I recently participated in a walking tour titled "The Secret Society of Batavia". It's a compelling exploration of Jakarta's historical landscape that invited participants to retrace the accumulated layers of a city once known as Batavia and to surface the lesser-known narratives embedded within its past.
The tour commenced at Museum Prasasti, a site that may reasonably be regarded as one of Southeast Asia's earliest modern public cemeteries. The museum houses an extensive collection of tombstones and commemorative plaques, a significant number of which attest to the presence of a Freemason community in colonial Batavia. Distinctive Masonic symbols are prominently engraved on several of these gravestones, which accounts for the tour's evocative title.
Among the notable graves at the site is that of Olivia Raffles, wife of Thomas Stamford Raffles. Her death in Batavia from malaria serves as a sobering reminder that epidemic disease has been a persistent and democratising force throughout human history, indifferent to status or circumstance.
From the cemetery, the route proceeded to Church Immanuel, passing Monas, the iconic monument of Jakarta, occupying the grounds formerly known during the colonial period as Koningsplein. The church itself, originally named Willemskerk in honour of Willem I of the Netherlands, is distinguished among Indonesian houses of worship by its striking domed architecture, widely attributed to the influence of the Pantheon in Rome. Its architect, J.H. Horst, was himself a Freemason, and his grave is also preserved at Museum Prasasti.
The tour continued toward the Kimia Farma Building, passing briefly through Lapangan Banteng, formerly Waterlooplein. From this square, one can observe the imposing Ministry of Finance Building, originally constructed as the official residence of Herman Willem Daendels. A short walk onward brought the group to the Kimia Farma building. During the colonial era, the site functioned as a gathering place known as De Ster in het Oosten, or "The Star in the East." Locals referred to it colloquially as Gedung Setan, "the Devil's Building," owing to the secrecy surrounding the activities conducted within. It is understood to have served as a principal hub of Freemason activity in Batavia, an association corroborated by the former designation of the adjacent thoroughfare: Vrijmetselaarsweg, "Freemasons' Road."
Beyond its considerable historical significance and the layers of meaning it brings into relief, the tour proved deeply enjoyable on a personal level. I hold a genuine affection for this city, and traversing it on foot remains one of the most immediate and revealing ways to understand its character.
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