We've tried to ensure the information displayed here is as accurate as possible. Should there be any inaccuracies, we would be grateful if you could let us know at info@ipohworld.org . All images and content are copyright.
(Please click on the thumbnail for a bigger image.)
Towkay Chong Kok Lim
This picture hangs in the hall of the Perak Hakka Association, honouring Towkay Chong Kok Lim as one of the founders of the Association.
The following text was supplied by Tan LingLi, his daughter-in-law.
Tan Sri Chong Kok Lim (1913-1995)
Tin mining Malaysia attracted many Chinese immigrants who came to the Perak and Selangor in 18th and 19th centuries to work and develop the mine fields. Tan Sri Chong Kok Lim was one such immigrant. Born in 1913, Tan Sri Chong was the eldest son of a Hakka farmer. He arrived as a penniless young man seeking greener pastures in Malaya in the 1930s and made Ipoh his home. With hard work and determination, he was able to own his first tin mine in 1943. The rest, they say, is history.
One of the greatest founding fathers of tin mining in Perak, Tan Sri Chong soon became synonymous with tin. If Ipoh was the town that tin built, then Tan Sri Chong's tin mines were responsible for producing more than half of that tin. At the height of his glory, it is said he owned the most tin mines and dredges in Perak.
He was one of the first Chinese to be conferred the coveted "Tan Sri" title in Perak, among the first man to own a Mercedes Benz in Perak, and was a close friend of Sultan Azlan Shah (who attended his funeral).
In 1977, Tan Sri Chong completed building Malaysia's first ever large-scale shopping mall, the Sungei Wang Plaza, in Kuala Lumpur. The mall was so named after one of Tan Sri Chong's most profitable tin mines in Perak (literally translated to mean "river of gold" in Cantonese). "In tin mining, if you have good fortune of finding tin, your income will be like a river of money flowing to you", Tan Sri Chong was quoted as saying at the opening of the mall. "Sungei Wang Plaza, because of its strategic location, is going to be a river of wealth." And so it was.
Tan Sri Chong went on to develop one of Malaysia' first 5 star international brand hotels, The Regent of Kuala Lumpur (now renamed Park Royal Hotel).
Spurred on by the unimaginable success of both these ventures into property development, Tan Sri Chong then developed the 260-acre township of Sri Hartamas in partnership with other property developers. Sri Hartamas remains one of Malaysia's biggest success stories and most sought-after township for residential and commercial purposes alike.
His massive empire expanded beyond Malaysia to other countries, where he developed and owned properties and businesses including a stock broking firm in Hong Kong and a hotel in Australia. Not bad for a poor Hakka boy from China.
Tan Sri Chong died in 1995, aged 82, after suffering a stroke.
In addition to the above information, Ipoh Remembered also added the following:
"1. In the ’60s he lived on Tambun Road, close to the fountain. The house is still there, I think, but I don’t know who owns it.
2. His offices were on Cowan Street for years, then moved to Jalan Che Tak when larger premises were needed.
3. Not only was “River of Money” a favourite theme in his life, and not only did he call one of his KL properties the “Sungei Wang Plaza,” he also once owned a horse named “Sungei Wang.”
4. His enemies kept sending him packages containing venomous spiders and snakes.
To read more about the Perak Hakka Association, click here.
To read more about the Perak Hopoh Association, click here.
To read more about Perak Chinese Chamber of Commerce, click here.