Ong Hok Ham

Who was Ong Hok Ham?

Ong Hok Ham was an eminent Chinese Indonesian historian considered one of the leading experts on Indonesian history during 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 Dutch East Indies, Ong Hok Ham lived in the city of his birth for the first twenty-five years of his life. In 1958, he moved to Bandung, West Java, where he received his schooling and began his writing career. Seventeen years later, in 1975, he received his Ph.D in History from Yale University with 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 was published in 2002.

He wrote a series of other books, mostly a collection of essays and articles, including Runtuhnya Hindia Belanda, Negara dan Rakyat, and Dari Soal Priayi sampai Nyi Blorong—Refleksi Historis Nusantara.