Sim Keng Koen, Kapitein der Chinezen (died in 1906) was a Chinese-Indonesian bureaucrat and the patriarch of the influential Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, part of the 'Cabang Atas' gentry of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).[1][2][3][4] He was married to Louisa Zecha, the Indo-Bohemian widow of Sim's former employer, Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi.[1][2]
Sim Keng Koen, Kapitein-titulair der Chinezen | |
|---|---|
| Luitenant der Chinezen in Batavia | |
| In office 1880–1887 | |
| Constituency | Batavia |
| Kapitein der Chinezen in Batavia | |
| In office 1887–1889 | |
| Constituency | Batavia |
| Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi | |
| In office 1892–1899 | |
| Preceded by | New creation |
| Succeeded by | Lauw Tjeng Kie, Luitenant der Chinezen |
| Constituency | Sukabumi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Batavia, Dutch East Indies |
| Died | Sukabumi, Dutch East Indies |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Spouse | Louisa Zecha |
| Relations | Che Engku Chesterina (granddaughter) Adrian Lauw Zecha (step-great-grandson) |
| Children | Sim Tjeng Bouw Betsy Lembor Nio Sim-Zecha Piet Tjeng Ho Sim-Zecha Chester Tjeng Soan Lauw-Sim-Zecha |
| Occupation | Mandarin |
| Known for | Role as the first Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi |
Sim began his career as the private secretary of Luitenant Lauw Tek Lok, one of the preeminent Chinese-Indonesian magnates of the second half of the nineteenth century.[2] After leaving Lauw's employ, Sim was appointed Luitenant der Chinezen of the Kong Koan (Chinese Council) of Batavia in 1880.[5] This was a senior civil government post in the Dutch colonial bureaucracy.[2] He was further elevated to the rank of Kapitein in 1887, and was discharged with honour in 1889.[6][7]
Together with his wife, Louisa Zecha, Sim settled down in Sukabumi, a hill station in the Preanger highlands of West Java.[2] In 1892, he was appointed as the first Hoofd der Chinezen of Sukabumi with the rank of Kapitein-titulair der Chinezen.[8] The sociologist Mely G. Tan calls Sim the most prominent of all of Sukabumi's Chinese headmen, in large part thanks to the high profile of his Eurasian wife.[2] In the course of a violent uprising in Tamboen in the late nineteenth century, and in the absence of any Dutch military response, Sim accompanied Zecha to meet with the insurgents in order to negotiate a surrender.[1] They succeeded in this aim without military intervention.[1] The Kapitein's influence in Sukabumi was such that the local Chinese community celebrated Cap Go Meh a few days later so as to coincide with Sim's birthday festivities.[2]
He requested an honourable discharge from the colonial authorities due to old age, which was granted, in 1899.[9] He died in 1906.[3][4] That same year, he was succeeded as Hoofd der Chinezen of Sukabumi by his step-nephew, Lauw Tjeng Kie, in which capacity, however, he bore the lower title of Luitenant der Chinezen of Sukabumi (the office having been downgraded in rank from captaincy to a lieutenantcy upon Sim's retirement).[10]
Kapitein Sim Keng Koen is the step-great-grandfather of the hotelier Adrian Lauw-Zecha, the founder of Aman Resorts, and the grandfather of the ballerina Che Engku Chesterina, a princess by marriage of Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia.[11][12][13]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "MEVROUW ZECHA† Nijver en toegewijd leven". De Indische courant. 3 February 1939. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Tan, Mely G. (1963). The Chinese of Sukabumi: A Study in Social and Cultural Accommodation. Ithaca: Cornell University. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ a b Sekretariat Daerah Kota Sukabumi [Secretariat of the Municipality of Sukabumi] (29 September 2021). "Pemkot Sukabumi Kaji Nilai Sejarah Makam Kapitan Tionghoa [The Municipal Authorities of Sukabumi Assess the Heritage Value of the Tomb of a Kapitan Tionghoa]". Situs Komunikasi Dokumentasi Pimpinan Sekretariat Daerah Kota Sukabumi (in Indonesian). Sekretariat Daerah Kota Sukabumi [Secretariat of the Municipality of Sukabumi]. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ a b Redaksi Radar Sukabumi (29 September 2021). "Walikota Sukabumi Tinjau Makam Kapitan Sim Keng Koen" (in Indonesian). Radar Sukabumi. Radar Sukabumi. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ "BENOEMINGEN ENZ. OP HEDEN. Civiel Departement". Java-bode : nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie. 5 March 1880. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Officiëele Berichten. Bestuur over Vreemde Oosterlingen". Java-bode : nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie. 25 January 1887. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "BENOEMINGEN, ENZ. CIVIEL DEPARTEMENT". Bataviaasch nieuwsblad. 16 October 1889. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Renoemingen, enz. CIVIEL DEPARTEMENT". De locomotief : Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad. 13 February 1892. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "NEDERLANDSCH INDIE. Batavia, 2 Maart 1899". Bataviaasch nieuwsblad. 2 March 1899. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Bestuur over Vreemde Oosterlingen". Bataviaasch nieuwsblad. 27 August 1906. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Melewar Group's Tunku Abdullah dies | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Adrian Zecha (né en 1933) : ses hôtels hors de prix de la chaîne Aman ressemblent au paradis". Capital.fr (in French). 28 January 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ Magazine, Wallpaper* (29 March 2020). "How Aman has influenced the world of resort design". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 10 May 2020.