies who still dominated this scene in the early 1950s and give this picture such a nostalgic Batavia/Djakarta atmosphere. Not only the washing ladies have disappeared long ago, but both buildings have been demolished too.
Very soon we will publish the book 250 YEARS IN OLD JAKARTA. It will tell the story of more than two centuries of Bik family in Jakarta, as well as the fascinating history of Tanah Abang, one of the oldest districts in Jakarta, dating back to 1628.
One entire chapter in the 336 page book will be dedicated to the Tanah Abang cemetery, now Taman Prasasti. It opened in 1797 and was fortunately saved from full destruction by the legendary Jakarta Governor Ali Sadikin. In 1976 Bang Ali decided to transform 1/5th of the original cemetery into a park with the most memorable monuments and tombstones. In this video, author Sven Verbeek Wolthuys tells about the history of some of the Bik tombstones still present in today’s Jakarta.
The video was kindly created by the team of Adventure Documentary Festival (ADF).
A unique and colourful photo taken just south of Pasar Glodok, looking south towards the start of the former Molenvliet canal.
At the front of the photo is where Jalan Hayam Wuruk (left) and Jalan Gajah Mada (right behind the trees) are coming together to mark the start of Jalan Pintu Besar Selatan. The roadworks at the front left are taking place at the turnoff to Jalan Blustru (formerly Gang Lindeteves), which leads to the Mangga Besar district, east of Glodok. On the corner is a small police post. The former Glodok jail is on the left but behind the photographer and was still present in 1954 as the Pendjara Glodok.
This picture strikingly shows the transition between colonial garden-city Batavia with its tree-lined orderly streets and modern Jakarta with its ongoing struggle to digest traffic and manage pollution. The streets are still marked by some majestic trees, but as we can see they are clearly suffering along the small streets that scream to be widened to allow for the growing traffic. Becaks and cars already mark a steady traffic flow on Jalan Hayam Wuruk. Nevertheless, the Anker Beer advertisement sign close to the start of the canal was still present at this location in the mid 1980s. This rare colour photo was taken by Everardus de Jong.
