Oei Tjie-sien

Oei Tjie Sien (; 1835–1900) was a Chinese-born colonial Indonesian tycoon and the founder of Kian Gwan, Southeast Asia's largest conglomerate at the start of the twentieth century. He is better known as the father of Oei Tiong Ham, Majoor-titulair der Chinezen (1866–1924), who modernized and vastly expanded the Oei family's business empire.

Biography

Early life Born on June 23, 1835, into a family of modest means in Tong'an, Tjoan-tjioe, (Quanzhou) Fujian, a southern province of Imperial China, Oei Tjie Sien was the sixth son of Oei Tjhing In. During the rebellion, he rose up the ranks and was put in charge of logistics. The new company dealt in both Chinese products, such as tea, herbs and silk, as well as in Indonesian commodities, including rice, sugar, tobacco and gambier.

By the mid-1880s, the elder Oei seems to have given his eldest son a prominent role in Kian Gwan and the family's other business interests. Oei's son - dubbed 'Anak Sapi' (the 'Young Ox') by Boen - won the auction after a fierce bidding war against a Batavia-based kongsi, headed by Kapitein Loa Tiang Hoei and Kapitein Oey Hok Tjiang, doyens of the colonial Chinese establishment.