By: Vecco Suryahadi (@Veccosuryahadi)

In June 1934, a special celebration for Mr. WG Jongkindt Coninck was held in Kertamanah. Many telegrams, flower arrangements, and gifts were received by the committee of the celebration in Kertamanah. The celebration was so special that many Dutch newspaper articles recorded the event. But who was this Mr. Jongkindt?

To get to know it, let's go back about 50 years from the celebration, namely 1884.

On June 22, 1884, Willem Gerard Jongkindt Conninck and his brother named Gerrit Jan Jongkindt Conninck arrived in the Dutch East Indies for the first time. Their goal was to seek their fortune in the plantation sector. It should be noted that Willem and Gerrit were 18 and 24 years old.

Willem's career began as a tobacco plantation employee in Sumatra. At first, he worked on a plantation in Belawan. Gradually, due to his hard work and perseverance, he succeeded in becoming a tobacco plantation administrator in Deli in 1889. At that time he was 23 years old!

After 15 years of career in Sumatra, Mr. Willem moved to a plantation in Java. The first plantation he visited was in Lampegan. Then, he moved to Kertamanah and became a plantation administrator on April 1, 1904.

During his time in Kertamanah, Mr. Willem's focus was more towards the cultivation of cinchona. The method of land cultivation, seed selection, and the control of cinchona disease became his focus. One of the studies conducted by Mr. Willem on cinchona disease was published in the July 1913 edition of the newspaper De Preangerbode.

Thanks to these methods, the name of Kertamanah plantation and Willem G. Jongkindt Conninck became famous in Java. This can be seen from the many invitations as a speaker received by Mr. Willem. One of them was an invitation from Tentoonstelling te Semarang which placed him in the agriculture and horticulture section.

Until 1934, Willem Gerard Jongkindt Conninck was awarded the Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau for his services and work for 50 years in the cultivation of cinchona. The award was celebrated in Kertamanah. Many Dutch newspapers recorded this event.

Unfortunately, Mr. Willem Conninck's footsteps in the field of quinine cultivation stopped during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. Even the life of Willem Gerard Jongkindt Conninck stopped when he was in the Ambarawa Internment Camp 7. He died there on January 23, 1945. (Vss/Rap)