Nyonya Meneer: A not so happy family firm

Lie Hua, Contributor, Jakarta

Perjalanan Panjang Usaha Nyonya Meneer; (Long Journey of Nyonya Meneer Business); By Asih Sumardono, et al; Grasindo, Jakarta, 2002; xxi + 255 pp

The movement back to nature in medicine means making more intensive use of medicinal herbs, a great number of which are found in this country.

The use of medicinal herbs here is found in jamu (Indonesian traditional medicine), which many people still turn to when they fall sick. Of the great many brands of jamu, Nyonya Meneer is at the forefront of the public's mind. The company's packets are unique in that they bear the picture of Nyonya Meneer, who founded the business in 1919.

Nyonya Meneer was born Lauw Ping Nio in Sidoarjo, East Java, in 1895, the third of five children. When her mother was pregnant with her, she had a craving for menir, finely ground grains of rice taken from the leftovers from rice pounding. So when Ping Nio was born, her mother nicknamed her Menir, later written as Meneer in the Dutch writing style.

Ping Nio was married at age 17 and lived with her husband, Ong Bian Wan, a merchant, in Semarang. One day, he experienced stomach problems and doctors could not cure this illness. Luckily, Ping Nio remembered what her mother used to tell her about how to treat illnesses in the traditional way, by using certain medicinal herbs. She made the medicine herself and to her surprise her husband was cured of his belly trouble.

It later occurred to Ping Nio to make herbal medicine to help people living around her. By then Ping Nio had three children, Nonnie, Hans and Lucy. When she was still pregnant with her fourth child, Marie, her husband died.

Ping Nio started to concentrate on producing her herbal medicine on a wider scales from the home-made production of her jamu. Each packet of her herbal concoction bore her picture as a symbol that she herself came to the customers with the product. (Later Ping Nio married again and had another child, Hans Pangemanan).

The book gives a vivid description how, after the death of Ping Nio in 1978, a power struggle occurred in this family business for the top position. Three major internal conflicts occurred among Ping Nio's children and grandchildren.

The business, already legalized as a statutory body, was first rocked with an internal rife in 1981, which was settled in 1986. A second blow came to the company when there was again a major conflict between the shareholders in 1990; after a long-winded process a way out was found in 1994. Unfortunately, another big dispute jolted the company in 1995 and the conflict was not settled until 2000.

The book describes how some family members preferred to stick to the old ways of doing business, while others, from their higher studies in the West, were impatient to apply their knowledge to ensure that the company would not be left behind in the competitive business.

Prominence is lent throughout the book to Charles Saerang, the son of the late Hans, Ping Nio's son from her first marriage. Hans laid the foundation for modern management in the company and sent his son to the United States to study business. When Charles came back and took part in controlling the company, he faced opposition from his uncle, aunts and cousins because he wanted to modernize the way the company was run.

The book shows how Charles went through the three major conflicts, sometimes resorting to the mediation from a cousin but at other times through the intervention of high-ranking government officials, to emerge as the party fully in control of the company today.

It is interesting to note how forward-looking Charles, with his business acumen and foreign training, has taken the helm of the company and turned it into a well-developed firm producing herbal medicines that are used even in modern hospitals. Through his visionary outlook, he established cooperation with medical and pharmaceutical authorities to ensure that Nyonya Meneer products are safe to consume.

He has also forged cooperation with medicinal herb growers to ensure that the supplies of the herbs meet the high standards set by the company.

While the book gives a lengthy description of the internal conflicts in the company, it is regrettable that it is not provided with a family tree of Nyonya Meneer, which would help readers see the positions of the second and third generations of Nyonya Meneer in the conflicts.

Also lacking is a comparison between Nyonya Meneer and other brands. Last but not least, the title should have read something like "Charles Saerang and His Role in Nyonya Meneer". If you read the entire book, you will be left with an impression that this is a book about Charles's struggle to ascend to the top and realize his business vision, rather than the survival of the business itself in the market. Or, perhaps, in a family business, trying to outdo your family members and relatives within the company management eventually usurps doing the same to your business competitors.