One Hundred Years' History Of The Chinese In Singapore: The Annotated Edition. Ong Siang Song
student of James Legge, Song Hoot Kiam (1830–1900) studied at the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca and then followed Legge to Hong Kong where he continued his studies. From there he went to England, and shortly after his return met and married his first wife. His strong voice made him a natural preacher at Reverend Keasberry’s Prinsep Street chapel, at which he also led the singing. When his first wife passed away, he married Phan Fung Lean. Song Ong Siang is the eldest child from that marriage. Song Hoot Kiam is discussed in detail in Chapter 5 of this volume.
32The son of a gambier and pepper trader, Tan Kong Wee (1842–1888) was close to Song Hoot Kiam. Under Song’s influence, Tan joined Reverend Keasberry’s chapel against the wishes of his family. He also married Song’s eldest daughter and had two sons. He worked as a cashier at the law firm Drew & Napier to support his family. The job earned him a comfortable living, allowing him to retire two years before his death. See JAB Cook, ‘A Christian Baba’ (1889) 20 Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal 225–226.
33A Chinese Peranakan from Bencoolen, Na Tien Piet was born in 1836 in Bencoolen. He spent his earlier years trading spices between Sumatra and Singapore before settling down in Singapore in 1872, where he lived for 24 years. He was a literary scholar and published a Malay poem, Shaer Almarhoem Beginda Sultan Abubakar di Negri Johore in 1896 under the pseudonym Kalam Langit or Celestial Pen, being a translation of his name in Malay. See Lee Geok Boi, Pages from Yesteryear: A Look at the Printed Works of Singapore 1819–1959 (Singapore: Singapore Heritage Society, 1989), at 17.
34Reverend William Murray retired in February 1936, and a farewell meeting was held in his honour at the Tomlinson Hall at the Singapore Presbyterian Church on Orchard Road. See ‘Retirement of Rev William Murray’ Straits Times, 7 Feb 1936, at 13.
35An American who lived most of his life abroad, Joseph Balestier (1788–1858) was born in France and later moved to Southeast Asia where he became a planter and a merchant. He owned a 1,000-acre sugarcane and cotton plantation in Singapore as well as a plant manufacturing sugar and rum. He also served as the first United States consul in Riau and Singapore, as well as its Envoy and Diplomatic Agent for Southeast Asia. Balestier district, where his plantation stood, is named after him. See Victor R Savage and Brenda SA Yeoh, Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2013), at 27–28; and Richard Hale, The Balestiers: The First American Residents of Singapore (Singapore: Marshall-Cavendish, 2016).
36[Song: Play and Politics (1901), p 158]. See WHM Read, Play and Politics: Recollections of Malaya by an Old Resident (London: W Gardner, Darton, 1901), at 158. Like many Scotsmen in his era who moved to Singapore, William Henry Macleod Read (1819–1909) came here with Johnston & Co, the largest trading firm here at the time. He lived here from 1841 to 1887, during which time he contributed greatly to Singapore society. A strong mediator, he was appointed Special Constable and was often called on to settle conflicts between the Hokkien and Cantonese communities. He was a volunteer with the Singapore Rifle Corps, Consul for the Netherlands, member of the Legislative Council and Head of the Chamber of Commerce. A good sportsman, he won the first Singapore Derby and went on to set up the Singapore Turf Club; he also organised Singapore’s first regatta. He belonged to the Freemasons and led the Grand Lodge of the Eastern Archipelago, during which time a new hall was built here. One of his final contributions to Singapore was to lay a cylinder of the bridge over the Singapore River that bears his name today. See generally, CB Buckley, An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore 1819–1867 (Singapore: Fraser & Neave, 1902) where Read’s contributions and exploits are peppered throughout the book.
37[Song: Prisoners their own Warders]. See Major JRA McNair, Prisoners Their Own Warders (Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co, 1899). Joseph Frederick Aldophus McNair (1828–1910) was a colonial officer who had an illustrious career in India and the Straits Settlements. He held various positions in India, where he learned Hindi, and then in Malacca, Penang, Singapore and Perak. His knowledge of Hindi stood him in good stead, and in Singapore allowed him to work closely with Indian convicts as the Superintendent of Convicts. He was also Executive Engineer and head of Public Works. He resourcefully engaged the convicts under his charge to work on many municipal construction projects, constructing roads and buildings like St Andrew’s Cathedral and the Istana. See Walter Makepeace, Gilbert Edward Brooke and Roland St John Braddell (eds), One Hundred Years of Singapore, Vol 1 (London: J. Murray, 1921), at 97.
38In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements along with Malacca and Penang, marking its growth from its founding in 1819. The Governor of the Straits Settlements reported to the Governor-General of Calcutta, India, in whose hands power really lay. Under this arrangement, William Orfeur Cavenagh (1820–1891) was appointed Governor by the Indian office. He had already served in India as an officer in the army of the East India Company, and was no stranger to the Indian administration. For eight years he governed Singapore, from 1859 to 1867, at which point control of the settlement passed from India to London. The next governor of Singapore reported not to Calcutta but to the Colonial Office in London, marking Singapore’s promotion to a Crown Colony. See JM Gullick, ‘Cavenagh, Sir (William) Orfeur (1820–1891)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/98336; see also Justin Corfield, Historical Dictionary of Singapore (Plymouth: Scarecrow Press, 2011), at 50.
39Hindi for ‘sportsman’ or ‘guide’. The term shikaree or shekarry is used in three ways. In this case, it refer to a ‘native expert, who either brings in game on his own account, or accompanies European sportsmen as guide and aid’. See Henry Yule & AC Burnell, Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive, William Crooke (ed) (London: John Murray, 1903), at 827.
40Singapore owes much of its early infrastructure to civil engineer John Turnbull Thomson (1821–1884). Employed by the East India Company, he arrived in Malaya in 1838 and in the 1840s became Government Surveyor and Superintendent of Roads and Public Works in Singapore. His many accomplishments included important surveys such as the water survey that led to the establishment of MacRitchie Reservoir. He also oversaw the design and construction of a great number of roads and buildings such as Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Hajjah Fatimah Mosque, the Dalhousie Obelisk and, his biggest achievement, the Horsburgh Lighthouse. He returned in 1853 to England for a few years before moving to New Zealand, where he lived for the rest of his life. See Victor R Savage and Brenda SA Yeoh, Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2013), at 384–385.
41See Chapter 3, n 54.
42The eldest of Tan Tock Seng’s sons, Tan Kim Ching (1829–1892) was an extremely wealthy and influential businessman. His business interests extended to Siam, Vietnam, Malaya and China, and he was Consul for Japan, Russia and Siam and also a member of the Siamese court. His extensive connections in Siam made him an important go-between for the colonial administration in Singapore and their Siamese counterparts. He was also the first Asian member of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, and when his father passed away, he became kapitan of the Straits Chinese community. See CB Buckley, An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore 1819–1867 (Singapore: Fraser & Neave, 1902), at 411 & 530.
43Tan Beng Swee (1828–1884) was the son of another well-known Malacca-born merchant and philanthropist, Tan Kim Seng. He also supported some of his father’s other interests – Kim Seng Chinese Free School on Amoy Street, which Beng Swee went on to open in Malacca, and the firm Kim Seng & Co, where he was partner. With Tan Kim Ching, he set up Po Chek Kio temple and turned it into the headquarters for the Tan clan. He had strong ties to Malacca. He was President of the Chinese Temple there, and when he died he was brought to Malacca to be buried. See Walter Makepeace, Gilbert Edward Brooke and Roland St John Braddell (eds), One Hundred Years of Singapore, Vol 1 (London: John Murray, 1921), at 496, and Arnold Wright & HA Cartwright (eds), Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908), at 631.
44Colonial