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Khouw Kim An

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Majoor Khouw Kim An
Born1875
Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Died1945 (aged 69–70)
Tjimahi, West Java, Dutch East Indies
Occupation(s)Majoor der Chinezen, community leader, parliamentarian, landowner
SpousePhoa Tji Nio
FamilyLuitenant Khouw Tian Sek (grandfather)
Luitenant Khouw Tjeng Tjoan (father)
Phoa Keng Hek Sia (father-in-law)
O. G. Khouw (cousin)

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Khouw Kim An, Majoor der Chinezen (1875-1945) was a prominent Chinese Indonesian public figure, patrician and landowner who served as the last Majoor der Chinezen ("Major of the Chinese") of Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta). The Chinese Mayoralty was the highest-ranking, Chinese government position in the East Indies with considerable political and judicial jurisdiction over the colony's Chinese subjects. The Batavian Mayoralty was one of the oldest public institutions in the Dutch colonial empire, perhaps second only in antiquity to the viceregal post of Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.

Family and Background

Khouw Kim An Sia was born in Batavia to the ninth concubine of his father, Khouw Tjeng Tjoan, Luitenant der Chinezen ("Lieutenant of the Chinese"), a potentate and patriarch of the Khouw family of Tamboen, arguably the richest clan among the baba bangsawan, or Chinese gentry, of Batavia.[1][2][3] As the son of an Opsir Tionghoa, Kim An received the courtesy title of Sia.[2][4][5]

Portrait of Majoor Khouw Kim An's grandsons, Yan and Coen (by Charles Sayers, circa 1937).

The origin of his family goes back to a certain Khouw Tjoen, a merchant who migrated from Fujian to Tegal on Java's north coast, before finally buying landed estates and settling down in Batavia in the late eighteenth century.[1][3] His son, Khouw Tian Sek, benefited from Batavia's great urban expansion in the early nineteenth century, when a lot of his formerly rural land suddenly became prime urban property.[1][3] He vastly increased his wealth through the acquisition of revenue farms, and bought many particuliere landerijen, or domains, around Batavia, the most important of which was Tamboen.[1][3][6] His family progressed from being merely wealthy to becoming Batavia's largest landowning dynasty.[1][3] Khouw Tian Sek became the first member of his family to be elevated to the titular dignity of Luitenant der Chinezen.[7] All three of his sons, Tjeng Tjoan, Tjeng Kie and Tjeng Po, would later be appointed to the same rank.[8][9][10] The future Majoor's older cousin, Khouw Yauw Kie, Kapitein der Chinezen ("Captain of the Chinese"), preceded him as the family's first representative on the governing Chinese Raad, or Kong Koan, of Batavia.[1]

Khouw Kim An received a traditional Chinese education grounded in the Chinese Classics, and acquired a good grasp of both Mandarin and Hokkien in addition to his native Batavian Malay.[3] He was also instructed by private tutors in European languages, including Dutch which he spoke fluently.[3] The future Majoor's Chinese training, however, stands in sharp contrast to the Dutch education of many in his social class and generation, including his cousin, the naturalised Dutchman and philanthropist Oen Giok Khouw. This familiarity with Chinese culture gave him a distinct advantage in his career as the head and public face of the Chinese in the colony.

At the age of 18, Khouw was married Phoa Tji Nio, the daughter of a well-connected official: her father, Phoa Keng Hek, was a respected community leader, social activist and the founding President of Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan (THHK).[3][11] Tji Nio and her husband had four sons and two daughters.[3] The family lived in Buitenzorg (now Bogor) until Khouw inherited Candra Naya, one of Batavia's grandest historic mansions, from his cousin, Khouw Yauw Kie.[3][12]

Public career

Majoor Khouw Kim An (right) with a European guest.
Opening of the Volksraad.

Khouw was raised to the post of Luitenant der Chinezen in 1905, Kapitein in 1908 and finally Majoor in 1910. He advanced rapidly through the ranks of the colonial mandarinate, partly thanks to his and his wife's family background. By the early decades of the twentieth century, a lot of the political and legal powers of the Chinese Mayoralty had devolved upon the colonial civil service. Many of the duties of the last Majoor were, consequently, ceremonial in nature. As Majoor and head of the Chinese community, he was also an ex officio member of the Volksraad of the Dutch East Indies. He maintained close relations with other Chinese members of the Volksraad, such as Hok Hoei Kan and Loa Sek Hie.

Khouw was appointed an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1920. While on a visit to The Netherlands in 1927, he was received formally at Court by Queen Wilhelmina, and conveyed to the Sovereign the loyal greetings of the Chinese community of the Dutch East Indies. The Majoor celebrated his Silver Jubilee as Chinese Officier on February 10, 1930, on which occasion the Queen conferred upon him the Great Gold Star for Loyalty and Merit (Groote Gouden Ster voor Trouw en Verdienste) in recognition of his long service to the Crown. It was the highest grade, awarded only to the most eminent native chiefs, in what was seen as the colonial counterpart of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

Second World War and Death

During the Second World War, the Japanese invaded and occupied the Dutch East Indies. In 1942, Majoor Khouw Kim An was apprehended by the Japanese and imprisoned with other leaders of the Dutch colonial government in Tjimahi. He died in prison on February 13, 1945, a day prior to the Japanese surrender.

His remains were buried near the famous mausoleum of his cousin, O. G. Khouw, in Petamburan.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wright, Arnold (1909). Twentieth Century Impressions of Netherlands India. Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources. London: Lloyd's Greater Britain Pub. Co.
  2. ^ a b Nio, Joe Lan (1940). Riwajat 40 Taon dari Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan - Batavia (1900 - 1939). Batavia: Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Erkelens, Monique (15 October 2013). The decline of the Chinese Council of Batavia: the loss of prestige and authority of the traditional elite amongst the Chinese community from the end of the nineteenth century until 1942 (PDF). Leiden: Leiden University. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  4. ^ Phoa, Kian Sioe (15 September 1956). Sedjarahnja : Souw Beng Kong, Phoa Beng Gan, Oey Tamba Sia (1 ed.). Djakarta: Reporter.
  5. ^ Sidharta, Myra (2003). Blussé, Leonard; Chen, Menghong (eds.). The Archives of the Kong Koan of Batavia. Leiden: BRILL. p. 51. ISBN 9004131574. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Soerabaijasch handelsblad". Het Particuliere Land Tamboen. No. Soerabaja. Kolff & Co. 1 October 1941. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Javasche courant". Familiebericht. No. Batavia. Landsdrukkerij. 22 November 1843. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Soerabaijasch handelsblad". Familiebericht. No. Soerabaja. Kolff & Co. 20 November 1880. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  9. ^ "De locomotief : Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad". Laatste Berichten. No. Semarang. De Groot, Kolff & Co. 23 July 1883. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Bataviaasch handelsblad". Advertentie. No. Batavia. W. Bruining. 17 January 1883. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  11. ^ Suryadinata, Leo (19 August 2015). Prominent Indonesian Chinese: Biographical Sketches (4 ed.). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 100–101, 220. ISBN 9814620505. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  12. ^ Knapp, Ronald (13 December 2013). Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia: The Eclectic Architecture of Sojourners and Settlers. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 1462905870. Retrieved 1 February 2016.

Bibliography

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