Tio Tek Ho

Tio Tek Ho, Majoor der Chinezen
Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia
In office
1896–1907
Preceded by Majoor Lie Tjoe Hong
Succeeded by Majoor Khouw Kim An
Constituency Batavia
Personal details
Born 1857
Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Died 1908
Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Relations Kapitein Tio Tek Soen (brother)
Tio Him (grandfather)
Tio Tek Hong (cousin)
Kapitein Loa Tiang Hoei (cousin-in-law)
Children Luitenant Tio Wie Han (son)
Parents Tio Tjeng Soey (father)
Occupation Majoor der Chinezen, bureaucrat

Tio Tek Ho, 4th Majoor der Chinezen (Chinese: 趙德和; pinyin: Zhào Déhé; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tiō Tek-hô; 1857 - 1908) 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.[1][2] This was the most senior Chinese position in the colonial civil bureaucracy of the Dutch East Indies.[2] As Majoor, Tio was also the Chairman of the Chinese Council of Batavia (Dutch: Chinese Raad; Bahasa Indonesia: Kong Koan), the city's highest Chinese government body.[2]

Family background

Toko Kompak, old family residence of Majoor Tio Tek Ho

Born in 1858 in the then prestigious district of Pasar Baroe, Batavia, Majoor Tio Tek Ho came from an old, wealthy family of merchants.[3] By the mid-nineteenth century, Tio's family was making marital alliances with, and slowly but surely becoming part of, the so-called Cabang Atas or the local Chinese gentry.[4] Both Tio's father Tio Tjeng Soey and grandfather Tio Him were prominent businessmen.[3] His uncle Tio Tjeng Sioe was married to Lie Loemoet Nio, a daughter of Luitenant Lie Pek Tat, a granddaughter of Kapitein Lie Tiang Ko (1786 - 1855), as well as a first cousin of Lie Tjoe Hong, the third Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia (1846–1896).[3]

Tio's cousin, Kapitein Tio Tek Soen, was - like him - also a Chinese officer; while another cousin, Tio Bit Nio, was married to yet another officer, Kapitein Loa Tiang Hoei.[3] A much younger cousin was the businessman, publisher and writer Tio Tek Hong.[4] Majoor Tio Tek Ho's eldest son, Tio Wie Han, was also appointed to the honorary position of Luitenant-titulair der Chinezen.[3]

The Majoor's main family residence in Batavia, Toko Kompak, is now a major historic landmark in Pasar Baru, Jakarta.[5][6]

Mayoralty

As pointed out by Mona Lohanda, Tio's candidacy for the mayoralty was viewed favourably by the Dutch authorities thanks to his decision to distance himself from the land acquisition transactions of his predecessor, Majoor Lie Tjoe Hong.[2] The previous Majoor, who owned extensive private domains, cajoled the Chinese Council of Batavia to purchase some of these landholdings.[2] While most members of the Council cowered and acquiesced in the Majoor's demand, Tio disassociated himself from the whole saga, thus winning the approval of the colonial government.[2] Tio was installed in office in 1896, and held his post until 1907.[2]

By the start of the twentieth century, however, Majoor Tio Tek Ho was considered to be a conservative traditionalist by more progressive community leaders, the so-called jong Chineesche partij (the young Chinese party).[2][7] This tension was managed by one of the progressive leaders, Phoa Keng Hek, who tactfully requested Majoor Tio Tek Ho in 1900 to act as the ex-officio Beschermheer (or Patron) of the new modernising organisation Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan (THHK).[8][9][10] The organisation sought to purify the practice of Confucianism in the Dutch East Indies, and to provide modern schools for the Chinese community.[10][9] Majoor Tio Tek Ho accepted the position of Beschermheer of THHK, thus beginning the long association between the Chinese Mayoralty and the new organisation.[10][9]

The writer Kwee Tek Hoay highlights, however, that the underlying tension between the penultimate Majoor and THHK was finally exposed by a case of corruption within the Chinese Council in 1907.[11] The executive board of THHK had earlier discovered some financial chicanery on the part of Nie Liang Soei, the Majoor's righthand man and Second Secretary of the Chinese Council.[11] While the case only involved the small sum of 400 guilders, THHK reported it on principle to the colonial authorities, leading to the dismissal of Nie Liang Soei.[11] The Majoor, who had requested a discharge due to old age a few months prior to the scandal, was not involved in the corruption, but ended his tenure in 1907 in what many viewed as rather shameful circumstances.[11][2]

Soon after his resignation, the former Majoor died in January 1908.[12] He was succeeded eventually in 1910 by the son-in-law of the progressive Phoa Keng Hek, Khouw Kim An, the fifth and last Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Regeeringsalmanak voor Nederlandsch-Indie [Government Almanac for the Dutch East Indies] (in Dutch). Batavia. 1904. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Lohanda, Mona (1994). The Kapitan Cina of Batavia, 1837-1942. Jakarta: Djambatan.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Haryono, Steve (2017). Perkawinan Strategis: Hubungan Keluarga Antara Opsir-opsir Tionghoa Dan 'Cabang Atas' Di Jawa Pada Abad Ke-19 Dan 20. Utrecht: Steve Haryono. ISBN 9789090302492. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  4. 1 2 Lombard-Salmon, Claudine; Lombard, Denys (1987). "A propos de la visite à Java d'une escadre impériale chinoise en 1907". Archipel (in French). 33 (1): 79–115. doi:10.3406/arch.1987.2333. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Jejak Jakarta pra 1945 (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Dinas Tata Bangunan & Pemugaran DKI Jakarta. 1990. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "Toko Kompak: The Forgotten Chinese Heritage". Jakarta by Train. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  7. ↑ Friends of the Kong Koan Archive Foundation. "Kong Koan Batavia". www.kongkoan.nl. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  8. ↑ Tio, Ie Soei (1916). Lie Kimhok 1853-1912 (in Indonesian). Batavia: Good Luck. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  9. 1 2 3 Kwee, Tek Hoay (1969). The origins of the modern Chinese movement in Indonesia. Ithaca: Modern Indonesia Project, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 Nio, Joe Lan (1940). Riwajat 40 Taon Dari Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan Batavia (1900-1939). Batavia: Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Kwee, Tek Hoay (1936–1937). Atsal Moelanja Timboel Pergerakan Tionghoa di Indonesia [The Origins of the Modern Chinese Movement in Indonesia]. Moestika Romans.
  12. ↑ "Gevonden op Delpher - De Sumatra Post". Chineesch hoofd overleden [The Head of the Chinese died]. J. Hallermann. January 13, 1908. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
Government offices
Preceded by
Majoor Lie Tjoe Hong		 Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia
1896–1907		 Succeeded by
Majoor Khouw Kim An
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.