VI Moekims Lhong was a coastal moekim federation of Groot-Atjeh which, with Moekim Lam-Teuba, escaped the crop failure of 1936–1937 through irrigation by mountain streams, and one of the three moekims in which the Acehnese knew xerophthalmie by the name penjikit sisë.
Irrigation and food supply
Since Groot-Atjeh had no artificial irrigation of its sawah fields and depended on rainfall, the long drought of 1936 and 1937 caused the paddi planting to fail — “met uitzondering van den aanplant in VI Moekims Lhong en Moekim Lam-Teuba,” where irrigation came from mountain streams that supplied enough water even in the dry season.
In the coastal moekims of Lhong, accordingly, “de voedselvoorziening (rijstvoorziening) niet te wenschen overliet” during the survey period, in contrast with the other coastal moekims where supply was less favourable.
The test of the dietary theory
Dr. C. E. Gomperts used the contrast as the first of three tests of whether food supply explained the distribution of xerophthalmia. His finding was negative: in Lhong, where the rice supply left nothing to be desired, “deze invloed van de voeding niet duidelijk tot uitdrukking komt in de xerophthalmiefrequentie.”
Acehnese nomenclature
In the moekims Lhong, Lho-Nga and Lam-Kabeuë, xerophthalmia was known among the population under the name penjikit sisë — Tijssen writes siseh — while in the rest of the surveyed area the condition was not known under that name. Elsewhere sisë was known only in the sense of kulit ikan, the scales of a dead fish, and kaki ajam, a chicken’s foot.
See Also
- Oogheelkundig kampongonderzoek in Groot-Atjeh (Maart-December 1937)
- Xerophthalmie
- Groot-Atjeh
- C. E. Gomperts
- Moekim Lam-Teuba
- Lam-Kabeuë
- Sawah
- padi
Source
Oriënteerend oogheelkundig onderzoek bij de Atjehsche bevolking van Groot-Atjeh gedurende 1937 (“Orienting Ophthalmological Survey among the Atjehnese Population of Groot-Atjeh during 1937”), by Dr. C. E. Gomperts, offprint from the Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch-Indië, Afl. 19, Deel 80 (1940), pp. 1191-1238 (Batavia-Centrum: G. Kolff & Co.). Received by the editors 25 October 1939. Offprint DLP-157, Bibliotheek KITLV.