THE BITTERIST SUGAR, WAS FOUND IN THE HISTORY OF JAVA ISLAND.
Most European, consider that sweetnes of sugar, gave their adorable food named delicatessen.
These kind of luxury foods became an increasing demand of their mercantiles society and the nobelities. Their economy was booming since the booming of industrializations, included the indispensable alcoholic beverages, rum and genever. Dutch East Indian Company ( VOC ) of course gladly met these demands. The sole logical source of sugar or sucrose of course was the tropical sugar cane ( cross bread between species Saccharums , for instant between Saccharum spontaneum L x Saccharum sinense.Rosb etc.
The Dutch VOC noted that after the war of Java (1830) the Company and the Dutch Government were almost bankrupt. The separation of Netherland and Belgium, also occurred in this period of time, when the Dutch lost its most of industrialized area.
The Dutch Governor General Van Den Bosch create a “cultuurstelsel” ( 1830 -1870) means to force peasantry to grow demanded produces by European market , especially sugar. This Company was owned by the Crown of Dutch Kingdom and consequently took over all the land in Java island which formerly belong to the subdued Javanese Kingdom. These encroachment was done since one and a half millineun before, mostly by “devide et impera” policies amongst the Javanese nobelities. For examples: These sly traders lured local princes by gifts and bribes of lavish European product of luxuries especially fine woolen fabric materials to make a kingly garbs in exchange of special right in stock piling spices monopoly. These fabrics were adored by nobelities because it was warm in rainy seasons and cozy in humid hot seasons, strong and rigid enough to hang golden and silver star medal or honours ornaments. No wonder , believe it or not, the one of Javanese Sultan loved to wear a used admiral’s coat of honour presented to him, which may be the Dutch got it from the boarded by force the Spain galleon. He was called by his subjects the Sultan Amangkurat Amral, meaned Amangkurat the Admiral, although he was loosing sultanate lands to the Dutch VOC, and had no navy at all.
Van Der Capellen was appointed as successor of Van Den Bosch and under this Governor General the forced planting of sugar cane dubbed as Cultuurstelsel was in full swing in new area of fast Central Java and East Java low lands, peasants forced to grow sugar cane under the barrel of carbines, I suspect the the troops of Javanese Sultan involved cover enforcement in these fast area, under sultan regents who received the bribes and borrowed carbines, without knowledge of their powerless Sultan. It was happened at the last half of the 18 century. The private sectors of Dutch economy, the traders and capitalists soon bought from the European factories, steam engines to power the huge steel rollers press and steel big tanks as separators and to boil the sugar cane syrup more efficiently. This was time when sugar industries were born and earnestly grew very quick, both in number of refineries and in planting area. These private capitalists used labour of peasantries using their feudal serfdom right which exist long before, during the sultan ruler. Mostly on the building infra structures, such as building dams and spreading irrigation canals – primary- secondary- tertiary canals. Planting and nurturing the field for sixteen months, and harvesting the cane were done by precariously paid peasants, just enough to live subsistently, they lost most of the paddy harvest because they have to spent most of the time to tend the master”s sugar cane, instead of tending their own paddy planting. This era was the time of the bitter sugar in Java Island and actually it was continued until this moment by one or another reason.
Actually, this cultuurstelsel which were fundamentally feudalistic monopoly, during its implementations fom time to time had helped the Netherland rapidly devoped to modern rich society, in the colony it was intertwined with a spirit of liberalism in pivate capital’s growth. So, in 1850 -1900 this cultuurstelsel were intertwined private’ capital interest – but both the government monopoly and private capitals enjoyed cozyly the spirit of feudalism in the fareway Netherlands Indie in every aspect of colonial life and economy, Rice became scarce, famine was imminent and spread fastly.
Due to the fashions in accordance to liberalism, the Dutch arranged to change the cultuurstelsel with another rule the “etische politiek” which was effective in the year ot 1901, as a gesture to thanks the overworked, overexploited indigenous peasantry. But in the sugar cane fields this fashion was materialized as new arrangement with peasantries involved in sugar cane planting, the Netherland Indie prefer to import rice from Vietnam, Thailan and Cambodia, to feed their peasant workers, they got the wage of 25 cents a day, 7 days a week to buy about 1,5 kg of imported rice which cost much lesser then sugar price in Europe.
The sugar cane appointed area ( actually ex paddy growing area during the Sultanate era) was owned by the Government of Netherlands Indie, leased to the sugar campanies cheaply and practically for ever, but it had to be rotated with paddy planting which was tended by “koelis gogol” who were permitted to grow rice once after second year and kept privately the harvest, with a compulsory task to uproot the sugar cane stumps groove of rhizomes after harvesting, to be submitted to the factory for free, to be processed, because it was rich of sucrose also. So at the end of second year a “koeli gogol” was assigned a plot of irrigated land about 3000 meter square to grow rice of his own, every time in defferent irrigated locations and ditched for bordering with neighboring plots. This method of sugar cane planting precisely in accordance with the most labour intensive system of planting and the most high yielding also: the Reynoso system. So in one area of several vilages, there were one thirth just planted sugar cane, one thirth of due to harvest cane’s planting, and just replanted rice field. Ranoso system of planting mean one harvest one planting, another system of planting was ratoon planting that mean several harvest from one planting only depends on the new shoots every one and a half year at end of one sugar cane’s vegetation period cycle.
The old and unfit for working in the sugar cane field, old peasant had to return to the factory his position as koeli gogol or to inherit it to his able married son or his place to be given to another younger peasant pair appointed by the factory. The women peasant was needed to plant carefully the cane cutting not to damage the scions. The old and disabled koeli was the burden of peasantries, since the old old time. The price of rice was checked low by the existence of imported rice from Saigon, this local production of rice was cheap and stable enough to feed the upper class of indigenous people in the towns. Towns in Java Island bacame a segragation showcase between the “herenvolks-the Hollanders” against the “inlanders”, the indigenous of Netherlands Indie’s inhabitans. The remaining of these segragation’s showcase in this 20 th. century can be seen lately in South Africa, such as the note in public places and parks: “ Honden en inlanders vorboden toegang” - meaned “The dogs and the indigenous are not allowed to pass in”, absurd and painful. No wonder, after the capitulation of Dutch armed force in less then one single month, the entire Netherlands Indie crumbed down, all the small fries of the Hollanders who trapped in, could not flee out from this colonial heaven, became Nippon captures and interned, no dispised by them indigenous people were willingly to see them. For three years they were interned in concentration camps, miserable and hungry.
This bitterness of sugar was continued after the declaration of Indepence of the Republic of Idonesia in 1945, ten years afterward. the remaining refineries which were neglected during the Nippon army for three years, plus occupation of Natherlands Kingdom’s troops five years of the war of independence ( the Dutch called it as politioneele actie – police actions) , because the Nippon occupation army (Nippon Gunseikanbu) only needed much rice to wage the Pacific war. During the Nippon army’ occupation, peasantries helped themselves to grow rice, there are about 1,5 million Ha of these well irrigated lands in Central Java and East Java, encouraged by the occupational ruler ( Nippon Gunseikan), but lately the harvest simply was taken by Nippon or compensated with very low price. Peasants rather quit to grow rice in the next season, because they have no capital anymore, which made the villages higher class trembling by Nippon army retaliation harsh punishment, so these village’s higher class ( the riches, the small ex paymaster and ex foremen of sugar cane plantings, villages’ teacher, wardens of teakwood forresteries and religious heads – mostly of Islamic religion) they took over the cost of rice planting, share cropping with the peasants below them, in the form of harvest share, and to submit the harvest token to the Nippon Hokokai. These new players of rice production, these witty class soon found ways fo bribe the Nippon supervisors, swindling the part of their harvest to the black market in the towns to feed the hungry inhabitant with good price. This was the seed of peasants holocaust years afterward. These class of villages inhabitant who were making profit during the Noppon’s Pasific war , these class continued this profitable practice during the five years Independence war, using the familiar to them Dutch Government owned lands practically it was factories sugar cane planting lands, to grow rice, and fed the whole inhabitant of the towns with good price, and also to feed bands guirilla army for free, they were contributing their merit for fight of independence were’nt they ?
Unfortunately, after the fight of police action of Dutch troops ended, and Republic of Indonesia was acknowledged by the Netherlands Government, the sugar cane areas with its first class irrigation system was still practically owned by The Republic of Indonesia as a matter of consequent. Than in President Sukarno era, the Republic insisted to end this colonial practice forever, and create a new agrarian law headed by the name of “UUPA no 5 tahun 1960” (Fundamental Agrarian Law no 5 of the year 1960 ) which uprooted all the rest of feudalism and colonialism in agrarian law of Indonesia. And the unfortunate party was the upper class in the villages, who were living in another District at some distance villages from the plots of sugar cane lands belong to another District. According to one article of this new agrarian law, a person who live in another District, received no redistribution piece of land ex sugar cane area, it was solely to be given to the koeli gogol who live and work in the same district of redistributed sugar cane lands. And there were 1,5 million Ha of these sugar cane lands in Central and East Java, which some parts of it were redistributed to the koeli gogol already by Sukarno regime. Actually that same plot were planted with rice in ten years in row, by somebody form another Disrtrict or from the same District but not registered as koeli gogol according to factories book of records without any lawful right due to the war situations. Many thousand of hectare the sugar cane land in that position. Frictions and resistant were developed horizontally amongst the inhabitants of villages. And they who where loosing the sugar cane’ squatted lands, the illicit selling and buying the right to be a koeli gogol were flocking aound one or another Politcal Parties.
This Republic’s founding father, Sukarno, was detestable to US foreign policy, Indonesia was trying build the “non block countries” an organisation whch were palatable enough to the young ex colony counties in the world. These effort was called immoral by John Foster Dulles. Consequently CIA decided to end this forever. Their decisive secret attack was very successful in 1965 by supporting a coup d’ detat of the Army’s leader General Suharto. This General was successfully maintained his rule for 32 years thanks to the supports of villages who got nothing from redistributed sugar cane irrigated field, but on the contrary were loosing the sugar cane’s land to grow rice, making cold steel havocs and butchering the hundred of thousands or millions amongst the receivers of redistributed lands, the majority of peasantries which were just common men of fearful and simple characters , loosing their beloved leader Sukarno, the arden defender of Pak Marhaen. Along with this debacle, Kommunist Party was wiped out by Suharto regime. Tried for treasons in massacred 12 armed forces generals, the whole Sukarno’s followers, the receivers of redistributed land and any social element of progressive believe were accused to be instrument for this treason also, to justify their disapearances, lately due to the international outcry for lawful justice, the remaining of them were exiled in the island of Buru, kept there as prisoners without trial. During this period of horror the rest of Indonesian common people, mothers, were catatonically shocked and numb. The New Orde brushed aside the Fundamental Agrarian Law no 5,1960, of their own reason, only dependent on the local Territorial Commanders which prefer to “peace and order”. The Elites of the Political Parties, which clinged to the lands of sugar cane they acquired by force, were abandoned by Suharto regime, they did not availed the Government subsidies for non food crops, General Suharto prefered to embrace the more profitable downstream industries, derived the raw marterials made by advanced industrial countries, absorbed the abundance of cheap labour. Modern Agro industries without Government cheap credit and R&D was a nonsense. These Political Parties had no strategic position to reckon with., not in disciplinary members nor in capitals and sciences. So were the destiny of land clinged old fashioned Political Parties in the era of the General Suharto’s New Order..
What about the sugar cane fields ? It was back to the same position as in the 18 th century ago, parts of it belong to the Government enterprises in sugar production, part of it belong tho the personages which worked on it since the japanese occupancy, But the landlordship was coming back, despite the Suharto New Orde effort to create village’s better economy with generous subsidy of fertilizers and pesticides, aided its implementation profoundly by the World Bank, IMF and Asian Developnet Bank, free irrigation cost, thanks to the IRRI green revolution’s paddy verieties, these subsidy was prolonged for 25 years. Multi National Banks prefer to encourage intensifications of agriculture programmes to obtain self supporting foods, overseeing that it was only dependent on loans. The result of these colossal Government’s subsidy practically was going to the daily consumptive peasantry’s life, as better housing, motorcycles, small engined generators, water pumps which were owned by individuals, weared quickly. On the contrary, food crops derived from extensification of agriculture, using fast tropical peatlands on the Sumatra and Kalimantan marshlands, millions hectare of this idle lands, will make foods self supporting last for very long time, making economical strength of this nation, preventing careless using lands cheaply for big mining industries, this was overseen by these multinational banks.
And low price of local rice, unpalatable to the big lands owners, for the sake of boosting the low cost of labour intentsives industrial interprises. The price of rice was regulated by the Government Logistic Body (BULOG). This effort could happen because peasants got heavy subsidies in food crops input of planting, so far so good.
But to ascertain that no area in the islands outside Java were touched by the Government’s extensification programs of agriculture, for good reasons of big investments. Many Riches go to Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, indicated the welfare of peasantry was improved. Not to be accumulated in the form of modern farming hard ware investments, not mentioning cooperative capitals. It was noticeable, to everybody’s delight that Islamic teaching superficially were very much improving on the formal sides. But its strength in jihad was fashionable with multi meanings, it was backfired afterward. But the winner took all.
At last the sugar cane planting was considered unfeasible in technically irrigated area as it was years ago, new IRRI xoltivars of rice with sorter vegetation periods and its locally cossbred rice were the most profitable crops plus secondary crops after harvesting, as soybean, mung bean, tobacco or chilli. After rice, as secondary crops mentioned, were better rather than more then 14 month of single sugar cane’ long period of vegetation. Form now on sugar cane is planted in unirrigated area , new refineries are building in Lampung Sumatra, South Sulawesi, using ratooned system of planting. All the same, private Chinese Owned companies practices ex- territorial rule in their assigned area, Government enterprises assigned large plots for sugar cane’s planting, hopelessly were overburdened by mark up spending on investments, each was full of corruption holes during its productions, using as much as possible machanizations, frequented by agrarian conflicts with local neighboring peasantry, because heavy mechanisations of agriculture were not for them. Sugar, to the peasantry in this country is still bitter indeed, the bitterist in the world*)
