Indonesians in Focus: Ong Hok Liong

By Barrie | October 13th, 2007 | No Comments

In the history of Malang written by Dukut Imam Widodo and titled
Malang Tempo Doeloe (Malang in the Past), Ong Hok Liong, the founder of the cigarette company Bentoel, is pictured as a hardworking figure, a tough man and a spiritualist who liked gambling but who was also generous. During the war against the Dutch he helped many independence fighters, giving them money, materials, food and cigarettes.

Pak Ong, as he was widely known, was not originally from Malang. He was born in the subdistrict of Karang Pacar Bojonegoro on Aug. 12, 1893. He was the first of seven children — four sons and three daughters — from the marriage of Ong Hing Tjien and Liem Pian Nio. His father was from China but he did not know the name of his village. Ong’s father was a tobacco trader.

Of course with his family background, the worlds of tobacco and trade were not strange for Ong. After marrying Liem Kiem Kwie Nio when he was 17 years old, Ong began peddling tobacco from town to town. He also worked part-time as a teacher’s assistant.

Although he worked hard and was always struggling, Ong had a bad habit. He liked gambling. This was the result of the environment in which he lived and worked. At that time there was not much else around in the way of entertainment.

Ong drove his wife to distraction with this kind of behavior. But Liem never let her anger show; instead she tried to think of ways to stop Ong from seeing his gambling friends. Eventually, she told Ong it was time they moved to another subdistrict of Sumber Waras.

Sadly in their new neighborhood gambling was also a popular pastime and Ong quickly made the “wrong kind of friends”. But Liem never stopped thinking of ways to get her husband to kick his habit. Her final decision was to move 300 kilometers away from Bojonegoro to Malang. In 1910, Ong and his wife moved to the area of Petjinan Besar Malang, although Ong first rented a house in Petjinan Kecil.

In Malang, Ong’s life changed. He was released from the world of gambling. Ong and Liem opened a kelontong (general store).

Ong also sold tobacco that had been cut with a special knife and then dried. Apparently many Malang people liked his cut tobacco because the smoker only needed to be ready with his klobot (corn cob husk used as a cigarette wrapper). He rolled the tobacco, lit the match and smoke billowed out.

Ong kept thinking hard of ways to boost his tobacco business, finally hitting on the idea of selling hand-rolled cigarettes. Every night he experimented with new tobacco blends, trying the results one by one. Not surprisingly Ong developed a nasty cough after smoking hundreds of his cigarettes laced with different ingredients.

Finally the right cigarette additive was found — cloves. Pak Ong called this the kretek cigarette because when it was burning it made a crackling sound known as kretek. Later on this cigarette became fashionable in Indonesia, and Indonesia became famous because of its kretek cigarettes.

In 1930 Pak Ong started to produce kretek cigarettes using funds from the sale of his wife’s jewelry. He had some employees, but the cigarettes were still hand rolled. The floor of his factory was not sealed and only covered with mats.

But big problems remained. There was a slump in sales. Ong did everything he could to save his business.

One idea was to change the name of his cigarettes. He tried out many brand names including Boeroeng, Kelabang, Kendang, Djeroek Manis and Toerki. His efforts did not have the desired results, but Ong never lost his spirit.

Finally Ong went to the pasarean (grave) of Mbah Jugo on Mount Kawi near Malang, located in Wonosari village. According to traditional beliefs, good fortune in love and business will follow when certain rituals are performed at the graves of Mbah Jugo and Mbah Imam Sujono.

According to Javanese legends both were faithful followers of Prince Diponegoro who resisted the Dutch and finally died in Malang.

Believe it or not, after the ritual ceremony had been performed on Mount Kawi, Ong’s business became a success.

But Pak Ong was not just a successful businessman. In 1948 when Indonesian soldiers were betrayed by the Dutch over the handover of Java, Malang became a fortress town for all Republicans, a refuge for the Indonesian soldiers who were struggling to defend their nation. This was after Surabaya had been shelled by the Dutch in an artillery attack. Many Republicans from Surabaya fled to Malang. In this city the Republican forces were engaged in fierce combat with the enemy.

Ong did not just keep his head down and mind his own business. He helped hide Indonesian fighters inside his factory. He knew this was extremely risky and could have been fatal. At that time his business was improving. The risk of being arrested by the Dutch or having his factory destroyed by Dutch mortars was very real, but Ong took his chances. Apart from offering shelter, Pak Ong also sent money and food to the Indonesian fighters.

So that it could not be seen by the Dutch, the money to help the Indonesian fighters was hidden in the lining of square baskets made of plaited bamboo that were used to carry Bentoel cigarettes. So with the money packages of Pak Ong the fighters could also enjoy Bentoel cigarettes when they took a break from the fighting.

“The qualities of generosity, toughness and hard work that drove Pak Ong were inherited from his predecessors,” said Dyarkasi.

“Every celebration day, Pak Ong’s first-born daughter Mariani Samsi, who is now 90 years old, always gives alms to former employees.”

Ong died on April 26, 1967, after suffering from chronic liver disease. Before he finally closed his eyes Pak Ong was continually coughing because he was addicted to smoking. He tried to fight the addiction by drinking arak (rice liquor).

He died in his own house on Jl. Ijen 24, Malang. His wife and two of his children, Mariani Samsi and Rudi Ong Siong Bwee, were there when he passed away. For his services to the nation, PT Bentoel was given an award by the government in 1964 because the company had helped in the Indonesian struggle for independence.

Indra Harsaputra