Who would have thought that behind Singapore’s shiny facade lies the story of an Indonesian tycoon who once owned 182 square kilometers, or 1 / 4 of the island? Imagine that such an enormous piece of land, comparable to a small city, once belonged to at least one person!
Who Was He?
Oei Tiong Ham could also be a reputation unknown to today’s generation, but he was a legendary entrepreneur who dominated Southeast Asian business. Known because the Sugar King of Semarang, he was the son of Oei Tjie Sien and Tjun Bien Nio — a Taiping rebel fugitive and a Peranakan Chinese immigrant through the Dutch East Indies era.
Oei’s immense wealth earned him worldwide recognition as certainly one of the richest men of his time. He was considered the region’s first conglomerate, with influence stretching across 4 continents, although his name is less well-known today.
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An enormous business empire
Mr. Oei Tiong Ham is the founder and owner of Oei Tiong Ham Concern (OTHC), the biggest sugar company in Indonesia. Founded in 1893, OTHC evolved from Kian Gwan, an organization founded by his father in 1863. Originally an actual estate business, Kian Gwan moved into the sugar industry under Oei’s leadership.
Under Oei’s leadership and the modernization he began within the late Eighteen Eighties, Kian Gwan became a large within the sugar industry, monopolizing the market in Java with its sugarcane plantations and enormous sugar mills. This success laid the muse for the OTHC business empire.
At the start of the twentieth century, OTHC controlled 60% of the sugar market within the Dutch East Indies, and exports in 1911-1912 reached 200,000 tons, exceeding the full exports of Western corporations. OTHC operated not only within the Dutch East Indies but in addition in India, Singapore and London, dealing in sugar, storage, transport and banking.
With a fortune of 200 million guilders (comparable to $2 billion today), Oei Tiong Ham was referred to as the “Sugar King” and the richest man in colonial Indonesia.
Several newspapers published on the time, comparable to De Locomotief in Semarang, Java Bode, Nieuws van den Dag in Batavia and Soerabaiasch Handelsblad, even named Oei Tiong Ham because the richest man between Shanghai and Australia.
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Owner of Singapore District
However, Oei’s wealth made him a goal for colonial taxes. According to Liem Tjwan Ling in “Oei Tiong Ham: Raja Gula dari Semarang” (1979), the Dutch government imposed a tax of 35 million guilders on Oei and even demanded double payments for no clear reason to be able to cover the national deficit after the war.
Believing that colonial taxes were excessive and merely an try and extort wealth, Oei decided to go away Indonesia in 1920 and move to Singapore, then under British control.
In Singapore, free from tax burdens, he bought vast lands and properties, constituting 1 / 4 of the country’s territory. This purchase underlined his wealth, because only large entrepreneurs could buy such lands, and all assets were registered in his name.
According to the National Library of Singapore, Oei purchased the Heap Eng Moh Steamship Company Limited and held shares within the Overseas Chinese Bank. He was also energetic in the event of Singapore, donating $150,000 to construct Raffles College, establishing several schools, and sometimes supporting humanitarian causes. Oei continued his philanthropic efforts until his death on July 6, 1924.
In his honour, a street in Singapore, adjoining to Holland Road and the Jurong Industrial Area, was named Oei Tiong Ham Park.
