Blang Sekotji — also written Sekoetji by J. A. Kruyt — is a place in the landschap Idi rajeu in the onderafdeeling Idi, described by Broersma as ‘een liefelijk oord’ — a lovely spot — of cheerful garden-land round a great rice-field.
The Place and Its Name
Broersma reports that the name is said to have arisen from ‘schuitje’ — little boat — and that the small vessels formerly went up the Kroeeng Idi from the sea to that point. ‘Misschien is de afleiding juist, maar ik betwijfel het’ — Perhaps the derivation is correct, but I doubt it. J. A. Kruyt repeatedly speaks of Sekoetji in Atjeh en de Atjehers (1877).
The Theresia Tobacco Enterprise
Remarkable is that in this region half a century before Broersma’s visit the Ned. Handel-Mij. had opened a tobacco-estate — ‘die echter niet is geslaagd’ — which however did not succeed. A drawback would have been the bandjirs (floods) in this region. Fourteen years before Broersma’s visit there still stood a fine building, which was held to be the sociëteit — the club — of the former enterprise Theresia, and which was then turned into an Inlandse school. Broersma sought diligently for that club-school, but learned that the school had been moved from right to left of the road, and presumably the remarkable building had then disappeared.
The School
The little school at nearby Keude Geuroba — pronounced kedé Groba — has two classes with forty children together, boys of six to nine years. They sat copying the examples on the board, and it struck Broersma how neatly they did it. On several school-tours in Atjeh he had seen the same, and in no land of Netherlands-India has the simple people’s education such a task as in Atjeh, where the young generation sorely needs a little exercise of thinking against the foolish teaching of useless hatred.
Account from Atjeh als land voor handel en bedrijf (1925)
Blang Sekotji (Sekoetji per J. A. Kruyt) was lovely place in landscape Idi Rajeu between padi fields environment cheerful garden land around blang big rice field.
Description
Road Idi rd? From south characteristic Atjeh settlement big padi field and around kampongs owning it useful tasteful settlement. Blangs 100-200 baoe estimate here there in blang tree heavy crown towering guard over many fields where cut padi day brought sometimes threshing portion harvest temporarily stacked. Blang of Atjeh landscape knows many lovely days.
Kampongs around blang resemble middle-Java dwellings yard kampong paths fencing whole kampong. Speaking kampong (real Atjeh gampong) but name desa better characterizes per Java desa. More than Javanese desa Atjeh gampong yards as garden cocos pinang palms sometimes rubber trees alongside fruit trees.
Name said derived from schuitje small vessels that earlier from sea kroeëng Idi up to that point. Perhaps derivation correct author doubts notes Kruyt repeatedly speaks Sekoetji.
Related early tobacco
Early entrepreneur tobacco Theresia Estate between Blang Sekotji and Kemoening etc.
See Also
- Idi
- Idi rajeu
- Keude Geuroba
- J. A. Kruyt
- Atjeh en de Atjehers (Kruyt)
- Ned. Handel-Mij
- Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
- 1873
- 1877
- Theresia Estate
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), chapter VII, ‘Vriendelijk Idi’, pp. 47–48. Atjeh als land voor handel en bedrijf, by Dr. R. Broersma, Gebrs. Cohen, Utrecht, 1925, pp. 41-44.