Our Patriach - Chee Kwee Kin - An Early Settler in Singapore

The last two decades of the Ching dynasty were a turbulent time in the history of China¸ they were a time when East met West in serious confrontation, resulting not only in physical warfare, but also in cultural-spiritual conflict, the consequences of which were less the humbling of an ancient civilization, but more gravely, a total loss of confidence on the part of the Chinese literati of their own heritage.

Life for scholars who lived around that time was testing and painful. They certainly did not have the luxury of engaging in East-West comparative studies under comfortable circumstances such as we have now, but indeed had to struggle with matters of life or death on a personal, communal and national level. It was not just losing a war, it was also losing a whole world-view, a whole understanding of life, a whole essence of a civilization, if you may. Such was the burden many carried upon themselves. Even today, some, if not we ourselves, still ask questions like “do you believe in Chinese medicine?” or “do you believe in ying-yang?” subjects that were intrinsically part of Chinese life lost through the confrontation. So the turmoil of the last years of the 19th. century right into the 20th. century of the encounter between East and West was not only of a war fought between China and western powers, including a “westernized” Japan, but indeed one also fought within the educated people themselves, of the China – what to accept or not accept, and how to understand the reality of a new world now forced upon them.

1895 was the year China was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War. 1900 was the year the western powers over-ran Beijing, and hence the year that confirmed China’s superiority a fantasy.

The proud and conceited Empress Dowager faced intellects who realized it was the dawning of a new world. How the scholarly officials of the court would advise her became part of the scenario of hundreds of stories, fact and fiction woven together. Historical studies have already made common knowledge the prominent people who have made their impact to this part of history. But there are always stories of those closer to the anonymous. Those though cast in perhaps minor roles but nevertheless were essential, if not crucial, to make the story of China more complete, the stories of the people closer to the ordinary. The story of Chi Kwee Kin (徐季鈞)is one such to whom we are related. Beginning with my father’s memory, I have tried to trace his foot-steps during that period. I believe it will throw light on some of the significant inner struggles of migrating Chinese of the times, the so called Hua-Chiau (華僑), particularly of the China-educated. How one such family left China, continued to relate to China, and yet faced the inevitable reality of needing to grow roots in an overseas environment – “Nanyang”. The following is the result of my attempt, I hope that more will be revealed with further researches.

My father Chee Siew Kee(徐士季) tells a few things about his father Chi Kwee Kin, some of which I have heard from young: Father was certain that Grandfather was a Ching government official because he had seen his official robes. Grandfather was a reformist having a personal connection with Kang Yu-wei(康有為) who had visited with him in his Singapore home. There was a memory about an assassination attempt, but he was not sure whether it was directed at Kang or Grandfather, but probably Grandfather. Grandfather was editor of a newspaper, and had a business by the Singapore river. Father’s memory remains a memory, but it delivered its influence on him and some of us, his children. Needless to say, stories from memory affect the lives of people, family stories included. So Father’s memory is important. My endeavour than begins with discovering the background to his story, checking the facts and whatever I can find through historical records or other leads that may still be around in order to come to a more complete understanding of the “true” story about Grandfather.

As I dig into the past, it becomes more and more interesting as one piece of information led to another, not perhaps directly about Grandfather – there were few, but mostly providing insight into the world he lived in. I now believe that his story, that of an early immigrant to Singapore over one hundred years ago, will be significant for present-day Singaporeans who are facing a similar scenario – “sudden” influx of new immigrants. It may help enlighten the understanding of some Singaporeans, so that they may learn to accept new immigrants in a new Singapore.

We start with the Chee Clan Genealogy, which briefly records Grandfather as:
11th.Generation, Shen Hai(琛海), Official Seal: Liang Chuen(亮銓), aka. Kwee Kin, Scholar, Ching Dynasty. Taught at Chang-chien Shan’s He-lin(倉前山鶴齡) Anglo-Chinese School in Foochow. In 1893, taking his family with him, migrated to Singapore to take up the chief penman’s position with Le Bao(叻報), Thien Nan Shin Pao(天南新報), and Penang Ri Bao(檳城日報).

The Genealogy also reveals that Grandfather’s father, Dung Ji(東濟), aka Shau Tang(少唐), was also a Scholar, his Official Seal being Bao Tong(寶桐). So that is two successive generations of China scholars to begin with.

The record on Grandfather is attested by the Foochow Annals Committee (or the equivalent of) which records Grandfather as first being “the chief pens-man of Le Newspaper, then he moved to the Tien-nan New Bao, and then became the Chief Editor of Penang’s Bin-Zheng Ri Bao”. However, my check in Singapore does not show Grandfather to have been the chief pens-man of Le Bao. Records show the editor to be another person, Yeh Chi-Yun(葉季允) invited from Hong Kong, and who’s been in that position since the founding of the paper. However, Grandfather was most probably the sub-editor or associate pens-man. A micro-film of the newspaper at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library in Singapore shows that Le Bao publications daily advertised such a position from December of 1892 through February 10, 1893.

A Mr. Lin Bing-kwang(林柄光) wrote a chronicle/biography of Grandfather in 1937, a year after his death, which states that Grandfather’s move to Nanyang was in response to the invitation of a local newspaper, Le Bao. Judging from the date of the chronicle, there is reason to believe this piece of writing to probably be a eulogy for the funeral of Grandfather, in which case it is highly reliable since it would have been composed and delivered in the presence of all the people related.

A initial check into the list of newspapers mentioned in the Chee Clan Genealogy reveals them (the newspapers) to hold different political positions, leading one to question how Grandfather could have been so politically conflicted? But through further research, I believe we can clearly see that Grandfather had in his heart and soul the matter of the future of China, and his, like most scholars of his time, was not one of mere intellectual exercise, but actually translated into responsible involvement in the political affairs of the times. We can also safely speculate that in the process of his activity, he was also going through very tough inner struggle of his political beliefs, with his new insights in a new land working with new acquaintances of varying backgrounds, and especially as major events that would affect the course of a new China unfolded around him, which were all beyond the control of Heaven and Dao(道). The avenue to understanding his heart and mind can probably be gained through a closer look at the newspapers he served.

Le Bao founded in 1881 is recognized by modern scholars as the very first overseas Chinese newspaper that can legitimately be called a “daily”. Published in both Chinese and English, it basically supports the authority of incumbent governments, namely, the Ching government of China and the British colonial government* of the straits. Grandfather arrived in Singapore in 1893 to take up the position of, most likely, the sub-chief-pen. We do not know much about his political position, even while we do know that among the students he taught in China, were prominent persons later in the revolutionary camp and the new republic government: Lin Shen(林森), Lin Jue-min(林覺民)), Chai Sung-poh(蔡松坡). However, it seems safe to say that with the Ching dynasty both corrupt and inept, Grandfather at this point if he were indeed an official, or even just a teacher, must already have his own ideas such that he would entertain taking up work with a newspaper in a distant land. Intellectuals at this time in China all faced the questions of how the country may stand up against foreign impingement on its daily life and affairs, and reformist ideas already abound in mid-19th.century. But was his “pen” in Le Bao, a somewhat politically neutral daily, pro-Ching or pro-reform? I cannot imagine him to be overtly pro-Ching, but he was surely nationalistic, having written powerfully against the foreign intruders to China, even though when the Sino-Japanese War occurred, he was already in Singapore.

From Le Bao, Grandfather went on to the “chief pen” or editor’s position in Thien Nan Shin Pao, a newspaper founded in 1898 by Khoo Seok Wan(邱菽園), a young Singapore-born, China-educated man who subscribed to the reformation of China. This was just one month before the clamp-down on reformers by the Empress Dowager in China. Dr. Lim Boon Keng(林文慶) was the English editor*. Thien Nan was deemed a powerful voice from Nanyang* advocating China’s reformation. Soon after the Empress Dowager Tze Hsi(慈禧) clamped down on the reformation, executed key reformists, and locked-up Emperor Kuang Shu(光緒), the leader of the reformation movement, Kang Yu-wei, founded the “Protect the Emperor Society” or the “Bao Hwang Hwei(保皇會)” in Canada in September that same year (1898). With the reformist movement now squashed, the key players turned to the task of attempting to save the emperor and to restore him to the throne in order to carry out the reformist agenda propagated for China to become strong once again. Khoo Seok Wan, owner of Thien Nan Shin Pao, was a key overseas person of the society*.

So by now, Thien Nan Shin Pao added to its reformist position, a new voice and agenda, that of advocating the return of the Emperor - urging the Empress to release Emperor Kuang Shu and to return him to power in the throne. A book recently published by Beijing University (author: Shang-bin桑兵) mentions five persons as being deeply involved in the reformation/restoration attempt and sharing a close friendship as well as making tight collaboration in the matter. They are: Khoo Seok Wan, Lim Boon Keng, Wong Nai Siong(黃乃裳), Li-chang(力昌), and Grandfather. The book also reveals that Khoo Seok Wan was the biggest donor of dollars world-wide in his support of a military uprising to be accomplished by the “Bao Hwang Army(保皇軍)”, hence his important position in the movement. He was in fact the chief fund-raiser for the restoration attempt and had contributed the major sum himself.

1900 must have been a very intriguing year for overseas Chinese in Singapore. This was the year that Beijing fell to foreign powers. Both the arch-leader of the reformist/restoration movement, Kang Yu-wei, and the leader of the revolutionary movement/party, Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) visited Singapore successively to recruit followers and to raise funds for their causes. Though Sun was also planning to talk and work with Kang in a joint effort to save China, fears (implication of Sun in a prior plan to assassinate Kang), misunderstandings (over money matters), distrusts (Japanese representatives sent initially by Sun), all played into the events of the year and the failure for them to co-operate. Lim Boon Keng and Khoo Seok Wan both played roles in the “rescue” of Kang (from alleged revolutionary assassination), while Sun Yat Sen was banned from Singapore for a few years by the local government as a result*. All in all, Sun Yat-sen did manage to convert a substantial number of the Chinese in Singapore to his revolutionary cause*. In the meantime, Khoo Seok Wan was having his dissatisfaction with Kang after the failed uprising. Indeed, in 1901, both Khoo and Lim Boon Keng withdrew their support for the reformist cause and pledged allegiance to the Ching-dynasty China. Where did this leave Grandfather? I believe he still remained a reformist though now struggling with revolutionary thoughts. Perhaps he was also, by working with Straits-born Chinese like Khoo and Lim, pondering what to make of the local colonial scene of Nanyang, fully realising himself as an educated Chinese living out his own Chinese identity and being actively loyal to his mother country. It should be said that Singapore was not then yet a country, and the second generation local born such as Khoo and Lim were clear-cut British subjects (though this is not to say they did not have self-identity problems, they did, in fact).
In early 1901, citing ill health, Khoo Seok Wan announced he was passing on the General Manager’s position of Thien Nan Shin Pao to Grandfather, whose name already appeared, beginning from July 2 of 1900, on the front page as “Printed and Published for the Proprietors by Chi Kwee Kin at the Thien Nan Shin Pao” (here is where I found the official English name of Grandfather.) He was also the Chief-pen and Treasurer. Some months after he took over from Khoo, Grandfather too announced on October 12 that he was leaving the helm of Thien Nan having accepted the invitation of Ri Xin Bao(日新報), even though according to one source, Ri Xin Bao was already known to have difficulties at that time. It is more probable that the newspaper having trouble was actually Xing Bao(星報), predecessor of Ri Xin Bao, and the transition was just as problematic. During this period of apparent uncertainty, there was on-going negotiation to merge Ri Xin Bao with Thien Nan, but the deal did not come through. Formal announcements of the impending merger had already been made, front page, in Thien Nan as early as September 16 and in the days following, but on October 11, the merger was cancelled. Grandfather’s announcement of his resignation from Thien Nan and his move to Ri Xin was on the very next day. So it must have had something to do with the merger, or rather the failure of it.

It was Lim Boon Keng who owned this new Ri Xin Bao. According to “Lim Boon Keng: A Life to Remember” (Compilers: Ang Seow Leng and Bonny Tan; Published by the Singapore National Library), Lim Boon Keng and his father-in-law Wong Nai Siong bought over a Chinese newspaper Xing Bao and renamed it Ri Xin Bao, that this newspaper “became for him a medium to reach out to the Chinese community” and that the paper closed after two years because of financial problems. This may seem strange as he was, according to other sources, already airing his perspectives as English editor of Thien Nan Shin Pao, and certainly in other English newspapers. One possible explanation then is, he has at this point renounced the reformist position and is pro-Ching government, yet his interest was now focused on reaching out to the Chinese-educated immigrant in the light of his own self-consciousness as a Straits-born, postulating the kind of role he could play to help China*. These are very pertinent immigrant issues. So Ri Xin’s agenda is directed towards the China-educated Chinese. Could Grandfather then also have given up his reformist position by moving to Ri Xin? I don’t think so. But it is highly probable that he was by now paying some attention to, if not immersed in local concerns in some way.

After taking over Ri Xin, it still closed down in 1903. Lim Boon Keng the owner of Ri Xin may have renounced the reformist position, but Ri Xin is known to be a non-politically inclined newspaper and had started only in 1898, same year as the Thien Nan. It thus survived for only five short years. As for the reformist flag-bearer Thien Nan, after Grandfather left, it passed through two General Managers, Ruan Tien-so(阮添壽) and Hwang Shih-chung(黃世仲) before it too folded up in the hands of Hwang Shih-chung in 1905. Hwang had a rift with Kang Yu-wei, and ended up opposing the reformers and actively encouraging others to join Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary leader.
A piece of puzzle lies here. Why did Grandfather having charge of the reformist Thien Nan give it up so soon to move to neutral Ri Xin though the latter was already in trouble even while “new”? One possible reason perhaps has to do with his relationships with Khoo and Lim. He perhaps stayed on in Thien Nan to help Khoo out by first temporarily relieving Khoo of the awkward position he was now in (having renounced the reformist position), before fading out himself. It seems likely that he himself now may also started to have doubts over the reformist thinking, and hence moved on to Ri Xin. On the other hand, by carrying his doubts of the reformist movement while moving over to Ri Xin, Grandfather would have no problems as he would be continuing his association or collaboration with a friend, Lim Boon Keng, who as said earlier, has shifted his position from reformist thinking to supporting the Ching-dynasty China. Indeed, Lim even went in 1903to China at the invitation of Prince Dai Fung(戴灃) after the latter visited Singapore that same year. The introductory chapter to Lim Boon Keng’s “The Chinese Crises from Within” says of Lim: “Influenced by British evolutionism and reformation, Lim Boon Keng did not approve of a blood-shedding revolution”. With the closing of Ri Xin after two years, and Lim Boon Keng’s continuing support for Ching China, I believe Grandfatherthen took a different course, either shifting gradually turning towards Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary position or returning to a staunch reformist position. As someone China-born, he could not support a decaying Ching dynasty though even a former Ching official himself. The uncertainty of which direction he went is related to the record in the Genealogy.

According to the Chee Genealogy, it is clearly stated that Grandfather moved on to become the Chief Editor of Bing Zhen Ri Bao, a daily paper of Penang. On checking*, this is a Chinese newspaper founded in 1906 invested by the Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary party for their propaganda. If this were true, then Grandfather must have accepted the revolutionary position and parted ways with his former self. However, there is also another Chinese newspaper in Penang – the “Bing Zhen Shin Bao(檳城新報)” which is reformist. If the genealogy was wrong on one word: “Ri” or “Shin”, and Grandfather were actually the Chief Editor of the Penang “Shin” newspaper, then his reformist position did not change after all, after perhaps a soul searching journeying. I have not been able to unearth much of anything regarding the two Penang papers, but I do believe there is a strong possibility of a mistake in the Chee Genealogy on this point, the reason being Father’s memory. First, Father is very certain that when he was in his youth, Grandfather was still working at “Jung Hui Bao(南洋總彙報)” which had a reformist history earlier on (before Father’s birth), and second, his memory regarding an assassination attempt on Grandfather’s life, purported to be by Wang Jing Wei(汪精衛).

These memories would make some sense only if Grandfather were still editor of a reformist newspaper (the Penang Shin Bao, to “merit” an assassination on his life), for these were now the years of a fierce and bitter newspaper warfare between the reformists and the revolutionaries in the Nanyang Straits, known as the “War of the Pens”. Another point for consideration that the Genealogy was perhaps mistaken, may be the Genealogy’s lack of awareness that the (Penang) newspapers had different political backgrounds. Interestingly, Father was born in Penang in 1911, the very year of the founding of the Republic of China, he said it was because Grandfather was escaping an assassination attempt. That year still a baby, his oldest brother went to Penang specifically to escort him and Grandfather back to Singapore. And second, when Grandfather died, Father was already an adult of twenty-five years, so chances are he would know better. The Genealogy did not mention the politics of the times. I believe that the Genealogy had in the first place maintained a disinterest to recording the political inclinations of Grandfather – it was the revolutionaries that won the day after all. And typically in Chinese culture, “the winner becomes king(成者為王)”, and the losers are no longer mentioned. So in all probability, Grandfather returned to a reformist position after all, perhaps at least right up to the time the republic was born. All these to me are so interesting, and will surely make good material for a “historical novel”.

In his chronicle of Grandfather, Lin Bing-kwang writes: “At a time when England, America, France and other powerful nations seek to divide and usurp China, and defaming her reputation, he welded his authority in the newspaper world. With his magical pen, he hit out at powers and actions that bully the Chinese, spreading truth and sweeping away the mist of evil” Lin also records Grandfather as having founded the Foochow Laborer’s Association(福州工會) where Chinese migrants could gather, obtain assistance for their work, buying property, and in their endeavour to establish themselves. They would find help and care from Grandfather. He also worked on, and contributed his mind to the unification of overseas Chinese against demeaning powers. Grandfather also founded the Singapore Foochow Business Association(新加坡福州商業公會).

The Chee Genealogy however, does not mention Grandfather’s political activities, but instead mentions his service to the overseas Chinese in Singapore and his fund-raising effort to alleviate fire and flood in his native country, China. This is also mentioned in the Annals of Foochow, that he organized fund-raising efforts which contributed to victims of fire in Sibu(1928), also in China, and floods in China(1931).

Lin’s writing also mentioned Grandfather as having practised medicine, “healing lots of people and upholding the ethics of the profession”. In 1919, Grandfather sent money to China to help build a school. In 1926 when the authorities of Sarawak disallowed the remittance of money to China causing great hardship, Grandfather asked his son Set Chew(叔超) to negotiate with the British in London which resulted in the lifting of the ban.

It is perhaps in the practice of Chinese medicine that Grandfather came to be acquainted with my maternal grandfather, Zhang Shih Yung, who was also an immigrant Chinese physician with some reputation amidst the Chinese community of Singapore, and together through the traditional process of engaging the services of a match-maker, tied the knot between Father and Mother. Father remembers his father-in-law as a scholarly person who wore his long Chinese gown everyday in the year, in fact, he never saw Grandfather Zhang in any other local dress. Grandfather on the other hand, wore a long gown only on special occasions. Father remembers Grandfather as a serious person but could occasionally tease Grandmother with the singing of some Chinese opera verses. He frequently goes to the Peking opera, and Father would go with him sometimes, and they would end the night with a bowl of noodles at a food stall. It explains why Father would listen to Peking opera when I know he didn’t understand what was sung - I had often wondered about it. Into the Republic, and Grandfather spends his time not only at operas, but also at the mahjong table. Mother did not know Grandfather well as he was already bed-ridden and not talking when she married into the family.

Grandfather died in February of 1936, but it was in the next year that a ship was specially hired to take his coffin back to Foochow for burial. Scores of relatives and friends accompanied him on that his last trip back to his homeland. Father did not go as Mother was pregnant with Kuan Tsee, their firstborn. It was not a peaceful time on the international scene and especially in China, being the beginnings of civil and international war; but Grandfather had the assistance of his former student Lin Shen, now the president of the Republic of China, and also that of the British authority, to facilitate his ship to smoothly pass through ports and customs without inspection! The ship had to pass through Hong Kong, Xiamen(Fujian), and Mawei(馬尾).

In Chinese records, Grandfather was a patriotic (towards China) Singapore (or Nanyang) Hua-Chiao. Yet I have not been able to find much of anything about him in the recorded history of Singapore. Chen Mong Hock’s “The Early Chinese Newspapers of Singapore 1881-1912” (p.66) mention of “Hsu Chi-yun” was just as brief, that he was an editor of “Thien Nan” and had been on the staff of “Lat Pau”(Le Bao). It is interesting that in his notes, Chen recorded, “Hsu Chi-yun, however, seemed to have retired from public life later”. To me, that actually speaks a lot. The people that he worked with, whether Khoo Seok Wan or Lim Boon Keng were Straits-born and English educated. They were thus the local history-making people of early Singapore. Grandfather, of course, would just be a typical Chinaman, knowing no English. Yet, it is interesting to observe that Lim Boon Keng was referred to as a “Chinaman” by western writers of his time, even while recognizing and writing about his great education and accomplishments; that being so, I would imagine that Grandfather being from China and especially not knowing any English, would be the Chinaman’s Chinaman. Though recognized as well educated, he would probably be still seen as not as accomplished, or even “cultured” enough to the westernized minds of those times, and therefore of a lesser class - “those Chinese” perhaps. He would probably be seen also as someone not assimilated enough with the locals and having a loyalty elsewhere, and so forth, all that which even today, and in modern Singapore, continues to be the case – the stereotyping of immigrants, the latter ones by the earlier ones - we see this again and again in immigrant societies, and I sense such feeling reading Chen’s book*. An article on the topic the “Allerged Grievances of the Chinese” in an quarterly co-edited by Lim Boon Keng*, the writer says, “we are extremely sorry that between the many thousands of ignorant coolies and the better class of Chinese, there is a tremendous social gulf so that it is not easy for the latter to know or to control the plans for the good or evil of the former.” The grievances in this case were a cultural misunderstanding (my interpretation) of regulations regarding health issues such that protest placards were raised in “Chinese town” that displayed the contempt for the government with “prices” set for the head of certain government officers.
The note in Chen’s book is particularly interesting because Grandfather did not to my understanding actually “retired from public life” though he may have “disappeared” from the English or bi-lingual scene in early Singapore. For Father said that he was active all along. Indeed, as seen in the records in China, that in the years of the Republic, he continued to serve the Chinese immigrant community of Singapore, as well as helping his homeland.

After Ri Xin Bao, Grandfather continued his newspaper work in Jung Hwei Bao (Union Times), but perhaps indeed, by now Grandfather’s actual involvement in politics was over.

Grandfather was a Chinese Scholar who also practised Chinese medicine. While he lived at a time when East met West with hostility, over-spilling from China into Chinese societies elsewhere, he was yet open enough, or more probably enlightened enough, though incapable or unwilling to learn English himself, to send his children to English schools to receive a sound western education. This was his response to emigrating to Nanyang, that the next generation would be equipped far better than himself to face a new world outside of China while he himself contributed as much as was possible by actively engaging himself with the people and communities he was in, serving his compatriots in this which to all is their new home. He did not hole himself up in a “China-world” or China-town. As indicative of how he saw the new world, he prepared his children well to face it – many went to Raffles, and three studied western medicine, this perhaps influenced by Dr. Lim Boon Keng. But he also made sure that they learned the Chinese Classics, and that was through hiring a teacher to teach at home as tradition would have it. My father was taught by one such teacher. As a first generation migrant, and in particular one who was so involved with the destiny of his home country, Grandfather’s loyalty unquestionably was to China. But that was not just the case. He certainly also demonstrated his dedication to some of the affairs of his new home, contributing to the society in the land of his new life.

Grandfather’s oldest son, Dr. Chee Pek Liang(徐伯良)was highly respected in Foochow circles in Singapore. His second son, Dr. Chee Set Chew, was also well-known and much respected in Sibu, more popularly known then as the New Foochow, in Sarawak. Among his grandchildren who have made publicly-known contribution to Singapore are Dr. Chee Siew Oon, Dr. Chee Chin Tiong, Chee King Ting, and Dr. Chee Kuan Tsee. The son of his first daughter, Lau Pek Hoo(劉伯和), is a well-known educator in early Singapore. Dr. Daniel Chee contines his good work in Sibu. Of the fourth generation, Dr. Chee Soon Juan is one among his many accomplished great grandchildren.