Phoa Beng Gan

Phoa Beng Gan, Kapitein der Chinezen, also called Bingam or Phoa Bing Gam in some early sources, was a Chinese-Indonesian bureaucrat and engineer, best known for his irrigation work in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). He served as the third Kapitein der Chinezen (or Chinese headman) of Batavia from 1645 to 1663, succeeding Kapitein Lim Lak Ko . As wealth was seen as an essential requirement for public office, the colonial authorities farmed out to Phoa the highly lucrative pacht or tax farm for surat konde or poll tax. Later in 1661, the canal was rechristened Molenvliet - a name it was to retain until Independence. The Kapitein remedied this problem by extending the canal, through to what are now Jalan Djuanda and Jalan Veteran in Sawah Besar, in order to connect it to the Ciliwung river.

In recognition of the Kapitein's irrigation work, the colonial authorities granted him an estate (particuliere land) in Tanah Abang, where Phoa later cultivated sugar cane.