Abstract
This article deals with the Almanak Melajoe published in Indonesia during the period of Dutch colonial rule. From the latter half of the nineteenth century various kinds of almanacs were published in the large colonial cities. These were widely circulated all over the country with the development of colonial bureaucracy and the spread of publishing firms. As far as I know, there were three main Almanak Melajoe, almanacs written in the Malay language of those days. One was published by Albrecht, Batavia; one by the government-sponsored Balai Poestaka, Batavia; and one by Buning, Yogyakarta.
Of these three, the Almanak Melajoe published by Buning is the most interesting, since it portrays vividly the events that occurred in Yogyakarta each year. These events are narrated in the style of syair, traditional Malay verse, and were mostly composed by Tan Tjook San, a Peranakan about whom we know very little. He edited the Almanak and composed the syair during the years between 1889 and 1904. The subjects of the syair vary from the proliferation of bandits in the city to the official visit of King Chulalongkorn to Yogyakarta in 1897,and the spread of opium firms across the country.
The first chapter of this article discusses the outline of the almanacs. The second chapter describes the first two Almanak Melajoe, published by Albrecht and Balai Poestaka, focusing mainly on their readership and usage. Chapters three and four mainly discuss the Almanak Melajoe published by Buning. Chapter three outlines the Almanak from the perspective of its readership and the publisher's strategy for increasing subscriptions. The final chapter describes in particular the syair appearing in the Almanak. These have never been considered by those students of the social history of Indonesia. By examining these syair, a fuller picture can be obtained of colonial society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
