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A Travelling Pillow And Stool From China
This ingenious wooden item is pictured in its three positions, folded for travelling, as a pillow and as a stool. It was the only item brought from Fujian Province, China by Ong Bee Thye in 1904 when he came to Nanyang (as the immigrants called it). Arriving in Singapore as a penniless newcomer he found work as a rickshaw puller, saved his money and after a while moved North to Tapah where he became a gunsmith, cycle and motorcycle mechanic, dealer for Ford spares and owner of rubber plantations. A truly hardworking entrepreneur, he returned to China before the first World War and brought his newly wedded wife back to Tapah where they set up home and brought up their family. However despite his rags to riches experience he kept his one souvenir of his arrival in Singapore, this travelling pillow cum stool, and it is now the proud possession of his grandson who still lives in the family home in Tapah. There are more details of Ong Bee Thye in this archive.