One Hundred Years' History Of The Chinese In Singapore: The Annotated Edition. Ong Siang Song
were at that time several with 2,000 to 3,000 young plants coming up. In the ‘Forties Mr Kiong Kong Tuan planted out about 50 acres of coffee near Jurong, but the plantation died out and his enterprise ended in complete failure. In Dr Little’s paper on ‘The Habitual Use of Opium’39 Mr Kong Tuan is mentioned as the holder of the farm when the retail price of opium was very high and smuggling was so great that he was a loser by the speculation, but the next farmer made a handsome monthly profit because the price of opium had meanwhile been lowered.
Mr Kiong Kong Tuan came from Penang, where he had carried on business as a merchant and established himself in Singapore. He married a daughter of the well-known Choa Chong Long, by whom he had an only son, Kiong Seok Wee, and several daughters, one of whom became the wife of Wee Bin of the steamship firm of ‘Wee Bin & Co’. Mr Kong Tuan also figured as the Spirit Farmer for some years. He had a spirit factory at Pearl’s Hill, and the site is still known among the Chinese as Chiu-long-san (the spirit factory hill). He died at the age of 64 years on 16th January 1854. Mr Kong Tuan was the grantee of that large tract of land comprising twenty acres which has now become a thickly populated Straits Chinese residential quarter with Chin Swee Road as the main artery, and Cornwall Street and Seok Wee Road as side streets. His son, Kiong Seok Wee, did not fancy spirit farming. He went into business with his brother-in-law, Wee Bin,40 but the partnership was short-lived. In 1865 along with Wee Leong Hin, the firm of Leong Hin, Seok Wee & Co, chop Aik Ho, ship-handlers, was established at Boat [40] Quay and another under the chop Joo Chin & Co. as General Merchants. ‘Aik Ho’ was accidentally burnt down, and as it was not covered by insurance, Mr Seok Wee sustained a severe loss which was augmented by the failure of Joo Chin & Co. He was at that time one of the proprietors of the Singapore Daily Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. In 1869 the affairs of Mr Seok Wee and his partner were administered by the Court of Insolvent Debtors. He died in 1888 at the age of 49 years, leaving six sons and two daughters, the elder of whom became a daughter-in-law of Mr Tan Kim Ching.41 The youngest son of Mr Seok Wee is Kiong Chin Eng, chief clerk and cashier at the General Hospital, a man of liberal education and a firstclass player both in tennis and chess.
The Free Press of February 1837 contains the following complaint about cracker-firing at Chinese New Year:
It has been brought to our notice that the firing of noisy crackers by the Chinese, with or without the permission of the police, in the streets during this season of their New Year’s festivals, occasions so much alarm to the owners of carriages that they are compelled to forgo their use, unless they prefer to risk their necks. The burning of large heaps of gilded joss-paper in the middle of the street may be a harmless amusement and not dangerous to pedestrians, but firing crackers is a more serious matter, and may very easily lead to damage to limb, if not to loss of life, especially as the little urchins think it a very fine piece of fun to plant one right in the track of your passing or advancing vehicle. This ought not to be permitted, or if it does seem meet to show respect for the ‘customs of the natives’ they should be restricted at least to particular hours and places.42
On the 20th February 1837, following upon a meeting held twelve days earlier of all the merchants, agents and others interested in the trade of Singapore, a Chamber of Commerce was established, composed of [41] the principal European and native merchants, and the first Committee elected consisted of eleven persons; including two Chinese, Chee Kim Guan43 and So Guan Chuan,44 and Syed Abubakar. Newbold has this remark on the subject: ‘The liberality of sentiment displayed by the British merchants in opening the doors of the Chamber to the natives, and in enrolling them on the first committee is proof of a good and honourable feeling which will no doubt be reciprocated and tend to the best results.’45 Just five months later two Chinese members of the Chamber were expelled from it for having sold to a Jew four cases of opium, after putting in spurious contents of an inferior quality and weight.
Buckley says that up to this time no Chinese woman had ever come to Singapore from China, and the newspapers said that, in fact, only two genuine Chinese women were, or at any time had been, in the place, and they were two small-footed ladies who had been, some years before, exhibited in England:
The commercial activity of the Chinese is seen to the greatest advantage during the annual visit of the junks from China. These remain in the harbour from December until June, and throughout the whole period boats filled with Chinese are continually passing and repassing among the shipping, giving to the roads the appearance of a floating fair.
The first junk, which arrives generally a little before Christmas, is most anxiously looked for, and when its approach is notified by the crew of a Malay sampan which has been on the look-out to the eastward, the greatest bustle pervades the Chinese community. … Many hasten off to the vessel to learn the news from China. … The first boat reaches the junk when she is still several miles distant, and as she nears the town she gains an accession of bulk at every fathom, until at last the unwieldy mass slowly trails into the roads, surrounded by a dense mass of boats, having the appearance of a locust which has inadvertently crossed an ants’ nest, and is dragging after it countless myriads of the enraged inhabitants, attached to its [42] legs and feelers. As the decks of the junk are always crowded with emigrants, the greater proportion of the visitors are obliged to remain in the boats, and these endeavour to gain as much information as they can by shouting out questions to the people on board.
Other junks soon arrive, and although these do not excite quite so much interest as the first, the same scene is enacted over each. For a day or two after their arrival, there is little business transacted, as the crews are all engaged in building roofs over the vessels to shelter the wares which are to be exposed for sale on the decks. When these arrangements are completed, the fair commences, and the junks are surrounded from morning till night by the boats of the Chinese traders from the shore.46
Mr Earl’s description of the landing of the emigrants from the junks in those days is equally applicable to our own time, with the necessary modifications:
They usually came ashore in large cargo boats, each carrying from fifty to sixty persons, scarcely any space being left for the rowers. As the boat approached the landing place, which was always on these occasions crowded with Chinese, the emigrants would cast anxious glances among them, and a ray of delight would occasionally brighten the countenance of one of the ‘high aspirants’ on recognising the face of a relative or friend, on whose favourable report he had probably decided on leaving the country.47
Abdullah, in his Kesah Pelayaran, has given us a very full and interesting account of a mission undertaken by him and one Grandpre (an Englishman) to Pahang, Trengganu and Kelantan, being in charge of letters from Mr Bonham48 to the Rajah Bendahara49, the Rajah Temenggong and the Yang di-pertuan at Kelantan. The arrangements were made by two Chinese merchants, Poh Eng50 and Ban Tiong51 by name, who had despatched money and merchandise to Kelantan in their boats, which could not return owing to the disturbed state [43] of the country. On the 27th March 1838 the expedition left in Mr Scott’s ketch Maggie Lauder along with Mr Boustead’s52 Waterwitch. Abdullah says that he asked for $100 as his fee, which on the arbitration of a Chinese merchant Kim Swee was fixed at $80. The mission having been successfully accomplished, after exciting experiences both on land and sea, Abdullah reported at the shop of Baba Ban Tiong, and was greeted with the remark:
You have arrived safely, it is well: but you will be paid nothing as your fee. Tomorrow we will meet at Baba Kim Swee’s shop to discuss the matter.
The Kesah goes on to say that both Grandpre and Abdullah went to Ban Tiong for payment, and not getting satisfaction they threatened legal proceedings. Grandpre’s agreed fee of $120 was paid, and he was asked not to tell Abdullah that he had been paid in full. Poh Eng offered Abdullah $40 in settlement, and later $60 – which Abdullah says he refused to accept and laid his complaint before a magistrate, whereupon the full fee of $80 was paid to him.
It has been found impossible to get any information concerning some of the Chinese merchants whose names appear in these pages. Baba Kim Swee mentioned in the Kesah was probably the Chinese merchant Yeo Kim Swee