Wong Ah Fook

Wong was born Wong Fook Kee on 12 March 1837 to Wong Mau Chiu, a poor peasant in Taishan, Guangdong.1 In 1854, at the age of 17, Wong came to Singapore to escape poverty and the upheavals caused by civil wars in China.2 He apprenticed himself to a carpenter, who a few years later, gave Wong a share of the business.3 Wong later started his own business, Him Yuen & Co.4 By the 1860s, Wong had made t. [...] Wong was also involved in the building and maintenance of public works,10 including the jail in Johor Bahru.11 Wong was also granted revenue farming (gambier and pepper) by the Johor government between 1886 and 1891.12 In 1892, Sultan Abu Bakar granted Wong a substantial tract of land in what is today’s central Johor Bahru for “services rendered”. [...] The main arterial road was Jalan Wong Ah Fook, and the three other roads in the vicinity were named after Wong’s older sons - Jalan Siu Nam, Jalan Siu Kun and Jalan Siu Chin.13 Between 1892 and 1908, Wong was granted the revenue farming concession for gambling houses and opium shops in Kampong Ah Fook.14 1 ISEAS Library, Wong Ah Fook collection: a descriptive catalogue of a collection of research. [...] He was a founder, managing director and principal promoter of the Kwong Yik Bank.17 Established in 1903 to serve the needs of the local Chinese businesses, the Bank was the first Chinese bank to be incorporated in Malaya. [...] He was one of the founders of the Cantonese clan association, Persatuan Kwong Siew Wai Kuan,23 and was one of the first directors of the Foon Yew School established by the association in 1912.24 He helped established the Kwong Wai Siu Hospital (1911)25 and was the first president of the Board of trustees.26 He also was one of the founders of the Cantonese cemetery grounds, the Kwong Wai Siu Pek Sa.