MEDAN, Indonesia -- In May, the North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Plantation Entrepreneurs Association will transform the ground floor of its cluttered century-old office into a museum dedicated to Deli tobacco, the crop on which modern Medan was built. "It is a big dream," said Soedjai Kartasasmita, chairman of the association and the main mover behind the project.
Soedjai, 88, has devoted the past 15 years to preserving Medan's past as the hub of one of the world's most commercially successful plantation economies. Tobacco growing, in particular, put North Sumatra on the map when it was part of the Dutch East Indies -- the area's famed Deli leaf was once deemed the world's best wrapper for hand-rolled cigars. But times have changed and the Deli tobacco crop is now in danger of extinction. "We have been trying to convince the government that it is important to maintain the tobacco plantations,'' said Soedjai. "This is a heritage crop."
