THE NOURA VAN KEMMERS

Club Socialite

Batavia's weather has been erratic lately. If it's daytime, the sun feels so hot. The air temperature rises, spurring the sweat to come out faster. And if it's night instead, the weather feels so cold and humid.

Many Dutch people reduce activity during the day to avoid the hot sun and spend time to go to places of entertainment and banquets at night.

Enjoying beer and Rijstafel in club clubs while joking into a fun activity for Dutch citizens at that time. Especially for those who are members of socialite clubs.

At that time the existence of socialite groups among Dutch citizens was a prestige as well as an event to strengthen relations. There were some pretty famous socialite clubs at the time. Some of them are Sociteit de Harmonie, located on Jalan Veteran, Central Jakarta. As an exclusive club, Sociteit de Harmonie can only be entered by white people. Most of them come from businessmen and officials.

In addition to Sociteit de Harmonie which consists of businessmen and officials, there is another Sociteit de Concordia which is a socialite club specifically for military members. The name of the club Sociteit de Concordia was an uproar and horrendous mass media in 1912 related to the murder of Fientje de Fenicks, an indo-blooded pramuria in Batavia committed by one of the club members.

The existence of both clubs is very famous among Dutch citizens. And being part of those two clubs is a must for the cashier. Joining the membership of these clubs is considered a symbol of grandeur that can strengthen their status as upper class. They will not be called rich and attractive, if they are not already members of these clubs.

And that night, the Sociteit de Harmonie building in Waltervreden was crowded with visitors.

Although it is not a weekend and there are no special events shown, the visitors seem so enthusiastic. It seems that some young couples are sitting enjoying the music, there are more family couples complete with their children and grandchildren chatting and occasionally dancing.

Johans Alois chose to sit in a corner facing the entrance. His eyes flashed one by one everyone who came in and out of the building, looking for a figure he was very familiar with. The figure who once had quite a strong influence in Herverman would also be part of his target.

He was already determined to meet that person and there was no reason for that person to refuse his arrival. A few years ago, he had indirectly become a shield for that person to escape the legal process. And because the man was so slippery and clever, until now his crime case has never been revealed.

That person was Mr. Heintje Van der Boon, a leader at Herverman who was in charge of finance. In addition to his leadership, he also serves as a shareholder in several legacy companies owned by the VOC. It is said that the capital held for these shares was the result of embezzlement of funds in Herverman. The problem in taking advantage of the company can be said to be very neat and clever. Much better than Johans Alois. Evident from the results of the investigation, all the evasion of funds that he did not succeed sniffed by the central leadership Herverman.

It can be said that the two people are both perpetrators of corruption, it's just different in doing the action. The cunning of Johans Alois is easily seen and easily suspected, while Hentje Van der Boon tends to be neat and hidden.

The Herverman central Sekian gulden fund devoted to the company's operational assistance has been partly diverted in the form of personal assets under the guise of social foundations.

And all parties were barely suspicious, except only Johans Alois. Heintje was very good at luring Herverman central officials to trust him fully in managing Herverman's finances. Even Mr. Dekker Berrend as the representative of Herverman in Batavia was very respectful to him.

Johans Alois almost finished his beer when his eyes fell on the middle-aged man who was walking slowly into the lobby of the building. The middle-aged man looked so confident. He walked over while throwing a smile and waving to the club members who greeted him.

Johans Alois raised his chin. It was not in vain that he came to the club and waited a long time. Heintje van der Boon has now appeared.

Seriate.

Sorry for the delay in the update, as Author requires research on the situation and history of the region that is the background of this story.

Remarks :

Weltervreden in Dutch means a calm and contented atmosphere. It used to be the main residential area of Europeans. It is located on the outskirts of Batavia, Dutch East Indies, precisely around Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta ranging from RSPAD Gatot Subroto to Gajah Mada Museum.

Source: Wikipedia Australia.