¹ We have benefitted very much from an article written by DrsTjong, Tjoa Soe, “OTHC-100 Jaar — Een Stukje Economische Geschiedenis van Indonesia,” Economische-Statistische Berichten, 06 1963, Nos. 2394,2396 and 2397Google Scholar; complemented with interviews.

² Nearly all Chinese immigrants to Indonesia came from Fukien and Kwantung. The Hokkians from South Fukien were the dominant members of the Chinese community in Indonesia, and were renowned for the strong mercantilist background in China. (See Skinner, G.W., “The Chinese Minority”, in McVey, R. (ed), Indonesia, Yale University Press, 1963, p. 102Google Scholar.)

³ The principal crops which were started under the System were indigo, sugar, and coffee. (R. van Niel, “The Course of Indonesian History,” in R. McVey, op. cit., p. 284.)

⁴ Soen, Sie Kwat, Prospects for Agricultural Development in Indonesia, Centre for Agricultural publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1968, p. 8Google Scholar.

⁵ Coffee was to remain under government control until 1917. (R. van Niel, op. cit., p. 288)

⁶ “Kongsi” is the term applied to a business partnership. It comes from the word “compagnie” pronounced “kungpanya.”

⁷ In 1902 in his budget speech, the Colonial Minister, Captain Idenburg, diagnosed the main cause of low income as the growth of population and the diminishing returns to agriculture (Furnivall, J.S., Netherlands India, A Study of Plural Economy, Cambridge University Press, 1944, p. 233Google Scholar).

⁸ D.S. Pauw, “From Colonial to Guided Economy,” in R. McVey, op. cit., pp. 159–160.

⁹ J.J. Polak observed that between 1920 and 1930 export earnings and rice imports of the Outer Provinces were closely correlated. (Polak, J.J., The National Income of the Netherlands Indies, 1921–1939, Institute of Pacific Relations, New York, 1942, pp. 10 & 60Google Scholar).

¹⁰ He sent all his own children to university.

¹¹ This was Tan Tek Peng, one of the most successful chief managers Kian Gwan ever had. He made mistakes but most of the time was successful.

¹² These included Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (Royal Packet Navigation Company), Rotterdamsche Lloyd, Stoomvaart Maatscahppij Nederland, Blue Funnel Line, Union Insurance Company of Canton, and Nederlanden van 1845, in one or another cartel form.

¹³ However, at time of his death his youngest wife was expecting a child which later became the son who eventually led the Concern through its dangerous third generation. The education of this boy, Oei Tjong Tjay, was directed by his mother who appears to have an imaginative and forceful character.

¹⁴ The Japanese case means there will be no inbreeding as the choice is on a nation-wide basis. Once a suitable candidate was found he was requested to marry one of the daughters of the family and to adopt the family name of his wife. This system enabled Mitsui and Mitsubishi to remain a solid world wide organisation after hundreds of years.

¹⁵ Willmott, D., The National Status of the Chinese in Indonesia, 1900–58, Monograph Series, Modern Indonesia Project, Cornel University Press, 1961Google Scholar.

¹⁶ Allen, G. C. and Donnithorne, A., Western Enterprise in Indonesia and Malaya, Allen and Unwin, London, 1957, p. 237Google Scholar.

¹⁷ Lindetevis was one of the biggest Dutch firms operating in Indonesia and it specialised in heavy equipment, setting up factories and general technical implements. Such an organisation needs to employ an after-sales service department which requires a good deal of skill to operate efficiently. During the 1950s when assistance was given to the indigenous importing group (known as national group) it was soon that few succeeded in becoming importers of equipment: they preferred imports like textiles. Capital goods imports do, of course, require a good deal of attention in matters of type, size, care in handling, spare parts and so on. But there could not have been a very large market for them in Indonesia at that time with so much machinery already lying idle. Nevertheless, it is relevant to point out that experience in exporting agricultural produce might not be of great help in importing sundry goods.

¹⁸ G. W. Skinner, “The Chinese Minority,” in R. McVey (ed), op. cit., pp. 112–14.