Malabar Station Turned Mount Puntang Into Global Tech Marvel

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - “Hallo Bandoeng, hier Den Haag,” famously crackled across twelve thousand kilometers of atmosphere in 1929. This historic voice transmission heralded an engineering triumph that linked Radio Kootwijk in the Netherlands directly with Java.

Much like modern mega-science installations such as CERN, this complex represented an unprecedentedly ambitious technological gamble. The colonial government spared no expense to build this colossal facility atop Mount Puntang.

Designed by engineer Dr. Cornelis Johannes de Groot, the site hosted the world’s most potent transmitter. Generating 2,400 kilowatts, this immense machine outmatched every contemporary long-wave installation across the globe.

To suspend the system’s aerials, engineers turned surrounding mountain summits into gargantuan natural transmission towers. They strung two kilometers of dense wire netting three hundred fifty meters over the valley floor.

To drive this immense array, engineers installed a colossal 2,400-kilowatt arc transmitter on site. Dedicated hydroelectric power stations, including PLTA Plengan, supplied the enormous electrical currents demanded by operations.

The compound flourished as a self-contained science hub, complete with laboratories, residences, and cooling reservoirs. The famous heart-shaped pond, Kolam Cinta, actually functioned as industrial cooling infrastructure for transmitters.

Yet, this extravagant monument to imperial mastery enjoyed only a fleeting existence in the highland mist. Geopolitical tides soon turned this wireless showpiece into a grave military liability for Dutch forces.

In March 1946, Indonesian republican fighters systematically destroyed the facility during the historic Bandung Sea of Fire. Combatants detonated the compound to prevent re-entering colonial forces from utilizing its strategic communications potential.

Echoing the revolutionary anthem “Halo, Halo Bandung,” the scorched station fell silent forever amid rising smoke. Today, broken brick foundations remain silent witnesses to the world’s most audacious wireless experiment. (Fauzan)