Saturday 22 August 2009

Foo Choo Choon 胡子春

FOO CHOO CHOON 胡子春

Foo Choo Choon or Woo Chu Chun was born on 31 August 1860 in China to Foo Yu Chio. He was the scion of an ancient Hakka family, whose ancestral home in Chung Hang Eng, Yongding County, Fujian, China, which is very near to Guangdong. His grandfather was the first in his lineage migrated to Penang and was one of the pioneers in the Straits Settlements. Foo Choo Choon's father was born in Penang, but spent most of his time in China. 

Foo Choo Choon's boyhood was spent in China, looked after by his paternal grandmother, due to his mother demised at a young age. At the age of thirteen, Foo Choo Choon came to Penang to receive his early English education. His versatility in speaking fluent English and Chinese had made him a favourite among the Western community, as well as for the Chinese. Soon after he completed his English education in Penang, Foo Choo Choon worked in his uncle’s tin mines in Taiping, Perak. The young Foo successfully learned the basic management of running tin mines. Few years later he commenced business on his own account. Subsequently he moved to Kinta District in Perak and settled down at Lahat, which he had employed thousands of workers. 

Ill health necessitated him to return to China for treatment. And upon returned to Malaya, he became connected with the Tronoh Mines owing to the owners abandoning their workings. He visited and examined the place thoroughly, and subsequently obtained a sublease of the land, upon which he decided to install extensive modern plant. Although this decision was not entertained favourably in many quarters, the result achieved has since testified to the wisdom of the proprietor. 

Foo Choo Choon’s acquisition of wealth has been accompanied by many philanthropic acts. On returning to China, during a famine, he built and supplied several public granaries, established schools in his native district and directed that the revenue from his property there should be utilized in assisting the poorer scholars. His generosity during the Shantung famine was the means of bringing him to the notice of the Chinese Government, and he received the honorary title of magistrate, with the additional privilege of wearing peacock feathers. Further acts of generosity raised him to the rank of Taotai and finally to the position of Commissioner of the Salt Revenue. 

In the Federated Malay States, he has been recognized always as one of the most advanced Chinese in educational reform and towards the movement, he has contributed largely by instituting and maintaining many Chinese and English schools. Foo Choo Choon was a naturalized British subject and was a fellow of the Society of Arts in England. 

In addition to the Tronoh Mines, he was proprietor of the Sungei Besi and other mines in Selangor, was the director of the Kledang Mines Ltd of the Ipoh Foundry Ltd and the Tanglin Rubber Syndicate, besides owning several estates. In which he had employed some 10000 coolies. 

Foo Choo Choon had always identified himself with public affairs in the Federated Malay States. He was the president for the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States of the Chinese Board of Education, Perak Mining and Planting Association, Kinta; Penang Anti – Opium Society and the Chinese Widows and Orphans’ Institution, Ipoh. 

Foo Choo Choon was the member of State Council of Perak, the honorary member of Chinese Advisory Board of Perak and president of Perak Chinese Chamber of Commerce (1913). He founded the Perak Mining and Planting Association, Chinese Maternity Hospital and the Chinese Girls’ School at Ipoh and the Mandarin School at Lahat. He was a committee member of King Edward VII School (Taiping), Yuk Choy Middle School (Ipoh) and was the patron of the Perak Anti-Opium Society. 

In 1906, the Chinese Emperor, by special command, ordered the Viceroy Shum of Canton to confer on Foo Choo Choon the Order of Merit for his services to his country, and this decoration, together with a gold medal, was sent from China and presented by a special envoy. Two years later, the Imperial Chinese Court conferred him the rank of King Hing of the third class mandarin, and had him appointed to become the Chinese Minister to Siam. However, Foo Choo Choon declined the offer, as he would consider it a greater honour, if the Imperial Court would grant him some mining concessions in Hainan, instead of a title. 

Foo Choo Choon died on 27 March 1921 in Penang. He married Chung Keng Quee’s niece and had three children; Foo Meow Chin (胡茂菁), Foo Meow Ying (胡茂英) and Foo Meow Wong (胡茂煌).

3 comments:

  1. Foo Meow Wong should be Foo Meow Fong. Foo Choo Choon has two wives. The first wife has two sons who are mentioned in yr write up. The second wife has two children, a son, Foo Meow Fong and a daughter, Foo Gek Wai

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    1. Foo's memorial consists of 4 tombs in his Penang cemetary. I can only guess the late Foo and his 2 wives... One unknown

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  2. I have access to the Zupu (族譜) entitled 福建永定鎮胡氏族譜, updated in 2011, and the Zupu contained the ancestry of Foo Choo Choon (胡子春).

    I found the name Foo Choo Choon (胡子春) on the chart shown on page 509 of the Zupu (族譜) while details on him given on page 519. I can now trace the ancestry of Foo Choo Choon (胡子春), generation by generation, all the way to Huang Di (2,697 BC).

    Just last week I got into contact with Nicholas Foo, now in the US and the great-grandson of Foo Choo Choon. I shall be designing and constructing his family pedigree chart all the way to Huang Di. I hope he would give me permission to share the chart with others, once it is ready.
    Foo Choo Choon (胡子春) is at Generation 23. 子春 is his Hao (号) name. His Hui (讳) name is 国廉, while his Zi (字) name is 能忠. His name, as quoted on the chart on page 509 of the Zupu (族譜), is his Zi (字) name of 能忠 with his Hao (号) name alongside it in smaller print. For searching for past ancestors in this Yongding (永定) Hu/Foo (胡) Zupu (族譜), one should use their Zi (字) name for locating the name in the Zupu.

    From the Zupu, Foo Choo Choon (胡子春) is said to have two wives (one of the surname 郑 while the other of surname 余) and 5 biological sons (茂森, 茂臻 (born 1898), 茂钦, 茂英, and 茂煌) while another son (茂昌, born 1890) was adopted from his brother 能尊. 茂昌 is the 3rd son of 能尊. Besides FOO Meow Ying (胡茂英) and FOO Meow Wong (胡茂煌), could anyone quote the transliteration of 茂昌, 茂森, and 茂臻? FOO Meow Fong is the transliteration of what Chinese characters?

    In this article Foo Choo Choon, Foo Meow-Chin is quoted as one of his son. The Chinese character quoted for Meow-Chin is 茂菁, and in Geni he is said to be born in 1897. Could 茂菁 and 茂森 be the same person with the second character wrongly written? 茂臻 was born on 6 August 1898 (Gregorian calendar).

    If Foo Meow Wong should be Foo Meow Fong than his name in Chinese characters would be 胡茂煌.
    In the zupu, only details for the descendants of Foo Choo Choon (胡子春)’s adopted son 茂昌 were recorded. None of the descendants of from Foo Choo Choon (胡子春) five biological sons were recorded. Without other information, I tend to speculate that茂昌 (the adopted son) was the one that remained in China and his descendants there supplied their details for the Zupu update in 2011. The Zupu did not state who of his two wives gave birth to each of the 5 biological sons (茂森, 茂臻, 茂钦, 茂英, and 茂煌). Does his grave in Mount Erskine, Penang provide the names of his daughters? From the photos shown on https://my.72dragon.com/2099/foo-choo-choon-memorial/, I note there are four graves shown. Could anyone provide photos of what was engraved on the four gravestones?

    Philip Tan Chee Lin

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