China's Former First Lady Was Once Semarang's 'Crazy Rich' Heiress

From a luxurious mansion in Semarang to the halls of power in Beijing, this woman’s life journey reads like a novel. She accompanied her husband in leading the Republic of China, making her one of the few Indonesian women to leave a mark on the global political stage. She is Oei Hui-lan, the daughter of a sugar tycoon from Semarang who later married the prominent Chinese figure, Wellington Koo. Oei Hui-lan was born in Semarang on 21 December 1889 to Oei Tiong Ham and Goei Bing Nio. From a young age, Hui-lan was surrounded by opulence. Her father, also born in Semarang, was a renowned sugar magnate with a fortune amounting to 200 million guilders, equivalent to Rp 44 trillion. He was dubbed the ‘Sugar King of the World’ from Semarang. In her memoir, Oei Hui-lan: The Story of the Sugar King’s Daughter from Semarang, she recounted a life coveted by many women: an 80-hectare estate in Semarang complete with a private villa and pavilions, personal maids and chefs, and lavish birthday parties each year. ‘My father wanted my birthday parties to be exceptionally special. Whatever the cost, it was of no concern to him,’ Oei Hui-lan recalled. Whenever she was bored at home, she could simply choose any location for a holiday, which helped her cultivate a wide network of friends that extended to the British Royal Family and prominent Chinese politicians. One of them was Wellington Koo. Hui-lan’s introduction to Wellington Koo took place in London in the 1920s. At the time, Hui-lan was a widow living with her mother, while Koo was a widower serving as a key Chinese diplomat. He was known as the architect of China’s diplomacy and one of the founders of the League of Nations. They married in Brussels in 1921. A year later, Koo became China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance. The pinnacle came in 1926, when following the death of President Sun Yat Sen, Koo served as the acting President of the Republic of China. From that moment, Oei Hui-lan officially became the First Lady. In her role, Hui-lan consistently supported her husband in garnering international backing for the Republic of China until 1927, when Koo stepped down from his post. Afterwards, they resided in Shanghai, Paris, and London. Their relationship ended in 1958. Hui-lan subsequently settled in New York and raised her three children. Despite living abroad, she once invested in businesses in Indonesia in 1986, venturing into shipping, tobacco, and bicycles, though all these ventures ultimately failed. Oei Hui-lan passed away in New York in 1992, at the age of 102, far from her birthplace of Semarang.