Cheah Tek Soon 谢德顺

Cheah Tek Soon was born in Penang to Cheah Chow Pan, and was a brother to Cheah Tek Thye and Cheah Tek Lee. Cheah Tek Soon owned the Sing Eng Moh & Co., and had founded the first Chinese insurance company in the Straits Settlements, known as Kean Guan Insurance Company. Cheah Tek Soon was best known for his impressive five-story house at Northam Road, Penang. In spite of the spacious house, Cheah Tek Soon never married, he invited his brothers to live with him. One of his brothers, Cheah Tek Thye had given his daughter, Cheah Liew Bee for his adoption.

Cheah Tek Soon was active in the Chinese community affairs, he was a donor to the establishment of the Penang Chinese Town Hall in 1881 and donated a Bandstand at the Penang Town Hall in 1884. 

He entered a partnership with Cheah Eu Ghee 谢有义 and became government's contractor. In 1893, both men were in charged for repairing the road from Tanjong Tokong to Tanjong Batu in Penang which cost $5,000. Besides that, he and Cheah Eu Khay had business interest in steamships. Cheah Tek Soon’s brother, Cheah Tek Lee was a business partner with Cheah Chen Eok, where he acted as intermediary for Thai merchants in Penang, Perak and Kedah. Cheah Tek Lee married two daughters of Khaw Teng Hai@Khaw Soo Cheang (1797 – 1883), the Governor of Ranong. 

When Cheah Tek Soon died, he left his estate to his adopted daughter, Cheah Liew Bee, including his mansion at Northam Road. Cheah Liew Bee who had married to Goh Say Eng (1875 - 1941), was a loyal supporter of Dr Sun Yan Sen's revolution movement in China. He contributed all the Cheah’s properties in order to keep Dr Sun's movement alive and this had led the couple lived in dire conditions.

Kwa Chooi Seng

Kwa Chooi Seng

Kwa Chooi Seng was born in Penang. He was the eldest son of Kwa Soo. Kwa Soo was a merchant in Penang, where he came to Taiping in 1877 and commenced in tin mining and smelting business. Kwa Chooi Seng was one of the heads of the Hokkien community in Taiping and the owner of the large tin mines and lands in the Larut district.

He owned a loaded property in several towns in Perak and other Malay States. Kwa Chooi Seng and his two brothers, Kwa Chooi Kim and Kwa Chin Chuan were proprietors of a 200 acres rubber estate in Kamunting, Taiping. In 1914, the Kwa brothers generously donated a piece of land nearby the Taiping Hospital to the Penang missionaries for building a Christian school, known as St. George's Institution in the town.

Kwa Chooi Seng had two sons and one daughter and was married twice. The Kwa brothers were buried at the Hokkien Cemetery, Taiping, Perak. Began with Kwa Chooi Seng's son Quah Chye Soon, the family has changed the surname from Kwa to Quah.

Kwa Chooi Kim was married three times, he decided to settle in Penang after the demise of his father Kwa Soo. Kwa Chooi Kim was a supporter of Kuomintang movements in China. He had offered Dr Sun Yat Sen, a Chinese revolutionist a house in Taiping, when Dr Sun was in the town.

Kwa Chor Su

Kwa Soo or also known as Kwa Chor Su was born in China. He migrated first to Phuket, Thailand. Kwa Soo married a Siamese wife and commenced his tin mine business there. He then moved to Penang in 1850s and later to Taiping in 1877, where he married second time there. Kwa Soo also involved in the Larut Wars, and partnered with Chung Keng Kwee. Kwa Soo was famed for his generosity in funding the welfare of Buddhist temples in Phuket and Taiping. The Siamese temple in Taiping was built on the land donated by him.