Lauw Ho (; died in 1863), also spelled Lauw Houw, was a prominent

tax farmer Farming or tax-farming is a technique of financial management in which the management of a variable revenue stream is assigned by legal contract to a third party and the holder of the revenue stream receives fixed periodic rents from the contract ...

('' pachter''), tycoon and ancestor of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, part of the '

Cabang Atas The Cabang Atas (''Van Ophuijsen Spelling System'': Tjabang Atas) — literally 'highest branch' in Indonesian language, Indonesian — was the traditional Chinese establishment or gentry of Dutch East Indies, colonial Indonesia. They were the fa ...

' gentry of the Dutch East Indies (now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). Between 1845 and 1861, Lauw held various ''pachten'' or revenue farms, including for pawn houses, slaughterhouses, fish and – in particular – for

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

, over which he intermittently acted as ''Hoofdpachter'' or head revenue farmer. The ''pacht'' or revenue farm was a system of

tax collection A revenue service, revenue agency or taxation authority is a government agency responsible for the intake of government revenue, including taxes and sometimes non-tax revenue. Depending on the jurisdiction, revenue services may be charged with ...

, in which the Dutch colonial authorities outsourced tax collection to the highest bidding revenue farmers. Together with Gouw Kang Soei, Tan Ling, Khouw Siong Bo and Tan Kong Boen, Lauw was also part of the Ngo Ho Tjiang partnership or ''

kongsi Kongsi () is a Hokkien transcription term meaning "company", especially businesses which have been incorporated. However, the word has other meanings under different historical contexts. ''Kongsi'' were most commonly known as Chinese social organ ...

'', which dominated the opium ''pacht'' – the most lucrative of all the revenue farms. The proceeds from revenue farming made Lauw one of the wealthiest tycoons in the Dutch East Indies. Despite his vast wealth, Lauw's application for an honorary appointment as ''Luitenant-titulair der Chinezen'' did not succeed, probably because, as a newly-rich man, he did not come from an established family of Chinese officers. The Chinese officership was a very prestigious and senior civil government post in the Dutch colonial bureaucracy: appointments tended to be doled out on a near-hereditary basis to a small number of interrelated families - the so-called

gentry. Lauw did, however, serve in the bureaucracy in a lesser capacity as '' Wijkmeester'', or ward master, of

Meester Cornelis Jatinegara (originally known as Meester Cornelis or Meester for short) is one of the districts (''Kecamatan'') of East Jakarta, Indonesia. The name also refers to the larger, historic area of the colonial town of Meester Cornelis. Established in ...

. Before Lauw died in 1863, however, he had the satisfaction of seeing his two sons, Lauw Tek Kang and Lauw Tek Lok, raised to the Chinese officership on December 23, 1854 as ''Luitenants der Chinezen'', of their father's old district of Meester Cornelis and neighbouring

Bekasi Bekasi (, su, ) is a city in West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta.the city of planet Bekasi is his nickname.It serves as a commuter city within the Jakarta metropolitan area. According to the 2020 Census by Statistic ...

respectively. These appointments signalled the elevation of Lauw's family to the ranks of the Cabang Atas. Through ''Luitenant'' Lauw Tek Lok, Lauw Ho is the great-great-grandfather of the hotelier Adrian Lauw-Zecha, founder of

Aman Resorts Aman Resorts is the trading entity of Aman Group Sarl, a Swiss-headquartered multinational hospitality company. Founded by Indonesian hotelier Adrian Zecha in 1988, the company operates 34 properties in 20 countries. Vladislav Doronin is the chi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauw, Ho Indonesian people of Chinese descent Lauw-Sim-Zecha family Cabang Atas Pachters People from Jakarta