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73-553: As a privileged social class , they exerted a powerful influence on the political, economic and social life of pre-revolutionary Indonesia, in particular on its local Chinese community . Their institutional control of the Chinese officership declined with the colonial Ethical Policy of the early twentieth century, but their political, economic and social influence lasted until the Indonesian revolution (1945-1950). The phrase 'Cabang Atas'

146-697: A "pariah group". For Bourdieu , the place in the social strata for any person is vaguer than the equivalent in Weberian sociology. Bourdieu introduced an array of concepts of what he refers to as types of capital. These types were economic capital, in the form assets convertible to money and secured as private property . This type of capital is separated from the other types of culturally constituted types of capital, which Bourdieu introduces, which are: personal cultural capital (formal education, knowledge); objective cultural capital (books, art); and institutionalized cultural capital (honours and titles). On 2 April 2013,

219-589: A Cabang Atas family, and dominated by others of Phoa's class and background. The aim of the organization was to renew and purify the practice of Confucianism in the Dutch East Indies, and to introduce modern educational opportunities to the colony's Chinese subjects. Another important organization was the charity foundation Ati Soetji , headed for many decades by the women's rights activist Aw Tjoei Lan , better known as Njonja Kapitein Lie Tjian Tjoen, who as

292-573: A Chinese-born migrant of ancient lineage. Like others from old Peranakan Chinese families, Ong grew up between Chinese, Javanese and Dutch cultures. In 1958, Ong moved to Bandung , West Java , where he received his schooling and began his writing career. He became increasingly well-known for the historical and cultural articles he wrote for the Jakarta-based magazine Star Weekly . In 1975, he received his Ph.D in History from Yale University with

365-604: A Swedish survey considered it correct that they are living in a class society. One may use comparative methods to study class societies, using, for example, comparison of Gini coefficients , de facto educational opportunities, unemployment, and culture. Societies with large class differences have a greater proportion of people who suffer from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression symptoms. A series of scientific studies have demonstrated this relationship. Statistics support this assertion and results are found in life expectancy and overall health; for example, in

438-551: A bachelor's degree or higher. In class societies, the lower classes systematically receive lower-quality education and care. There are more explicit effects where those within the higher class actively demonize parts of the lower-class population. Definitions of social classes reflect a number of sociological perspectives , informed by anthropology , economics , psychology and sociology . The major perspectives historically have been Marxism and structural functionalism . The common stratum model of class divides society into

511-407: A general decrease in significance ascribed to hereditary characteristics and increase in the significance of wealth and income as indicators of position in the social hierarchy . The existence of social classes is considered normal in many societies, both historic and modern, to varying degrees. The existence of a class system dates back to times of Ancient Egypt , where the position of elite

584-522: A new class of petty bourgeois has been formed". "An industrial army of workmen, under the command of a capitalist, requires, like a real army, officers (managers) and sergeants (foremen, over-lookers) who, while the work is being done, command in the name of the capitalist". Marx makes the argument that, as the bourgeoisie reach a point of wealth accumulation, they hold enough power as the dominant class to shape political institutions and society according to their own interests. Marx then goes on to claim that

657-675: A number of significant totok appointees, such as Tjong A Fie, Majoor der Chinezen (1860–1921) in Medan , Lie Hin Liam, Luitenant der Chinezen in Tangerang and Khoe A Fan, Luitenant der Chinezen in Batavia. Nonetheless, descendants of the Cabang Atas continued to feature prominently in the officership until the end of colonial rule: for example, Han Tjiong Khing , the last Majoor der Chinezen of Surabaya,

730-464: A patrician and a plebeian being almost erased during the late Roman Republic . Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a large influence over political ideals of the French Revolution because of his views of inequality and classes. Rousseau saw humans as "naturally pure and good," meaning that humans from birth were seen as innocent and any evilness was learned. He believed that social problems arise through

803-467: A simple hierarchy of working class , middle class and upper class . Within academia, two broad schools of definitions emerge: those aligned with 20th-century sociological stratum models of class society and those aligned with the 19th-century historical materialist economic models of the Marxists and anarchists . Another distinction can be drawn between analytical concepts of social class, such as

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876-411: A very wealthy and powerful upper class that owns and controls the means of production; a middle class of professional workers, small business owners and low-level managers ; and a lower class, who rely on low-paying jobs for their livelihood and experience poverty . The upper class is the social class composed of those who are rich , well-born, powerful, or a combination of those. They usually wield

949-428: Is a subject of analysis for sociologists , political scientists , anthropologists and social historians . The term has a wide range of sometimes conflicting meanings, and there is no broad consensus on a definition of class. Some people argue that due to social mobility , class boundaries do not exist. In common parlance, the term social class is usually synonymous with socioeconomic class, defined as "people having

1022-526: Is determined by social prestige rather than simply just relations of production. The term class is etymologically derived from the Latin classis , which was used by census takers to categorize citizens by wealth in order to determine military service obligations. In the late 18th century, the term class began to replace classifications such as estates , rank and orders as the primary means of organizing society into hierarchical divisions. This corresponded to

1095-477: Is sometimes separated into those who are employed but lacking financial security (the " working poor ") and an underclass —those who are long-term unemployed and/or homeless , especially those receiving welfare from the state . The latter is today considered analogous to the Marxist term " lumpenproletariat ". However, during the time of Marx's writing the lumpenproletariat referred to those in dire poverty; such as

1168-450: Is the condition for the free development of all". This would mark the beginning of a classless society in which human needs rather than profit would be motive for production. In a society with democratic control and production for use , there would be no class, no state and no need for financial and banking institutions and money. These theorists have taken this binary class system and expanded it to include contradictory class locations,

1241-465: Is unclear whether slavery as understood today existed in ancient Egypt ; there is difference of opinions among authors. Not a single Egyptian was, in our sense of the word, free. No individual could call in question a hierarchy of authority which culminated in a living god. Although slaves were mostly used as indentured servants, they were able to buy and sell their servitude, work their way to freedom or nobility, and were usually treated by doctors in

1314-533: Is understood as the aggregated phenomenon to the "interlinked movement", which generates the quasi-objective concept of capital. Subjectively, the members will necessarily have some perception (" class consciousness ") of their similarity and common interest. Class consciousness is not simply an awareness of one's own class interest but is also a set of shared views regarding how society should be organized legally, culturally, socially and politically. These class relations are reproduced through time. In Marxist theory ,

1387-473: Is viewed and run. Later Enlightenment thinkers viewed inequality as valuable and crucial to society's development and prosperity. They also acknowledged that private property will ultimately cause inequality because specific resources that are privately owned can be stored and the owners profit off of the deficit of the resource. This can create competition between the classes that was seen as necessary by these thinkers. This also creates stratification between

1460-479: The class structure of the capitalist mode of production is characterized by the conflict between two main classes: the bourgeoisie , the capitalists who own the means of production and the much larger proletariat (or "working class") who must sell their own labour power ( wage labour ). This is the fundamental economic structure of work and property, a state of inequality that is normalized and reproduced through cultural ideology . For Marxists, every person in

1533-586: The dissertation The Residency of Madiun: Priyayi and Peasant in the Nineteenth Century . He was a regular contributor to the Indonesian magazine Tempo and a collection of his pieces for the magazine written between 1976 and 2001, Wahyu yang Hilang, Negeri yang Guncang ( A Lost Mandate, an Agitated Country ) was published in 2002. He wrote a series of other books, mostly a collection of essays and articles, including Runtuhnya Hindia Belanda ( The Fall of

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1606-502: The means of production (their relations of production ). His understanding of classes in modern capitalist society is that the proletariat work but do not own the means of production, and the bourgeoisie , those who invest and live off the surplus generated by the proletariat's operation of the means of production , do not work at all. This contrasts with the view of the sociologist Max Weber , who contrasted class as determined by economic position, with social status ( Stand) which

1679-612: The poverty line . Examples of these types of jobs are factory workers, salesperson, teacher, cooks and nurses. There is a new trend by some scholars which assumes that the size of the middle class in every society is the same. For example, in paradox of interest theory, middle class are those who are in 6th–9th decile groups which hold nearly 12% of the whole society's wealth. Lower class (occasionally described as working class) are those employed in low-paying wage jobs with very little economic security. The term "lower class" also refers to persons with low income. The working class

1752-432: The vizier and his court for redress. Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation or construction projects in a corvée system. Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also under state control, working in

1825-449: The 'Packard group' after the expensive cars many of them used. Their close proximity to Dutch colonial authorities meant that many families of the Cabang Atas were early adopters of the Dutch language and many European cultural and social mores. European education and westernisation among the Cabang Atas began in the second half of the nineteenth century, and became the norm by the beginning of

1898-511: The 19th century Dutch colonial rule . His particular area of knowledge centered on events in Java during the period, and he authored a number of works dealing with the subject. A native of Surabaya , East Java which, until the founding of Indonesia in 1945, was a part of the Dutch East Indies , Ong Hok Ham lived in the city of his birth for the first twenty-five years of his life. Ong's family

1971-598: The American historian James R. Rush , was their monopolistic control of the colonial government's pachten (revenue or tax farms), in particular the highly lucrative opium pacht. These farms were auctioned off with much fanfare and ceremony at the local colonial administrator's residence to the highest bidders, and were most frequently won by members of the Cabang Atas or others allied to, or backed, by them. Menghong Chen highlights, however, that among some more established Cabang Atas families, commercial activities as represented by

2044-515: The Cabang Atas owned particuliere landerijen or private domains in the Ommelanden (rural hinterland) of Batavia (now Jakarta ); or appanage leaseholds in the Javanese princely states . This gave them significant seigniorial powers over the indigenous peasants living on their landholdings, but also earned them much enmity and resentment. The economic foundation of the Cabang Atas, as pointed out by

2117-434: The Cabang Atas were overwhelmingly creolised ' Peranakan Chinese '. There was extensive intermarriage between Cabang Atas families in order to consolidate their political power and influence, as well as estates and fortunes. Social mobility, however, was possible; Cabang Atas families sometimes took in successful totok , or newly arrived, settlers as sons-in-law. As cited by the historian Ong Hok Ham , notable examples included

2190-477: The Dutch East Indies: Social class A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class , middle class , and upper class . Membership of a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, income, and belonging to a particular subculture or social network. Class

2263-505: The Dutch colonial authorities made a concerted effort to appoint government officials, including Chinese officers, based on merit rather than family background. Some of these candidates came from Peranakan families outside the Cabang Atas, such as the Semarang-based, left-wing newspaper owner editor and journalist, Sie Hian Liang, Lieutenant der Chinezen . Also not born into the Cabang Atas were

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2336-636: The Dutch-educated landlord H. H. Kan , a doyen of the Cabang Atas and landowning gentry of Batavia. CHH representatives in Indonesia's first legislature, the Volksraad , were largely scions of the Cabang Atas: presided by Kan, they included Jo Heng Kam, Lieutenant der Chinezen , Loa Sek Hie and Han Tiauw Tjong . Due to their largely establishment background, progressive elements dubbed CHH's parliamentary arm as

2409-484: The Marxist and Weberian traditions, as well as the more empirical traditions such as socioeconomic status approach, which notes the correlation of income, education and wealth with social outcomes without necessarily implying a particular theory of social structure. "[Classes are] large groups of people differing from each other by the place they occupy in a historically determined system of social production, by their relation (in most cases fixed and formulated in law) to

2482-779: The Netherlands Indies ), Negara dan Rakyat ( The State and the People ), and Dari Soal Priayi sampai Nyi Blorong—Refleksi Historis Nusantara ( From Priayi to Nyi Blorong—Historical Reflections on the Indonesian Archipelago ). An English-language collection of his writings, The Thugs, the Curtain Thief, and the Sugar Lord , received publication in 2003. The book chronicled power, politics and culture in colonial Java. In 1989, he retired from his duties as professor of history at

2555-429: The aristocracy and royalty, with wealth playing a less important role in class status. Many aristocratic peerages or titles have seats attached to them, with the holder of the title (e.g. Earl of Bristol) and his family being the custodians of the house, but not the owners. Many of these require high expenditures, so wealth is typically needed. Many aristocratic peerages and their homes are parts of estates, owned and run by

2628-495: The case of high differences in life expectancy between two Stockholm suburbs. The differences between life expectancy of the poor and less-well-educated inhabitants who live in proximity to the station Vårby gård , and the highly educated and more affluent inhabitants living near Danderyd differ by 18 years. Similar data about New York is also available for life expectancy, average income per capita, income distribution, median income mobility for people who grew up poor, share with

2701-627: The classes keeping a distinct difference between lower, poorer classes and the higher, wealthier classes. India ( ↑ ), Nepal, North Korea ( ↑ ), Sri Lanka ( ↑ ) and some Indigenous peoples maintain social classes today. In class societies, class conflict has tended to recur or is ongoing, depending on the sociological and anthropolitical perspective. Class societies have not always existed; there have been widely different types of class communities. For example, societies based on age rather than capital. During colonialism , social relations were dismantled by force, which gave rise to societies based on

2774-594: The classes through the assets that they have such as property and expertise. Weber derived many of his key concepts on social stratification by examining the social structure of many countries. He noted that contrary to Marx's theories, stratification was based on more than simply ownership of capital . Weber pointed out that some members of the aristocracy lack economic wealth yet might nevertheless have political power. Likewise in Europe, many wealthy Jewish families lacked prestige and honor because they were considered members of

2847-567: The colonial government's lucrative revenue farms . In older literature, the Cabang Atas is referred to as the baba bangsawan (Indonesian for 'Chinese gentry'). The oldest families of the Cabang Atas traced their roots in Indonesia back to early Chinese allies and compradores of the Dutch East India Company , in a period that lasted until the latter's bankruptcy in 1799. Many of these Chinese magnates — such as Souw Beng Kong , first Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia (1580-1644); or

2920-399: The constant stress that these white, middle aged Americans feel fighting poverty and wavering between the middle and lower classes, these strains have taken a toll on these people and affected their whole bodies. Ong Hok Ham Ong Hok Ham (1 May 1933 – 30 August 2007) was an eminent Chinese Indonesian historian considered one of the leading experts on Indonesian history during

2993-430: The development of society and suppress the innate pureness of humankind. He also believed that private property is the main reason for social issues in society because private property creates inequality through the property's value. Even though his theory predicted if there were no private property then there would be wide spread equality, Rousseau accepted that there will always be social inequality because of how society

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3066-475: The goods or services in society. In the Marxist view of capitalism , this is a conflict between capitalists ( bourgeoisie ) and wage-workers (the proletariat). For Marxists, class antagonism is rooted in the situation that control over social production necessarily entails control over the class which produces goods—in capitalism this is the exploitation of workers by the bourgeoisie. Furthermore, "in countries where modern civilisation has become fully developed,

3139-474: The greatest political power. In some countries, wealth alone is sufficient to allow entry into the upper class. In others, only people who are born or marry into certain aristocratic bloodlines are considered members of the upper class and those who gain great wealth through commercial activity are looked down upon by the aristocracy as nouveau riche . In the United Kingdom, for example, the upper classes are

3212-411: The group of white, middle-aged Americans between the ages of 45 and 54 and its relation to class. There has been a growing number of suicides and deaths by substance abuse in this particular group of middle-class Americans . This group also has been recorded to have an increase in reports of chronic pain and poor general health. Deaton and Case came to the conclusion from these observations that because of

3285-453: The high ranks of society and aristocracy , whereas sumptuary laws stipulated the dress and jewelry appropriate for a person's social rank and station . In Europe, these laws became increasingly commonplace during the Middle Ages. However, these laws were prone to change due to societal changes, and in many cases, these distinctions may either almost disappear, such as the distinction between

3358-419: The homeless. Members of the working class are sometimes called blue-collar workers . A person's socioeconomic class has wide-ranging effects. It can determine the schools they are able to attend, their health, the jobs open to them, when they exit the labour market, whom they may marry and their treatment by police and the courts. Angus Deaton and Anne Case have analyzed the mortality rates related to

3431-601: The idea that a person can be employed in many different class locations that fall between the two classes of proletariat and bourgeoisie. Erik Olin Wright stated that class definitions are more diverse and elaborate through identifying with multiple classes, having familial ties with people in different a class, or having a temporary leadership role. Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification that saw social class as emerging from an interplay between "class", "status" and "power". Weber believed that class position

3504-533: The late colonial period, the Cabang Atas bore the brunt of the Indonesian Revolution from 1945 until 1949. The end of Dutch colonial rule in 1950 saw the exile and emigration of many families of the Cabang Atas. The turbulent early decades of Indonesian independence also ensured an end to their centuries-long dominating and privileged position in Indonesian political, economic and social life. The ba-poco or Cabang Atas used an elaborate system of titles in

3577-424: The late nineteenth-century, totok businessman Oei Tjie Sien (1835–1900), who married a middle-class Peranakan woman; and the latter's Peranakan son Oei Tiong Ham, Majoor der Chinezen (1866–1924), who firmly sealed the family's social ascent by marrying into the Cabang Atas and by his eventual elevation to the Chinese officership. In the early twentieth century, in keeping with their so-called 'Ethical Policy' ,

3650-481: The means of production, by their role in the social organization of labor, and, consequently, by the dimensions of the share of social wealth of which they dispose and the mode of acquiring it." — Vladimir Lenin , A Great Beginning in June 1919 For Marx, class is a combination of objective and subjective factors. Objectively, a class shares a common relationship to the means of production . The class society itself

3723-429: The non-elite class, owing to their large numbers, have the power to overthrow the elite and create an equal society. In The Communist Manifesto , Marx himself argued that it was the goal of the proletariat itself to displace the capitalist system with socialism , changing the social relationships underpinning the class system and then developing into a future communist society in which: "the free development of each

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3796-471: The process of production has separate social relationships and issues. Along with this, every person is placed into different groups that have similar interests and values that can differ drastically from group to group. Class is special in that does not relate to specifically to a singular person, but to a specific role. Marxists explain the history of "civilized" societies in terms of a war of classes between those who control production and those who produce

3869-427: The protection of Dutch colonial law. The foundation of their political power was their near-hereditary control of the bureaucratic posts of Majoor , Kapitein and Luitenant der Chinezen . This gave them a high degree of political and legal jurisdiction over the local Chinese community. By colonial Indonesian tradition, descendants of Chinese officers bore the hereditary title Sia . In addition, most families of

3942-583: The results of a survey conducted by BBC Lab UK developed in collaboration with academic experts and slated to be published in the journal Sociology were published online. The results released were based on a survey of 160,000 residents of the United Kingdom most of whom lived in England and described themselves as " white ". Class was defined and measured according to the amount and kind of economic, cultural and social resources reported. Economic capital

4015-463: The revenue farms were looked down upon, hence a gradual shift towards landownership and agriculture. In any case, the accumulation of great fortunes among Cabang Atas families received the protection of Dutch colonial law. This legal certainty gave a firm basis to the creation of long-lasting bureaucratic and landowning dynasties of great wealth in colonial Indonesia that were not as common in pre-revolutionary China. Ethnically and culturally, families of

4088-546: The same social, economic, cultural, political or educational status", e.g. the working class , "an emerging professional class" etc. However, academics distinguish social class from socioeconomic status , using the former to refer to one's relatively stable cultural background and the latter to refer to one's current social and economic situation which is consequently more changeable over time. The precise measurements of what determines social class in society have varied over time. Karl Marx defined class by one's relationship to

4161-443: The shops attached to the temples and paid directly from the state treasury. Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, known as the "white kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of their rank. The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and literature. Below the nobility were the priests, physicians, and engineers with specialized training in their field. It

4234-447: The social categories of waged labor, private property, and capital. Class society or class-based society is an organizing principle society in which ownership of property, means of production , and wealth is the determining factor of the distribution of power, in which those with more property and wealth are stratified higher in the society and those without access to the means of production and without wealth are stratified lower in

4307-436: The society. In a class society, at least implicitly, people are divided into distinct social strata, commonly referred to as social classes or castes . The nature of class society is a matter of sociological research. Class societies exist all over the globe in both industrialized and developing nations. Class stratification is theorized to come directly from capitalism . In terms of public opinion, nine out of ten people in

4380-539: The sons of Han Siong Kong (1673-1743), founder of the Han family of Lasem — played an instrumental role in establishing Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Some families came of gentry stock in China , but many more started off as successful merchant families. They shared some common traits with the scholar-gentry of Imperial China , but accumulated much greater dynastic wealth thanks partly to

4453-447: The struggle between new money and old money . The upper class is generally contained within the richest one or two percent of the population. Members of the upper class are often born into it and are distinguished by immense wealth which is passed from generation to generation in the form of estates. Based on some new social and political theories upper class consists of the most wealthy decile group in society which holds nearly 87% of

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4526-496: The tendency toward an enlarged middle class in modern Western societies, particularly in relation to the necessity of an educated work force in technological economies. Perspectives concerning globalization and neocolonialism , such as dependency theory , suggest this is due to the shift of low-level labour to developing nations and the Third World . Middle class is the group of people with jobs that pay significantly more than

4599-554: The title holder with moneys generated by the land, rents or other sources of wealth. However, in the United States where there is no aristocracy or royalty, the upper class status exclusive of Americans of ancestral wealth or patricians of European ancestry is referred to in the media as the extremely wealthy, the so-called "super-rich", though there is some tendency even in the United States for those with old family wealth to look down on those who have accrued their money through business,

4672-538: The twentieth century. By the start of the twentieth century, Dutch had become the most commonly spoken language at the homes of most families of the Cabang Atas. While tying them ever closer to the colonial authorities, the European outlook of the class put them at odds with the overwhelming majority of the Chinese-Indonesian population they had traditionally led. Already attacked for their perceived Dutch sympathies in

4745-542: The whole society's wealth. See also: Middle-class squeeze The middle class is the most contested of the three categories, the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the lower and upper classes. One example of the contest of this term is that in the United States "middle class" is applied very broadly and includes people who would elsewhere be considered working class . Middle-class workers are sometimes called " white-collar workers ". Theorists such as Ralf Dahrendorf have noted

4818-425: The wife, daughter and daughter-in-law of Chinese officers came from the ranks of the Cabang Atas. Politically, the Cabang Atas also pioneered Chinese-Indonesian involvement in modern politics. They were mainly associated with Chung Hwa Hui or CHH, a modern political party that was seen as the mouthpiece of the colonial Chinese establishment. CHH's chairman was none other than Majoor Han Tjiong Khing's distant cousin,

4891-437: The workplace. In Ancient Greece when the clan system was declining. The classes replaced the clan society when it became too small to sustain the needs of increasing population. The division of labor is also essential for the growth of classes. Historically, social class and behavior were laid down in law. For example, permitted mode of dress in some times and places was strictly regulated, with sumptuous dressing only for

4964-448: Was a direct descendant of Han Bwee Kong , the city's first Dutch-appointed Kapitein der Chinezen. Beyond the Chinese officership, members of the Cabang Atas took a leading role in the emerging modernization social and cultural movement of the late colonial period. The influential Confucian and educational organization Tiong Hoa Hwee Koan , founded in 1900, was headed for many decades by its founding President, Phoa Keng Hek Sia , scion of

5037-414: Was also characterized by literacy. The wealthier people were at the top in the social order and common people and slaves being at the bottom. However, the class was not rigid; a man of humble origins could ascend to a high post. The ancient Egyptians viewed men and women, including people from all social classes, as essentially equal under the law, and even the lowliest peasant was entitled to petition

5110-444: Was defined as income and assets ; cultural capital as amount and type of cultural interests and activities; and social capital as the quantity and social status of their friends , family and personal and business contacts. This theoretical framework was developed by Pierre Bourdieu who first published his theory of social distinction in 1979. Today, concepts of social class often assume three general economic categories:

5183-410: Was determined by a person's relationship to the means of production, while status or "Stand" emerged from estimations of honor or prestige. Weber views class as a group of people who have common goals and opportunities that are available to them. This means that what separates each class from each other is their value in the marketplace through their own goods and services. This creates a divide between

5256-529: Was first used by the colonial Indonesian historian Liem Thian Joe in his book Riwajat Semarang (published in 1933). The term refers to a small group of old gentry families that dominated the Dutch colonial institution of the Chinese officership (see ' Kapitan Cina '); this was colonial Indonesia's equivalent of the Chinese mandarinate . As a class, they intermarried to maintain their political and economic power, owned extensive agricultural landholdings and monopolised

5329-500: Was upper-middle class, but through his maternal grandmother, Han Loen Nio, Ong hailed from the patrician Han family of Lasem , part of the baba bangsawan or the Chinese gentry of colonial Indonesia, and from a long line of Chinese officers who served in the civil bureaucracy in the Dutch East Indies. Ong could, thus, trace his lineage in Java back, through Han Bwee Kong, Kapitein der Chinezen (1727–1778), to Han Siong Kong (1673–1743),

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