The Shallow Seas Read online

  A TALE OF TWO TOWNS: SINGAPORE AND BATAVIA

  { THE STRAITS QUARTET, VOL. 2 }

  DAWN FARNHAM

  Contents

  Glossary

  Foreword

  Prologue

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

  18

  19

  20

  21

  22

  23

  24

  25

  26

  27

  28

  29

  30

  31

  33

  34

  35

  36

  37

  38

  39

  40

  41

  About the Author

  The Red Thread

  The Hills of Singapore

  Glossary

  Alus: Javanese word meaning “graceful and refined”.

  Ang moh: A racial epithet that originates from Hokkien (Min Nan) and is used to refer to white people in Malaysia and Singapore. Literally meaning “red-haired”, the term implies that the person referred to is a devil, a concept explicitly used in the Cantonese term gweilo (“foreign devil”).

  Armenia: Landlocked, mountainous country between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea surrounding Mount Ararat. In 301, it became the first country in the world to adopt Christianity. Located between Europe and Asia, Armenia was invaded countless times and its people spread all over the earth. Part of the Soviet Union until its collapse, it is now an independent country.

  Boreh: A fragrant yellow paste made from spices and used as an unguent.

  Borobodor: Ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in central Java.

  Brieswijk: The place of breezes.

  Bugis: The people of southern Sulawesi. They are still outstanding shipbuilders, sailors and navigators who have traded legitimately in the region for thousands of years. When the colonial powers displaced traditional trading relations of the region, the Bugis turned to piracy and slave trading.

  Claddagh ring: Traditional Irish ring, given in friendship or worn as a wedding ring. The design and customs associated with it originated in the Irish fishing village of Claddagh, located just outside the city of Galway. The Claddagh’s distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart, usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the crown). The way that a Claddagh ring is worn on the hand is usually intended to convey the wearer’s availability, or lack thereof. Traditionally, if the ring is on the right hand with the heart facing outward and away from the body, this indicates that the person wearing the ring is not in any serious relationship: “their heart is open”. When worn on the right hand but with the heart facing inward, this indicates the person wearing the ring is in a relationship, or that “someone has captured their heart”. A Claddagh worn on the left hand ring finger, facing outward away from the body, generally indicates that the wearer is engaged. When worn on the left hand ring finger and facing inward toward the body, it generally means that the person wearing the ring is married.

  Danjang desa: The spirit of the village.

  Dukun: Medicine man, healer in Java.

  Eling: Pronounced “ailing”, it means “remember”. When a person is overcome with sorrow or anger, the Javanese advise that it is necessary to eling, to regain self-control. Self-control is the highest Javanese value. In this context, eling refers to a high level of self-awareness that enables the individual to observe and control all movements of the self, both inner and outer—its actions, words, and thoughts.

  Factories: The name for trading stations where goods were imported, stored and exported for sale in Europe.

  Gamelan: A gamelan is a musical ensemble of Indonesia typically featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and vocalists may also be included. The term refers more to the set of instruments than the players of those instruments. A gamelan as a set of instruments is a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together—instruments from different gamelan are not interchangeable. The word “gamelan” comes from the Javanese word “gamel”, meaning to strike or hammer, and the suffix “an”, which makes the root a collective noun.

  Guanxi: A network of contacts which an individual can call upon when something needs to be done, and through which he or she can exert influence on behalf of another. In addition, guanxi can describe a state of general understanding between two people.

  Isin: Isin is a powerful concept in Javanese thought. Isin is what happens when you cannot bear what you are seeing and feeling, when you are watching but no longer controlling your reactions, when your energy mounts in a vain attempt to deny what is here. Isin in particular, together with all extreme emotions in general, produces imbalance; love, hate, euphoria, despair and fury are all subject to the “law of balance”.

  Jamu: Traditional herbal medicine in Java.

  Kajang Mats: Mats made of the leaves of palm trees, used for roof coverings on boats and as seating.

  Kala: The Kala is a monster that devours itself, representing the relentless passage of time. It is usually shown without its lower jaw, which it has already eaten. Originally a Hindu god, it is often seen above windows and doors.

  Kampong: Malay word for village.

  Kapitan Cina: The leader of the Chinese community in colonial cities. The Kapitan and his Council ensured a good relationship between the European and Chinese members of the town, dealt with disputes and crime amongst the Chinese community, and registered births, marriages and deaths.

  Kemiri: Candlenuts. The oil of mashed candlenuts made hair glossy and was said to keep grey hair at bay.

  Kraton: Javanese word for royal palace.

  Kris: The kris or keris is a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the southern Philippines. Both a weapon and spiritual object, the kris is often considered to have an essence or presence, with some blades possessing good luck and others possessing bad.

  La seraille: The seraglio, the luxurious women’s harem quarters in a Sultan’s palace.

  Laudanum: An opium tincture, sometimes sweetened with sugar and also called wine of opium, used widely during the Victorian era.

  Loro Kidul: Queen of the South Sea, a fierce goddess to whom all the kings of Java are still wed on ascending to power, their power and legitimacy being vested in her. Myth says she was the daughter of the last king of the Western Javanese Hindu Pajajaran kingdom, which was overthrown by the Muslim invasions.

  Merang: A dye made from the burnt stalks of rice to conceal greying hair. Used throughout tropical Asia for centuries, the soaked stalks form an inky liquid which foams like a shampoo and acts, in addition, as a cleansing agent and a tonic.

  Mestizo: Spanish term meaning “to mix”, the term spread quickly and became generic and synonymous for “mixed race”.

  Nyai: A native woman, consort, or concubine of a European man in the Dutch East Indies. The status and the fate of the nyai varied widely, depending entirely on the actions of the man. After Christian baptism, she could become his wife or he could legitimise her and her children as a secondary “wife”. Once legitimised and recognised in law, she was entitled to upkeep by the man and to inherit part of the man’s estate. In theory, and often in fact, a legitimised native nyai could quickly pass
from being a slave to being a wealthy widow of a Dutch official or merchant. On the other hand, many nyai could simply be abandoned and, up to 1782, if they were still slaves at the death of the man, both the nyai and her offspring could be separated and sold to other owners. After 1782, this practice was prohibited.

  Pempek: Pempek or empek-empek is a delicacy from Palembang which is made of fish and sago.

  Pinisi: Double masted gaff-ketch rig boat built by the sailors of South Sulawesi. It was the ubiquitous commercial trading vessel of the Southeast Asian islands.

  Prahu: Literally, the Malay word meaning boat. There are many types of prahu throughout the islands of the archipelago.

  Prambanan: Largest Hindu temple compound in Indonesia, located near Yogyakarta. Built in the 9th century, a temple to the glory of the Hindu gods, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma.

  Qi: Also commonly spelled ch’i, this is a fundamental concept of traditional Chinese culture. Qi is believed to be part of every living thing that exists, as a kind of “life force” or “spiritual energy”. It is frequently translated as “energy flow”, or literally as “air” or “breath”.

  Revenue Farm: A revenue farm is a franchise with a license to collect state revenue and with a monopoly right to practice a certain business. Such a monopoly was granted by the state government to a “farmer” for a limited period of time in a strictly defined location in a city, district or province. In return, the farmers/bidders had to pay the government in advance to be guaranteed monopoly status. In Java, the revenue farms were almost exclusively licensed to the Chinese and included monopolies on gambling establishments, liquor distribution, entertainment, transport, road toll gates, markets, money lending and opium.

  Ronggeng: A type of social dance in which couples exchange poetic verses as they dance to the music of a violin or gong. By the 19th century, ronggeng dancers were popular entertainers, singers and dancers in Java, usually assumed also to be prostitutes.

  Sambal: A condiment or side dish used in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the southern Philippines and Sri Lanka, as well as the Netherlands, made from a variety of peppers, although chilli peppers are the most common.

  Saman tree: The rain tree, a tall, wide-spreading tree used for shade. Its leaves close when the weather is overcast, allowing rain to penetrate the canopy and nourish the plants beneath, one of the few tropical jungle trees to do so.

  Sireh: Malay word for betel. The leaves of the betel tree are used as a wrapping for the slices of the areca nut, lime paste and other ingrediants and chewed as a stimulant.

  Slametan: Communal feast symbolising the unity of those participating in it. The ceremony is taken from the Javanese word slamet which means a peaceful state of equanimity, in which nothing happens. A Slametan takes place at marriages, births and deaths, major events in the Islamic calendar, and to mark unusual events: moving house, going on a long trip, illness, sorcery, etc.

  Slendang: Long cloth used to carry a young child around the shoulders.

  Sultan: The royal appellation of the kings of the court of Yogyakarta. By definition they are secondary to the Susunan, for their court was created out of the division of the lands of Mataramby the Dutch in 1830.

  Susunan or Susuhunan: The Emperor of the Royal Court of Surakarta, sometimes called Solo. The Susunan is recognised as the legitimate descendant of the court of the second Mataram dynasty, the Muslim dynasty which displaced the previous Hindu Sailendra dynasty. Its name was taken from an older Hindu/Buddhist dynasty called Mataram which ruled Java from the 8th to the 10th century.

  Tuaru: Hibiscus bush. The crushed leaves were commonly used for hair washing in Indonesia before the advent of manufactured shampoo.

  Tempeh: Referred to as the “Javanese meat”, tempeh is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybean particles into a cake form. Invented by the Javanese, it is now common in other parts of Southeast Asia as well. It is still especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein.

  VOC: Or the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie in Dutch, literally “United East Indian Company”, it was established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia. The first multinational corporation in the world, it was also the first company to issue stock. It remained an important trading concern for almost two centuries until it went bankrupt and was formally dissolved in 1800, its possessions and debts being taken over by the government of the Batavian Republic. The VOC’s territories became the Dutch East Indies and were expanded over the course of the 19th century to include the whole of the Indonesian archipelago.

  Waringan tree: Indonesian name for the banyan tree.

  Wayang: Wayang is an Indonesian word for theatre, but comes from the Javanese word for shadow or imagination and also connotes “spirit”. Famous stories of the wayang are the Javanese adaptation of tales from the Mahabharata, of which the most famous character is Arjuna. Wayang kulit shadow puppets, prevalent in Java and Bali, are the best known of the Indonesian wayang. Kulit means skin and refers to the leather construction of the puppets that are carefully chiseled with very fine tools and supported with carefully shaped buffalo horn handles and control rods.

  Wei qi: Classical board game known in the West by its Japanese name, Go, and believed to have originated at least 4-5,000 years ago. Some say that the board, with ten points out from the centre in all directions, may have originally served as a forerunner to the abacus. Others think it may have been a fortune-telling device, with black and white stones representing yin and yang. By the time of Confucius, wei qi had already become one of the “Four Accomplishments” (along with brush painting, poetry and music) that must be mastered by the Chinese gentleman.

  Zhen Jiu: Acupuncture

  Zhi Ya: Acupressure

  “The shallow sea that foams and murmurs on the shores of the thousand islands, big and little, which make up the Malay Archipelago has been for centuries the scene of adventurous undertakings.”

  Joseph Conrad, The Rescue

  Foreword

  Water links Singapore and Jakarta, which once was Batavia. Long ago, during the ice ages, they were part of the Asian continent and shared one vast shore called Sundaland. When the ice melted and water crept over it, the land below became the Sunda Shelf and the lands above became the Malay Peninsula and the Malay Archipelago. The big islands of Sumatra, Java and Borneo were born and so, too, the myriad smaller ones.

  The warm waves that whisper on the shores of the thousand islands have a thousand tales.

  This is one.

  Prologue

  Et in Arcadia ego. Once I, too, lived in paradise.

  The words came into her mind as she stood, still and silent as stone. Her eyes followed the waves that curled and glinted in the long trail of the ship’s wake leading back to the cliffs of Singapore. The island with the red earth—tanah merah; the cliffs now mere ruddy smudges on the horizon. Her sojourn in Arcadia had been brief. For the second time in her short life, a ship was carrying her away from joy and into misery. Suffering the grief of absence, condemned to remember joy and then remember absence, an endless circle. Grim-visaged comfortless Despair, and Sorrow’s piercing dart. Until this moment she had not thought beyond the parting, the heart-stopping moment of leaving. The black brig rose on the dark swell, and she felt sick.

  A cloud drifted across the morning sun, smothering the light, plunging the vista into obscurity, and the brig sank into the valley of the wave. The land vanished and the world became water. Charlotte leaned against the rail and began to vomit violently, coughing, retching, tears coursing down her face. She had left him. She felt the power of her body ebb from her so quickly that she slumped to the deck. She would not see him again. She could still feel the strength of his arms, the imprint of his body against hers, could hear, in the roar of the wind, his deep voice, bitter and hurt. It would never relent, she thought, this grief. She felt a vice, like finge
rs, around her heart, as if his hands had sped over the waves to pull her back to him. Taking no care for the mess on her clothes she rose, stumbled to a low chest and began to climb.

  As she grasped the rail, strong hands gripped her waist, carrying her back down to the deck. She turned in fury to the man who had stopped her and struck him as hard as she could. She began to struggle with a grim determination, gasping for breath. She had to go back to Singapore, to Zhen.

  Tigran held her firmly until her desperation lessened and she let him support her. She looked up, and he saw that in the distraction of her mind she did not recognise him.

  I have to go back, you see,” she said shakily, in her most reasonable voice. She shook her head. “It’s a mistake. Can you take me back please?”

  “Yes, I will take you back, but now rest a little and take some refreshment.”

  As he felt her legs fail, Tigran took her in his arms and signalled a man to fetch the Javanese maid who had been brought on this voyage to care for Charlotte. In the cabin, he laid her gently on the bed. She did not stir, and he saw she was asleep, overcome with sickness and emotion. He left the maid to care for her, changed his clothes, felt briefly the place on his cheek where her blow, surprisingly strong, had landed, and went back to the deck.

  Tigran Manouk was the master of this brig, Queen of the South, and a fleet of merchant ships, part of his vast empire in the Dutch East Indies which included coffee, tea, sugar plantations and factories, indigo farms, ship-building, banking. His father, Gevork, an Armenian merchant, had become one of the richest men in Java—so rich that, on occasion, he had bailed out the impoverished Dutch government in Batavia as it struggled to take over administration of the former VOC possessions.

  Charlotte Macleod had been just eighteen when Tigran met her in Singapore. He had been visiting his sister Takouhi and his niece Meda, a lovely, sweet-hearted girl, daughter of the new settlement’s master architect, George Coleman. George had fallen in love with Takouhi years before in Batavia, where, as a young man, he had built sugar factories and embankments for Tigran’s father. George and Takouhi had been together for eighteen years, until Meda fell dangerously ill.