By Wong Kah Wei; with contributions from Dr Noreen Chan 

 

In the third story from the Noreen Chan Private Papers collection series, we come to the notebooks which were records Chia Keng Tye, Dr Chan’s great grandfather, kept on family milestones such as births and deaths, travels, purchases and significant events including the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the Japanese Occupation.

Dr Chan’s private papers consists of a range of materials: her family’s photo albums, family trees she created, handwritten recipe books and notebooks. She contributed these materials for digitisation in response to our call to enrich the Chinese Peranakan Collection in Digital Gems, as part of our efforts to preserve and share Perankan culture through textual records. 

The first story in this series focused on her family’s photo albums which provided us a glimpse of a Peranakan family during the 1920s to 1960s, bringing to life the unique culture of the Peranakans. 

The second story was very much about Peranakan food, shared through three recipe books written and compiled by Dr Chan’s grandmother, Elsie Chia, who loved to cook.  

For this third story, we get to know Dr Chan’s great grandfather, Chia Keng Tye from the two notebooks he wrote.

• Index of Names (henceforth, IN): a genealogical record of Chia Keng Tye’s immediate family—his wife, seven children and his many grandchildren.
• Date of Interesting Events (henceforth, DIE): a fascinating record of family milestones and significant historical events such as the landing of the Allied Forces in 1945, the opening of the 7th Storey Hotel in Singapore and so on. Chia Keng Tye (henceforth, CKT) started recording in the 1928 until his death in 1961. Spanning 33 years, this meticulous chronicle offers us a window into his life story and the world he lived in.

Drawing from these two notebooks and Dr Chan’s photo albums, Down Memory Lane (henceforth, DML) and Memories of Melaka (henceforth, MM), we get to know of the lives of CKT, his family members and the people around him. 

CKT was a meticulous and tidy man as Dr Chan wrote in Page 31 of DML. He arranged his pencils by type – HB, B, 2B, etc. So it isn’t surprising to see the neatness of his handwriting forming each letter clearly as he wrote in his notebooks.  

In IN, we learnt that CKT was born on 18 May 1888. He recorded also his Chinese birth date, his vaccinations, his marriage date to Lim Tuan Neo, the year he joined the Mercantile Bank of India and when he retired. His death on 8 June 1961 was recorded by his son, Chia Chin Siang. 

The most interesting entry in IN was the cutting of CKT’s queue on 29 Jan 1910. Queue was the hairstyle Chinese men wore during the Qing dynasty. The haircut was deeply symbolic as it represented the end of the Qing era. CKT recorded very few personal events, and for him to record this particular one shows its significance.

One could not help but notice that CKT excluded information of his second wife, Tan Siew Ngoh in both IN and DIE. Tan Siew Ngoh had a daughter with him (Page 9, DML) but we know very little about her from the materials.  

As for his first wife, Lim Tuan Neo, it is quite obvious that CKT considered her significant in his life. From the many photos of Lim Tuan Neo in the photo albums and information he recorded in IN and DIE, we see Lim Tuan Neo as a young lady and the mother of his children. More about Lim Tuan Neo later in this story.

CKT had many interests. In Page 27 of DML, Dr Chan wrote about her great grandfather who loved to race his speedboat, was a champion tennis player, enjoyed hunting with his dog, Major, loved photography and started Singapore’s first amateur Classical Music Orchestra, Chia Keng Tye Music Orchestra.  

His motorboat named “Excuse Me” had won a race as can be seen in photos on Pages 12 and 27 of DML, where a trophy was proudly displayed on top of the motorboat. The trophy might possibly be a race he won as reported in the The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (3 Jan 1929).  

His enthusiasm for the sport is also noted in Page 1 of DIE. On 22 March 1934, a few years after winning the motorboat race in 1929, CKT recorded a purchase of a “Johnson Seahorse 16 for $400”. This is likely to be an outboard motor which may have looked like this or as advertised in 1937. The purchase record included the name “Koh Chong Keng”. It is not clear whether it was Koh who bought the outboard motor or whether CKT had purchased it from him. Nevertheless, Koh was a cousin of Dr Chan’s Melaka great grandfather. It was Koh who had matched Dr Chan’s grandparents, Elsia Chia and Tan Jin Hoe. More about Tan Jin Hoe and Elsie Chia later. CKT’s passion for motorboat racing also extended to lending Hood Villa, his Pasir Panjang bungalow, as a venue for motorboat races (Malaya Tribune, 27 December 1928). 

With so many interests, we would expect CKT to record events relating to these interests. However, there was barely any direct reference to these.  

CKT was considered one of the best tennis players in the Straits Chinese community (Malaya Tribue, 26 May 1921, Pg 5) and had won various competitions, one of which was reported in The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 27 August 1918. He was so passionate about the sport that he continued playing tennis when he was age 70 (Straits Times, 10 June 1961, Pg 15). Yet CKT did not mention any of these wins nor of tennis in his records. However, there are photos of CKT and his tennis buddies on Page 28 and 38 of DML.

Another of CKT’s interests was hunting with his dog, Major (see Page 27, DML). However, he did not refer to any of these hunting expeditions in DIE. Instead, CKT wrote about the dogs that were either bought by him or his son, Chin Tiong or given by someone called Ho Cheow Hock, possibly the Managing Director of Ho Hock Ann Co Ltd (see The Singapore Free Press, 7 June 1951, Page 8). The dogs in record were an Alsatian puppy (10.8.1946), two fox terriers (24.10.1946) and a Labrador puppy (1.5.1960).  

CKT loved music. He founded the Chia Keng Tye Orchestra perhaps sometime in the 1910s (Cornelius, 2019). Paul Abishegenaden considered CKT’s Orchestra as the first in Singapore to play western classical music, independent of the European community’s influence at the time (Abishegenaden, 2005). His orchestra was also the first orchestra which comprised entirely of non-Europeans. 

According to Dr Chan, CKT funded some of the musical instruments and many music score sheets for the orchestra. The members would meet every Thursday evening at Rosedale to practise. Dr Chan’s grandmother, Elsie Chia (CKT’s daughter) was in charge of the refreshments and used to prepare the Western style cakes on Wednesday and the local kuehs on Thursday. A few of the orchestra members confessed that they came every week “just to eat the kueh”. Elsie Chia recalled that one of the orchestra members was Ee Peng Liang who played the flute. He met and got to know his wife, Mary, who played the piano in the orchestra. CKT played the violin and when he passed on, his violin was given to his eldest son, Chia Chin Tiong. Abishegenaden (2005) noted that CKT’s violin was a hand-made “Pressader” violin which he had ordered from London. After his death, the violin was auctioned at Sotheby’s for 6,000 pounds. Abishegenaden recounted many more stories about CKT’s Orchestra and the orchestra members in his memoir, Notes across the years.  

The photo album DML features photos of the Orchestra on Page 29 and 30. Again, there was no reference to the Orchestra in DIE. However, this is not indicative of how active Chia Keng Tye Orchestra was going by the news reports from 1920s to 1930s, which revealed that CKT’s orchestra frequently performed to raise funds for charities and for various balls and events.

Pasted on the side of photos on Chia Keng Tye Orchestra on Page 29 of DML, were notes CKT had written on the camera—aperture speed, distance and even the amount of flash powder used in taking these photos. 

We learn more about CKT’s cameras on Page 6 of DIE where he recorded the specifications of two cameras – a Super Ikonta and a Rolleiflex.

In addition to cameras and outboard motors, CKT also recorded the things he bought for his home. I find some of these things especially interesting because they evoke memories of the olden days.  

An example is a water ballast garden roller which was recorded on Page 1 of DIE. CKT had purchased it for $34 at an auction conducted by C.K.S & Co – presumably, Cheong Koon Seng & Co, who was the local auctioneer dealing with property. In fact, Koon Seng Road was named after Cheong Koon Seng. A careful buyer, CKT had a good deal as a similar 24” water ballast garden roller was advertised for $97.50 in 1929. He also paid $1.50 for transportation and the labour of a coolie.

Another item purchased which CKT recorded on 3.1.1939 was a Deagan Dinner Chimes from Robinson Piano Co. Knowing that CKT loved music, we can imagine how the dinner chime was used to call the family to dinner at Rosedale – very much like in a British household.  

Perhaps the most intriguing was that CKT had bought jewelry for a certain “K.C”. A ring and bangle (presumably, jade) were recorded on 11.2.1939 and 20.11.1940. 

Perhaps it was also this same K.C. who died on 16.11.2603 (corresponds to 16 November 1943 in the Gregorian calendar). When Dr Chan asked her Mama (Grandmother Elsie Chia) who “K.C.” was, the dear old lady had whispered – “mistress”. If anyone is interested in identifying her, perhaps the first place to begin is to trace K.C’s death record since what appears to be her death certificate number was noted.  

CKT was also interested in making notes of legal cases. One of these concerned an employee in his household. A record on 3.7.1951 referred to a case in which Ah Phok, the third in the kitchen or assistant to the “chongpoh” (cook) at Rosedale was tried for smuggling at Pasir Panjang. Ah Phok was also a caretaker of Hood Villa, the Chia family’s holiday villa at Pasir Panjang. CKT noted Ah Phok’s release date but we do not know if Ah Phok returned to work with the family.

Another incident CKT recorded was a cheating case involving Lim Teck Kow and Chop Tong/Thong Chan, in which he also expressed his own opinion. It remains unknown if Lim Teck Kow had any specific business dealings with CKT but as a compradore, CKT would had extensive network of contacts across various businesses. 

CKT seemed particularly close to his mother-in-law, Goh Kim Neo or “Mak Spylan” (she had lived in Sepoy Lines, hence, Spylan). She is seen in some photos in DML. Dr Chan shared that “Mak Spylan” moved to live in Pasir Panjang. From there on, she was known as “Grandma P.P.” (Grandma Pasir Panjang) and this name was noted in some of the recipe books compiled by Dr Chan’s grandmother, Elsie Chia (see recipe for Kropok Oudang on Page 220 of Recipe Book of Savory Dishes and for Roti Manis on Page 66 of Recipe Book of Desserts). 

On 22.1.1937, CKT recorded that two Malacca coffins were purchased – a medium and a small one. A side note “G.K.N. 20/7/39” leads us to surmise that the medium-sized coffin was for Goh Kim Keo who died on 20.7.1939. 

The funeral costs were also meticulously recorded on 20.7.1939. One of the items listed was “Ang Chin Huat”. This probably referred to Ang Chin Huat Caskets which was founded in 1912. The cost of “making kubor” was likely the cost of digging the grave. 

During the years of the Japanese Occupation, CKT did not record much. He noted the surprise raid by the Japanese army on Singapore on 8.12.1941. Thereafter, in 1942, he noted “concentration camp” on 19/22.2.1942 and the deaths of two people – “K.C.” and Chia Keng Teow, his cousin.

It was only after the Japanese surrender in 1945 that we see CKT continuing with his records, one of which was a trip to Malacca to visit his daughter Elsie Chia, who had lost her husband Tan Jin Hoe during the war. There was no mention of the death of CKT’s son-in-law, Tan Jin Hoe in DIE.

However, in ID, we found more information on Tan Jin Hoe’s death. He was “amongst the ‘Rosedale’ people at Ord Road Concentration area on 19 February 1942”. The Ord Road Concentration area was where the people were screened and interrogated by the Kempetai (The Singapore Free Press, 11 March 1947, Page 1). Tan Jin Hoe was “taken away 3 days later and believed killed in the ‘Chinese massacre’”. Tan Jin Hoe died on 22 February 1944 (PDF Page 48, Down Memory Lane). 

CKT brought Elsie and her children to Singapore and later on 9.1.1946, Elsie and her children returned to Malacca accompanied by her brother, Chin Siang (nicknamed, Bock). Chin Siang was particularly close to Tan Jin Hoe as evident in the many photos of them together (Page 47-48, DML). 

Another death which CKT recorded after the war was the death of his daughter, Grace. Grace had cancer of the womb and was operated on 16.8.1946 but died four days later. She was only 36. CKT also kept records of Grace’s husband, Dr Tan Chong Yan, who remarried a Leo Shui Lan, his nurse on 3.6.1949. 

Two years later, in 1948, CKT recorded the death of his wife, Lim Tuan Neo at the age of 59. In Page 3 of IN, CKT wrote about his wife’s illness, detailing the cost of her treatment. Lim Tuan Neo had developed cancer on her left palm in 1936. In either 1937 or 1939, her arm was amputated. Unfortunately, she fell down the stairs in the early hours of the morning on 22.9.04 [sic] (presumably, 1940?) and sustained cuts, a broken jaw and teeth and a severe knock on her forehead. According to Dr Chan, despite the amputation of her left arm, Lim Tuan Neo remained active.

In 1947, Lim Tuan Neo was sent to Melbourne to receive “Xray treatment” and later in 1948, “radium treatment” at the General Hospital. Lim Tuan Neo died on 11.4.1948 after what CKT considered a “long standing” illness. 

CKT’s death on 8 June 1961 was recorded by his younger son, Chia Chin Siang, who went on to note deaths of relatives and friends, ending the recording of DIE in 1999.  

The notebooks of CTK, when read alongside the photo albums, paint a picture of the lives of a Peranakan family living in the late 1920s to late 1950s. With these primary sources of a bygone era, we can imagine the details of the Peranakan culture captured in text and images. 

References 

Abishegenaden, P. (2005). Notes across the years: anecdotes from a musical life. Unipress for the National University of Singapore, Centre for the Arts. 

Cornelius, V. (2019). Early Straits Chinese associations and clubs. National Library of Singapore. 

Good start for the new sport: Motor boat racing. (1928, December 27). Malaya Tribune, 10.  

Shinozaki tells his story. (1947, March 11). The Singapore Free Press, 11. 

Straits Chinese R.C. (1918, August 27). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 8. 

Straits Chinese R.C. (1921, May 26). Malaya Tribune, 5. 

Veteran dies. (1961, June 10). Straits Times, 15.