The Growing Family of Chew Boon Juan

Chew Boon Juan had four wives. They bore him six sons and ten daughters.

Three photographs, taken in 1931 after his 2nd son Chew Choon Siew married Kwan lu-Foon until 1950 when Chew Choon Kok his 5th son married Yeoh Suan Bee from the family of Yeoh Khuan Joo provides a snapshot of his growing family.

All the photos were taken with Goh Lean Kee, Chew Boon Juan’s 2^nd wife at his Gurney Drive home in Penang.

Goh was well known to be very hospitable and accommodating as can be seen by the presence of children of his brothers.  

An appreciative note of thanks to Barbara Hsu and Yeoh Saw Kin granddaughters of Chew Boon Juan, Chew Soak Leng (granddaughter of Chew Boon San) and Ho Pheck Sian (granddaughter of Chew Boon Pitt) for identifying the subjects in the photos.

JAG

Chew Museum Downsized Amidst Covid-19 Environment

A diner viewing the downsized Chew Museum display

Chew Museum which showcased the life of Chew Boon Juan and his descendants from the time when he first landed in Malaya till now has been downsized drastically.

Hardly surprising as the year 2020 will go down in history in which the pandemic Covid-19 changed the lives of everything and everyone so much that we now live in a new normal.

Ignatius grandparents (1st pic) Chew Boon Juan (2nd pic) Lim Siew Tong and Yeoh Khuan Joo 

Ignatius Chew (seated 2nd from left) in a group photo with Yeoh-Lim-Chew clan in the museum 

The Chew Museum too wasn’t spared. The museum is still standing but has been downsized to a much smaller display and is located behind the museum as compared to when it occupied the main building.

A restaurant serving contemporary fusion cuisine, Morel has taken up the space vacated by the museum.  Another outlet Master Stick Restaurant offering barbequed skewered delicacies or prepared to one’s own choice took up the space next to Morel.

Restaurant Morel now occupies Chew museum ....

..and Restaurant Master Stick adjacent to Morel

Both of these diners have livened up this corner of town that was for the most part quiet after the sun went down. 

The museum within the premises of Ban Hoe Seng was started by Ignatius Chew Eng Lin since 2012.

It showcased the history of his grandfather Chew Boon Juan from the time of his arrival in Malaya in 1892, his early years, the wealth he derived from his tin-mining days, the setting up of Ban Hoe Seng in 1910 till the present time of this pandemic.

Photo taken in 1950. (Seated 6th from right) Chew Boon Juan 

Photo taken in 2018. The Museum traced 5 generations of Chews

The museum traced 5 generations of Chews and their descendants.

Ignatius explained that in this pandemic environment combined with the stringent SOP requirements he saw no point in maintaining the museum.

‘Nobody would come and it would be a risk for me being in the high risk group having to open and attend to viewers.

I decided that it was better to make productive use of the land and properties while the museum could still be displayed with diners viewing before their meals arrive’. 

Regarding the future of the museum Ignatius said other members of the family have mentioned an interest but that still has to be explored.

JAG

The Sacred Triangle

The boundry which links MGS and RPS to Ban Hoe Seng and Chew Boon Juan

“This is the most interesting "sacred" spot in memory of my grand father Chew Boon Juan.

 Here I stand on 6 Jalan Raja Permaisuri Bainun (formerly Jalan Kampar) on land belonging to Ban Hoe Seng and looking across is Methodist Girls School (MGS) & Raja Perumpuan School. 

The land once belonged to Chew Boon Juan before they were sold to the schools Methodist Girls School first and then Sekolah Raja Perempuan.” ...Ignatius Chew

Methodist Girls School has a class room with a marble plaque dedicated to Chew Boon Juan

RPS has a room in the school mentioning Chew Boon Juan was the owner of 61 Jalan Chamberlain

This gate that linked Chew Boon Juan's home, 61 Chamberlain Road to MGS school which his grand children used. Pic taken in 2018

JAG

Chew Choon Siew's Marriage To Kwan lu-Foon By Barbara Hsu (Choon Siew's daughter)

Chew Boon Juan’s second son Chew Choon Siew, 26 was a student at the University of Hong Kong when he married my mother 21 year old Milicent Kwan lu-Foon.

Their wedding was on January 24, 1931 at Kowloon Hong Kong. The photo above was taken at my grandparents home at 107, Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, HK.

The Christian ceremony was held at Jordan Road, Union Church in Kowloon. 

 

Flower girls lu-Hin and Mun-Sheung, brides father Dr Kwan Sun-Mun,
Phyllis Kwan, bride Kwan lu-Foon and behind brides mother.

Kwan lu-Foon in western wedding gown ...

.. Kwan lu-Foon attired in formal Chinese costume.

Photo taken in early 1930's at 4 Gurney Drive. Penang. (centre row 3rd from right) Kwan lu-Foon followed by Chew Boon Juan (Choon Siew's father) and Goh Lean Kee (mother). Back row 5th from left Chew Choon Siew.

JAG

The Wedding Of Chew Gaik Swee – Chew Boon Juan’s Youngest Child

Back row. Chew Boon Juan, China Consulate official, Ong Choo Tin, Lo Chung Liang, Chew Gaik Swee, Chew Gaik Heng, Khaw Cheng Bor, China official. Front row children: Mimi Ang, Yeoh Saw Kin and Ong Heng Leong

Chew Gaik Swee was Chew Boon Juans’s last child.  She was 19 when she married a China national Lo Chung Liang. 

The date of their marriage was 7 December 1946. The wedding was held in Penang at the Burma Road Gospel Hall and the reception was at Chew Boon Juan's home at 4 North Bridge road.   

At the Burma Road Gospel Hall

Newly married Lo Chung Liang and Chew Gaik Swee

It was a grand wedding with a lot of Swee’s nieces and nephews acting as bridesmaid, flower girls and page boy. It certainly made for a beautiful wedding. 

The reception was held at Chew Boon Juan's home at 4 North Bridge road.
Note the auspicious 7 tier wedding cake.

the garden party reception ...

 ........ with Chew Boon Juan seated next to the Gaik Swee and her husband.

Ong Choo Tin d/o 2nd aunt Gaik Hoon, Khaw Cheng Bor s/o 1st aunt Gaik Tuan, Chew Gaik Heng d/o Chew Boon Hong, Mimi Ang d/o 8th aunt Gaik See, Ong Heng Leong s/o 5th aunt Gaik Cheng, Yeoh Saw Kin d/o 3rd aunt Gaik Tiew. 

Gaik Heng and Choo Tin. 

Chew Boon Juan's sons-in-law  Ong Chee Suan, Yeoh Ghim Cheow, Lo Chung Liang

Chew Gaik Swee and Lo Chung Liang

Photos were taken at the Burma Road Gospel Hall and Chew Boon Juan’s home. All photos are from the collection of Yeoh Ghim Cheow.

JAG

Heavy Storm Causes Damage To Chew Museum

Repairs to Chew Museum after a heavy storm. (Inset) the inside of the museum. 

The heavy thunder storm which occurred on the afternoon on April 16 damaged over 100 shoplots in Ipoh and unfortunately Ignatius Chews family museum was one of them.

Ignatius Chew the curator of the museum said the roof tiles of the two story building roof was damaged. The museum is located in the compound of Ban Hoe Seng (Auto) .

Debri from behind had landed on the roof ...

.. the roof tiles at the back were blown off . 

“The roof tiles at the back portion of the house were blown off while debris blown over from the school located behind had landed on the roof and damaged other portions of the house.

Inside at the top floor of the museum ...

Pails to capture rain water. It happened during the Covid-19 pandemic and MCO regulations applied.

Most of the major damage was at the top floor. There was damage to the photographs but it was minimal. Nevertheless it remains to be seen if damp might have affected more of the photographs”.

The storm occurred one month into the Covid-19 pandemic when the Movement Control Order (MCO) was in effect. Any repairs that was required at the time needed Police approval.

In the meantime rainwater had seeped through the missing roof tiles and spread to the other rooms causing several photographs to become damp.

..the exhibits were covered for the duration of repair works

With approvals in hand repair work started 2 days after the storm. Due to limited manpower resources the work took ten days to complete.

At first glance the repair was anticipated to be minimal but upon inspection damage was far more extensive.

The downstairs too was affected as the water seeped down the beams causing a lot of watermarks. Luckily again there was no major damage to any photos. 

Water from upstairs ... 

......had seeped down.

According to Ignatius a comprehensive cleanup will take place once the MCO has been lifted.

               

JAG

Mimi And Her Self-Made Man Tan Sri Dato Hanafiah Hussain

Puan Sri Mimi and her 'self made man' Tan Sri Dato Hanafiah Hussainn

A year back when I visited Puan Sri Mimi at her home she described her husband as a kampung boy who became a self-made man.

That description stuck with me for a long time. I never met a self-made man and wondered if I would ever get to meet this man.

I got the opportunity recently when Puan Sri Mimi visited Ipoh together with her very distinguished husband , Tan Sri Dato Hanafiah Hussein. Both Hanafiah and Mimi looked casual dressed in batik as we sat down for a banana leaf lunch for this interview.

Hanafiah was born in Yan, Kedah to migrant parents from Acheh,Sumatra. He attended the Sultan Abdul Hamid College, Alor Star and during his time was a top student. Coincidentally his schoolmate was Mahathir Mohammed. 

“After the war we were together. Mahathir was top in his class in May and was sent to Singapore while I obtained excellent examination results for my Senior Cambridge and was sent to England on a state scholarship in November 1947.

I stayed with an English family for eight years and passed out with honors in economics specialising in accountancy.

Hanafiah described his initial problem learning economics as a tough time plus my poor English did't help in any way.

God blessed me with a good brain.. it is a gift

“After my lectures I would head off to the library with my notes to better understand what i had been taught. It was only after my first year that I grasped the big picture of economics and business.”

Upon graduation, Hanafiah applied for accreditation with the Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) to be recognised as a chartered accountant. He graduated and again was top in his class and became the first Malay chartered accountant of Malaya which he termed as a gift from God.

His career took off upon his return from England. When he paid his respects to the  Sultan of Kedah, the then Sultan Badlishah Abdul Hamid Halim Shah, he was told that he was overqualified to be the state financial controller and told to proceed to Kuala Lumpur where the opportunities were better.

True enough he was absorbed by the British administration into the federal civil service.It was the and the start of his illustrious career.

On FAMA  Tun Razak told me to do something about it 

After Merdeka he was tasked by the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman with the setting up of  FELDA (the Federal Land Developmemt Authority) and later established Tabung Haji, the Muslim Pilgrim Savings Corporation.  

As for the setting up of FAMA Tunku’s successor Tun Razak had told him that the farmers are being exploited by the middlemen. Do something about it.

All of these agencies was established to uplift the socio-economy of the rural poor especially the Malays and was done within the span of ten years starting from 1957.

Looking back Hanafiah said it so nonchalantly “ I was there and it had to be done. That’s why I say i am a Jack of all trades master of none”.

Tan Sri Hanafiah is 93 this year and is still working as the Chairman of an offshore bank, City Credit Investment Bank Ltd. He travels to China, Hong Kong Taiwan and Shanghai every 3 months for meetings.

I was surprised and asked if he was competing with PM Mahathir who at 95 was the oldest working PM. 

Not at all. He replied that God has blessed me with a good brain and that it is a gift.

Perhaps that is an understatement for Hanafiah is an exceptional individual that excelled in everything that he did such as being top in his class and being the 1^st Malay chartered accountant.

Hanafiah receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from Malaysian Institute of Accountants in 2017

Some of his other achievements include (1964 – 1974) MP for Jerai, Kedah, (1986-1990) Malaysian envoy to Taiwan, 

In (2007) he received the Lifetime achievement award from ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and  in 2017 received the Lifetime achievement award from MIA (Malaysian Institute of Accountants ) and Awarded the prestigious Anugerah Tokoh Melayu Terbilang at Umno’s 71st anniversary.

A devout Muslim he likes to attend mosque and pray. He recalled last December when he took ill in hospital his old schoolmate and PM Mahathir Mohammed paid him a visit.

Last December PM Mahathir Mohammed visited him in hospital 

“It was before the Kuala Lumpur Summit which was attended by five Muslim countries. I advised him that when signing all the documents to remember Allah and Allah will shower you with Blessings.

It was only later that I realized I had done most of the talking and was almost like a lecture. But it was all on God and not about politics”.

Looking back Hanafiah had a point when he said that God has blessed and gifted him with a good brain. He has a sterling track record to show for it.  

JAG