Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945 took place very quickly and without a plan, including the matter of economic planning. At the time of the proclamation, the empty state treasury made Indonesia stand without clear economic capital.
It is from here that the nation’s children have taken various ways to get the wheels of the Indonesian economy moving again. One of them was carried out by Darwis Djamin, Indonesian Navy soldier (ALRI). What’s the story?
Darwis Djamin during the early days of independence was the commander of IV ALRI based in Tegal, Central Java. At that time Tegal was a port city that was visited by many trading ships sailing from or to Indonesia. Dervish used this moment to do business.
As a commander, it was not difficult for Dervish to gather people to help him start a business. He was known to gather his fellow former Japanese-trained sailors. Then, afterwards he started an import-export trading company with the capital of ex-Japan ships.
Actually, Dervish could have traded for his own interests. The problem is, even though it was a war, any business, especially shipping, still made a profit. However, Darwis chose to side with Indonesia and divert his profits to the Republic’s struggle funds.
Interestingly, not only trading, he was also known to smuggle weapons for use by the TNI. His business partner, Hasjim Ning, is in The Ebb of a Warrior Entrepreneur (1986: 113-117), testified that he had helped Dervish smuggle weapons from abroad to Tegal.
This effort later had an impact on the success of Indonesian militants in repelling Dutch troops during the war. In fact, the impact of Dervish’s actions goes beyond that. Tegal IV Base then became a symbol of courage against the Dutch. It was turned into a smuggling center during the War of Independence (1945-1949).
In research from UGM entitled “Behind the Screens of Smuggling” (2022) by Lesta Alfatiana and Ayur Wulandari, it is known that during the war the Tegal Navy Base IV had collected 100 tons of sugar which the sales proceeds were used for military purposes. From these results, Base IV developed and became the birthplace of the Marine Corps.
However, Darwis’ career as Commander IV of the Tegal Navy was short lived. This was because he was fired because he was proven to have been involved in the 3 July 1946 incident, which was known as an attempted coup by the opposition against the Sjahrir II Cabinet.
Harry A. Poeze in the biography of Tan Malaka entitled Tan Malaka Left Movement, and the Indonesian Revolution volume 4 (2008) wrote in more detail that he was detained because he was thought to be involved in the Murba group made by Tan Malaka.
After that, Dervish’s name faded. He became an ordinary citizen and also fought against the Dutch. However, his name began to be raised again when he created a shipping company in November 1949.
Another Hosni in Get to know Maritime Sea Transportation (1988) mentioned, right in November 1949 he had the idea to create a trading shipping company. The company was only then established on August 18, 1950 under the name Djakarta Lloyd. The main director is Darwis Djamin.
On its official website it is written that, using a loan from Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), the company purchased the SS Djakarta Raya (former SS San Francisco) and SS Djatinegara (former SS Jenny) ships. The company is ultimately successful and growing. Now, Djakarta Lloyd has become part of the Indonesian BUMN.
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