Sim Keng Koen

Sim Keng Koen, Kapitein der Chinezen 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] 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
ConstituencyBatavia
Kapitein der Chinezen in Batavia
In office
1887–1889
ConstituencyBatavia
Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi
In office
1892–1899
Preceded byNew creation
Succeeded byLauw Tjeng Kie, Luitenant der Chinezen
ConstituencySukabumi
Personal details
BornBatavia, Dutch East Indies
DiedSukabumi, Dutch East Indies
NationalityIndonesian
Spouse(s)Louisa Zecha
RelationsChe Engku Chesterina (granddaughter)
Adrian Lauw Zecha (step-great-grandson)
ChildrenSim Tjeng Bouw
Betsy Lembor Nio Sim-Zecha
Piet Tjeng Ho Sim-Zecha
Chester Tjeng Soan Lauw-Sim-Zecha
OccupationMandarin
Known forRole 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.[3] 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.[4][5]

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.[6] He requested an honourable discharge from the colonial authorities due to old age, which was granted, in 1899.[7] He was eventually succeeded in 1906 as Chinese headman by his step-nephew, Lauw Tjeng Kie, but as Luitenant der Chinezen of Sukabumi (the office was downgraded in rank from Kapitein to Luitenant upon Sim's retirement).[8]

The sociologist Mely G. Tan calls Sim the most prominent 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]

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.[9][10][11]

References
  1. "MEVROUW ZECHA† Nijver en toegewijd leven". De Indische courant. 3 February 1939. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  2. Tan, Mely G. (1963). The Chinese of Sukabumi: A Study in Social and Cultural Accommodation. Ithaca: Cornell University. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  3. "BENOEMINGEN ENZ. OP HEDEN. Civiel Departement". Java-bode : nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie. 5 March 1880. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  4. "Officiëele Berichten. Bestuur over Vreemde Oosterlingen". Java-bode : nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie. 25 January 1887. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  5. "BENOEMINGEN, ENZ. CIVIEL DEPARTEMENT". Bataviaasch nieuwsblad. 16 October 1889. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  6. "Renoemingen, enz. CIVIEL DEPARTEMENT". De locomotief : Samarangsch handels- en advertentie-blad. 13 February 1892. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  7. "NEDERLANDSCH INDIE. Batavia, 2 Maart 1899". Bataviaasch nieuwsblad. 2 March 1899. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  8. "Bestuur over Vreemde Oosterlingen". Bataviaasch nieuwsblad. 27 August 1906. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  9. "Melewar Group's Tunku Abdullah dies | The Star". www.thestar.com.my. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  10. "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.
  11. Magazine, Wallpaper* (29 March 2020). "How Aman has influenced the world of resort design". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
Government offices
Preceded by
New creation		 Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi
1892–1899		 Succeeded by
Luitenant Lauw Tjeng Kie (as Luitenant)
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