One Hundred Years' History Of The Chinese In Singapore: The Annotated Edition. Ong Siang Song
and very curious in its way. The granite pillars and much of the stone ornamental work have been brought from China, and the latter is exceedingly grotesque. The interior and the cornices are adorned with elaborate carving in wood. Outside are painted tiles and edging of flowers, fruits, etc, formed out of variegated pottery which is broken to pieces and then cut with scissors.11
The firm of Whampoa & Co was already well known in 1840 as provisioner and shipchandler to HM Navy, in Telok Ayer Street. Whampoa senior came to Singapore in its earliest days and kept a shop to supply the shipping and town with beef, bread and vegetables, and the business prospered. After his death, his son Hoo Ah Kay Whampoa carried on and extended the business and became a prominent figure in the life of the Settlement for many years. Mr Gilbert Angus12 and Mr Whampoa junior were at one time partners in business. The firm was enterprising and attempted to supply the requirements of the community in the matter of ice by establishing in 1854 an ice-house and stocking it with ice from America, but as the consumption was only from 400 to 500 lb a day, and a sale of 1,000 lb was necessary to meet the cost and expenses, this branch of the firm’s activities was discontinued. The firm’s bakery was for many years the most extensive in the Colony. It was situated in Havelock Road in the buildings now occupied by the Bintang Oil Mills. [52] It may be of interest to many to know that the bakery is still working successfully and is now located in Club Street. Mr Tchan Chun Fook13 was for some twenty-five years its genial manager.
Mr Hoo Ah Kay was born in Whampoa near Canton about 1816 and came to Singapore in 1830 to assist his father in business. His knowledge of English undoubtedly gave him a distinct advantage over other Chinese merchants and he rapidly acquired a position as one of the leading business men of the day. He was ready to take his share in every good work, and we find him as Hon Treasurer on the first Committee of Management of Tan Tock Seng Hospital in 1844. Buckley14 mentions it as a curious fact that in 1855, at the request of the Ladies’ Committee, Whampoa arranged to provision the Girls’ School at an average charge of $4 a month for each child.
‘Whampoa’ Hoo Ah Kay
The Free Press of 11th February 1847 contains the following account of a dinner to Mr Hoo Ah Kay:
It having been ascertained that Whampoa, the younger, whose name is known far and wide in these eastern parts and is familiar to not a few even in distant Europe, was about to leave this by the next steamer on a visit to his native country, a few of his friends, amongst the European mercantile community chiefly, resolved to show their respect and esteem for him by entertaining him at dinner. The dinner accordingly came off on Monday evening at the London Hotel, when about twenty sat down: CS Carnie15, Esq, in the chair, and WS Duncan16, Esq, croupier. The health of their guests having been given, Whampoa returned thanks in a most neat and feeling manner in English: and on the health of Tan Kim Seng, one of our most respected Chinese merchants who was also present, being drunk, Kim Seng replied in a clever and humorous speech in Malay which delighted all present.17
Hoo Ah Kay first had a plantation where the Tanglin Barracks are now, and long before Public Gardens were thought of he had bought a neglected garden
The well-planned paths were bordered with all varieties of brightly coloured flowering shrubs – the magnificent ixora, the numerous varieties of finely scented magnolia, the delicate blooms of many species of hibiscus and other plants too numerous to mention, contrasting with the beautiful flowers that emerged so gracefully from the ponds and streams. Water lilies of every colour decked the stagnant waters like stars shining forth in a dark night: while the white and pink blooms of the lotus surmounted in graceful elegance the majestic flowers of the Victoria Regia with their enormous circular leaves. There was also a choice selection of animals in the menagerie as well as a good collection of birds in the aviary.
For more than a quarter of a century Whampoa’s Gardens, in Cantonese ‘Nam-sang-Fa-un’, were a place of resort for Chinese, young and old, at the Chinese New Year season, as popular as the Raffles Museum is to-day at that season. Great throngs of men, women and children flocked there throughout the day, enjoying the fresh air and the beautiful works of nature and art. Something like a country fair would spring up and the whole countryside presented a scene of picturesque animation, with the fine dresses of the grown-up people [54] and the lovely silks of the children. Hawkers with their stalls and booths, the merry-go-round, the joywheel and other little roadside shows, patronised by the holiday-makers, set up their little establishments in the vicinity. In such gatherings the democratic instincts of the Chinese would be seen, for all classes without distinction would mix freely and show mutual courtesy and respect: the children of the big towkays joining those of the kranis in all their plays and amusements.
It was quite a common thing for naval officers to spend a night at Whampoa’s bungalow. Admiral Keppel18 mentions him several times in his work.19 Thus in 1848 he writes:
Our worthy old purser, Simmons, departed this life while staying at Whampoa’s country house.
Whampoa was a fine specimen of his country, and had for many years been contractor for fresh beef and naval stores. His generosity and honesty had long made him a favourite.
He had a country house and of course a garden: also a circular pond in which was a magnificent lotus, the Victoria Regia, a present from the Regent of Siam, who sent it to him by WH Read. The huge lily grew splendidly and bore leaves over 11 feet in diameter.
When in bloom, Whampoa gave sumptuous entertainments to naval officers: although our host, he would not sit with us, but sat in a chair slightly withdrawn from the table.
At midnight, by the light of a full moon, we would visit this beautiful flower, which faced the moon and moved with it until below the horizon. Amongst other pets he had an orang-utan who preferred a bottle of cognac to water.
Dear old Whampoa’s eldest son was sent to England for education, and while there became a Presbyterian. When I was in Singapore years after, the young man returned, and had the assurance to reappear before his father, fresh and well, but minus a tail, and consequently was banished to Canton until it regrew and he consented to worship the gods of his fathers.20 [55]
In his diary for 1857 Admiral Keppel had this entry:21
Oct 1 — Arrived in Singapore. Governor being absent at Penang put up at Whampoa’s, and how comfortable the good fellow made me.
Oct 4 — Afternoon agreeably passed at Angus’ small bungalow, where Whampoa, ‘Thomas’, Briggs and Harrison dined.
The large brick house in the old garden was built in later years, and the large dining-room at the back was completed just in time for Whampoa to give a big dinner to Admiral Keppel when he was here again in 1867 as Commander-in-Chief. After Whampoa’s death, the property was sold to Mr Seah Liang Seah
Admiral Keppel made one more reference to Whampoa in his book, in which there is a good picture of the subject of our sketch. In 1869, when passing through Singapore, the Admiral was entertained to a big dinner at Government House. Whampoa was