The Tjipetir Mystery Revealed

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The mystifying rubber- like blocks with the word ‘Tjipetir’ engraved on it have been found in various European countries. Washed up on beaches, these items have left many questioning its origin. Many speculations have been made as to its source and its purposes. Initial assumption led to the notion that these washed up blocks came from the sunken Titanic and that they have been floating around the world since then. As time progresses, the mystery is finally cracked and the verdict shows that these blocks originated from an old rubber plantation in Cipetir, Cikidang, Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia.

The square-formed objects look similar to gutta-percha: coagulation latex made out of the liquid of pure sap that can ossify and comes from a type of tree called Sapotaceae, mostly found in the Malaysian peninsula. In the 19^th century through to mid 20^th century, it was being used to insulate telegraph cables spread along the seabed.

In the documentary created by indonesianfilmcenter.com, as cited by Liputan6.com on Thursday (4/12/2014), the process of making the infamous Tjipelir is revealed. The documentary shows how a number of Bumiputera farmers processes the objects starting with cutting the branches and plucking the leaves of the tree Sapotaceae. Their activity is fully monitored by a Dutchman.

The leaves then were collected and put in a sack as they are being weighed. After weighing them, those leaves were carried from the plantation area to the factory using a gondola that rush pass through mountains.

Shortly after its arrival, the leaves are put into a grinding machine. The machine aims to separate the sap from the leaf fibres.

The leaves that have been successfully grinded will be mixed with heated water. After it shows evidence of boiling, the mixture is poured into the flotation tank. After that, it is separated, washed and pressed in a machine until the yellow gutta percha is visible.

Once extracted and purified, the gutta- percha is inserted into the printing machine so that it will come out in a desirable shape. Apparently, square is not the only shape that is used to form the gutta- percha but also other forms such as circular. Tjipelir is then put into a can and ready to be distributed.

Indonesianfilmcenter.com uploaded the documentary on 6 of November 2012. The original title of the film with the duration of 31 minutes and 26 seconds is ‘Gutta Percha: het bedrijf te Tjipetir’. The Dutch took this in 1925 during its colonial era in Indonesia.

Gutta- Percha can be used as an electricity isolator on a cable and is also regularly used in the field of dentistry. (Akp/Ein)