Lauw Tek Lok

Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen (died in Meester Cornelis in 1882) was a high-ranking government official and landlord in Batavia, Dutch East Indies.[2][3] He is remembered today for his long tenure as Luitenant der Chinezen (or government-appointed head mandarin) of Bekasi, and for his interracial marriage with Louisa Zecha.[4][1]

Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen
Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi
In office 1854 – 1882 (died in office)
Preceded by	New creation
Succeeded by	Luitenant Tan Kang Ie
Constituency	Bekasi
Personal details
Born	Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Died	1882 Meester Cornelis, Dutch East Indies
Nationality	Indonesian
Spouse(s)	Louisa Zecha
Relations	Lauw Ho(father) Aristide William Lauw Zecha (grandson) Alwin Lauw Zecha (great-grandson) Adrian Lauw Zecha (great-grandson)
Children	Emilia Lauw Joe Nio (daughter) Cornelia Sebastiana Lauw Gobang (daughter) Christiaan Lauw Tjeng Soey (son) Maximilian Theodoor Lauw Tjeng Kiet (son) Louis Lauw Tjeng Bie (son)[1]
Occupation	Mandarin
Known for	Role as the first Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi and a leading, colonial landlord

Born in Batavia, Lauw Tek Lok was the son of the early nineteenth-century tycoon Lauw Ho (died in 1863), part of the powerful Ngo Ho Tjiang opium partnership.[5][6] His father was an important revenue farmer, and served as Wijkmeester (ward master) of Meester Cornelis.[7][5] The younger Lauw became one of the most important landlords ('Landheeren') in Batavia with significant agricultural landholdings ('particuliere landen') in the city's Ommelanden (the then rural hinterland of Batavia), including the estate of Cimanggis.[8]

Lauw was appointed on December 23, 1854 to the newly-created government post of Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi, a civil administrative position he would keep until his death in 1882.[9][2] At the same time, his brother Lauw Tek Kang was also raised to the post of Luitenant der Chinezen of Meester Cornelis.[9] As Luitenant, Lauw Tek Lok played a significant role in the Dutch colonial development of Bekasi and its surrounding region. On his death in 1882, Lauw was succeeded as Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi by another local landlord and his son-in-law, Tan Kang Ie.[10][11]

Despite his satisfactory records as a colonial administrator, Lauw caused some consternation among the colonial authorities due to his unconventional and interracial marriage with an Indo woman of Bohemian descent, Louisa Zecha.[4][1] Together, they became the ancestors of the prominent Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, and were the great-grandparents of Adrian Lauw Zecha, founder of Aman Resorts.[12]

References

1. Gautama, Sudargo (1961). Segi-segi hukum peraturan perkawinan tjampuran: (Staatsblad 1898 no. 158) oleh Gouw Giok Siong (in Indonesian). Djakarta: Djambatan.
2. "Chineesch Bestuur te Mr. Cornelis". Java-bode: nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie (102). Bruining. 1 May 1882.
3. "Burgerlijke Staat. Europeaan Chinees. Voogdij". Java-bode: nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie (123). Bruining. 26 May 1886.
4. Fromberg, Pieter Hendrik (1926). Mr. P.H. Fromberg's Verspreide geschriften (in Dutch). Leidsche uitgeversmaatschappij.
5. Chen, Menghong (2011). De Chinese gemeenschap van Batavia, 1843-1865: een onderzoek naar het Kong Koan-archief (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 978-90-8728-133-5. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
6. Benedanto, Pax; Marcus A. S. (2012). Kesastraan Melayu Tionghoa 5 (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. ISBN 9789799023759.
7. Juristen-Vereeniging (Batavia), Nederlandsch-Indische (1857). Het regt in Nederlandsch-Indië: regtskundig tijdschrift (in Dutch). Batavia: Van Dorp. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
8. Almanak van Nederlandsch-Indië voor het jaar ...., Volume 40 (in Dutch). Batavia: Lands Drukkery. 1865.
9. Almanak van Nederlandsch-Indië voor het jaar ... (in Dutch). Batavia: Lands Drukkery. 1870. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
10. Lombard-Salmon, Claudine (April 1988). "The Batavian Eastern Railway Co. and the Making of a New "Daerah" as Reflected in a Commemorative Syair Written by Tan Teng Kie (1890)". Indonesia. 45: 49–62. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
11. 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 3 September 2018.
12. "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 14 February 2018.

Government offices
Preceded by New creation	Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi 1854–1882	Succeeded by Luitenant Tan Kang Ie