Reminiscing Past Loves in Kayutangan

KOMPAS/DAHLIA IRAWATI

A shopping area in Kayutangan subdistrict, Malang city, East Java, Monday (5/8/2019). Kayutangan is a historic area that has been preserved by the city government of Malang.

Kayutangan is unlike any other place. It is a place where warm love blossoms.Maria, 80, reminisced over Jl. Kayutangan (now Jl. Basuki Rahmat) in Malang, East Java, as the place where she saw the nation’s leader that she admired with her own eyes. It was right in front of her shop that she once saw President Soekarno passing by.

“The car that President Soekarno was riding in drove by slowly. It was a convertible. He waved his hand. I saw him with my own eyes. I felt so happy that day,” said the owner of Taman Tembakau Cigar Corner tobacco shop on Tuesday (15/10/2019).

Maria said that, back in the old days, Kayutangan was a crowded area. Nowadays, Maria’s tobacco slices, smokes, cigars and other goods do not sell every day.

Despite business being slow, Maria has pledged to not close down her 75-square-meter shop. She wishes to keep the small family business, established by her grandfather, alive.

Every inch of her shop is still in its original state. She never replaces any of the display racks, cupboards and interior furniture for the sake of keeping her family’s legacy alive.

KOMPAS/DAHLIA IRAWATI

A coffee shop in Kayutangan subdistrict, Malang city, East Java, Monday (5/8/2019). Kayutangan is a historic area that has been preserved by the city government of Malang.

Similarly, Kauman subdistrict resident Rudi, 62, said that he loved the abundance of love in Kayutangan. Rudi lives in a house he inherited from Mbah Ndut, his grandfather from his mother’s side, just behind the shops in the area.

Rudi has transformed the house into a coffee shop called Hamur Mbah Ndut. He displays his mother’s china collection, including antique plates, cups and teapots, alongside an old radio and other trinkets.

Keroncong folk music and easy listening tunes play all day long from the house on an alley that is so narrow that you need to walk your motorcycle.

“Everything belonged to my mother. She always said that it would be better to own glassware instead of borrowing them from neighbors when you need them,” Rudi said.

His children chose to purchase homes elsewhere.

Because of love, Rudi refused to sell the inherited house. Rudi lives alone in the house, built in 1923. His children chose to purchase homes elsewhere.

Marker

Love and memories not only embrace the people who live and work there. According to history, the buildings in Kayutangan were also built with love.

In 1936, Dutch architect Karel Bos built two twin buildings as markers of entering West Malang (now located at the Rajabally crossroad). The buildings stand tall at the end of Jl. Semeru. When constructing the twin buildings, Bos was inspired by his beloved twin children. Currently, the twin buildings do not stand out anymore as they are overshadowed by a huge billboard.

In general, Kayutangan is divided into two zones. A commercial zone of shops sandwich the street while residential zones lie behind it.

According to Handinoto and Paulus H. Soehargo’s 1996 book Perkembangan Kota dan Arsitektur Kolonial Belanda di Malang (City Development and Dutch Colonial Architecture in Malang), shops in Kayutangan were built in the 1930s and 1940s.

In general, the buildings are in Nieuwe Bouwen style, with a cube shape, flat top and horizontal frontage. Unfortunately, not much of the colonial architecture is left to see nowadays. Again, huge billboards overshadow the building’s beauty.

At the end of Jl. Kayutangan, the Catholic Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus stands. It is among one of the most iconic features of the area’s landscape.

Nowadays, the building houses the Sarinah trade center.

The church was built in 1905 by architect Marius J. Hulswit, a pioneer of modern architecture in the Netherlands. The church has a Neo Gothic style, which was popular in Europe in the 19th century.

Beside the church, there used to be the Societeit Concordia Building, a theater for the wealthy people of the colonial era. Nowadays, the building houses the Sarinah trade center.

Beside Sarinah, the building formerly known as Javasche Bank, built on 1 December 1916, still stands proudly. The building was among the famous landmarks of the trade center along Kayutangan area until Tjelaket (today Jl. Jaksa Agung Suprapto). Currently, the building houses the Malang branch of Bank Indonesia.

KOMPAS/DAHLIA IRAWATI

Jalan Basuki Rahmat in Kayutangan subdistrict, Malang city, East Java, on Monday evening (5/8/2019). Kayutangan is a historic area that has been transformed by the city government of Malang into a major tourist site.

In general, Kayutangan has not changed much. There are still many colonial buildings in the area, despite modernization here and there. You can still easily find Dutch people strolling on the sidewalks on a historical tour through their families’ history.

Housing segregation, a legacy of colonial-era zoning policy (Wijkenstelsel), can still be seen today. Native (pribumi) houses used to be located in urban kampongs and densely-populated alleys in and around Kebalen, Jodipan, Talun and Klojenlor. Meanwhile, Europeans lived in the southwest of the city square and along main streets, such as in Tongan, Sawahan and Jl. Kayutangan. Chinese residential areas include Pasar Besar and Kotalama.

Revitalization

The Malang city administration revitalized the Kayutangan area as an icon of historical tourism. Houses in Kayutangan urban kampong are registered and declared as cultural heritages. Building owners enjoy tax relief or exemption.

Kompas

A shopping area in Kayutangan subdistrict, Malang city, East Java, on Monday evening (05/08/2019).

Malang Mayor Sutiaji said that the city administration began building the Kayutangan corridor this year. The administration has earmarked Rp 18 billion (US$1.28 million) from its budget to move the road median and widen the pedestrian walks. “The Malang city administration is seriously improving the Kayutangan area,” he said.

Due to the cultural heritage status, locals in Kayutangan changed their lifestyle. They no longer dry their clothes on the alley but inside their houses. “The Kayutangan kampong has been reorganized in the past year. It has had a huge impact. People no longer throw away trash wherever they like. Kayutangan is improving,” community unity (RW) 009 head Edi Hermanto said.

“Local men work together to improve their neighborhoods in the evening, including putting new paint, installing lighting and other activities,” Rudi said.