Sinar Sumatra

Sinar Sumatra was launched in Padang, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1905; after a few test issues in September, the first official issue came out on 4 October 1905.{{cite book |title=Jubileum Sinar-Sumatra 1905-1929 |date=1929 |publisher=De Volharding |location=Padang |page=1 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB21:040770000:00001 |language=ms}}{{cite news |title=Een zilveren jubileum in de Inlandsche journalistiek. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011108733:mpeg21:p006 |work=Soerabaijasch handelsblad |date=4 January 1930 |location=Surabaya |page=6 |language=nl}}{{cite book |last1=Adam |first1=Ahmat |title=The vernacular press and the emergence of modern Indonesian consciousness (1855-1913) |date=1995 |publisher=Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |isbn=9781501719035 |pages=129–30}} It was one of the first modern Malay-language newspapers in Sumatra, aiming to become a popular forum for discussion and education as well as news.{{cite book |last1=Raditya |first1=Iswara N. |editor1-last=Hartanto |editor1-first=Agung Dwi |title=Seabad pers kebangsaan, 1907-2007 |date=2007 |publisher=I:Boekoe |location=Jakarta |isbn=9789791436021 |pages=466–8 |edition=1 |language=id}} Its publisher {{lang|nl|De Volharding Press}} was a local company owned by two Europeans, M. A. van Tijn and Y. Rongge. It was eight pages long and contained a mix of wire news, local news, and Chinese and Malay stories. It was operated by Peranakans (Chinese Indonesians); one of its founding editors was Liem Soen Hin, a journalist from Padangsidempuan who had previously edited {{lang|ms|Bintang Sumatra}} and {{lang|ms|Tjahaja Sumatra}} as well as some Batak newspapers.{{cite book |title=Jubileum Sinar-Sumatra 1905-1929 |date=1929 |publisher=De Volharding |location=Padang |page=3 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB21:040770000:00001 |language=ms}} The paper grew popular among both Chinese and native Indonesian readers.{{cite book |last1=Darwis |first1=Yuliandre |title=Sejarah perkembangan pers Minangkabau, 1859-1945 |date=2013 |publisher=Gramedia |location=Jakarta |isbn=9789792299403 |pages=115–6 |language=id}} In August 1908 Rogge decided to return to Java and sold his shares to a group of local Chinese investors who co-owned and operated it with van Tijn from then on. A touring British observer in 1909 described the paper as "in opposition to the government" which may indicate that it followed the path of Medan Prijaji and other Malay papers of the time which embodied a European-style critical press for the first time.{{cite book |editor1-last=Breakspear |editor1-first=Oliver T. |editor2-last=Wright |editor2-first=Arnold |title=Twentieth Century Impressions of Netherlands India. Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources |date=1909 |publisher=Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Ltd. |location=London |page=264 |url=https://archive.org/details/20thc-impressions-netherlands-india/page/263/mode/2up?q=%22Sinar+Soematra%22}}

File:Portrait of Lim Soen Hin from 1929 Sinar Sumatra Jubelium issue.jpg

During World War I, Sinar Sumatra went through several new editors-in-chief. Liem Soen Hin, who had unsuccessfully tried to step down as editor in 1912, finally left in June 1914 and was followed by a series of people who only held the role for a year or two: Tan Soei Bing, a former Sin Po editor in 1914,{{cite book |title=Jubileum Sinar-Sumatra 1905-1929 |date=1929 |publisher=De Volharding |location=Padang |page=4 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB21:040770000:00001 |language=ms}}{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19140706-01.1.2 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=7 June 1914 |location=Semarang |page=2 |language=ms}} Oeij Siauw Tjong in 1915,{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19150226-01.1.2 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=26 February 1916 |location=Semarang |page=2 |language=ms}} Phoa Tjoen Hoay, a former Warna Warta editor in 1915,{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19151009-01.1.6 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=9 October 1915 |location=Semarang |page=6 |language=ms}} then Tjia Soen Jong, and then Phoa's brother Phoa Tjoen Hoat in 1918.{{cite book |last1=Salmon |first1=Claudine |title=Literature in Malay by the Chinese of Indonesia : a provisional annotated bibliography |date=1981 |publisher=Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme |location=Paris |isbn=9780835705929 |page=291}}{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/tjjt19180204-01.1.2 |work=Tjahaja Timoer |date=4 February 1918 |location=Malang |page=2 |language=ms}} A number of other editors also worked at the paper during this period, including H. Soetan Ibraham, who may have been its first native Indonesian editor in 1915, The Giok Lan Nio, its first female editor in 1917, and various others including Lee Goan Ho, and Kwee Kheng Liong.{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19150810-01.1.1 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=10 August 1915 |location=Semarang |page=1 |language=ms}}{{cite news |title=JOURNALISTIEK. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19170828-01.1.6 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=28 August 1917 |location=Semarang |page=6 |language=ms}}{{cite news |title=Satoe redactrice Tionghoa. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19171015-01.1.2 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=15 October 1917 |location=Semarang |page=2 |language=ms}}

During the period from 1918 to 1921 Liem Koen Hian became the new editor-in-chief.{{cite book |last1=Suryadinata |first1=Leo |title=Prominent Indonesian Chinese: Biographical Sketches |date=2015 |publisher=ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute |location=Singapore |isbn=978-981-4620-51-2 |page=151 |id={{Project MUSE|42012|type=book}} |edition=4th }}{{cite book |last1=Yamamoto |first1=Nobuto |title=Censorship in colonial Indonesia, 1901-1942 |date=2019 |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004412408 |page=84}}{{cite book |last1=Setyautama |first1=Sam |title=Tokoh-Tokoh Etnis Tionghoa Di Indonesia |date=2008 |publisher=Gramedia |location=Jakarta |isbn=9786024246617 |page=205 |language=id}} Liem was highly critical of the colonial government and was a Chinese nationalist vocally opposed to the proposed Dutch Nationality Law for Indies Chinese; in the pages of the paper he often argued for the continuation of the status quo which had people like him as overseas citizens of China.{{cite book |title=Aktivis Cina di awal republik. |date=2020 |publisher=Gramedia |location=Jakarta |isbn=9786024813291 |pages=4–5 |edition=Cetakan pertama |language=id |chapter=Wartawan Yang Berpolitik}}{{cite book |last1=Yamamoto |first1=Nobuto |title=Censorship in colonial Indonesia, 1901-1942 |date=2019 |location=Leiden |isbn=9789004412408 |pages=247–9}}{{cite book |last1=Suryadinata |first1=Leo |title=Southeast Asian personalities of Chinese descent : a biographical dictionary, volume II: glossary and index |date=2012 |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |location=Singapore |isbn=9789814345217 |page=577}}{{cite journal |last1=Suryadinata |first1=Leo |title=The search for national identity of an Indonesian Chinese : a political biography of Liem Koen Hian |journal=Archipel |date=1977 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=43–70 |doi=10.3406/arch.1977.1357 }} The paper continued to grow in popularity and became one of the top Indies Chinese Malay newspapers, although in terms of circulation it could never compete with papers in Java such as Sin Po, Djawa Tengah or Pewarta Soereabaja.{{cite book |last1=Suryadinata |first1=Leo |title=Peranakan Chinese Identities in the Globalizing Malay Archipelago |date=2022 |publisher=ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute |location=Singapore |isbn=978-981-4951-70-8 |page=153 |id={{Project MUSE|101449|type=book}} }}

File:Publishers of Sinar Sumatra newspaper from 1929 Jubelium issue.jpg

In late 1922, Jap Gim Sek and Lie Soey Ho joined the editorial board.{{cite book |title=Jubileum Sinar-Sumatra 1905-1929 |date=1929 |publisher=De Volharding |location=Padang |page=5 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB21:040770000:00001 |language=ms}} The offices of the printing company {{lang|nl|de Volharding}} burned down in the great fire of August 1923.{{cite book |title=Jubileum Sinar-Sumatra 1905-1929 |date=1929 |publisher=De Volharding |location=Padang |page=2 |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB21:040770000:00001 |language=ms}} The fire, which had begun by someone trying to destroy a wasp's nest, went out of control due to the high winds and ended up destroying more than 400 shops and houses in the Chinese district, where the print shop was located.{{cite news |title=De groote brand te Padang. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011023364:mpeg21:p010 |work=De Sumatra post |date=8 August 1923 |location=Medan |page=10 |language=nl}}{{cite news |title=Een nieuwe geweldige brand te Padang. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010219661:mpeg21:p002 |work=Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië |date=3 August 1923 |location=Batavia [Jakarta] |page=2 |language=nl}} Their printing equipment and archives were essentially destroyed and the publishing was interrupted; with the support of the printers of fellow paper Sumatra Bode, they resumed publication and eventually had new printing equipment shipped from Batavia. As the new equipment was a more modern electric printing press, the company rebranded itself as the {{lang|nl|Electrische Drukkerij en Papierhandel "de Volharding"}}. In 1925 Jap Gim Sek was promoted to editor-in-chief, a role he held until 1930.{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010219463:mpeg21:p003 |work=Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië |date=6 December 1922 |location=Batavia [Jakarta] |page=3 |language=nl}}

The paper faced a major blow in August 1928, when the entire editorial team resigned en masse, including Jap Gim Sek. It seems to have been the result of a dispute between them and the owners over their repeated Persdelict (press offence) court cases.{{cite news |title=Journalistiek conflict. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010278659:mpeg21:p005 |work=De Indische courant |date=24 August 1928 |location=Surabaya |page=5 |language=nl}} The paper tried hiring several new editors, including Phoa Tjoen Hoay, Lie Soei Ho and A. Labab, all of whom only stayed a few months in their posts.{{cite news |title=Journalistiek Melajoe-Tionghoa. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19290404-01.1.5 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=4 April 1929 |location=Semarang |page=5 |language=ms}}{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19290205-01.1.6 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=5 February 1929 |location=Semarang |page=6 |language=ms}} However, Jap was allowed to return as editor-in-chief with a new crew of assistant editors in April 1929.{{cite news |title=Journalistiek. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB19:002131074:mpeg21:p00006 |work=Sumatra-bode. |date=2 April 1929 |location=Padang |page=6 |language=nl}}

File:Editors of Sinar Sumatra newspaper 1929 from Jubelium issue.png

In late 1929, the paper celebrated 25 years of being in print with a special Jubilee issue, a ceremony with the mayor of Padang, and a reproduction of the first issue from 1905. In its final decade the paper also turned increasingly towards native Indonesian (especially Minangkabau) editors. In 1937 Boerhanoeddin became the new editor-in-chief, and then in 1939 M. Arief Loebis was appointed to the role.{{cite news |title=JOURNALISTENKRING SUMATRA BARAT. |url=https://gpa.eastview.com/crl/sea/newspapers/djwa19370724-01.1.6 |work=Djawa Tengah |date=24 July 1937 |location=Semarang |page=6 |language=ms}} The last editor-in-chief seems to have been Datuk Sinaro.{{cite book |last1=Martamin |first1=Mardjani |title=Sejarah daerah Sumatera Barat. |date=1978 |publisher=Proyek Penerbitan Buku Bacaan dan Sastra Indonesia dan Daerah, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan |location=Jakarta |page=92 |url=https://repositori.kemdikbud.go.id/24640/}}

The end of the newspaper is not well documented. It continued to publish until around the time of the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies in January 1942, when the majority of the independent press in the Indies was forcibly shut down, and did not resume publication after Indonesian independence.{{cite news |title=TE POELAU SIGATA AAN LAND GEGAAN. |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011176525:mpeg21:p003 |work=De Sumatra post |date=28 January 1942 |location=Medan |page=3 |language=nl}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://khastara.perpusnas.go.id/landing/search?q=Sinar+Sumatra&f=title&fq=-1&layout=grid&__g0cwswk0o0kk0g88o0s44c8gsgwo4ss4s840ko40=7cde391cb196b0cbd898fa936af11d5f Digitized issues of Sinar Sumatra] in the National Library of Indonesia digital collection
• [https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB21:040770000 Jubileum Sinar-Sumatra 1905-1929], a digital copy of the 25th anniversary issue hosted by Delpher
• {{YouTube |-FKP_xTS-ss |Establishment by Y.Rogge}}

Category:Defunct newspapers published in Indonesia

Category:1905 establishments in the Dutch East Indies

Category:1942 disestablishments in the Dutch East Indies

Category:Malay-language newspapers published in the Dutch East Indies

Category:Defunct overseas Chinese newspapers

Category:Nationalist newspapers

Category:Newspapers established in 1905

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