“We are all aware that Souw Beng Kong’s grave is nearby. In fact, it is renowned. But we never learn who the person was and what he did in the past,” said North Jakarta resident Herniawati, who is a street vendor on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta.

The 26-year-old woman’s expression reflects the gradually fading story of one of the most important figures in the early rise of the capital, without whose service, a historian agrees, there would have been no Batavia, the old name of Jakarta.

The grave of the first Chinese-Indonesian community leader in Batavia, with the title kapitan (captain), Souw Beng Kong (1580-1644) is located in a narrow alley off Gang Taruna, on the busy street of Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta, not far from the hectic Mangga Dua shopping district.

In the past, many residents used to wash dishes around the tomb area and litter there, and it was often flooded with dirty water when it rained, according to local residents. Fortunately, the graveyard area was then purchased by the Beng Kong Foundation in the early 2000s and restoration work followed.

The meter-wide alley is rather difficult to find among the crush of mushrooming shop-houses along the business street, if visitors do not spot a signpost on the road.

After getting through the residents who throng the waysides, visitors will find the grave squeezed in the middle of some small houses.

When The Jakarta Post visited the site recently, a trellis fence that encircles the grave was being used as a clothesline.

Watini, 38, a resident who claimed to be the caretaker of the grave, recalled that before restoration work was carried out in 2008, the area had been neglected for decades.

“The grave area looks cleaner after the foundation worked on land acquisition and restoration,” said Watini, adding that the grave area, which previously measured just 1 square meter after being squeezed by residents’ houses, was expanded to around 170 sqm.

“About five residents’ houses, including the house of a neighborhood unit head located right next to the tomb, were torn down to expand the burial area,” she added. The expanded plot of land now includes an open area where the children usually play in the afternoon and a little hall often used as a meeting point for visitors.

Near the playing area, a plaque from former governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama was installed, declaring the historic ancient tomb cultural heritage that must be protected and preserved by the people.

Historian JJ Rizal explained that Beng Kong was the first Chinese captain in Batavia, having rested in his grave since 1644.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC), which held authority over the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) appointed Beng Kong as Chinese community leader with the title of kapitan during the government of then-governor-general Jan Pieterszoon Coen.

Coen conquered the Jayakarta kingdom around where Sunda Kelapa Port is now in North Jakarta in 1619, and named the site Batavia and soon appointed Beng Kong as “a captain who was responsible for trade and Chinese people development in Batavia”, Rizal said.

Batavia was a melting pot of several ethnic groups that the Dutch rulers wanted to control through the leadership of appointed luitenant (lieutenants), kapitan and majoor (majors). The titles followed military ranks but were not related to any military function.

The inscriptions in different languages adorning the gravestone reflect his brief career from 1619 to 1644, which closely involved the Dutch and the Chinese.

According to a book titled Chinese Epigraphic Materials in Indonesia, the two missing inscriptions — both in Chinese — briefly mention the figure.

One of the stones mentions that he was an expert in letters and the martial art of wushu.

It also states that he was a generous man who landed in Banten, West Java, and moved to Batavia in 1619 after he became a rich merchant.

“On Oct. 11 [1619], he was granted authority by the governor to watch over the Chinese community. Under his leadership, Chinese people were prosperous,” the inscription reveals.

In 1636, it continues, Beng Kong “sailed to Taiwan with the Dutch people and was highly respected there.

“On Apr. 8, 1644 [he] passed away [in Batavia].

“After 280 years, the grave was badly damaged so the gong-tang [Chinese council] donated 2,500 dun to renovate the grave on Oct. 11, 1929,” reads the inscription as quoted by the book.

The book says that unlike wealthy notables of his time, Beng Kong — who was a native of Tongan in Fujian province of China — had a very small family; the tombstone only mentions two children: Sing Nio and Sik Nio.

There is no information about the gender of the two but the name Nio is usually used for girls.

“The Chinese community in Batavia was the first group to have its own headman,” Rizal stressed, adding that Beng Kong played a role in helping the Dutch to build a new system of city planning.

The captain served for 17 years, in the reign of five Dutch governors-general.

“Historians agree that Beng Kong was one of the most important figures in the early rise of the capital. Some say that without his service, there would have been no Batavia,” Rizal added.

In his daily life, Beng Kong was also a contractor, a ship owner, a gambling house supervisor and an owner of various businesses including a manufacturer of copper coins.

“He was buried in some thousands of square meters of field land. However, the exact same field has now been densely crowded with residences. The narrow alley where the gravestone is located, once called Gang Souw Beng Kong, has changed its name to Gang Taruna,” Rizal explained.

French historians Denys Lombard and Claudine Salmon regarded the tomb of Beng Kong as the oldest Chinese archaeological inheritance that still exists in the city. (syk)

Popular

Great Barrier Reef hit by record bleaching

Govt to undo latest curbs on personal imports

Middle East on edge as Israel and Iran trade threats