Yap Tjwan Bing (1910-1988) was an Indonesian politician active in the

Indonesian independence movement The Indonesian National Awakening ( id, Kebangkitan Nasional Indonesia) is a term for the period in the first half of the 20th century, during which people from many parts of the archipelago of Indonesia first began to develop a national conscio ...

Life and career

Bing was born in Kediri, son of a

Chinese Indonesian Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have ...

merchant. He trained in pharmacy in Amsterdam (1932-1939) and subsequently returned to Indonesia to work in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

. He was a member of the

Central Advisory Council The , lead=yes was the name given to bodies established by the Japanese military administration in Java and Sumatra in 1943 during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies to notionally provide Indonesians with popular representation. Bac ...

during the

Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies The Empire of Japan occupied the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) during World War II from March 1942 until after the end of the war in September 1945. It was one of the most crucial and important periods in modern Indonesian history. In May ...

. In 1945, he was the sole Chinese member of the

Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence The Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence ( id, Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia), PPKI, ja, 独立準備委員会, Dokuritsu Junbi Iinkai, lead=yes) was a body established on 7 August 1945 to prepare for the transfer of auth ...

(PPKI). After the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, he moved to

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...

, where he founded the Chung Hwa Chung Hwee-Central in support of Indonesian independence. In 1948, he merged this organization into the Persatuan Tionghoa. He became a member of the

Partai Nasional Indonesia The Indonesian National Party ( id, Partai Nasional Indonesia, PNI) was the name used by several nationalist political parties in Indonesia from 1927 until the 2000s. The first PNI was established by future President Sukarno. After independence, th ...

(PNI) and sat in the Indonesian parliament until 1955. He was one of the first members of the Ikatan Apotheker Indonesia (founded in 1955). In May 1963, his house and car were burnt by a mob in an anti-Chinese riot in

. He moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

soon afterwards and did not return to Indonesia. Jalan Jagalan in

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...

was renamed Jalan Yap Tjwan Bing on 22 Februari 2008. He was a Protestant Christian. He died in 1988.

References

1910 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Indonesian politicians Indonesian collaborators with Imperial Japan Indonesian National Awakening Indonesian people of Chinese descent Members of the Central Advisory Council People from Surakarta {{Indonesia-politician-stub