One Hundred Years' History Of The Chinese In Singapore: The Annotated Edition. Ong Siang Song
of Tan Tock Seng Hospital when it moved from Pearl’s Hill to Balestier Plain. He was also Registrar for Births and Deaths 1881, and President of the Municipality in 1888. Rowell was born in Aberdeen in 1840 and studied medicine in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Paris and Vienna before coming to Singapore in 1868 as Acting Colonial Surgeon. He retired in 1890 at the age of 50 when his health broke down. See ‘Death at Age of Ninety-Two’ Straits Times, 20 Jul 1932, at 11; Walter Makepeace, Gilbert Edward Brooke and Roland St John Braddell (eds), One Hundred Years of Singapore, Vol 1 (London: John Murray, 1921), at 498, 502–503, & 518; see also Victor R Savage and Brenda SA Yeoh, Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2013), at 328.
45The wife of Tan Tock Seng, Lee Seo Neo (1807–1877) played an active part in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. It is thought that she also owned a sizable coconut plantation in Geylang. See Kamala Devi Dhoraisingham & Dhoraisingham S Samuel, Tan Tock Seng: Pioneer – His Life, Times, Contributions & Legacy (Kota Kinabalu: Natural History Publications (Borneo), 2003).
46Aljunied Road is named after this scion of the wealthy Arab family, Syed Ali bin Mohamed Aljunied. Syed Ali had moved from Palembang to Singapore with his father, Syed Omar Aljunied. The Aljunieds maintained a family residence in Balestier for over a hundred years. See Victor R Savage and Brenda SA Yeoh, Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish, 2013), at 14–15.
47Chinese businessman Loke Yew (1845–1917) was both tenacious and generous. Arriving in Singapore at the tender age of 11, he managed to save $99 in four years and opened his own shop. From there he went up the Peninsula to Larut where he went into mining, initially losing large sums of money. However, he persevered and ended up with a massive fortune. He was charitable; besides donating $50,000 to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, he also gave $50,000 to Raffles Hospital and another $50,000 to the government to either improve the conditions for patients quarantined on St John’s Island or to build a new paupers’ hospital. See Arnold Wright & HA Cartwright (eds), Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908), at 893–895; see also Michael Godley, The Mandarin-Capitalists from Nanyang: Overseas Chinese Enterprise in the Modernisation of China 1893–1911 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), at 12–14.
48See ‘New Tan Tock Seng Hospital’ Straits Times, 19 Mar 1909, at 7.
49Sir John Anderson (1858–1918) was Governor of the Straits Settlements from 1904-1911. In 1916, he became Governor of Ceylon and passed away from illness in the midst of his term. See Arnold Wright & HA Cartwright (eds), Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908), at 123–124.
50Arthur Knight (1833–1916) lived in Singapore for 50 years, participating actively in society. He held the positions of Assistant Auditor General, Assistant Colonial Secretary, Vice President of the Singapore Philharmonic Society and was Secretary of Tan Tock Seng Hospital for 30 years. See Walter Makepeace, Gilbert Edward Brooke and Roland St John Braddell (eds), One Hundred Years of Singapore, Vol 1 (London: John Murray, 1921), at 551–553.
51[Song: Journal, Str. Branch R.A.S. (No. 64)] See Arthur Knight, ‘Tan Tock Seng’s Hospital, Singapore’ (1913) 64 Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 72–75.
52Known as the millionaire of Malacca, Ong Kim Wee (1851–1913) was a rubber magnate. He was born in Malacca, the son of Ong Keng Hoon, a successful planter and rice merchant. Educated at the Malacca Free School, he joined his father’s business at an early age and took over from him when the latter died in 1904. He owned two extensive estates, one of 6,200 acres at Merlimau, and another of 5,000 acres near Port Dickson, planted with rubber and tapioca. Ong married a daughter of Chua Tiang Kiam. Generous with his wealth, he contributed to scholarship funds for St Francis’ School in Malacca, and Anglo-Chinese School and St Joseph’s Institution in Singapore. In 1897, he was made Justice of the Peace, and six years later, became a member of the Malacca Municipal Council. See Arnold Wright & HA Cartwright (eds), Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908), at 843.
53The firm was originally called Graham Mackenzie & Co. When Colin Mackenzie left the firm on 31 December 1834, the name was changed to Shaw Whitehead & Co with John Horrocks Whitehead as partner. At the time of his death, the other partners of the firm were James Stephen in Singapore and Michie Forbes Davidson in England. See CB Buckley, An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore (Singapore: Fraser & Neave, 1902), at 234.
54For more on Tan Teck Guan, see Chapter 7 of this volume.
55A son of Lee Cheng Tee, Lee Pek Hoon (1866–1934) was educated at St Joseph’s Institution, spoke several dialects and Japanese. He started work at the firm of Harris, Goodwin & Co, and in 1888 left to work in China for 10 years as agent for Bun Hin & Co to sell steamers in Hong Kong and Amoy. In 1898, he returned to Singapore and joined the Straits Steamship Co. He was also an avid rider, he owned race horses and belonged to the Chinese Riding Party in the 1900s. He married a daughter of Tan Kung Hoe of Malacca. See Arnold Wright & HA Cartwright (eds), Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908), at 577.
56Besides being an agent of the Government Food Control, Lee Pek Hock (dates unknown) also represented Gum & Co, a trading firm. He received an OBE in 1923 that was revoked because he was convicted of bribing a police superintendent. See London Gazette, 30 Aug 1929, at 5638.
57Cheong Ann Jan (1818–1881) also owned 47 lots of freehold building allotments and a compound house, totalling ‘5 acres one rood and 31 poles’, situated at Bukit Timah Road. The estate was auctioned off on 30 January 1920, after his son Cheong Swee Kiat’s death. See ‘Property Sale’ Singapore Free Press 30 Jan 1920, at 12.
58The business that Cheong Choon Kim (d 1905) established in d’Almeida Street with his brother, Yap Whatt & Co, was the first Straits-born Chinese firm engaged in commission and the import and export trade in Singapore. In 1902 Cheong visited China and opened an office in Shanghai, but died of a stroke in 1905. His was the first Straits-born Chinese to commence a commission import and export trade in Singapore. See Arnold Wright & HA Cartwright (eds), Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908), at 717–718.
59The co-owner of Yap Whatt & Co, Cheong Choon Beng (d 1913) travelled to England in 1902 for the coronation of Edward VII, where he stayed in Alexandra Palace. Like his brother, he also died of a stroke. Ibid, at 718.
60Educated at Raffles Institution, Wee Theam Tew (1866–1918) was a lawyer. He also represented Rochore ward on the municipal board and acted as secretary to the military governor of Beijing. See Arnold Wright & HA Cartwright (eds), Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya (London: Lloyd’s Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908), at 634.
61The Gan Eng Seng School was one of the few schools in Singapore established and supported by an individual instead of an organisation. Its founder Gan Eng Seng (1844–1899) was known for his philanthropy, also contributing hugely to Thong Chai Medical Hall and Tan Tock Seng Hospital. On Gan Eng Seng, see Chapter 9 of this volume.
62Dr Gilbert E Brooke offered the following sketch of Robert Little:
Dr Robert Little, MD, FRCS (Edin), was the son of an Edinburgh lawyer, and grandson of the minister at Applegarth, in Scotland. His two younger brothers, John Martin Little and Matthew Little, were resident in Singapore for many years, and were founders of Messrs Little, Cursetjee and Co, now John Little and Co. Dr Little lived at the Singapore Dispensary for a few years, but afterwards bought some property in River Valley Road, and occupied Bonnygrass House for over thirty-five years, which must be a record for continuous European domicile. His first wife was a daughter of Mrs Whittle, who kept a school in North Bridge Road in 1837. Dr Little was a man of courtly manners and personal charm. He had a striking personality, and was very neat, and had few idiosyncrasies, unless the habit of always