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The Ong Family Of Tapah

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Subject :The Ong Family of Tapah
Published By : None 
Location : Tapah, Perak
Estimated Year : 1924
Media Type : Photograph
Source : Ong Kor Leong, Tapah
Remark : These three photographs show the Ong family of Tapah at different stages of their lives.

On the left is a photograph taken around 1924. Seated in the centre is Tan Siew Ewe, but known by all in the family as Luc Sim Ma (sixth Grandma) as she had married the sixth son, Ong Bee Thye, who was an immigrant from China in 1904. It is believed this was taken in the same year that her husband passed away, leaving her to manage their family of 6. From left to right the picture shows Ong Boon Cheong aged 3 years (born 15.11.1920 married 12.6.1948 to Lim Guat Kooi, passed away 16.1.1993), Ong Boon Khing aged 5 years (born 1919 passed away 15.1.1978), Ong Boon Seong aged 13 years (married twice, passed away 22.5.1995), Tan Siew Ewe (Mother), Ong Kuan Yin aged 15 years (born 1909), Ong Ah Kim, Ong Suan Tee alias Ong Chan Ying aged 7 years (born Dec 1917, married Loke Yew Sum, passed away 11.12.1995). The three girls were always known First Auntie, Second Auntie and Third Auntie in the Chinese style. The family is at the entrance of their home in Tapah, which was previously a godown for washing and storing tin ore. It had been bought by the children’s father in 1917 for $17,000. Upstairs, at the time, was a Chinese School.

In a larger photograph in this archive is a sign above the family which shows they were agents for Ford Spares. They also continued with Ong Bee Thye’s original business of bicycle sales and repairs, having become the main distributor locally for Hercules bicycles. This was possible as Ong Boon Seong became manager of TV Michele and Co, Penang. Two years later in 1926 they were also appointed Tapah’s Shell dealer, an agency the family still own today.

The middle photograph again shows the Matriarch sitting among her family. Standing from left to right they are -Ong Boon Cheong, Ong Boon Khing, Ong Suan Tee, Ong Ah Kim, Ong Boon Seong, Ong Kuan Yin.

In the third photograph, dated 1947: Standing from left to right - Ong Boon Cheong, Ong Suan Tee, second son of Ong Kuan Yin, first wife of Ong Boon Seong, Ong Boon Seong, third son of Ong Kuan Yin, Ong Kuan Yin, Ong Boon Khing, - front row Loke Wai Hong (first son of Ong Suan Tee) seated - Tan Siew Ee.

Two of the sons have this to say of their mother (Third Auntie) Ong Suan Tee @ Ong Chan Ying. “As the youngest daughter, it was not considered necessary to spend the money for Suan Tee to have a formal education. She gained literacy by having 2 years at a Chinese school and was mostly self taught from her brothers’ books and by enquiry.

She married Loke Yew Sum, a widower with a daughter and had 3 sons, Loke Wai Hong, Loke Wai Mun and Loke Wai Chee. She was an excellent house keeper and provided sufficient funds for the university education of 2 sons who remember her fabulous cooking with much affection, especially “Kau Yoke” (yam stew with pork) and “chung” (glutinous rice dumpling).”

Besides that, the company owned by the Ongs became responsible for bringing in other products like Triang Toys, Lucas Spares, as well as Elliot Tools.

In the fifties, the shop known as Ban Hong Leong, Tapah was given the agency of Philips Radios by William Jacks & Co Ltd. This was very profitable as they started selling them by Hire Purchase and were the only company allowed to carry and transport 9 Volts Dry Batteries during the Emergency Period as it was a controlled item. They were also supplying to all the estates in the whole of Perak including the Cameron Highlands.

During the sixties they became the biggest wholesaler for electrical product like TV sets and household Electrical Products for the whole of Malaya winning two Morris Station wagons and later two Mercedes 190D Motor cars. The good times lasted till the seventies.

During that time, Luc Sim Ma (Tan Siew Ewe) sought the services of an old Chinese geomancer, Mr. Lim to advise on the Feng Shui of the old house. This old man said that it was a very frightful house to stay in. No matter how good the business is in this building, accumulation of wealth would be little, as according to him the cooking stove was on top of a huge drain (It used to be a washing area for Harpers to wash tin ore as it was a godown to store tin ore then). He also told them that it is the Feng Shui of the building that the eldest son in the family will live to a ripe old age. The second son will die young and the third son will be either without a male descendent or he will suffer from mental illness.

No one believed him than but during the later years it turned out to be true . The eldest son Ong Boon Seong lived to his nineties. Ong Kor Leong’s father, Ong Boon Khing who was the second son died young at sixty. Third son, Ong Boon Cheong (May Baker's father) died in his seventies without a male descendent.

In the next generation of the Ong family Ong Kor Leong is the oldest. His younger brother Kok Jin died young at the age of 20 in a freak motor accident in Ipoh during his upper six days in St. Michael’s Institution. The second brother Kok Wai is without a male descendent.

The third example is Madam Ong Kuan Ying's family. Her eldest son Kuan Choon Leong passed away, aged 80, in Kuala Lumpur. The second son, Kuan Choon Seng, died in his fifties due to a gallbladder operation while the third son Kuan Choon Mey is around , but still a bachelor.

Lastly the family of Madam Ong Ah Kim: Her eldest son Thong Yun Aun is now in his fifties but the second son Thong Yun Keong died after a stroke in his thirties. The third member of the family, Thong Yun Chee is still alive in Singapore.

The family believed that these cannot be a coincidences and every word this old geomancer Mr. Lim said turned out to be true. Eventually, they sold the building and the land to Maybank and they rebuilt the new premises thus ending this frightful episode in the lives of the Ong's.

To see portraits of Ong Bee Thye and his Wife Tan Siew Ewe, click here.

To read more about Ong Bee Thye, click here.

To read more about Tan Siew Ewe, click here.

To read more about Ong Boon Khing of Tapah, click here.

To read more about the Ong family buildings in Tapah, click here.

To read more about Ong Boon Cheong, click here.

To read more about St Michael’s Institution, click here.

Filename : 20080515-002