Kapitan Cina,also spelled Kapitan China or Capitan China,was a high-ranking government position in the civil administration of colonial Indonesia,Malaysia,Singapore,Borneo and the Philippines. Office holders exercised varying degrees of power and influence:from near-sovereign political and legal jurisdiction over local Chinese communities,to ceremonial precedence for community leaders. Corresponding posts existed for other ethnic groups,such as Kapitan Arab and Kapitan Keling for the local Arab and Indian communities respectively.
Phoa Keng Hek Sia was a Chinese Indonesian Landheer (landlord),social activist and founding president of Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan,an influential Confucian educational and social organisation meant to better the position of ethnic Chinese in the Dutch East Indies. He was also one of the founders of Institut Teknologi Bandung.
Khouw Kim An,5th Majoor der Chinezen was a high-ranking Chinese Indonesian bureaucrat,public figure and landlord who served as the fifth and last Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia,Dutch East Indies. 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.
Khouw Oen Giok Sia,later more popularly known as Oen Giok Khouw or O. G. Khouw,was a philanthropist and landowner in the Dutch East Indies. He gained notoriety for acquiring Dutch citizenship,thus breaking down the race barriers of colonial society. Today,he is best remembered for his extravagant mausoleum in Petamburan,Jakarta.
Tio Tek Ho,4th Majoor der Chinezen was a Chinese-Indonesian bureaucrat who served as the fourth and penultimate Majoor der Chinezen or Chinese headman of Batavia,now Jakarta,capital of Indonesia. This was the most senior position in the Chinese officership,which constituted the Chinese arm of the civil bureaucracy in the Dutch East Indies. As Majoor,Tio was also the ex officio Chairman of the Chinese Council of Batavia,the city's highest Chinese government body.
Tan Eng Goan,1st Majoor der Chinezen was a high-ranking bureaucrat who served as the first Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia,capital of colonial Indonesia. This was the highest-ranking Chinese position in the civil administration of the Dutch East Indies.
Lauw Tek Lok,Luitenant der Chinezen was a high-ranking government official and landlord in Batavia,Dutch East Indies,and a member of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family,part of Java’s Cabang Atas gentry. He is remembered today for his long tenure as Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi,and for his interracial marriage with Louisa Zecha.
The Cabang Atas —literally 'highest branch' in Indonesian —was the traditional Chinese establishment or gentry of colonial Indonesia. They were the families and descendants of the Chinese officers,high-ranking colonial civil bureaucrats with the ranks of Majoor,Kapitein and Luitenant der Chinezen. They were referred to as the baba bangsawan [‘Chinese gentry’] in Indonesian,and the ba-poco in Java Hokkien.
Tan Tjoen Tiat,2nd Majoor der Chinezen was a Chinese-Indonesian bureaucrat who served as the second Majoor der Chinezen,or Chinese headman,of Batavia,now Jakarta,capital of Indonesia. This was the most senior Chinese position in the colonial civil bureaucracy of the Dutch East Indies. As Majoor,Tan was also the Chairman of the Chinese Council of Batavia,the city's highest Chinese government body.
Letnan Cina Oey Thai Lo was a notable Chinese-Indonesian tycoon who acted as a pachter for tobacco in the early 19th century.
Lim Soe Keng Sia (1819–1883),also known as Liem Soe King Sia,Soe King Sia or Lim Soukeng Sia,was a prominent Pachter,or revenue farmer,in Batavia,capital of the Dutch East Indies,best known for his rivalry with the notorious Betawi playboy Oey Tamba Sia. He acted as administrator of the 'Ngo Ho Tjiang' Kongsi,the most influential consortium of opium monopolists in early to mid-19th century Batavia.
The Kwee family of Ciledug was an influential bureaucratic and business dynasty of the 'Cabang Atas' or the Chinese gentry of the Dutch East Indies. From the mid-nineteenth until the mid-twentieth century,they featured prominently in the colonial bureaucracy of Java as Chinese officers,and played an important role in the sugar industry. Like many in the Cabang Atas,they were pioneering,early adopters of European education and modernity in colonial Indonesia. During the Indonesian Revolution,they also hosted most of the negotiations leading to the Linggadjati Agreement of 1946.
Tan Tjin Kie,Majoor-titulair der Chinezen was a high-ranking bureaucrat,courtier,sugar baron and head of the prominent Tan family of Cirebon,part of the ‘Cabang Atas’or Chinese gentry of the Dutch East Indies. He is best remembered today for his lavish,40-day-long funeral ceremony of 1919,reputedly the most expensive ever held in Java.
Francisca Louisa Zecha (1848–1939),usually known as Louisa Zecha,was a prominent,colonial Indonesian community leader and the Indo-Bohemian matriarch of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family,part of the 'Cabang Atas' gentry of the Dutch East Indies. She attracted significant attention due to her controversial interracial marriages to two Peranakan Chinese magnates,Lauw Tek Lok,Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi and Sim Keng Koen,Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi. The posts of Kapitein and Luitenant der Chinezen were high-ranking civil administration positions in the Dutch colonial bureaucracy. Zecha's community leadership,philanthropy,personal bravery and longevity earned her widespread respect and admiration in colonial society by the time she died in 1939.
Oey Djie San,Kapitein der Chinezen was a Chinese-Indonesian public figure,bureaucrat and landlord,best known for his role as Landheer of Karawatji and Kapitein der Chinezen of Tangerang. In the latter capacity,he headed the local Chinese civil administration in Tangerang as part of the Dutch colonial system of 'indirect rule'.
Oey Khe Tay,Kapitein der Chinezen was a Chinese-Indonesian bureaucrat and landlord,best known for his role as Kapitein der Chinezen of Tangerang and Landheer of Karawatji. In the former capacity,he acted as the head of the Chinese civil administration in Tangerang as part of the Dutch colonial system of ‘indirect rule’.
Oey Bian Kong,Kapitein der Chinezen was a prominent Chinese-Indonesian bureaucrat who served from 1791 until 1800 as the 20th Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia,and the last under the Dutch East India Company,which was dissolved in 1799. This post was the most senior in the Chinese civil bureaucracy that governed the local Chinese community as part of the Dutch colonial system of 'indirect rule'.
Tan Tiang Po,Luitenant der Chinezen,also spelled Tan Tjeng Po,was a colonial Chinese-Indonesian bureaucrat,landowner,philanthropist and the penultimate Landheer (landlord) of the domain of Batoe-Tjepper in the Dutch East Indies.
Oey Liauw Kong,Kapitein der Chinezen (1799–1865) was a Chinese-Indonesian high official,Landheer (landlord) and head of the Oey family of Kemiri,part of the 'Tjabang Atas' or Peranakan gentry. He was also the owner of the 18th-century Baroque mansion and Jakarta landmark,Toko Merah.
