3 Chew Boon Juan, A Sole Proprietor Expands His Business In Kampong Kepayang, Brings Brother To Help

Chew Boon Juan brought his brother Boon Seong to help his expanded business

Chew Boon Juan was now the sole proprietor of his business. He decided to expand its operations.

He included setting up a tin ore shop to buy tin ore from the miners to sell to the smelters, a sundry shop, a liquor shop, a mahjong house and a pawn shop.

The rationale being that workers from the numerous tin mines in the vicinity relied on the sundry shop for their provisions and the mahjong and liquor shop for their entertainment. When they were broke they patronized the pawn shop.

After some time Boon Juan wrote to his brother Boon Seong in China to come over and help him in his business.

In 1900 Boon Juan married Goh Lean Kee a Hokkien girl from Taiping.

Chew Boon Juan married Goh Lean Kee in 1900

In 1901 he returned to China to see his mother taking with him a large sum of money for the family leaving the business in charge of his foreman.

While in China he received a letter from a friend informing him that the foreman unaware that Boon Juan had taken home a large part of working capital was overspending and buying horses and gharries on credit sparking the rumor in Kg Kepayang that the business was at risk of insolvency.

He quickly returned to Malaya stopping at Penang. He dared not return to Kg Kepayang as he would be hounded by creditors.  He first borrowed several thousand dollars in Penang and returned to Kg Kepayang where he deposited the money in his safe.

 Then he invited the creditors and chettiars to his home, opened the safe in their presence and reassured them he had sufficient funds to continue his business.

Chew Boon Juan had saved his business, The strategy that he adopted to save it gave him the confidence to take bigger risks for better returns and that was tin mining. 

End

Next: Chew Boon Juan Meets Surveyor Charles Alma Baker