Ong Hok Liong (born 12 August 1893)[3] initially worked in his father's tobacco trading company in Bojonegoro, East Java.

In 1935, while developing a new brand called Djeruk Manis (Sweet Orange), Ong visited the sacred Gunung Kawi mountain and had a dream about a bentoel (cassava root) vendor.

[4] Due to heavy smoking and drinking arak (rice alcohol) to ease the throat pain, Ong died in 1967 from chronic liver disease.

[4] In June 2009, British American Tobacco (BAT) purchased an 85% stake in PT Bentoel Internasional Investama for $494 million and acquired the remaining public shares by the end of August 2009.

The Central Jakarta District Court dismissed the Rp 1 trillion lawsuit, ruling that Tambunan had no legal standing to represent Indonesian youth.