Bentoel Group

Ong Hok Liong (born 12 August 1893) initially worked in his father's tobacco trading company in Bojonegoro, East Java. However, his gambling habits prompted his wife to move the family, first to Sumberwaras and later to Malang. In 1920, Ong started a kretek company with his brothers, funding his share by pawning his wife's jewelry. Although he introduced numerous brands, most of them failed. In 1935, while developing a new brand called Djeruk Manis (Sweet Orange), Ong visited the sacred Gunung Kawi mountain and had a dream about a bentoel (cassava root) vendor. Inspired by the dream, he renamed the brand Bentoel, which became a success. By 1950, Ong employed around 3,000 workers and acquired a cigarette factory in Blitar. Due to heavy smoking and drinking arak (rice alcohol) to ease the throat pain, Ong died in 1967 from chronic liver disease. In 1968, labor problems led Bentoel to pioneer the use of fully automated rolling machines, a first in the kretek industry. ==1987 lawsuit==

In 1987, lawyer Robert Odjahan Tambunan filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Indonesian youth against Bentoel, alleging that the company had violated the law by using the words Remaja Jaya (Successful Youth) as a brand name. The Central Jakarta District Court dismissed the Rp 1 trillion lawsuit, ruling that Tambunan had no legal standing to represent Indonesian youth. Tambunan argued that the nicotine product could harm Indonesian children and ultimately lead to the nation's decline. The lawsuit also targeted the Jakarta city administration, the Justice Ministry's patent and copyright directorate, and Prambors radio station. ==Business==

In 2016, Bentoel Internasional was the fourth-largest cigarette producer in Indonesia, with a market share of approximately 7%. The company produced machine-made kretek, hand-rolled kretek, and white cigarettes. == References ==