Khouw Kim An

Khouw Kim An, Majoor der Chinezen (Chinese: 許金安; pinyin: Xǔ Jīn'ān; 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-titulair der Chinezen ("Lieutenant of the Chinese").^[1] His paternal grandfather, Khouw Tian Sek, also Luitenant-titulair der Chinezen, was a potentate and patriarch of the Khouw family of Tamboen, arguably the richest clan among the Chinese gentry (baba bangsawan) of colonial Java.^[2][3][4] As the son and grandson of Chinese officers (Dutch: Chinese officieren; Bahasa Indonesia: Opsir Tionghoa), Khouw Kim An was born with the hereditary title of Sia.^[3][5][6]

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

Khouw Kim An Sia 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.^[4] He was also instructed by private tutors in European languages, including Dutch which he spoke fluently.^[4] The future Majoor's Chinese training, however, stands in sharp contrast to the Dutch education of many in his increasingly westernised social class and generation, most obviously exemplified by his cousin, the naturalised Dutchman and philanthropist O. G. Khouw.^[7] This familiarity with Chinese culture gave him a distinct, and by then rare, advantage in his career as the head and public face of the Chinese in the colony.^[7]

At the age of 18, Khouw married Phoa Tji Nio, the daughter and heiress of a well-connected community leader, Phoa Keng Hek Sia, and granddaughter of Phoa Tjeng Tjoan, Kapitein der Chinezen of Buitenzorg (now Bogor).^[4][8] The two families already had significant ties. Since 1886, Khouw's brother, Khouw Kim Tjiang, had served as Luitenant der Chinezen of Buitenzorg, and would eventually succeed Khouw's grandfather-in-law as Kapitein.^[9][10] Khouw's cousin, O. G. Khouw, also served as Vice-President to Khouw's father-in-law, Phoa Keng Hek Sia, who was the founding President of Tiong Hoa Hwe Koan (THHK), an influential educational and community organisation.^[4][8] Khouw himself would later play an important role in his father-in-law's organisation.^[8]

The newly married couple lived in Buitenzorg, where both bride and groom clearly had significant family ties.^[4] The marriage produced four sons and two daughters.^[4] Khouw Kim An Sia and his family remained in Buitenzorg until they inherited Candra Naya, one of Batavia's grandest historic mansions, from Khouw's cousin, Khouw Yauw Kie, a Kapitein der Chinezen in the Chinese Council of Batavia (Dutch: Chinese Raad; Hokkien: Kong Koan).^[4][1]

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.^[7][4] He advanced rapidly through the ranks of the colonial mandarinate, partly thanks to his and his wife's family background in the Chinese officership.^[7][4] As Majoor and head of the Chinese community, he was also the ex officio Chair of the Chinese Council of Batavia, and part of the Volksraad (or colonial legislative assembly) of the Dutch East Indies.^[7][4][6] He maintained close relations with other Chinese members of the Volksraad, such as Hok Hoei Kan and Loa Sek Hie.

In 1918, all Chinese officers, including Khouw, were relived of their office as part of the government's review of the role of the Chinese officership in the colonial administration.^[7][4] Many community activists had criticised the system of governance by Chinese officers, or 'Indirect Rule', as an archaic relic of feudalism.^[7][4] Khouw, however, remained in the government's good books, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1920.^[4] Finally, in 1927, Khouw − but not the other Chinese officers − was restored to the Chinese Mayoralty of Batavia, probably thanks to the antiquity and, therefore, the historic and symbolic value of the institution Khouw represented.^[7] By then, a lot of the political and legal powers of the Chinese Mayoralty had devolved upon the colonial civil service.^[7][4] Many of the duties of the last Majoor were, consequently, ceremonial in nature.^[7][4]

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.^[4] 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.^[4] 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.

Titles and styles

• 1875 – 1905: Khouw Kim An Sia
• 1905 – 1908: Khouw Kim An, Luitenant der Chinezen
• 1908 – 1910: Khouw Kim An, Kapitein der Chinezen
• 1910 – 1920: Khouw Kim An, Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia
• 1920 – 1930: Khouw Kim An, Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia, Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau
• 1930 – 1945: Khouw Kim An, Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia, Groote Gouden Ster voor Trouw en Verdienste, Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau

References

Bibliography

• Blussé, Leonard; Chen, Menghong (2003). The Archives of the Kong Koan of Batavia. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 9004131574. 
• Erkelens, Monique (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. 
• Knapp, Ronald (2013). Chinese Houses of Southeast Asia: The Eclectic Architecture of Sojourners and Settlers. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 1462905870. 
• Lohanda, Mona (1996). The Kapitan Cina of Batavia, 1837-1942: A History of Chinese Establishment in Colonial Society. Jakarta: Djambatan. ISBN 979428257X. 
• Nio, Joe Lan (1940). Riwajat 40 Taon Dari Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan Batavia (1900-1939) [40 Years of Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan Batavia (1900-1939)] (in Indonesian). Batavia: Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan. 
• Phoa, Kian Sioe (1956). Sedjarahnja : Souw Beng Kong, Phoa Beng Gan, Oey Tamba Sia [The Chronicles of Souw Beng Kong, Phoa Beng Gan, Oey Tamba Sia] (in Indonesian). Djakarta: Reporter. 
• Suryadinate, Leo (2015). Prominent Indonesian Chinese: Biographical Sketches. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 9813055030. 
• Suryadinata, Leo (2005). Peranakan Chinese Politics in Java, 1917-1942. Marshall Cavendish Academic. ISBN 9812103600. 
• Wright, Arnold (1909). Twentieth Century Impressions of Netherlands India: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries and Resources. Lloyd's Greater Britain Pub. Co.