Long before W.W.II, during the time that painters went around to paint the beautiful spots of Indonesia, a young man made photographs of these same spots with his camera. He was Ong Kian Bie, born in Malang on March 1, 1907 as the youngest of two boys in the family. His father past away when he was two weeks old, but his mother had been able to raise her two sons and given them an opportunity to be educated in Malang's best Chinese school.

Unfortunately this opportunity was cut short but when Ong Kian Bie was 15 years old and he had to find a job to kae a living. Luckily one of his uncle gave him a Kodak brownie camera, a new invention in those days. His first attempt to make pictures was that of a train at full speed. His success with this train was honored by his uncle and he became an apprentice in this man's photo studio.

His portraits became well-known in Malang and he had probably made photographs of most of the weddings that have taken place in the city. Also his baby photos became well known and during a visit to Europe he met many of his former baby models, then in their fifties and sixties, who proudly showed him their photographs which were still in beautiful condition and in some cases even had survived the concentration camps!

But Mr. Ong did not made photographs in his studio only, he also ventured out in the mountainous area around Malang, and also went to Bali and Lombok to make photos of the nature and the people there. He would spend a lot attention to small details, the harmony of the subject against the background and also the chiaroscuro, the light and darkness effect, so often found in European paintings.

Many of his photographs could be found in the Malay medium magazines, such as the Sin Po and Keng Po. However, de Dutch language magazines such as Java Express and d' Orient would also often publish his nature photographs. He was honored by Malang's city council with a commission to make all the photographs for a book on the occassion of their 25th anniversary in 1939. During the Japanese occupation he was not allowed to practice photography. This was not surprising, because the Japanese government had sent photographers to the countries in South East Asia to spy for them. He had to make a living by making and painting name boards for schools, offices, shops and hospitals. Luckily his wife, whom he had married in 1931 helped with taking in boarders to get extra income. His only daughter, born in 1938 often accompanied him on his trips to find some painting jobs or to deliver the boards to the clients.

During this time, Malang became a sanctuary for many poets and writers, who were also robbed of their livelihood by the Japanese because of the ban of newspapers and magazines and books. They, together with musicians and painters formed a circle and gathered regularly to perform musical or literary evenings, but also discuss social and political problems. Mr. Ong too was a regular contributor with his own poetry.

I myself, met Mr. Ong for the first time in 1993 when I went to Malang to find data about a certain Nyoo Cheong Seng, to write his biography. Mr. Nyoo was a member of the cultural circle and I went to interview Mr. Ong. He was 86 at that time, living alone in Malang because his wife had just past away soon after their 60th wedding anniversary. He was very busy in his studio and impressed me with his excellent memory. I believed him, when he told me that he was 68, but in fact he was just fooling me, he was 86!

I had known Ong Kian Bie's photograph from the magazines that I read in my childhood, so it was quite an experience for me to meet the photographer in person. It was even more exciting when I was asked to open his photo exhibition at the Erasmushuis in August 1996. This exhibition featured his photographs of tempo doeloe (past times) and recent works. Prior to the exhibition was a lecture about Malang in the past and present and the audience, mostly ex-Malang people were thrilled to see the beautiful photographs and could recognize their city.

Later that year, Ong Kian Bie received another tribute to his lifetime achievement. He was honored in the book Malang, beeld van een stad, by A. van Schaik, a well written and well illustrated history of the city of Malang. The writer dedicated this book to Ong for his contribution of many photo's, especially those to show the changes in the city in the different periods in the last 70 years.

He had made pictures of these changes and of the assault to his city during the time of revolution, when hundreds of buildings were destroyed. He did not make the pictures to show the beauty, but as a silent, helpless observer. He also showed his helplessness when in recent times, old beautiful buildings, such as the Concordia were considered obsolete and replaced with shopping malls and other hideous structures.