Kiong Kong Tuan

Kiong Kong Tuan (Chinese: 龚光传; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kíng Kong-thuân sometimes romanized as Kung Kuang-chuan, born 1790) came from Penang, where he had carried on business as a merchant and established himself in Singapore. He married a daughter of the well-known Choa Chong Long, by whom he had an only son, Kiong Seok Wee, and several daughters, one of whom became the wife of Wee Bin of the steamship firm of "Wee Bin & Co." Mr. Kong Tuan also figured as the Spirit Farmer for some years. He had a spirit factory at Pearl's Hill, and the site is still known among the Chinese as Chiu-long-san (the spirit factory hill). He was named, by Stamford Raffles as the first Kapitan China of Singapore. He held the opium farms for a long time during the 1830s.[1] He was also involved in coffee and real estate.[2] In the 1840s he had 50 acres (200,000 m2) of coffee near Jurong.[3] He held the spirit and opium farms in 1848.[4] He was the last opium farmer in Singapore.[5] He died at the age of 64 years on 16 January 1854.

Mr. Kong Tuan was the grantee of that large tract of land comprising 20 acres (81,000 m2) which has now become a thickly populated Straits Chinese residential quarter with Chin Swee Road as the main artery and Cornwall Street and Seok Wee Road as side streets.[6][7]

Kiong Seok Wee

Kiong Seok Wee (龚菽惠 b: 1839 d: 1888) was the grandson of Choa Chong Long and son of Spirits Farmer Kiong Kong Tuan. He did not fancy spirit farming and instead went into business with his brother-in-law, Wee Bin, but the partnership was short-lived. In 1865 along with Wee Leong Hin, the firm of Leong Hin, Seok Wee & Co., chop Aik Ho, shipchandlers, was established at Boat Quay and another under the chop Joo Chin & Co. as General Merchants. "Aik Ho" was accidentally burnt down, and as it was not covered by insurance, Mr. Seok Wee sustained a severe loss which was augmented by the failure of Joo Chin & Co. He was at that time one of the proprietors of the Singapore Daily Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. In 1869 the affairs of Mr. Seok Wee and his partner were administered by the Court of Insolvent Debtors. He died in 1888 at the age of 49 years leaving six sons and two daughters, the elder of whom, Ms Kiong Hoon Neo, became a daughter-in-law of Mr. Tan Kim Ching (she married his son Tan Keck Geang). The youngest son of Mr. Seok Wee is Kiong Ching Eng, chief clerk and cashier at the General Hospital, a man of liberal education and a first-class player both in tennis and chess.[8] Seok Wee Road is named after him. Aik Hoe Road is named after his shipchandlers firm Chop Aik Hoe.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Opium and empire: Chinese society in Colonial Singapore, 1800-1910 - Page 98 - by Carl A. Trocki - History - 1990
  2. ↑ Asian culture, Issue 28 by the Singapore Society of Asian Studies, Published by Xinjiapo Yazhou yan jiu xue hui, 2004
  3. ↑ One hundred years' history of the Chinese in Singapore By Ong Siang Song pg 39
  4. ↑ Kajian Malaysia: Journal of Malaysian studies, Volumes 1-2 Published by Universiti Sains Malaysia, 1983
  5. ↑ Reconstructing identities: a social history of the Babas in Singapore by Jürgen Rudolph ISBN 1-84014-357-6, ISBN 978-1-84014-357-7
  6. ↑ One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore by Ong Siang Song, 1923; p. xv, 25, 26
  7. ↑ Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control By Carl A. Trocki Published by Routledge, 2006 ISBN 0-415-26385-9, ISBN 978-0-415-26385-6; pp. 17, 87, 190, 205
  8. ↑ One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore by Ong Siang Song, 1923
  9. ↑ Street names of Singapore By Peter K. G. Dunlop

See also

  1. The Singapore Encyclopedia
  2. A social history of the Chinese in Singapore and Malaya, 1800-1911 By Chʻing-huang Yen ISBN 0-19-582666-3, ISBN 978-0-19-582666-1
  3. Guardian of the South Seas: Thian Hock Keng and Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan By Xinjiapo Fujian hui guan by Xinjiapo Fujian hui guan published by Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, 2006
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