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The strong smell of cloves hits the moment you open the stained-glass door at the House of Sampoerna Museum in Surabaya. Steeped in symbolism, this museum is more than just a homage to one of Indonesia’s self-made men and cigarette titans: Sampoerna’s tale is intertwined with Indonesian history given that all over the country packs of Dji Sam Doe are sold at roadside stalls and the crackle of burning kretek provides a comforting soundtrack to daily life.

Housed in a well-preserved and well-maintained Dutch colonial building that was once an orphanage, the museum is full of knickknacks, family heirlooms and cigarette paraphernalia including vintage matchboxes from around the world and cigarette packages featuring a garuda made especially for the Indonesian president.

An old theater on the ground floor of the building has been transformed into a factory where hundreds of women roll between 325 and 500 clove cigarettes an hour. From the second floor you can look down on the factory and workers. The kretek cigarettes have become synonymous with Sampoerna’s name.

Our English-speaking guide, Vita — a nonsmoker — explained the process of making kretek, allowing us to break small pieces of clove to release the strong aroma. Placards in English and Indonesian are well-displayed throughout if you opt for a self-guided tour.

Liem Seeng Tee, a Chinese immigrant, founded his cigarette company in 1913 and the Dji Sam Soe unfiltered kretek cigarettes in their signature yellow paper packages still bear his name. Anti-Chinese sentiment forced Liem to pick an Indonesian name and he settled on Sampoerna, meaning “perfect.”

“He wanted to be the king of cigarettes and now he is,” Vita said with a smile.

Sampoerna lived on the premises and only employed women in his factory because he thought they were trustworthy, patient and, most importantly, nonsmokers who would not be tempted to use the product they were making.

To this day, only women are rolling, cutting, packaging and supervising the factory floor.

The museum and the cigarette packages alike are full of symbols. The 2, 3, 4 on the Dji Sam Soe packs indicate the secret recipe quantity combination of cloves, tobacco and a special “sauce.” The quantities add up to nine, an auspicious number that is also the number of letters found in both Sampoerna and Dji Sam Soe’s names.

The Chinese character for king appears throughout the feng shui mansion museum and on the packaging. Three-handed symbols marking the manufacturer, the distributor and the customer reflect the unity needed among all three for business to thrive.

If you are looking to ask some tough questions about the tobacco industry, the amount of tar in Dji Sam Soe cigarettes and the wages the workers are paid an hour, expect a shrug and pleasant smile from your tour guide.

Vita did assure us that the number of kretek smokers continues to rise every year in Indonesia.

In 2005, US company Philip Morris bought Sampoerna, leading to one of the more boring displays in the museum with photos of board members.

The Sampoerna complex also features an art gallery with works from Indonesian artists and a nice cafe serving Western and Asian fare where even the china has Sampoerna symbols stamped all over it.

In the end, the museum, with its rags to riches story of one of Indonesia’s most successful businessmen, does have an air of “Thank you for smoking, Indonesia,” but the blend of history, kitsch and interesting facts helps to make up for that.

House of Sampoerna
Taman Sampoerna 6
Surabaya
Free admission
www.houseofsampoerna.museum