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.