Souw Beng Kong

Souw Beng Kong, 1st Kapitein der Chinezen (simplified Chinese: 苏鸣岗; traditional Chinese: 蘇鳴崗; pinyin: Sū Mínggǎng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: So͘ Bêng-kong; c. 1580–1644), called Bencon in older Dutch sources, was an ally of the Dutch East India Company and the first Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia, capital of colonial Indonesia.

[1] The Company appointed Souw as Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia with political and legal authority over the local Chinese community.

[1] Beyond his role as Kapitein, Souw Beng Kong was also given the authority to mint coins and print money and the license to tax gambling in Batavia.

[8] The then derelict tomb was first restored during the mayoralty of Souw's last colonial successor, Majoor Khouw Kim An (in office: 1910–1918, 1927–1945), who also added a commemorative plaque.

[8][9] After decades of abandonment and neglect, the tomb was restored between 2006 and 2008 by a group led by MATAKIN (Supreme Council for the Confucian Religion in Indonesia) and Trisakti University.

A panorama of Batavia in Souw's time by Andries Beeckman