[1][2] In the latter capacity, he headed the local Chinese civil administration in Tangerang as part of the Dutch colonial system of 'indirect rule'.

[1] Oey was born into an old family of the 'Cabang Atas' aristocracy in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia).

[3] In addition to their tradition of public service, his family also owned extensive particuliere landerijen, or private domains, in Tangerang, centred on Karawatji.

[3] This appointment broke with established convention, which dictated that a Kapitein should only be chosen from the ranks of Luitenants, usually the oldest or longest-serving.

[1] In 1909, he took a leave of absence for one year while he travelled on a 'Grand Tour' of Europe, in part to visit his two eldest sons who were at school in Haarlem in the Netherlands.