Lauw Tek Lok

{{Infobox Politician

| name = Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen

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| office = Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi

| term_start = 1854

| term_end = 1882 (died in office)

| predecessor = New creation

| successor = Luitenant Tan Kang Ie

| constituency = Bekasi

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| birth_place = Batavia, Dutch East Indies

| death_date = 1882

| death_place = Meester Cornelis, Dutch East Indies

| nationality = Indonesian

| spouse = Louisa Zecha

| children = Emilia Lauw Joe Nio (daughter)
Cornelia Sebastiana Lauw Gobang (daughter)
Christiaan Lauw Tjeng Soey (son)
Maximilian Theodoor Lauw Tjeng Kiet (son)
Louis Lauw Tjeng Bie (son)

| relations = Lauw Ho(father)
Aristide William Lauw Zecha (grandson)
Alwin Lauw Zecha (great-grandson)
Adrian Lauw Zecha (great-grandson)

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| occupation = Mandarin

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| known_for = Role as the first Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi and a leading, colonial landlord

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}}

Lauw Tek Lok, {{notatypo|Luitenant}} der Chinezen (died in Meester Cornelis in 1882) was a high-ranking government official and landlord in Batavia, Dutch East Indies, and a member of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, part of Java’s Cabang Atas gentry. {{cite news|title=Chineesch Bestuur te Mr. Cornelis|url=http://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=%22lauw+tek+lok%22&facets%5Bperiode%5D%5B%5D=2%7C19e_eeuw%7C1880-1889%7C1882%7C&page=1&coll=ddd&identifier=ddd%3A010488392%3Ampeg21%3Aa0028&resultsidentifier=ddd%3A010488392%3Ampeg21%3Aa0028|work=Java-bode: nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie|issue=102|publisher=Bruining|date=1 May 1882}}{{cite news|title=Burgerlijke Staat. Europeaan Chinees. Voogdij.|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=%22LAUW+TEK+LOK%22&coll=ddd&page=1&facets%5Bperiode%5D%5B%5D=2%7C19e_eeuw%7C1880-1889%7C1882%7C&facets%5Bperiode%5D%5B%5D=2%7C19e_eeuw%7C1880-1889%7C1886%7C&identifier=ddd%3A010506003%3Ampeg21%3Aa0036&resultsidentifier=ddd%3A010506003%3Ampeg21%3Aa0036|work=Java-bode: nieuws, handels- en advertentieblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie|issue=123|publisher=Bruining|date=26 May 1886}} He is remembered today for his long tenure as Luitenant der Chinezen (or government-appointed head mandarin) of Bekasi, and for his interracial marriage with Louisa Zecha.{{cite book|last1=Fromberg|first1=Pieter Hendrik|title=Mr. P.H. Fromberg's Verspreide geschriften|date=1926|publisher=Leidsche uitgeversmaatschappij|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjKzAAAAMAAJ&q=%22lauw+tek+lok%22|language=nl}}{{cite book|last1=Gautama|first1=Sudargo|title=Segi-segi hukum peraturan perkawinan tjampuran: (Staatsblad 1898 no. 158) oleh Gouw Giok Siong|date=1961|publisher=Djambatan|location=Djakarta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izpEAQAAIAAJ&q=%22lauw+tek+lok%22|language=id}}

Born in Batavia, Lauw Tek Lok was the son of the early nineteenth-century tycoon Lauw Ho (died in 1863), part of the powerful Ngo Ho Tjiang opium partnership.{{cite book |last1=Chen |first1=Menghong |title=De Chinese gemeenschap van Batavia, 1843-1865: een onderzoek naar het Kong Koan-archief |date=2011 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-8728-133-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t_huVkwc49EC |accessdate=10 May 2020 |language=nl}}{{cite book|last1=Benedanto|first1=Pax|last2=Marcus A. S.|title=Kesastraan Melayu Tionghoa 5|date=2012|publisher=Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia|location=Jakarta|isbn=9789799023759|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=midIDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22LAUW+HO%22&pg=PA90|language=id}} His father was an important revenue farmer, and served as Wijkmeester (ward master) of Meester Cornelis.{{cite book |last1=Juristen-Vereeniging (Batavia) |first1=Nederlandsch-Indische |title=Het regt in Nederlandsch-Indië: regtskundig tijdschrift |date=1857 |publisher=Van Dorp |location=Batavia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oPhTAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22lauw+houw%22&pg=PA466 |accessdate=10 May 2020 |language=nl}} The younger Lauw became one of the most important landlords ('Landheeren') in Batavia with significant agricultural landholdings ('particuliere landen') in the city's Ommelanden (the then rural hinterland of Batavia), including the estate of Cimanggis.{{cite book|title=Almanak van Nederlandsch-Indië voor het jaar ...., Volume 40|date=1865|publisher=Lands Drukkery|location=Batavia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ylVVAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22lauw+tek+lok%22&pg=PA230|language=nl}}

Lauw was appointed on December 23, 1854 to the newly created government post of {{notatypo|Luitenant}} der Chinezen of Bekasi, a civil administrative position he would keep until his death in 1882.{{cite book |title=Almanak van Nederlandsch-Indië voor het jaar .... |date=1870 |publisher=Lands Drukkery |location=Batavia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TVZVAAAAcAAJ&dq=%22lauw+tekkang%22&pg=PA128 |accessdate=10 May 2020 |language=nl}} At the same time, his brother Lauw Tek Kang was also raised to the post of Luitenant der Chinezen of Meester Cornelis. As Luitenant, Lauw Tek Lok played a significant role in the Dutch colonial development of Bekasi and its surrounding region. On his death in 1882, Lauw was succeeded as Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi by another local landlord and his son-in-law, Tan Kang Ie.{{cite journal|last1=Lombard-Salmon|first1=Claudine|title=The Batavian Eastern Railway Co. and the Making of a New "Daerah" as Reflected in a Commemorative Syair Written by Tan Teng Kie (1890)|journal=Indonesia|date=April 1988|volume=45|issue=45|pages=49–62|doi=10.2307/3351175|jstor=3351175|hdl=1813/53885|url=https://cip.cornell.edu/DPubS?service=UI&version=1.0&verb=Display&handle=seap.indo/1107010219|accessdate=27 March 2018|hdl-access=free}}{{cite book |last1=Haryono |first1=Steve |title=Perkawinan Strategis: Hubungan Keluarga Antara Opsir-opsir Tionghoa Dan 'Cabang Atas' Di Jawa Pada Abad Ke-19 Dan 20 |date=2017 |publisher=Steve Haryono |location=Utrecht |isbn=9789090302492 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IoDgswEACAAJ&q=PERKAWINAN+STRATEGIS |accessdate=3 September 2018 |language=en}}

Despite his satisfactory records as a colonial administrator, Lauw caused some consternation among the colonial authorities due to his unconventional and interracial marriage with an Indo woman of Bohemian descent, Louisa Zecha. Together, they became the ancestors of the prominent Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, and were the great-grandparents of Adrian Lauw Zecha, founder of Aman Resorts.{{cite news|title=Adrian Zecha (né en 1933) : ses hôtels hors de prix de la chaîne Aman ressemblent au paradis|url=http://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/adrian-zecha-ne-en-1933-ses-hotels-hors-de-prix-de-la-chaine-aman-ressemblent-au-paradis-1099633|accessdate=14 February 2018|work=Capital.fr|date=28 January 2016|language=fr-FR}}