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Famous Singapore Chinese Supporters of Dr Sun Yat Sen
Teo Eng Hock (1871 - 1957)
Teo Eng Hock, a Teochew, was involved in the rubber trade. He invested in rubber plantations and started a factory producing rubber shoes. In the early 1900, Tan Kah Kee and Teo monopolised Singapore's rubber shoes manufacturing industry. On securing his foothold in this industry, Teo embarked on his revolutionary career. In the final years of the Qing Dynasty, Teo Eng Hock had supported the Constitutional Reform movement and was a member of the reform's "Learning Society". He embraced Dr Sun's cause in later years.
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| (From left) Teo Eng Hock,
Sun Yat Sen, and Tan Chor Nam |
In 1904, he started the Thoe Lam Jit Poh with Tan Chor Nam and was its editor. The paper ended 2 years later.
In 1906, Teo Eng Hock offered his villa, Wan Qing Yuan, to Dr Sun for his stay. In February 1906, Dr Sun established the Singapore branch of the Revolutionary Alliance. Teo was the vice chairman.
In June 1906, Dr Sun came to Singapore from Japan to reorganise the Revolutionary Alliance. Teo was elected the chairman.
In July 1907, The Chong Shing Press was founded by Teo, Tan Chor Nam and Lim Nee Soon. They started the Tong Teck Books & Newspapers Association that year. Teo was the president of the association.
In February 1912, after the founding of the republic, the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) established a branch office in Singapore to replace the Revolutionary Alliance. Teo was the honorary chairman. The British colonial government forced the office to close in 1926.
In 1932, Teo Eng Hock returned to China and became Mayor of Shantou, Commissioner of overseas Chinese affairs, and Branch President of the Central Bank of China (Shantou). Due to his displeasure with the communists, he became an ally of Wang Jingwei.
After the war, Teo returned to Singapore. He died in Hong Kong in 1957. His daughter, Teo Soon Kim, was Singapore's first female lawyer. His great-grandnephew, Rear Admiral (NS) Teo Chee Hean is presently the Minister for Education.
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Tan Chor Nam (1884 - 1971)
Tan Chor Nam's ancestry can be traced back to Xiamen (Amoy) in Fujian. He had a timber business along Beach Road. He had earlier supported the constitutional reform movement that Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao advocated in China. Tan once wrote for the Tian Nan New Paper (the official paper of the Royalists) under the pen name "The pro-Ming Youth".
Both Tan Chor Nam and Teo Eng Hock felt the importance in awakening the masses before anything could be done. Hence, the two of them pooled their resources and started the Thoe Lam Jit Poh in 1904 to sound the revolutionary horn. The paper was the first revolutionary newspaper in Nanyang and was a pioneer to later overseas Chinese papers in Singapore. The paper stopped print 2 years later due to insufficient funds.
In 1906, Dr Sun Yat Sen arrived in Singapore. With Dr Sun's support, Tan Chor Nam successfully launched the Singapore branch of the Revolutionary Alliance and became its chairman. In 1907, he started The Chong Shing Press but this paper too stopped print 2 years later due to insufficient funds.
During Dr Sun's stay in Singapore, he became close associates with Tan Chor Nam. Tan acted as the go-between for Dr Sun's fundraising drives within the Chinese community. And after Dr Sun left Singapore, Tan took up the mammoth task of fundraising. In 1910, the Tong Teck Books & Newspapers Association was established by Tan. This organisation greatly supported Dr Sun's revolutionary career.
In the infancy of the Republic of China, Tan Chor Nam went to Shanghai to manage the Overseas Chinese Association that Goh Say Eng formed. He wrote a column in the paper Guo Min News that reported the activities of the overseas Chinese.
Between 1921 and 1931, Tan was a member of the steering committee for Fujian's development, the chairman of the trade department and he helped form the Bank of Fujian. Tan returned to Singapore in the 1930s. Between 1949 and 1956, he was one of the advisers of Tong Teck Books & Newspapers Association.
He passed away in September 1971.
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Lim Nee Soon (1879 - 1936)
Lim Nee Soon, aka Weihe or Qihua, was born in Singapore on November 8 1879. Of the Teochew dialect, Lim was orphaned since young and was brought up by his maternal grandfather Teo Lek and grandmother Mdm Tan Poh Neo.
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| Lim Nee Soon |
When he was little, Lim studied Chinese at a private school. He entered St Joseph's Institution and Anglo-Chinese School to receive an English education. He graduated when he was 17 years old.
After finishing secondary education, Lim worked in his uncle, Teo Eng Hock's Changmei Cloth Shop. He also learnt the tricks of the trade at Chen Tai Timber Company. At 20, Lim inherited his maternal grandfather's fortune and started rubber and pineapple plantations. He made millions from these businesses and was referred to as "Rubber King" and "Pineapple King".
In 1906, when Dr Sun established the Singapore branch of the Revolutionary Alliance, Lim was in charge of social affairs. Dr Sun then appointed Tan Chor Nam, Lim Nee Soon and others to open more Alliance branches in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
In spring 1906, Lim, Tan and Teo tried to raise funds to publish a newspaper to publicise the revolution. In July 1907, The Chong Shing Press was founded.
On May 26 1908, the "Yunnan Hekou Uprising" failed. More than 600 fighters retreated to Singapore. They were assisted by Tan, Teo and Lim. The three of them even started the Chong Shing Rock Company to give jobs to the fighters. They earned their livelihood by working at the rock quarry.
In 1911, Lim situated his company at 5 Beach Road. He later opened Tongmei Company and Tongyi Company to manage his businesses related to the rubber industry.
Between 1906 and 1911, Lim was an ardent follower of Dr Sun. From the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, the campaign against Yuan Shikai to the Northern Expedition, Lim contributed hundreds of thousands to support the revolution. He was also extremely supportive of local public welfare schemes.
In 1921, Lim Nee Soon became the 13th President of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce. He was re-elected again in 1925 as the 15th President.
In 1928, Lim founded the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kwan and was elected its chairman. Lim also donated 12.5
sq miles of land in Sembawang to be used as a Chinese cemetery.
On March 20 1936, Lim passed away at Bao Long Hospital in Shanghai. He was given an official funeral by the republican government in recognition of his past contribution to the revolution.
Lim Nee Soon is buried near the Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. Today, Sembawang's Yishun Road, Yishun Ring Road, Yishun Village, Yishun constituency and Yishun Industrial Park are named after Lim Nee Soon to commemorate his contributions.
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| Xu Xueqiu |
Xu Xueqiu (? - 1911)
Xu Xueqiu, a Teochew, was the scion of a wealthy businessman. He came to Singapore with his father at a young age. He inherited his father's fortune and bought a governmental position from the Qing government.
A generous and amiable man, Xu was nicknamed, Little Mengchang. He got acquainted with Huang Naishang in 1902 and was deeply influenced by Huang to support the revolution. In 1904, he went to Shantou to plan a revolt against the Qing government. The news was unfortunately leaked out and he fled to Nanyang.
Xu joined the Revolutionary Alliance in Singapore in 1906, and was appointed Military Superintendent of the Chinese Republic by Dr Sun. In May 1907, he participated in the Chaozhou Huanggang Uprising and also the Huizhou Uprising in June. When both revolts failed, he returned to Singapore in 1908.
During the 1911 Wuchang Uprising (Xinhai year), Xu went to Chaozhou to supervise the proceedings and was unfortunately killed by the Qing army. For his sacrifice, he was greatly commended by the Republican government.
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| Lin Shouzhi |
Lin Shouzhi (? - 1924)
Lin Shouzhi (original name Lin Xizun), a Teochew, succeeded his father, Lin Jizhi's business and dealt in the rubber trade. He later opened the Tong Yong Shun Yang Provision shop and Jin Song Trading Firm to trade in gambier (a type of spice), pineapple, rubber and charcoal.
In 1906, Dr Sun established the Singapore branch of the Revolutionary Alliance. The Chung Hwa Company was formed to serve as a revolutionary organisation. Lin Shouzhi was appointed an important position in the alliance and served as general manager of the Chung Hwa Company.
In 1904, Lin Shouzhi donated $2000 to the alliance for uprising purposes. He also gave thousands of revised copies of Zou Rong's The Revolutionary Army to various overseas Chinese communities.
In 1907, Dr Sun planned the Chaozhou Huanggang Uprising. Fearing inadequate funds to see the uprising through, Lin Shouzhi, together with Tan Chor Nam, Teo Eng Hock and Lim Nee Soon, donated large sums of money. They also remitted $3000 to Huang Naishang. Lin Shouzhi later helped organise a Basic Military School to prepare a revolutionary squad with basic military training.
For the Huanggang Uprising, Lin Shouzhi gave a total of $14,000. To help the revolution, Lin Shouzhi expended his entire fortune to give hundreds of thousands to the cause. He declared bankruptcy and his children became servants, as they could not complete their education. On March 12 1924, Lin Shouzhi died in poverty.
Li Zhuchi
One of the first to join the Singapore Chapter of the Revolutionary Alliance.
The Revolution in China
Visits to Singapore
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