The Rose of De Haas

Chapter 11: The New Step

During that blistering day, Mr. De Haas had just walked out of the passenger ship ticket booth. He managed to buy a boat ticket for his move with his family to Batavia on Saturday next week.

All administrative affairs and various needs for the transfer have been well resolved by Mr. De Haas, assisted also by Uncle Darijo and Peter Van Ross the friend.

Now, on the Earth of Srivijaya, dutch people who rank high in various fields or have a high social status are already reluctant to connect with Mr. De Haas directly because of wild rumors spread among the Dutch after the welcoming party birth of the first child of the De Haas family.

Marriage to an indigenous woman like that of Mr. De Haas has indeed attracted great controversy, coupled with the name 'too indigenous' the pinned by Mr. De Haas to his daughter yes the more complete the controversy that arises.

However, Mr. De Haas remained firm in his stance to maintain his household with his wife and decided never to change the name of the child to become more European as the advice of some of his colleagues.

Only in that way, Mr. De Haas can show his love for Bumi Nusantara, which unfortunately became a colonized country oppressed by his own people.

In the depths of his heart, frankly Mr. De Haas refused to oppress the natives who were always friendly.

No wonder, Mr. De Haas always gives very decent wages to the natives who work for him indiscriminately.

Mr. De Haas would not bother with the response of others to his attitude, he still tries not to hurt anyone including the natives and always runs his business honestly and openly regardless of any of his co-workers.

"Sir, did you manage to get the ticket?" asked Uncle Darijo after being moved to come to the Master.

Mr. De Haas nodded. "yes, I've bought everything.let's go home, Sarinah must have been waiting for me to have lunch together."

"All right, sir."

Because the De Haas family home is located very close to the pier, Mr. De Haas and Uncle Darijo prefer to walk casually to the house while having a light conversation.

Musi River that stretches wide is clearly visible from a distance, complete with large passenger ships to agricultural commodities from various regions not to mention rafts and canoes owned by residents who peddle their merchandise on the river.

The atmosphere there is very crowded, as is the case with the crowded market on land will be frenzied trading activities of the citizens.

Not infrequently, there are residents who build their homes on rafts to facilitate their mobility to move from one place to another.

On land too, many people pass by on foot or use a bicycle to add to the impression of being busy in one of the oldest cities in the archipelago.

Arriving home, Mr. De Haas then walked in and called out the name of his wife who had been waiting for him at the dinner table.

"You're home yet? Let's eat, you must be very hungry because you eat late like this" said Mrs De Haas, filling dishes for her husband with a variety of home-cooked dishes that he made.

"Yes, I'm so hungry. Lucky I was still strong to walk home without having to faint first," the husband replied in a witty tone, making the wife giggle amusedly.

The two then ate together, accompanied by a loud babble Little Rose who was being carried by Aunt Inem in the backyard of the house.

The beautiful child can now sit alone at the age of five months, and again he grew more adorable making the family home De Haas still feel warm amid the poor view of other Dutch families to this family.

"What about the ticket? You get tickets for everything on the same day?" asked Madame De Haas, Sarinah, while tidying up the empty plates of her and her husband's food.

"I got all the tickets, including for Darijo and Inem," replied Mr. De Haas, reaching into his pocket to show him the boat ticket he had bought earlier.

At that time, long-distance transportation that is most often relied upon to travel to other islands is indeed only a ship.

While railways, it is more likely to be used to transport agricultural commodities and goods.

Sarinah smiled softly. "thankfully, that way we will not be troubled because we have to look for Jongos and Babu new."

Thanks to a mutual agreement that has been carefully thought out, Mr and Mrs De Haas invited Uncle Darijo and Aunt Inem.

Seeking faithful and obedient Babu and Jongos is also not an easy thing, there have been many instances where the helpers dared to deceive their Master for profit.

In some cases, there are Dutch Masters and Madams who are willing to pay Babu or Jongos to gather information in order to bring down their business opponents.

That of course made Mr. De Haas and Mrs De Haas choose to bring with them the two chief servants of their house.

"You're right, my wife. We just need to find a few more later on arrival in Batavia," replied Mr. De Haas after sipping a glass of water to the toilet.

"So early in the morning I went to church to pray, but people still looked at me with scornful eyes as to what I had done wrong to them" De Haas complained, I remember what happened this morning.

Mrs De Haas just smiled softly in response to the husband's complaint, feeling sad because her whereabouts now the husband must get such discriminatory treatment by his own people.

"It's all my fault for being your wife, I'm sorry," the woman's great-granddaughter listens after handing over her dirty dishes to one of Babu's.

Mr. De Haas looked at his wife fiercely, not accepting the words he had just heard.

"Stop apologizing for things that don't matter, let alone that it's not your fault. Appreciate yourself by not apologizing. Remember, to me you are precious," said Mr. De Haas.

The man was inexhaustible, why Sarinah who had now become Madam De Haas still maintained her inferiority attitude.

"And one more, do not bow your gaze when passing other Masters or Madams. Your social status with them is the same, we are all equal in God's eyes."

"What you say is true, my husband. But, is not your nation the noblest on the land of my colonized land?"