Phoa Beng Gan

, Governor-General at the start of Phoa's tenure. According to the historian Phoa Kian Sioe, the impetus for Phoa Beng Gan's appointment as Kapitein der Chinezen in 1645 came from the local Chinese community of Batavia. 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. This tax was imposed upon the Company's Chinese subjects over the age of sixteen, and was payable to the colonial authorities through the new Kapitein who was entitled to a portion of the total amount. The tax was seen as onerous by the local Chinese community and, for a time, generated a great deal of ill will towards their chosen headman. ==Irrigation work==

Despite initial community ill will, Kapitein Phoa Beng Gan acquitted himself well as Chinese headman thanks to his irrigation work, for which he is best remembered today. 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. ==References==