is now an important local landmark in Jakarta. Bureaucratic career In February 1886, Tio became the first in his family to be elevated to the Chinese officership with his appointment as a der Chinezen, the most junior rank in the officer hierarchy. In 1890, Tio was further raised to the post of Kapitein der Chinezen of Pasar Baroe and a member of the Chinese Council in succession to his cousin-in-law, Kapitein Loa Tiang Hoei. Part of Tio's role as a Chinese officer was not only to provide leadership to the local Chinese community, but also to represent them to other sections of colonial Indonesian society, especially the Dutch elite. In November 1892, for example, Kapitein Tio Tek Ho delivered a well-received talk on Confucian philosophy in 'onberispelijk Nederlandsch' ('flawless Dutch') to one of the Masonic lodges in Batavia, 'de Ster in het Oosten' (the 'Star of the East'). In 1893, together with Kapitein Loa Tiang Hoei as president, Tio also became the secretary of a new foundation to manage the Kongsie Huis of Pasar Baroe, the district's oldest and most prestigious Chinese temple. Tio's conduct as a member of the Chinese Council earned him the favour of the Dutch colonial authorities, in particular − according to the historian Mona Lohanda − because of his decision to distance himself from the Council's questionable land acquisitions under Majoor Lie Tjoe Hong. The previous Majoor, a landlord who owned extensive particuliere landerijen (private domains), used his influence to cajole the Council to purchase some of his landholdings. While most Chinese officers in the Council cowered and acquiesced in the Majoor's demand, Tio disassociated himself from these acquisitions. In July 1896, when Majoor Lie Tjoe Hong resigned, Kapitein Tio Tek Ho became a leading contender to the Chinese Mayoralty thanks to his uncompromising attitude in the land acquisition saga. By tradition, the Dutch colonial authorities would normally appoint as Majoor the longest-serving Kapitein der Chinezen in the Chinese Council, but most of the Council's members had been implicated in the outgoing Majoor's questionable behaviour. In October 1896, therefore, Tio was installed in office at the premises of the Chinese Council as the fourth and penultimate Majoor der Chinezen of Batavia. After the ceremony, the new Majoor hosted a reception at his residence in Pasar Baroe, and delivered a speech on good administration and governance. By the start of the twentieth century, however, Majoor Tio