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Descendants Of Leong Fee - Leong Eng Khean And His First Wife, Lim Sin Kiaw
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Subject :Descendants of Leong Fee - Leong Eng Khean and his First Wife, Lim Sin Kiaw
Published By : Published by Areca Books, Penang, Author Christine Wu Ramsay, ISBN 978-983-42834-6-9
Location : Penang
Estimated Year : 1907
Media Type : Photograph
Source : Days Gone By: Growing up in Penang
Remark : This photograph is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author of Days Gone By, Christine Wu Ramsay (a great granddaughter of Leong Fee) and the publishers Areca Books. It shows Towkay Leong Fee's first son, Leong Eng Khean, on his wedding day in 1907, with his bride Lim Sin Kiaw. They were both 16 and had not previously met as this was a traditional 'arranged marriage'. The bride, daughter of Majoor Lim, came from Pontianak, Borneo, her father being a Jiaying Hakka and friend of Leong Fee.
Initially the couple lived in the family's Leith Street house in Penang, but when Leong Fee passed away in 1912, all the responsibility for managing his father's businesses fell on Leong Eng Khean and so for a number of years the couple moved to Leong Fee's grand house in Tambun Road, Ipoh as this was where the bulk of his father's tin mines and rubber estates were situated. However Leong Eng Khean had no natural interest in business and left most of the work to the company clerks, all of whom were Hakka. This gave the young couple plenty of time to socialise and enjoy a life of luxury.
Leong Eng Khean and Lim Sin Kiaw had ten children, but two died at birth, leaving them with five daughters and three sons. They were named: Dolly, the eldest daughter, born c1908; Eddie the eldest son; Vivian; Janet; Constance; Robert; Sally; and finally, the youngest, David.
Probably some time before 1916 the family moved back to Penang and settled at 16 Farquar Street, a two storey, European style mansion.
It was therefore in Penang in 1916 that Leong Eng Khean married his second wife, Chow Yoon Soo, who was also from Pontianak, and was sold to him when she was 14+. She stayed in Penang until the death of her mother-in-law, Miss Cheah. Then Leong Eng Khean moved her and her bond maid, Susie to Clayton Road in Ipoh. Leong Eng Khean, however, brought her back to Penang from time to time when she used to stay in a flat in Penang Road and then later in Green Lane.
To read a brief history of Leong Eng Khean, click here.
To read more about Leong Eng Khean and his second wife Chow Yoon Soo, click here.
To read more about the book "Days Gone By: Growing up in Penang", click here.
Initially the couple lived in the family's Leith Street house in Penang, but when Leong Fee passed away in 1912, all the responsibility for managing his father's businesses fell on Leong Eng Khean and so for a number of years the couple moved to Leong Fee's grand house in Tambun Road, Ipoh as this was where the bulk of his father's tin mines and rubber estates were situated. However Leong Eng Khean had no natural interest in business and left most of the work to the company clerks, all of whom were Hakka. This gave the young couple plenty of time to socialise and enjoy a life of luxury.
Leong Eng Khean and Lim Sin Kiaw had ten children, but two died at birth, leaving them with five daughters and three sons. They were named: Dolly, the eldest daughter, born c1908; Eddie the eldest son; Vivian; Janet; Constance; Robert; Sally; and finally, the youngest, David.
Probably some time before 1916 the family moved back to Penang and settled at 16 Farquar Street, a two storey, European style mansion.
It was therefore in Penang in 1916 that Leong Eng Khean married his second wife, Chow Yoon Soo, who was also from Pontianak, and was sold to him when she was 14+. She stayed in Penang until the death of her mother-in-law, Miss Cheah. Then Leong Eng Khean moved her and her bond maid, Susie to Clayton Road in Ipoh. Leong Eng Khean, however, brought her back to Penang from time to time when she used to stay in a flat in Penang Road and then later in Green Lane.
To read a brief history of Leong Eng Khean, click here.
To read more about Leong Eng Khean and his second wife Chow Yoon Soo, click here.
To read more about the book "Days Gone By: Growing up in Penang", click here.
Filename : 20100627-001