Book Review: Mirah from Banda

We are invited to be immersed in the romanticism of history and stories about Banda, that is the picture that Hanna Rambe wants to show in her writing this time. There are many happy stories, which make us feel like we want to visit the setting of the location being told, but on the other hand, there is also bitterness shown by Rambe. Not to make Banda look scary, but there is a story that Rambe wants to describe that behind the beauty that is enjoyed from the characters that are put into writing, there is also a sad story behind that beauty. In writing, Rambe divides it into 10 (ten) parts.

The story begins with the arrival of Wendy (Rowenna Higgins), Matthew Morgan (Matt), Diah, Ratna, Muhammad Zakaria (Jack) to the Banda Islands. Wendy and Matthew are a married couple, so are Jack and Ratna. It's been more than two years, Wendy and her husband have been in Indonesia, in Sumatra to be precise because Matt works for a mining company there. His interest in Banda started with the story that Jack always told. He is a native of the land of Maluku. Although he was not born in Banda, but in Ambon, he has a large family from his mother in Banda. In fact, he spent much of his childhood in Banda. Therefore, she mastered the story about Banda enough to make the husband couple very interested in visiting Banda.

By flying a plane from Ambon to Banda, they arrived at "The Last Garden of Paradise on Earth", that's how Jack mentioned Banda to the group. The plane was chartered from Adamson & Co., an oil mining company located in the Sumatra region. Before arriving at Banda, while still on the plane at a high altitude, Jack mentioned Banda as a beautiful body, but inside it flowed red blood like all human blood. Jack's description responds to Wendy's impression of surprise when she saw the first small island of the Banda Islands group after taking off from Pattimura Airport, which was later discovered to be Rhun Island. Starting from there, Jack told a little about Rhun Island to the whole group.

In the first In this case, the author shows how the characters are interested in islands that have extraordinary natural beauty, even though historical stories are inserted in the plot through Jack's knowledge. Therefore, their purpose in coming to Banda was to make a film about the marine park. The story setting that I want to show is how people come and go to Banda. Continue with the description and experience of boarding the boats in Banda, and of course diving in the Banda Sea.

In section second, these tourists described being very amazed by the hidden paradise, namely Banda. Then, still in the same part, they are introduced to the figure of Mirah, who in the following parts fills many of the stories in this novel.

By riding Boirotang, the name of the ship they used, the group went straight through several parts of the Banda Islands. Jack eloquently introduced Banda geographically. Where is the location of the Volcano, Banda Besar Island, the Sonnegat Strait and several other sightings they saw from the ship.

The group stayed at Ratna's house, known as the White House. Its location in Kampung Baru is not far from the beach at Tita Lama. It is in this house that these tourists will spend their long nights ahead. Various types of food served on the table for dinner. This is where the group met, especially Wendy, and Mirah. Mirah is an old woman who has a slightly stocky body. He is busy preparing dishes neatly, and of course the taste is very suitable on the tongues of the guests who come. Mirah often helps cook at the White House.

Mirah's interest in Mirah started with an unusual vision from Wendy when she wanted to thank the kitchen maid for preparing such a delicious dish. In the kitchen, Mirah is seen wearing batik cloth and also a Javanese kebaya. Wendy saw that her nose was not like the nose typical of Indonesian people, but like that of an Italian or Indian or the United States. His gray eyes radiated European self. He asked Ratna about this curiosity, and sure enough, Mirah was a nyai and the pet girl of a perkeniers. Mirah's story is not then told in the next part, ie third and fourth, but in that part the author tells in sufficient detail how Banda was in the spice circle, starting from its fame and fall.

Visiting a nutmeg plantation, Jack told the origins of nutmeg from what he knew. Once upon a time there lived a king in Banda Besar. Her name is Mata Guna. His consort was named Delima. They were blessed with four sons and a daughter. The youngest daughter was named Ceilo Bintang, a beautiful girl. Because of her beauty, the King of Java wanted to ask for her hand, but was gently refused. After that, came from the Eastern Empire to propose to her. The proposal was accepted, but with one condition, that is, one thousand nutmeg seeds must be brought. The delegation from the Eastern Kingdom also came with nutmeg seeds which were used as dowry, but a dark story began to occur. One of the entourage also wanted to marry Princess Ceilo Bintang, but the way to do it was to kill the crown prince. In the end all the entourage died before meeting the Lonthoir nobles. The nutmeg seeds that were brought later thrived in Banda. Seeing these conditions, the King of Java tried again to propose to Ceilo Bintang. Due to fear of the curse, Mata Guna then accepted the proposal. That said, the kingdom of Java is known to be Majapahit.

The flourishing of spices and their use was heard in Europe. In the end, people from all over the world came to Banda, trying to control the spices which were considered very expensive. Even nutmeg is described as a golden tree.

The story continues from the whereabouts of the wealthy, the murder of Verhoven, to the return of Jan Pieterszoon Coen to take revenge for the death of the Governor of Verhoven. Dutch control of Banda in full stems from the genocide committed by Coen. The author also does not forget to tell the story of Perkeniers, the keeper of the nutmeg garden appointed by the Dutch, from the Javanese period until its collapse.

Just in part fifth and sixth, Mirah's figure begins to be described in detail. Although the previous chapters have touched on Mirah, the story of her life, her pain, and her hopes are described in the fifth and subsequent chapters.
Mirah is not originally from Banda, but from Java, to be precise from Semarang. He has been away from Semarang since around the age of 5 years. It was not on purpose that he left his village, but was taken by two men who did not know where they came from. At that time, at her home in Semarang, there was also a woman named Yu Karsih who helped out at her house. When they went to the market, Yu Karsih and little Mirah were taken by two unknown men. Until finally they were brought on board and arrived at the land of spices, which later became known as Banda. This is where the story of Mirah begins.

Arriving in Banda lands, Yu Karsih was put to work in a nutmeg orchard managed by Mr. Coci, the manager of the perken (garden, in Dutch) who had mixed Ambonese-Portuguese blood. Little Mirah also joined a group of workers in the nutmeg garden. Mr. Coci gradually became interested in Yu Karsih's beauty, and repeatedly visited the bedeng where Yu karsih lived in the Nutmeg garden. At the same time there is Tuan Besar, the owner of the garden who is also interested in Yu Karsih, whose position is above Tuan Coci. Mirah sees Tuan Besar as a very good protector because in the end Tuan Besar sends Tuan Coci back to Ambon because he behaved rudely with Yu Karsih, even though that was the reason behind his attraction to Yu Karsih.

As time goes by, Yu Karsih meets Lajamu, a fisherman who often interacts with him in the nutmeg plantation. Knowing this, Tuan Besar, whose name was later known as Johan Kelus Setin, was not immediately angry, even though Tuan Besar also liked Yu Karsih and had made her his concubine or babysitter. In the end, Yu Karsih and Lajamu's wedding took place and they were rewarded by Tuan Besar. Then what about Mirah? She was put to work in Tuan Besar's house as an internal servant. Her job was to take care of the Old Madam and her daughter. Even though life is better, Mirah continues to experience sadness. He has to stay away from the person he's been following, namely Yu Karsih. On the other hand, Mirah is always portrayed as a girl who doesn't have any powers and only looks resigned. What's more, he always mentions his mother and father when he feels homesick.

Tuan Besar often made trips to Java, at that time his house was getting more and more neglected, many other Dutch men came to play at his house, even staying the night. Later it was discovered that the Madam Besar had become a concubine from another Dutchman. How can a Dutch Mistress become the mistress of a fellow Dutchman? But that's the picture that later made the story about Mirah's life change. The Old Madam is divorced and the Old Master lives only with his workers. Her daughter is married and follows her husband, her son has gone to Java, even when Mirah was little.

Mirah, who had grown up, was put back into work at the nutmeg plantation due to a shortage of coolies. There she fell in love with Lawao who was none other than Lajamu's son. Lawao and Mirah plan a wedding, then go to Java. However, the plan failed when Lawao went to sea and never returned. Mirah, who had no direction to go, was returned to Tuan Besar's house after she was not employed in the nutmeg plantation.

Tuan Besar who lives alone in the end makes Mirah his mistress, his daughter. In this story, Mirah is described as a beautiful girl who is very lonely. He was no longer with Yu Karsih, who he always followed. On the other hand, Lawao, as one of his hopes, did not come. Like other workers or other contract workers, Mirah, who may have a better life because she lives in Tuan Besar's house, is basically a contract worker who seems to have no other life choice but to follow what her master says.

Even though he was not legally married to Tuan Besar, the results of this relationship gave birth to a daughter and then a boy who were named Lili and Weli respectively.

“I suddenly regretted my parrot-like life. Admired by people, caressed, invited to sing, still chained tightly. I'd rather live like a walor in a nutmeg forest. (p. 216)”

At a very, very painful moment, Mirah's love story continues in the next section seventhand eighth. He reunites with Lawao, who has been away at sea for a long time. Even though Mirah already has a child from Tuan Besar, Lawao still loves Mirah so much, Mirah also thinks that Lawao is her hope. They both plan to escape from Banda by boat. But unlucky, big waves destroyed their boat. They were separated again, fortunately Mirah was found by a big white ship belonging to the Dutch and then returned to Banda, to Tuan Besar's house, while Lawao had gone somewhere else, or maybe he had died.

For the second time Mirah left her love. At the same time, the price of nutmeg began to decline, life was not as bright as before. The gifts that Tuan Besar used to give were no longer given. Nutmeg, which is no longer of high value, is replaced with emergency food items such as cassava and the like. Banda was hit by poverty, then came Japan. His arrival did not want to dominate Banda spices, but wanted to bring the Dutch people and their descendants. Told then, in other parts of the world the Netherlands lost to Japan. Tuan Besar fled, Weli, the son of a Dutch man, was brought by the Japanese, for unknown reasons and where. Though non-violent, that day was his farewell to his son. Continuing with their daughters, even though they had left Neira's land, to be precise to Banda Besar, the Japanese received news that there was an Indo-Dutch girl who was going to school to Banda Besar. Without violence either, Lili was brought by the Japanese to be sent to school and to become a nurse for the Japanese army. Mirah parted again with the people she loved.

Then Japan reportedly lost to the allies. Banda nutmeg was replanted, the residents wanted to return to feel the luxurious life of the golden tree. At that time, Mirah was again reunited with Lawao who was still alive but was on another part of the island. They then get married. Married out of love, but Mirah, who is getting older, has a hard time giving children to Lawao. Life torments Mirah even more because she can't give birth to the man she loves. Mirah once asked Lawao to marry another younger girl so she could have children, but Lawao refused and was angry. This request was repeatedly rejected, until in the end Lawao married a woman from Madura, her name is Maimunah. Mirah didn't want her love story to cause someone to lose their offspring because she couldn't give birth. Having no loved ones, he wanted to return to Java to find his mother and father, but he never knew the name of his village. Besides, Mirah has no money to go back.

In the ninth and tenth, the writer tells about the farewell between Mirah and the tourists who come to Banda. However, there is something interesting in chapter nine, namely the sad story of Lili. It seems that the writer wants to show that as contract people, their destiny is never lucky. Mirah is still lucky to be the concubine of a Dutchman even though she can't move freely, but Lili, who was brought by the Japanese, has a more poignant story. Lili eventually became a prostitute, catering to the lusts of Japanese men. She got pregnant, but who knows who the father of her womb was, but then the pregnancy was aborted at the request of Toshiro, a kind Japanese man. Until finally they, Lili and Toshiro, got married and had a daughter. Japan's defeat with the allies forced them to leave the island not far from New Guinea, where Lili was employed. Unfortunately, Toshiro did not survive, while Lili's voyage arrived on Australian soil, Cairns to be precise, and entrusted her child to an orphanage there. The daughter who is entrusted is adopted by the Higgins family.

At the beginning of his writing, the author introduces Wendy as a child of war. What Wendy knows from her new family (Higgins) is that she is the daughter of a good Japanese man and a good mother who is also of Indo-Dutch descent (p.20). But once again, Wendy never knew who her parents were, and where in Indonesia her mother came from. In this ninth chapter, the writer shows that Wendy is Lili's daughter who was later adopted by a family from Australia. This means that during this time, during the holidays of the tourists to Banda, these blood ties met. Old Mirah is Wendy's grandmother. However, the author deliberately does not bring blood relations between the two. They never realized this fact that they were a grandchild and a grandmother who were brought together. What Wendy realizes is that she is so interested in old Mirah's life story, which reminds her of herself as a child of war, both of whom do not know the name of her hometown and the real names of her parents. Likewise with Mirah, in her heart and never told Wendy, Wendy's figure reminded her of Lili because she had curly hair, white skin, and a split chin like the child the Japanese brought.

The story written by Hanna Rambe is indeed fiction. However, the story of Banda is not completely fiction. There are parts that are completely real, such as the naming of the Ulupitu or Tita Lama candy, but there are also parts that are completely fictional. Several descriptions of Banda's condition are also written in sufficient detail, although sometimes they are quite vague, such as the White House. I don't know where it refers to, but based on the location and description written by the author, as well as based on current reality, the house might refer to the Mini Palace. The strength of the writer can also be seen from how well he builds Mirah's character and the tourists to support Mirah's life stories, especially Wendy. Apart from that, the description of Banda as multi-ethnic is also written carefully. The selection of the origins of the characters, then their role in life in Banda is written in detail. There is also a story that tells that the Dutch did not only have a monopoly on spices, but also workers. All workers or contract workers brought in are women. The aim was for the men to come, and there was no need to pay for the male workers to go to Banda. Like a flower, when the flower is beautiful and blooms, the beetles will definitely come. Although in reality it is not yet clear whether or not only women were deliberately brought by the Dutch to Banda. What's more, the spices of a love story, a sense of pain, and also a hope enrich Mirah dari Banda. This work is the result of the author's visit in April-May 1982, while the time setting described in this article is not explained comprehensively. However, it is clear that this written story goes through several periods. Starting from the Dutch era, Japan, until the time of independence, although some of the time that is told goes far beyond that time.

“Was it wrong for God to create and bestow nutmeg to the people of Banda? No. God is never guilty, right? God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfect. It is man who is not good at appreciating His gifts. Humans have been torn apart by egoism.”

This work was first published in 1983, and the novel I am reading and reviewing this time is the third printing.

Bibliography

Rambe, Hanna. Mirah from Banda. Jakarta: Indonesian Torch Library Foundation. (2010).