The time was the 18^th century. The year was between 1730 to 1745. At that time, Jakarta was much much smaller than today but as busy as today. The harbor was called Sunda Kalapa (Coconut Town) because of the many coconut trees, it was one of the busiest harbors in Asia.

Those days, Jakarta was called BATAVIA, a name given by the Dutch. The city was ruled under Dutch colonial. The highest power was of a Governor General of the Trade Company of East Indies or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie. VOC for short.

There was no Indonesia at that time. The whole archipelago was separated in big and small kingdoms. Each kingdom fought others, to conquer, to expand their territory. Batavia, however was a unique place. It was an open city, as much as today. It used to be part of King Jayawikarta’s territory, but he was fooled by the Dutch and lost the most important territory in the archipelago.

People from many different races and places lived in Batavia for the same reason: MONEY. The lucky traders and the Dutch officers erected big houses and villas by the banks of beautiful Ciliwung River. Some even had their own boat yards. If you walked in the city, you can see boats in the canal. They were transporting imported goods directly from the harbor or carrying exported goods to Sunda Kalapa. It was such a beautiful scene.

Beautiful Europeans Ladies walked around the city for shopping, carrying beautiful colorful umbrellas, followed by 3 to 5 slaves. Some ladies preferred to go on a carriage pulled by a horse to enjoy the scenery around the river and canal.

Everybody felt secure living in Batavia because the city was surrounded by fortified walls. The north side of course was open to the harbor, guarded with a bastion. To the south, there were only two gates out of the city. One is called Pintu Besar (Big Door) for the use of Europeans. The other is Pintu Kecil (Small Door) for locals, slaves, and Chinese.

Why Chinese? Those days, the Chinese played important roles in trading, just like today. They owned factories and big shops. But the Dutch didn’t let them live inside Batavia. They could work in the city or opened a shop inside the walled city, but they could not live in it. So they mostly had their luxurious houses built closely around the city wall and by the riverbanks.

But not everybody enjoyed the glitter and luxury of Batavia. When I said the locals, I meant the Betawi people, the original inhabitants of Batavia. They were the most miserable people in Batavia. They lived in the vicinity of the city, very poorly. Their houses were made of wood and the roof made of palm leaves. You wouldn’t find floors inside the houses, for they didn’t cover the ground with anything. Just plain ground. When it rained, the water leaked in and the ground became muddy. Most houses didn’t have bathroom. They bathed and washed their clothes in the river. Yet, they took the water from the same river for drinking and cooking. This bad hygiene caused them to often suffer typhoid, cholera, dysentery and tuberculosis. Those were deadly diseases at that time.

Since the Betawi people were the original owners of the land, VOC ordered them to plant their land as directed by VOC. For example, in one area, all neighboring lands were to be planted by cane. Other areas for coffee, spices, and other crops with high value in international trade. All the crops would be taken away, then exported by VOC to other countries. All the money went into their pockets, and not a dime was given to the Betawi people. They planted their lands for free, leaving them only limited space to plant rice and vegetable for their own food.

Beside the Betawi people, there were also slaves. These people came from a defeated kingdom and were sold by their new ruler as slaves. Their lives were as miserable as the Betawi people, but slaves who were willing to change whatever their religion into Christian were set free. They usually recruited to work for VOC or Dutch Officers.

The last one was the Chinese. In the beginning of the 18^th century, many Chinese junks came to the harbor carrying porcelains and other cargoes. These junks also carried immigrants who at that time were not quite welcome. These Chinese immigrants ended up having no jobs in Batavia and became a very serious problem. They lived as poorly as the Betawi people and the slaves. And worse, they were regarded as traitors to their ancestors’ tomb in the Middle Kingdom for having neglected their responsibilities in their motherland. Those who were born overseas were regarded as barbarians.

By the year 1720 the market of cane sugar dropped causing lay off of many workers at the plantations, including Chinese. This caused more problems as more and more people were out of jobs. Thus, based on this situation, the Council of the East Indies in 1740 decided to release a new policy for Chinese workers that required them to hold a permit to work in Batavia. Those who didn’t have permit would be deported to Sri Lanka to work on plantations.

However, rumors circulated among them that those unlucky people never landed in Sri Lanka. They were dumped into the Java Sea. Then, desperate Chinese formed gangs to attack VOC outposts outside the city walls. They couldn’t get inside the city because the VOC mounted cannons above the walls. The situation outside and inside the walls was like heaven and hell. Inside the wall, the city remained peaceful and beautiful. Rich officers’ wives could still walked along the river not knowing what happened outside.

Among thousands of those unfortunate people, there was a man. His name was Fung Min Yau. He was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit.

Fung Min Yau used to sell vegetables and fruits to houses. He carried them around the town. He was not as poor as the slaves, yet he couldn’t be considered rich either. He used to live happily with his wife and young daughter named Fung Yin Li. Yin Li helped her father by working as a tailor. Her customers were middle class Chinese ladies. She sew Kebaya, the common clothes used that time. The three of them didn’t have much, but they could save a little for their future, or sometimes to help their neighbors in need.

Until one day, Min Yau’s wife got very ill and had to be admitted to the Chinese Hospital. The doctors diagnosed her to have tuberculosis. The costs for medicines and hospital were too much for Min Yau and his daughter. They spent all their savings, but not enough still. Min Yau had to borrow some money to a local loan shark named Lo Shen Hui. He was a man of mid 40, very fat and very cruel. Yet he had a lot of money that the locals often borrowed from him with high interests. He was regarded as one of desperate ways to get money.

When Lo Shen Hui learned that Min Yau had a beautiful daughter, he offered him a solution of how to pay the debt. If Yin Li was to be his bride, all the debt would be erased and he would build a new and much more healthful house for Min Yau and his wife.

Poor as he was, Fung Min Yau was a man of honor. He would never sell his daughter to an old loan shark. Knowing that his offer had been turned down, Shen Hui got really mad and set a trap to imprison this old man. To tell the story short, Fung Min Yau was charged with murder of his neighbor. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that an old man as kind as Min Yau would had never been able to kill his neighbor. Yet, no one dared to testify. They were afraid of Lo Shen Hui and preferred to keep quiet.

Thus, the old poor Min Yau ended up in City Hall’s prison, awaiting his trial for execution. As everybody knew, the City Hall’s prison was a very inhuman place. Prisoners were crowded in a small, damp underground dungeon with only small ventilation. The sun barely sipped through the hidden iron bars and when it rained the room was flooded with water. The prisoners did everything inside the dungeon, from eating, sleeping to their hygiene purposes. Food was not given by the jailers. Thus the family of the prisoners had to deliver food for their relatives captured in the prison. A sum of money had to be given to the jailers for every food delivery in order to make sure that the meal would reach the right person. Due to the conditions, mortality rate was very high among the prisoners. Four months imprisonment guaranteed slow and painful death to them. Most of the prisoners didn’t get to attend their trials for they were long dead before.

Lo Shen Hui’s plan was to wait until Fung Min Yau’s execution took place. The court had ordered that the trial for him was set in 3 months. He was sure that an old man like him would never last two months in the prison. When he died, he would marry Yin Li, as a token to pay her father’s debt.

However, before his plan worked, on October 9, 1740 a major chaos hit Batavia. Unknown to the VOC, a fire started inside the city. Chinese rebellions had successfully attacked inside the city wall. The Governor General of Batavia, Adriaan Valckenier, ordered all citizens of Batavia, slaves, and artisans to kill all Chinese in the city without any exception, including women, children, elderly and patients in the Chinese Hospital. Those who didn’t carry out the orders would be severely punished.

The biggest slaughter started in an instant. People killed the Chinese in random and looted their belongings. At first, women and children were spared, but by afternoon, the killings continued with no exception at all. All patients in the Chinese Hospitals were killed leaving only two blind men alive. Dead bodies were thrown in the canal, making the water red of the blood. Decapitated bodies were all over the streets; heads were lying on the ground. The beautiful and peaceful scenes of Batavia were instantly turned into horrifying hell of devilish action. People seemed to lose their insanity. Those who killed were no longer able to differ Chinese to dogs. Those who fled for dear life were held in panic that they ran around without directions. Some people who were able to hold their insanity but already lost hopes of their lives preferred to hang them selves or burn them selves rather than being captured then slaughtered and died undignified. In the course of only 5 hours, almost half of Batavia was burning on fire. The scene was hellish that there was no comparison or even an exact word to describe it.

In the midst of the chaos, our dear Fung Yin Li hid under thorny bushes around the city hall. She was on her way to deliver food to her father.

The story of our heroes started from this point on.