Oemòng was the Atjehnese term for the wet or irrigated rice field — the natte rijstveld, the sawah proper — and the object of the most closely regulated part of Atjehnese land law.
Fiscal treatment
Within the gampong boundaries the oemòng bore the boeët oemòng, the Atjehnese land rent levied on the yield at one naleh of padi per naleh of seed, roughly two to three per cent; outside the gampong it bore an identical levy as part of the adat glé.
Law of proof
In Groot-Atjeh, a plaintiff asserting a prior possessory right over oemòng left fallow (roh) had to point to visible traces of ateueng, and might strengthen his case with a former loeëng or a buried oendja.
Alienation and social opinion
Complete alienation of rice fields was regarded as a disgrace. C. Snouck Hurgronje, quoted by D. W. N. de Boer from De Atjehers Vol. I, p. 312, wrote that although the sale of land in Atjeh could not be called exactly rare, “geldt hij, die zijn geerfde rijstveld geheel of gedeeltelijk verkoopt in de publieke opinie als een verkwister” — he who sells his inherited rice field wholly or in part passes in public opinion for a spendthrift. The reprehensible practice was called peupia oemòng, “the breaking up of one’s rice field,” for by it a man ruined the pangoeléé hareukat, the “master of all breadwinning.” Sale (poebléë) of rice fields accordingly hardly occurred.
Measurement
The size of a rice field in Atjeh was expressed not in surface but in the quantity of bibit (seed padi) needed on average to plant it, measured in goentja, naleh, gantang and areh.
See Also
Source
Het recht op den grond in Atjeh, by D. W. N. de Boer, dated Scheveningen, November 1931, pp. 59-80. Offprint DLP-141, Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, ‘s-Gravenhage; Bibliotheek KITLV accession 0060 4460 60 081470 428.