Sumatra Post reports on the downfall of a European man in 1931

A 1931 article from the Sumatra Post, titled ‘Merkwaardige toestand: de njai in het spel’, details the downfall of a European man named Mr. Jansen in the Dutch East Indies. Jansen, who had amassed a fortune of 70,000 guilders through the growing bus industry, reportedly died in an asylum in Lawang after being ruined by his njai.

The account reflects broader social anxieties of the 1930s, a period marked by modernization through improved transport and telecommunications, alongside rising Indonesian calls for independence. The story highlights a lingering colonial fear regarding domestic security within the home.