One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore

Last updated
One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore
Author Song Ong Siang
CountrySingapore
LanguageEnglish
PublisherJ. Murray
Publication date
1923
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)

One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore is a book written by Song Ong Siang and published in 1923. It is a compilation the lives and contributions of the Chinese from 1819 to 1919 to Singapore.

Contents

Contents

The first eight chapters cover the years 1819 to 1899, with one chapter dedicated to each decade. The next four chapters cover the years 1900 to 1919, with two chapters dedicated to each decade. [1] The book mostly focuses on the Peranakans as Song did not speak Chinese and had to rely on English records and those who could speak English. [2]

History

The book was initially meant to be a few chapters in the book One Hundred Years of Singapore by Walter Makepeace, Roland Braddell and Gilbert E. Brooke. Makepeace believed that only someone of Chinese ethnicity could adequately write the chapters, and approached Lim Boon Keng, who declined the offer and suggested Song instead, as he believed that he would not be able to adequately compile the history of the Chinese in Singapore. [1]

Reception

The Malaya Tribune called the book a "chronological achievement of no mean merit" and a "comprehensive work which will create intense interest among countless generations to come". [1] Lim Yoon Lin of The Straits Times wrote that "despite the book's obvious weaknesses", it "remains an invaluable source for history students and others who are curious about Singapore's past". [2] The China Express and Telegraph called the book "well-written" and found its arrangement to be "highly practical". [3] Reverend William Murray called the book a "monumental work" as it will "preserve the author's name to posterity." [4]

Following a 1924 reissue, The Malaya Tribune called the book "deeply interesting" and "obviously a labour a love" that involved a "vast amount of patient research". [5] The Birmingham Post wrote that the book contained a "great deal of interesting matter", which is "overlaid by an even vaster mass of detail, to Mr. Song Ong Siang entirely germane but to the reader somewhat irrelevant and impertinent." Despite this, the post wrote that Song "writes clearly and well", and adds "real skill" in compiling the book. [6] The Solicitors Journal wrote that while the book is "too full of local colour, perhaps, for ordinary English readers", it is "excellently written and illustrated with a great wealth of portraits and other pictures." [7]

Allington Kennard of The Straits Times wrote that "If in some respects this book is unsatisfactory as history, out of balance because of the wealth of biographical details of personalities and families, it is indispensable to any understanding of the first hundred years of Singapore and to Sir Frank Swettenham's famous tribute to the Chinese a few months before retiring from the Governorship of the Straits Settlements." [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lim Boon Keng</span>

Lim Boon Keng was a Peranakan physician who advocated social and educational reforms in Singapore in the early 20th-century. He also served as the president of Xiamen University in China between 1921 and 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seow Poh Leng</span> Singaporean businessman

Seow Poh Leng one of the first few Peranakan Babas at Emerald Hill, was a prominent and successful Singaporean banker, founding member of the Ho Hong Bank, member of the committee of the Straits Settlement, philanthropist and benefactor of public development works. He was a strong advocate of limited liability trading and promoted the advantages of the Limited Liability Company system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan Kim Ching</span> Singaporean businessman

Tan Kim Ching, also known as Tan Kim Cheng, was a Chinese politician and businessman. He was the eldest of the three sons of Tan Tock Seng, the founder and financier of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He was consul for Japan, Thailand and Russia, and was a member of the Royal Court of Siam. He was one of Singapore's leading Chinese merchants and was one of its richest men in Singapore at that time. He was also the first Asian member of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. After his father's death, he became the Kapitan Cina of the Straits Chinese community. He is believed to have been the head of the Triad in Malaya.

Sir Song Ong Siang was a lawyer and active citizen of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements. He was an ethnic Hokkien as well as a third generation Hokkien Peranakan Baba Chinese with ancestry from Zhangzhou in Minnan region, and the first ever Asian in Singapore to be knighted. Song was noted for his contributions to the development of the Singapore civil society, and was held in esteem throughout the Colony.

Gan Eng Seng was a Chinese businessman and philanthropist who was one of the early pioneers of Singapore. He is known for his generosity to many charitable causes in Malaya and Singapore during the British colonial era. Some of his most recognised contributions were the setting up of Gan Eng Seng School, the Thong Chai Medical Institution, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and the Ee Hoe Hean Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mamoru Shinozaki</span> Japanese journalist, spy, military executive, businessman, and writer

Mamoru Shinozaki was a journalist for Dentsu and spy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in pre-war years, a military executive in Japanese-occupied Singapore, and a businessman and writer in post-war years. He is known for the Shinozaki Case in 1940, and for his testimony in the war crimes trial in 1947 for the Sook Ching massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan Boo Liat</span>

Tan Boo Liat was a wealthy Singapore philanthropist. He was the son of Tan Soon Toh, grandson of Tan Kim Ching and great-grandson of Tan Tock Seng.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lim Peng Siang</span>

Lim Peng Siang was a businessperson in Singapore and Malaya. Together with his brother Lim Peng Mau, he founded the Ho Hong Group of companies in 1904, which had interests in banking, shipping, parboiled rice, oil mills, cement, coconut and other businesses. He was a President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Chinese Advisory Board. Peng Siang Quay in Singapore is named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wee Boon Teck</span>

Wee Boon Teck was the only son of Wee Bin and was the latter's successor at the firm of Wee Bin & Co., where he improved and strengthened the position of the firm. He served on the committees of Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Po Leung Kuk. He donated $4,000 to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which was invested by Government for about twenty years and which was then applied towards the cost of building a ward bearing his name in the Hospital at Moulmein Road. He was described as having a kindly and charitable disposition. Wee Boon Teck died on 22 September 1888 at the age of 38. Boon Teck Road is named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Song Hoot Kiam</span>

Song Hoot Kiam was a Singaporean community leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ismail Marjan</span> Malaysian-Singaporean badminton player

Ismail bin Marjan was a badminton player from Malaya/Singapore who had won many individual and doubles titles at local, regional and international competitions throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He was best known for his doubles prowess as he partnered Ong Poh Lim to win several major honors in Asia and Europe. Ismail was the first Malay to have won the prestigious Thomas Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheang Hong Lim</span> Singaporean Chinese headman

Cheang Hong Lim JP was a Chinese opium merchant and philanthropist in Singapore. He was recognised by the British colonial administration as head of the local Hokkien Chinese community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan Teck Neo</span>

Tan Teck Neo, also known as Mrs. Lee Choon Guan, was a Peranakan philanthropist and socialite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan Jiak Kim</span>

Tan Jiak Kim CMG was a Peranakan merchant, political activist and philanthropist from Singapore. He co-founded the Straits Chinese British Association along with Lim Boon Keng, Seah Liang Seah and Song Ong Siang.

See Ewe Lay, alternatively spelled Seet Ewe Lay, was a descendant of the wealthy Peranakan See clan and the founder of Lat Pau, the first major Chinese newspaper in Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lim Koon Yang</span> Singaporean clerk, born 1860

Lim Koon Yang, was a Straits Chinese resident of Singapore. He was the managing clerk of the Braddell Brothers law firm from 1899-1932, and a manager of St. Andrew's School and St. Peter's Mission Church. At the time of his death, he was one of the oldest Straits Chinese people in Singapore, passing away at 73 years of age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chan Sze Jin</span> Singaporean lawyer and politician (1886–1948)

Chan Sze Jin CMG was a lawyer and a politician. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Singapore, and was the first lawyer in private practice to be conferred the CMG. He was also the second lawyer to be conferred the CMG, after Thomas Braddell, and the fourth Chinese to be conferred the CMG, after Hoo Ah Kay, Tan Jiak Kim and Loke Yew.

Yeo Swee Hee was the proprietor of the Cold Storage depot, a land owner, a mining contractor, a general merchant and a commission agent.

Tan Kheam Hock was a member of the Municipal Commission of Singapore and several other organisations, and a director of various companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chee Swee Cheng</span> Peranakan businessman

Chee Swee Cheng was a prominent Peranakan businessman and banker in Singapore and North Borneo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "CHINESE IN SINGAPORE". Malaya Tribune. Singapore. 23 November 1923. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 Lim, Yoon Lin (26 May 1984). "The Chinese in colonial times". The Straits Times . Singapore. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore". The China Express and Telegraph . 31 January 1924. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "HISTORY OF CHINESE IN SINGAPORE". The Malaya Tribune . Singapore. 20 January 1936. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "CHINESE HISTORY IN SINGAPORE". The Malaya Tribune . Singapore. 13 June 1924. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  6. ↑ "THE CHINESE IN SINGAPORE". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly) . Singapore. 16 January 1924. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  7. ↑ "SINGAPORE HISTORY". The Straits Times . Singapore. 13 February 1925. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  8. ↑ Kennard, Allington (5 February 1968). "History of the Chinese of Singapore". The Straits Times . Singapore. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.