I didn’t have much of an itinerary planned for my visit to Surabaya; simply visiting Monkasel (which did not disappoint) and seeing the Suramadu bridge (which I unbelievably managed to not accomplish for reasons that escape recall now….hmm, maybe next time?)

What I soon discovered during my few days in Surabaya is how quirky that piece of East Java truly is. Let’s face it, any major population centre that installs a former Soviet submarine in the heart of the city as a tourist attraction has definitely got some character right? This impression was only reinforced by my subsequent discovery of a museum dedicated to cancer (which, although small, made for a quite sobering visit) and, somewhat ironically given the cancer museum, the Sampoerna cigarette museum.

Of all the possible bedfellows - a museum for cancer and a museum for cigarettes…yep, Surabaya sure is an interesting city.

I subsequently learnt, after arriving in Surabaya, that a free guided bus tour of the city was available with services that operated from the Sampoerna cigarette museum. Given that entry to this museum was also free (along with a guided tour) how could I not devote a few hours to either sightseeing option?

I couldn’t help but wonder though how interesting a museum dedicated to cigarettes - solely those manufactured by the Sampoerna company - could possibly be.

Quite interesting as it turned out.

Background

Sampoerna (or Sempurna in Bahasa Indonesia - which means perfection) is the largest cigarette company in Indonesia. Founded in Surabaya in 1913 by Liem Seeng Tee, a Chinese immigrant, the company has been owned by Phillip Morris International since 2005.

It seems that Liem Seeng Tee had a rather tough start in life. Having travelled from China to Indonesia and being orphaned at an early age he left his foster family in Bojonegoro at the age of 11 and began working on the railroad hawking food that he carried in a sarong to travellers  in lower class compartments journeying between Jakarta and Surabaya.  When he had earned enough money, after 18 months of plying his trade on the trains, he purchased a second hand bicycle and began a second business selling charcoal in the streets of Surabaya.

From these humble beginnings he subsequently founded the Sampoerna cigarette company (the name Sampoerna - a dutch variant of Sempurna - was officially adopted in the 1930’s) which he ran until his death in 1956. The running of the business would be largely kept in family hands until recent decades.

The museum

The Sampoerna cigarette museum, which is situated in the grounds of the official headquarters of the company, is divided over 2 floors and starts, on the ground floor immediately after entering the building, with the initial origins of the company and its founder Liem Seeng Tee.

The tour guides speak excellent English and are quite knowledgeable about many aspects of the company’s history and the key people involved throughout its existence. As you’ll discover when beginning the tour there’s a lot of very interesting history to take in and explore so pay attention!

As you’re taking a tour through the museum you’ll likely see small groups of other visitors with their respective tour guides which, against this backdrop, can make it a little difficult at times to concentrate on what your own guide is saying. That’s my only (very, very) minor grumble about the experience….but, given the wealth of exhibits, signage and tour guide information, it really isn’t that much of an issue as the experience of being there makes for a very compelling visit.

To the left of the museum entrance is a bamboo replica stall, market place artefacts and the founder’s bicycle - all of which are proudly displayed with accompanying notice boards informing the visitor of the history behind that particular exhibit.

The bamboo stall is a replica of the one once used by Liem Seeng Tee and his wife Siem Tjiang Nio to sell basic food stuffs and tobacco from their location in Tjantian road, Surabaya. It’s incredible to think that from these very humble beginnings the largest cigarette company in Indonesia would emerge.

Continuing within the first section of the ground floor, and to the right hand side of the entrance, is what I can only describe as a replica living area displaying the founder’s furniture, various photographs of the family and a large photographic portrait of Liem Seeng Tee and his wife.

In the next half of the ground floor of the museum the exhibits include an impressive looking Original Heidelberg press, a range of printing plates that were used for the cigarette packaging and examples of the different cigarette products along with their accompanying package designs.

As someone with a keen interest in design these were incredible to see and there’s always some nostalgic quality that, for whatever reasons, is triggered whenever I see industrial design equipment and package design from the mid-half of the 20th Century and earlier.

Drum roll please

The one exhibit that really held my attention and engaged me more than others though was the Sampoerna Marching Band artefacts and memorabilia. I had no idea that the Sampoerna cigarette factory had, from 1989 - 1992, possessed its own marching band who represented Indonesia in the 1990 and 1991 Tournaments of Roses in Pasadena, California.

Seeing the photographs, yearbooks, costumes, instruments and associated memorabilia from that era of the company’s history was just amazing. Who would have thought that cigarette workers from East Java would have traveled to California and participated in such a prestigious event? Not only did they participate but they also won 1st prize in the International Trophy for their Garuda float in the 1990 tournament.

A very impressive result indeed and it was fantastic to see the photographs from that event; the workers looking resplendent in their band costumes, participating in the tournament and smiling under the warmth of the Pasadena sun. What an incredible experience that must have been for the people involved and for the company too - memories of a lifetime for sure.

Factory life

Interestingly, the Sampoerna cigarette museum was, up until recently, also the site of an operational factory where hundreds of workers would daily process tobacco, roll cigarettes and subsequently package those for delivery to various outlets. The factory floor where the cigarette workers would be seated at their stations is still present and can be viewed from the upper floor of the museum space.

It’s hard to believe seeing this empty space now (which, to my mind at least, seems reminiscent of a high school gymnasium environment - sans the equipment) that hundreds of employees once worked here day after day, year after year making cigarettes.

All that labour and all that activity for all those years and now it’s just an empty shell. To look at that space you wouldn’t have guessed that it had once been such a busy hive of productivity.

Situated on the upper floor of the museum are, amongst other items, various items of laboratory equipment, hand held cigarette rolling machines and jars of Cengkeh Bali (Bali Cloves) and Cengkeh Menado (Menado cloves) which were ingredients used in the clove cigarettes that Sampoerna was well known for producing.

Throughout the museum there are photographs taken from various periods in the company’s history depicting different aspects of the business; all of which provide a fascinating glimpse into the day-to-day reality of working life there.

The Surabaya City tour

Outside the museum, in the grounds of the Sampoerna headquarters, sits the small bus (which seats up to maybe 20 people if memory serves me well) which visitors can book a free guided tour of Surabaya and its prominent landmarks with. I would highly recommend this as the tour guide is both well informed on local history and incredibly articulate (the fact that his spoken English, as a second language, is better than many native English I have known is quite impressive).

You’ll get to visit a variety of locations including the school where the first President of Indonesia, Sukarno was educated as a teenager (and the background of that location, along with some of the notable students - including Sukarno, is highly recommended for anyone interested in learning more about Indonesian history), a local Kampung (small village type settlement - which, frustratingly, I can’t recall too much about now other than some of the interesting murals that were displayed on various buildings there) as well as more well-known landmarks and historical locations.

I can’t quite remember offhand how long the city tour lasts but I think it’s about an hour or thereabouts. Given the stops at the school location and the kampung though you won’t be spending the entire visit sat on a bus (and there’s no substitute for getting to see certain locations on foot and actually spend time there up close). Strangely I felt like the journey didn’t last all that long but this was likely due to the wealth of sights and information shared by the tour guide.

I have to say for a free tourist attraction the cigarette museum and (optional) Surabaya city tour are nothing short of fantastic. If these were paid for attractions you would definitely be getting your money’s worth - and then some.

My recommendation? DON’T miss out on a visit if you happen to be in Surabaya.