JONGKIE TIO: (JP/Suherdjoko)

The words of late noted historian Sartono Kartodirjo are deeply imprinted in Jongkie Tio's mind.

Sartono, who taught at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, once said history should be written in a multi-dimensional manner.

He meant historians should view events considering various aspects, not just the political alone, but also the cultural, economic and literary aspects. Historian should take into account, he believed, the views of various disciplines, like engineering, agricultural and art.

Born in Semarang, Jonkie Tio, 67, was born as Tio Tek Gwan. He took the Indonesian name Daddy Budiarto when the new order regime forced people of Chinese descent to assume Indonesian-sounding names. He's now widely known as Jongkie Tio.

Jongkie Tio, son of Tio Liong Hwie and Goh Lies Nio, has revealed the history of Semarang not in writing, but through photographs.

The photographs were gathered from various sources -- magazines, newspapers, friends, acquaintances and other collectors. In some cases, he took the photographs himself.

"What prompted me to make a book about Semarang is the fact that I feel uncomfortable when I cannot give satisfactory answers to my friends or guests from outside the city or from abroad when they ask me about Semarang," he said.

Jongkie's works as a photographer can be found in a number of publications in both Semarang and Jakarta.

In 1983, a photograph of his, which was published by Tempo magazine, earned him the Adinegoro Award from the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Association of Journalists. The photograph portrayed a one-legged veteran soldier joining a parade of soldiers.

Jongkie spent 30 years hunting for all the photographs in his book. In his quest, he even scoured the Pasar Johar flea market in Semarang as well as Pasar Senen in Central Jakarta.

When he thought he would need more photographs for his collection, he went as far as the Netherlands to find them.

"I found many old pictures of Semarang in Holland," he said.

His former fellow photographer Tan Tat Hien, writer Liem Thian Yoe and late Semarang cultural activist Amen Budiman, also contributed their photos to complete Jongkie's collection.

His great efforts finally came together to complete three books about Semarang.

The first book, published in 1993, is titled Semarang, Selintas Pandang (A Bird's Eye View of Semarang), a collection of 100 old and new photographs of Semarang city.

After the first book's publication, Jongkie was still enthusiastic about doing more to put Semarang in the spotlight. In 2002, he published Kota Semarang Dalam Kenangan (Semarang City in Memory). The 140-page book contains 287 old and new photographs.

Jongkie said he was unable to cover the production costs of the second book, which is sold at Rp 150,000.

"However, my enthusiasm for Semarang goes beyond everything. I would like more and more people curious about Semarang to make my book their reference," he said.

His third book Semarang City: A Glance into the Past was published in 2007.

Information on the city was written in English, he said, to introduce Semarang to an international community.

The collection of photographs in Jongkie's three books do reveal Semarang city in a multi-dimensional manner, in line with Sartono's beliefs about representing history.

His three books contain old and new photographs of various buildings, markets, traditional vendors, transportation, a number of monuments in Semarang and advertisements published in various newspapers.

There are also photographs of a lottery draw and other forms of gambling from the past. The books also contain photographs of receipts and currencies.

"Actually, I am obsessed with journalism. I also happen to like historical stories," Jongkie said.

Jonkie said he had tried to give a journalistic touch to his books.

He recalled how difficult it was to take photographs of historical buildings during the new order regime.

Smiling, although somewhat bitterly, he said he was once interrogated by security offers when taking a photograph of a particular building.

Today, all his hard work has proved fruitful. His three books are all hardcovers and are printed on fine paper to compliment the quality of his photographs.

With graying hair and whiskers, the man, with great observations, instinct and knowledge, remains modest.

He is grateful people allow him to take photos of them and that he can include them in his book.

"I will always remember them," he said.

Popular

Is Indonesia really ready to embrace dual citizenship?

Palm oil plantation-less mills lead to increase deforestation

Prabowo inaugurates construction of Majapahit palace replica