Gedung Candra Naya or Candra Naya House is located on Jl. Gajah Mada No 188, Jakarta Barat/West Jakarta. If you wanna go to Candra Naya House, it is uneasy to find it. Since there are no sign of the existence of this historic house. It is located inside the superbloc of the Novotel Hotel. If you find the Novotel, just go inside and you will find this magnificent house with chinese architecture in Jakarta. Since it is located inside the superbloc, you can seat and enjoy the atmosphere of the Candra Naya House in the area of a convenience store.

At first, Candra Naya House is a building owned by Khouw Family, a Chinese landlord’s family. The first Khouw family that occupied this building is Khouw Tjoen. Khouw Kim An is the last Khouw family who occupy the Candra Naya House. Khouw Kim An was Chairman of the Board of Chinese in Batavia and was appointed as Chinese Mayor in 1910 to 1918. Therefore Candra Naya House also known as Major House. Major Khouw Kim An also a member of the Volksraad (quasi parliament formed by the Dutch Indies Government) from 1921-1931. This family also built the adjacent building, each in Jl. Gajah Mada 174 (now SMU 2) and Jl. Gajah Mada 168 (ever used as the former Chinese Embassy).

In 1946, after the second world war ended, a social organization named Sin Ming Hui was founded. Sin Ming Hui focused on giving help and information to the Chinese community. Sin Ming Hui then rent the house of the late Khouw Kim An as its headquarter. In this building, the Sin Ming Hui conducted many social activities, such as providing a health clinics, labor and legal aid clinic, sports clubs, educational activities and organized activities in photography. In 1962 the Sin Ming Hui changed its name into the Tjandra Naja. To adjust to the new Bahasa Indonesia spelling, the organization’s name changed again from Tjandra Naja into Candra Naya. Today ‘Candra Naya’ is the building’s official name.

If the Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation is the first modern legal aid organization, many legal scholar should not forget about the role of Sin Ming Hui. Sing Ming Hui was the first civil society organization that provide basic legal aid to the Chinese community by set up a free legal consultation. The prominent Indonesian lawyer, the late Yap Thiam Hien, also one of the lawyer that provide free legal consultation in this building. Yap Thiam Hien together with Adnan Buyung Nasution form a modern legal aid organization that not only provide legal consultation but also legal assistance to the poor

How to get here (see the route map):

From Juanda / Gondangdia / Cikini go to platform 1 and take the Red Line or Blue Line to Jakarta Kota Station and stop at Mangga Besar Station. Take a 20 minutes walk to the west

From Tanah Abang go to platform 3 and take the Yellow Line heading to Depok/Nambo/Bogor and stop at Manggarai. Go to platform 3/5 and take the Red Line or Blue Line to Jakarta Kota and stop at Mangga Besar Station. Take a 20 minutes walk to the west

From Sudirman go to platform 2 and take the Yellow Line heading to Depok/Nambo/Bogor and stop at Manggarai. Go to platform 3/5 and take the Red Line or Blue Line to Jakarta Kota and stop at Mangga Besar Station. Take a 20 minutes walk to the west

see the link map or the map below