Portraits of Prominent Overseas Chinese in Singapore and Johor

Khoo Hun Yeang 邱汉阳

Khoo Hun Yeang

Khoo Hun Yeang was born in Penang in 1860 to Khoo Thean Teik. His father was a prominent figure in Penang and Perak. Khoo Hun Yeang was educated in Penang and joined his father's business in coconut plantation in Province Wellesley.  He managed the business successfully for 10 years and returned to Penang to assist her father's interest in the Penang Opium and Spirit Farm in which he remained for another 6 years. 

Khoo Hun Yeang later commenced business on his own account in Penang under the firm chop Chin Lee & Co., trading in tin and general trades. In 1899 he joined the Singapore Opium and Spirit Farm, and was appointed managing director of the farm from 1902 until 1906. He relinquished his interest in the Singapore farm and went to Kuching to venture in the construction industry. 

Khoo Hun Yeang was the Vice-Chairman of the Penang Chinese Town Hall, a Board Member of the Kek Lok Si Temple and the Cheng Hoon Giam Temple (Snake Temple). The main street, Khoo Hun Yeang Road, in which he built in Kuching was named after him. He died in Medan in 1917 and was buried in Kampung Bahru, Penang, at his family burial ground. He was survived by a principal wife Ong Gek Chai (王玉钗), 8 sons, his two elder sons Khoo Siew Jin (b. 1884) and Khoo Siew Ghee were prominent merchants in Singapore.

Chan Chew Koon 曾秋坤

Baron Chan, FRCPCH, MBE
© Gary Lee; Universal Pictorial Press and Agency Ltd

Chan Chew Koon was the first Chinese Lord appointed to the House of Lords in Great Britain. Chan Chew Koon or Michael Chan was born on 6 March 1940 in Singapore. He was educated at Raffles Institution, Singapore and studied medicine at Guy's Hospital.

Michael first served as lecturer and pediatrician at the University of Singapore (now National University of Singapore). Shortly after his return to Singapore, in 1974 he continued his studies in Von Willebrand's disease (a study on the symptoms similar to hemophilia) under the supervision of Professor Roger Michael Hardisty at the University of London's Institute of Child Health. In 1976, Michael then posted as lecturer and pediatrician at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (University of Liverpool). He remained for almost 18 years before appointed as the director of Ethnic Health Unit in National Health Service. 

Michael was an active social activist concerning the rights of minorities in Great Britain. He was an advisor to the Secretary of State for the Home Department and a commissioner of Commission for Racial Equality, a non-departmental public organisation in the UK which aimed to solve racial discrimination and promote racial equality. Michael also held various important positions in the field of race relations in the UK, and was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1991. 

In 2001, he was appointed member of the peerage and became Lord Chan of Oxton in the County of Merseyside. Michael married Irene Chee Wei Len in 1965 and has a son, Stephen Chan and daughter, Ruth Chan. He died on 21 January 2006. 

A Pictorial History of the Overseas Chinese: Song Ong Siang Chinese Portraits Collection

One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore 
One of the highly sought after reference materials in Chinese studies in the Straits Settlements would be the classical One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore compiled by Song Ong Siang (later Sir). This 602-page book was first published in 1923 by John Murray, London and later reprinted by the University Malaya Press (1967) and Oxford University Press (1984). 

The objective of the compilation is to document all influential Chinese in Singapore since its inception as a British Colony in 1819. Hundred of Chinese community leaders, merchants, politicians, etc. are discussed in an anecdotal flow beginning with the history of Singapore as a British Colony. The stories of the Singapore Chinese business interests and contributions to the development of early Singapore are embodied in this book. There are over 100 Chinese individual portraits and family photographs featured in this hard-bound book.

Below is the list of individuals with their portraits featured in the book. 

1. Boey Ah Sam 
2. Chan Kim Boon 
3. Chan Sze Jin 
4. Chan Sze Onn 
5. Chao Kim Keat 
6. Cheang Hong Lim 
7. Cheong Ann Bee 
8. Cheong Chun Tin 
9. Cheong Swee Whatt 
10. Chia Ann Siang 
11. Chia Guan Eng 
12. Chia Hood Theam 
13. Ching Keng Lee 
14. Chao Chuan Ghiok 
15. Chao Giang Thye 
16. Eu Tong Sen 
17. Foo Teng Quee 
18. Gan Eng Seng 
19. Gaw Boon Chan 
20. Goh Hood Keng 
21. Goh Lai Hee 
22. Hoo Ah Kay 
23. Hoo Ah Yip 
24. Hoo Keng Tuck 
25. Kiong Chin Eng 
26. Koh Eng Hoon 
27. Koh San Hin 
28. Kow Soon Kim 
29. Kum Cheng Soo 
30. Kung Tuan Cheng 
31. K.Y. Doo 
32. Lee Cheng Yan 
33. Lee Choo Neo 
34. Lee Choon Guan 
35. Lee Hoon Leong 
36. Lew Yuk Lin 
37. Lim Boon Keng 
38. Lim Chwee Leong 
39. Lim Han Hoe 
40. Lim Ho Puah 
41. Lim Keng Kiat 
42. Lim Koon Yang 
43. Lim Kwee Eng 
44. Lim Leack 
45. Lim Nee Soon 
46. Lim Peng Siang 
47. Low Ah Jit 
48. Low Boon Pin 
49. Low Cheang Yee 
50. Low Kway Soo 
51. Low Peng Yam 
52. Michael Seet 
53. Ng Sing Phang 
54. Oei Tiong Ham 
55. Ong Ewe Hai 
56. Ong Sam Leong 
57. Ong Tek Lim 
58. S.C. Yin 
59. Seah Cheng Joo 
60. Seah Chiam Yeow 
61. Seah Eng Choe 
62. Seah Eu Chin 
63. Seah Liang Seah 
64. Seow Poh Leng 
65. Song Hoot Kiam 
66. Song Ong Joo 
67. Song Ong Siang 
68. Song Tiang Kay 
69. Tan Beng Gum 
70. Tan Beng Swee 
71. Tan Boon Chin 
72. Tan Chay Yan 
73. Tan Cheng Tuan 
74. Tan Chin Hoon 
75. Tan Choon Bock 
76. Tan Jiak Kim 
77. Tan Jiak Ngoh 
78. Tan Keong Saik 
79. Tan Kheam Hock 
80. Tan Kim Ching 
81. Tan Kim Wah 
82. Tan Kong Wee 
83. Tan Poh Neo 
84. Tan Soo Bin 
85. Tan Soo Guan 
86. Tan Soo Jin 
87. Tan Teck Guan 
88. Tan Yeok Nee 
89. Tan Yong Siak 
90. Tay Geok Teat 
91. Tay Ho Swee 
92. Tay Sek Tin 
93. Tchan Chun Fook 
94. Teo Hoo Lye 
95. Teo Lee 
96. Teo Teow Peng 
97. Thong Siong Lim 
98. Wan Eng Kiat 
99. Wee Ah Hood 
100. Wee Bin 
101. Wee Boon Teck 
102. Wee Guat Kim 
103. Wee Kim Yam 
104. Wee Swee Teow 
105. Wong Ah Fook 
106. Wong Siew Qui 
107. Wong Tuan Keng 
108. Yeo Swee Hee 
109. Yow Ngan Pan