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Bali Impressions |
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The Indulgances |
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Opium |
The opium trade was of immense importance.
Asia was not very interested in European products, but the VOC
stimulated the usage of opium.
Opium sap was mainly gathered . in Bengal India and processed on Java.
The opium was bartered for tea and other Chinese products and was very
profitable.
In Batavia, in 1744, already 243.000 pounds of raw opium was auctioned.
The buyers were mainly Chinese.
Also a very lucrative smuggling trade existed, controlled by the VOC
employees themselves.
Therefore, Governor-General Van Imhoff established, in 1745, the”
Societeit van den Amfioen Handel”.This Institute got the monopoly of the
trade on Java
and bought each year a fixed quantity of Amfioen ( opium).
Of course, this Institute stimulated the usage of opium on Java.
When the British conquered Calcutta in 1756,the VOC sent a squadron to
protect the Dutch Factorijen ( Trade Houses ) in Bengal.
The British attacked this squadron without warning and annihilated the
VOC ships .
From that moment on, the British East India Company commanded that
monopoly of the opium trade.
Thus, the VOC was allowed to buy that same opium from the British, for a
considerable price,
but could not realize big profits again, of course.
The loss of the opium trade meant the beginning of the downfall of the
VOC and the rise of Britain as a colonial superpower in Asia.
The “Societeit van den Amfioen Handel “ was liquidated in 1794.
The lucrative opium trade was taken over by the Nederlandsch Handels
Maatschappij and later by the Opium Regime, a Public Company, that
distributed the opium even via Post Offices. |
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Cigarettes |
When the Dutch had to stop selling opium to the Indonesians -because
other countries considered it improper-, they decreed a monopoly for
cigarettes, in 1913.
Only Dutch made cigarettes were allowed to be sold, though tobacco came
from here.
But nobody could afford them, of course.
So some smart Chinese discovered : clove also acts as dope and is
addictive, so they stuffed cigarette-paper with it.
Traditionally, kretek consists of two parts tobacco and one part spices.
They derive their name from the crackle, that one hears when the ethylic
oil is burnt.
Indonesia is the only country on earth, where they smoke this and 92% of
the sold cigarettes are “kretek”.
Don’t say they are cheap : most people can only buy 5 packages,
considering their salaries, per day, but often smoke 2….
There are three big tobacco-factories. And, as long as they don’t buy
machinery, they are subsidized by the Government.
All three are situated in Kudus, West Java, where the cigarettes still
are made by hand.
The tobacco culture is mainly situated around Jember in East Java.
And the district-governor, a few years ago, held a big pro-smoking
campaign, because millions of his subjects
get their income from the tobacco.
The only one in the world, I presume.
The name “kretek” is derived from the small thuds one hears when a clove
ignites.. |
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Sirih Chewing |
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Another story tells about the chewing of Sirih, which one rarely sees
anymore.
Only the old folks sometimes chew it.
This is also a drug and addictive.
And , besides, your mouth turns red.
This is how to make it :
you take a leave from the betel-pepper and sprinkle it with quicklime.
Then you take a nut from the Sirih-palm and a slice of gambir.
That’s why a complete sirih-set consist of so many little pots.
If it is complete, five in all :
one for the betel-leaves,
one for the chalk, (usually still inside),
one for the betel nut,
one for the piece of gambir ( an extract from the gambit leaves and
boiled down into a cake ).
And the last pot for the mixing of all this. |
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Betelleaf |
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Betel nut |
Gambir |
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