| Chung Keng Quee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄭景貴 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 郑景贵 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee (traditional Chinese: 鄭景貴; simplified Chinese: 郑景贵; pinyin: Zhèng Jǐngguì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tēⁿ Kéng-kùi; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chhang Kín-kui, 1827 – 13 December 1901)[1] was the founder and administrator of modern Taiping in Perak, Malaysia.[2][3][4][5][6] Appointed "Capitan China" by the British in 1877,[7] he was a millionaire philanthropist and known as an innovator in the mining of tin. He was involved in many other industries including farming, pawnbroking and logging.[8][9] He was respected by both Chinese and European communities in the early colonial settlement.[10] His survival in the chaotic era owes much to his standing as leader of the Hai San, a Chinese secret society in British Malaya during the time of the Larut Wars (1862–73),[11] a position he is said to have held until early 1884,[12] although in all probability he continued to remain a leading member.[13] The old fort at Teluk Batu was built by him to safeguard the mine that he opened there.[14]
He was a member of the Commission for the Pacification of Larut and sat as one of six members of the Advisory Perak State Council appointed by the British.[15] Commenting on the role of the Perak Council, Richard James Wilkinson wrote,
"It is for the reader, in the light of subsequent events, to judge how far the Councillors were right or wrong, and to see for himself who really did the pioneer work of building up the prosperity of Perak. In the published accounts of British rule in Malaya, sufficient prominence has not always been given to the efforts of these early pioneers; the reaper, intent on his own work, is apt to forget the man who sowed. These Council Minutes are the record of the work of the sowers. A study of that record will show how much the State owes to Sir Hugh Low and to his fellow-Councillors, especially Raja Dris (the present Sultan), Sir William Maxwell, and the Chinese towkays, Ah Kwi [Chung Keng Quee] and Ah Yam."[16]
- ^ (Researched by his great grandson, Jeffery Seow)
- ^ Melaka: the transformation of a Malay capital, c. 1400-1980, Volume 2 written by Kernial Singh Sandhu, Paul Wheatley, Abdul Aziz bin Mat Ton, published by Oxford University Press, 1983, P 327, ISBN 978-0-19-580492-8
- ^ Who's who in Malaysia & Singapore By John Victor Morais Published by Who's Who Publications, 1978; p. 26
- ^ Southeast Asian Urbanism: The Meaning and Power of Social Space by Evers, Hans-Dieter Evers, Rüdiger Korff page 49
- ^ Founder of Taiping, Compiled by NSTP Research & Information Services, Sunday Mail (The Malay Mail), 27 June 2004
- ^ Mitteilungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens, Volume 75; Volume 77 by Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens, 1979, pf 477, Item notes: v. 75; v. 77 - 1979
- ^ The Chinese in Penang - A Pictorial History (Binglang Yu Hua ren shi tu lu), Tan, Kim-Hong, ISBN 978-983-42834-7-6
- ^ 66 Usahawan Malaysia by Mohamad Ashadi bin Mohd Zaini, Page 162
- ^ Pioneer businessman in Malaysian Business, Oct 16, 2003 by Clarence Y K Ngui
- ^ The Chinese in Southeast Asia and beyond: socioeconomic and political dimensions By Qinghuang Yan, Published by World Scientific, 2008, ISBN 978-981-279-047-7, 457 pages, Page 393
- ^ The Journals of J. W. W. Birch, First British Resident to Perak, 1874-1875 By James Wheeler Woodford Birch pg 63; A Gallery of Chinese Kapitans by CS Wong
- ^ C. A. Schultz S.C.A. Perak and Acting Protector of Chinese, Singapore in his memo of 16 July 1884 C.S.O. Perak 6795/84 on The Powell Report notes that Chung Keng Quee informed him that he had resigned his membership in the Hai San in the beginning of the year
- ^ W.A. Pickering's response of 13 August 1884 to C.A. Schultz memo of 16 July shows that Pickering was aware that the secret societies and indeed their headmen were still very much at large.
- ^ Malaysia in history, Volumes 3-5 By Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia (Malaysian Historical Society), 1956
- ^ Papers on Malayan History - Page 100, by Kenneth Gordon Tregonning - 1962, Published 1962, Journal of Southeast Asian History
- ^ Preface by General Editor Richard James Wilkinson, History, Part III, Council Minutes, Perak, 1877 - 1879, Papers on Malay Subjects (Published by direction of the Government of the Federated Malay States by Richard James Wilkinson)