Yew Say Kheng 尤世琼

Yew Say Kheng in the Qing Mandarin Robe
Courtesy: The Star Newspaper

Yew Say Kheng was based in Penang with ancestry in Nan Jin Village (南金村 ), Mei Mao (美茂), Fujian. His father, Yew Aik Tong left China to Malaya in the early 19th century for trading purposes. As time progressed, the Yew family had amassed wealth from various resources, including pepper cultivation in Medan, Indonesia. But, not in the Government's opium farm. The family believed the detrimental sides of opium could harm the society. In order to deliver a strong anti-opium message to his descendants, Yew Say Kheng often sent relief funds to China for fighting the Opium Wars.

Yew Say Kheng remained a charitable person and had donated for various causes in Penang and China. His efforts were recognized by the Imperial Chinese's Courts, and he was bestowed with a Mandarin of Blue Cotton. An ancestral portrait of himself was commissioned as an honour to his contributions. 

Yew Say Kheng died in July 1930. He was described in the Nan Yang Famous Personalities Biographies as "a foresighted man, disciplined and brave, ... a selfless man whom often helped in famines and disasters".

Yew family
Courtesy The Star Newspaper

Wife:
Lim Kim Kee

Son(s):
Yew Hun Teong
Yew Hun Eng

Daughter(s):
Yew Phaik Hoon wife of Quah Hong Chiam


References:

1. Lin Bo Ai. (1939). 南洋名人集傳 / Nan Yang Ming Ren Ji Zhuan (Volume 4). Entry No. 134.
2. Bashir Ahmad Mallal. (1966). The Malayan Law Journal. Malaya Publishing House Limited. p. 216
3. N. Trisha. (08 November 2015). The Yew clan of Penang remembers a heroic man. The Star Newspaper. Retrieved from https://www.star2.com/people/2015/11/08/the-yew-clan-of-penang-remembers-a-heroic-man/#OvKMz7a8yJSjbjyg.99