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Lip Poh And Wife, Mary Kok Swee Chee With Two Boys
Lip Poh was born in China around 1869 and having lost both his parents he and another protege were brought to Malaya, by a Catholic priest in 1874, to start a new life. He married Mary Kok Swee Chee around 1899. She was born in 1882 and had also come to Malaya from China with her mother and sister. She passed away in 1939 aged 57 and he followed her in 1944 aged 72.
As soon as Lip Poh was able he started to work in the mines and being a sensible young man was soon able to start his own mine near Falim, close to Ipoh. However, his mine was unsuccessful and he was forced to close it down and find other work. He became a hawker, selling cold soft drinks. This was a successful enterprise and he was able to save sufficient money to acquire a piece of land in Ipoh which he named Poh Garden.
Poh Garden was established during the first World War on 8 to 10 acres of land stretching from Po Lane (off Brewster Road and next to the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (now Main Convent), to today's site of the Syuen Hotel. The first garden in Perak to establish an Interflora link it becam internationally known and with its many flowers and magnificent fruit trees it was famous for the quality of its produce, particularly the Avocados.
The family house was built within the garden. It was a large wooden house sufficient to house the entire family, of up to 14 at one time, within its 6 bedrooms.
The photograph shows Lip Poh and Mary Kok Swee Chee with two children, Lip Seng Chee alongside his father and Lip Seng Onn on his mother's knee.
In all there were 12 children born to the couple, 6 boys and 6 girls, but two of them passed away very young. The surviving boys were named: Lip Seng Chee, Lip Seng Onn, Lip Seng Tak (who studied in Chinese School), Lip Seng Chiew (now Dr) and Lip Seng Yin. All but Lip Seng Tak were educated at St Michael's Institution, Ipoh.
On leaving school both Lip Seng Tak and Lip Seng Yin worked in the garden as full time employees.
As a matter of interest, the small houses that used to be down Po Lane as you approached Poh Garden, were St Michael's Church homes built on church land.
The name Poh Garden still exists in Cameron Highlands, but it was bought out of the family and is now owned by Peter Lip, one of Lip Poh's grandsons.
To read more about The Main Convent School, click here.
To read more about St Michael's Institution, click here.
To read more about St Michael's Catholic Church, click here.