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Concept
Oey Tamba Sia
Summary
Oey Tamba Sia (1827 – October 7, 1856), also spelt Oeij Tambah Sia, or often mistakenly Oey Tambahsia, was a rich, Chinese-Indonesian playboy hanged by the Dutch colonial government due to his involvement in a number of murder cases in Batavia, now Jakarta, capital of colonial Indonesia. His life has become part of Jakarta folklore, and inspired numerous literary works.
Born in 1827, Oey was the son of Oey Thai Lo, also known as Oey Thoa, a Chinese-born tycoon and tobacco magnate, originally from Pekalongan, Central Java, who had been appointed Luitenant der Chinezen of Kongsi Besar in Batavia. This was a civil government position in the colonial bureaucracy with legal and political jurisdiction over the local Chinese community. As the son of a Chinese officer, Oey Tamba held the hereditary title of Sia; and his family belonged to the Cabang Atas or the traditional Chinese establishment of colonial Indonesia.
Aged 15 years old, Oey Tamba Sia lost his father, Luitenant Oey Thai Lo, who died in 1838, leaving his children a large fortune that supposedly amounted to 2 million guilders. Local folklore has it that, although handsome and fashionable, the young Oey was an arrogant young man and a notorious womanizer - character flaws that were compounded by his enviable inheritance. Oey was married to Sim Hong Nio.
The late colonial writer Phoa Kian Sioe alleges that Oey was dismissive of the city's Chinese officers, who were his late father's friends and colleagues in the colonial bureaucracy. In particular, Oey was disrespectful towards Tan Eng Goan, 1st Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia, head of the city's Chinese community, because the latter had relied on Oey's father for financial support. According to Phoa, Oey spurned the exasperated Majoor's Confucian exhortations for gentlemanly behaviour and his offer of a Chinese lieutenancy. Oey developed instead a fierce rivalry with the Majoor's son-in-law, Lim Soe Keng Sia.
Oey ordered the killing of Sutedjo, brother of his concubine Mas Adjeng Goendjing, whom he mistakenly thought was her lover.
Official source
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