Candra Naya: A heritage already forgotten?
Candra Naya: A heritage already forgotten?
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It is not easy to find the building even though it was once one
of the grandest Chinese houses in Batavia (old Jakarta).
The building is listed as being located at Jl. Gajah Mada no.
188, but it does not help much as what one finds is not what one
would expect of a cultural heritage.
Candra Naya, which is a cultural heritage building as
stipulated by Gubernatorial Decree No. 475/1993, is surrounded by
tall sheets of corrugated iron, while an unfinished hotel and 30-
floor apartment block straddle the building.
The Modern Group, which bought the property from the heirs of
the Khouw family in 1992, was developing the hotel and apartment
block.
Construction has been stopped due to financial losses suffered
by the developer during the economic crisis, which first hit the
country in 1997.
The private developer previously dismantled the left and right
wings of the building, and promised that they would be
reconstructed. The part of the building still left standing is
the main building only.
The building is apparently to be relocated to the Taman Mini
Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta. The plan has upset many people
concerned with national heritage buildings.
Nurhadi Sastrapraja from the City Culture and Museum Agency
told The Jakarta Post that relocation of the building would
reduce its historical value to nothing.
"But we could only give a recommendation, nothing more than
that," he said.
What actually makes Candra Naya precious as a national
heritage?
According to David Kwa, a heritage observer, the building was
unique as it depicted outside influences on the Chinese culture
in Batavia.
"It has many non-Chinese touches not found in pure Chinese
architecture," he said.
He mentioned the use of window shutters and window bars,
marble floor, glass skylight, ironwork ornamentation, which are
very much Indisch-style.
"Meanwhile, the curved, swallow-tail roof will not be easy to
duplicate by today's construction workers," said David, rejecting
the relocation plan.
The building was built at the end of the 18th century and
belonged to Khouw Tjeng Toan, according to historian Alwi Shahab.
Khouw was not only a Chinese mayor, he was famous and wealthy.
The Khouw family also owned other buildings in the area, such
as the building formerly used by the Chinese Embassy and the
former casino that is now the SMUN 2 state high school.
Research by the School of Engineering at Tarumanegara
University reveals that Candra Naya had about 100 bedrooms, which
is unsurprising considering that the owner had 14 consorts and 24
children.
Scott Merrillees in his book Batavia in Nineteenth Century
Photograph, said the last Khouw family to live in the house was
Khouw Kim An, a member of the people's council (Volksraad) from
1921 to 1931.
He died in 1941 and his son either sold or donated the house
to a Chinese social and education organization, Sin Ming Hui,
also known as Candra Naya, which later became the early
organization of today's Tarumanegara University and Sumber Waras
Hospital in West Jakarta.