Batavian Eastern Railway Company

South Batavia Railway Station (early 20th century)

The Batavian Eastern Railway Company (Dutch: Bataviasche Oosterspoorweg Maatschapij), abbreviated as BOS, was a railway company in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. The railroad's 35-mile (56 km) route connected Batavia with Krawang via Meester Cornelis and Bekasi.[1]

The Chinese-Indonesian author Tan Teng Kie wrote a syair poem about the construction of the railway line in the 1880s.[2][3] In it, Tan talks in great detail about the organisation necessary for building the railway line, from the recruitment of coolies, to compensation paid out to local villagers, and on to the cooperation of local Landheeren (landlords), including Tan Kang Ie, the Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi at the time.[3]

  1. ^ Highways of commerce: The ocean lines, railways, canals, and other trade routes of foreign countries United States. Bureau of Foreign Commerce, Govt. Print. Off., 1899 pag3e 595
  2. ^ Engineers of Happy Land: Technology and Nationalism in a Colony by Rudolf Mrázek page 257
  3. ^ a b Salmon, Claudine (April 1988). "The Batavian Eastern Railway Co. and the Making of a New "Daerah" as Reflected in a Commemorative Syair Written by Tan Teng Kie (1890)". Indonesia. 45: 49–62. doi:10.2307/3351175. hdl:1813/53885. JSTOR 3351175. Retrieved 13 August 2021.