The Dutch colonial government began large-scale exploitation of tin deposits on the islands of Bangka and Belitung. The 'Madiun' system involved forced labor (corvée) and later a coolie system to extract the 'white metal.' These mines made the Dutch East Indies the world's leading tin producer for decades, fueling the industrial revolution in Europe and the automobile industry.

The tin mines of Bangka are a recurring specter in Indonesian 'literature of conscience.' The poet Chairil Anwar, the leading figure of the '45 Generation, wrote against the Dutch 'colonial mining that devours the land.' The imagery of 'tin' is not shiny or modern in this tradition; it is heavy, poisonous, and associated with forced labor. Pramoedya Ananta Toer's 'Buru Quartet' novels (and his poetry) directly name the 'Madiun' contracts as a form of slavery, influencing a generation of post-colonial poets who wrote of 'the coolie's back' as the foundation of global modernity.