Poh Chwee Chiang 傅候沯 (Po Chwee Chiang; Anxi, Fujian)
Born 1860, Anxi County, Fujian. Died 1938, Singapore, aged 79. Buried at Bukit Timah/Hokkien Cemetery (grave rediscovered off Bukit Brown).
Ancestry: 29th-generation descendant of Yin Qing Gong; name Zan 沯, courtesy Shenhou 申候; fourth son of Mei Shi Gong 美士公.
Who he was
Self-made towkay. Came to Singapore young; started in scrap trade, later founded Heng Hin/Heng Xing loan depot (恒兴贷栈), earning wide trust among British and European clients.
Anxi community leader: early trustee of Singapore Anxi Huay Kuan; present at its 3rd anniversary (1925) and pictured among the first board. His son Poh Thiam Hock later served as treasurer and vice-chair and was listed among founders in the association’s 30th-anniversary volume (1952).
Giving back
Benefactor to hometown projects: major donations to repair ancestral halls and clan estates in Anxi—e.g., 1,000 yuan in 1927; co-funded the 1923 renovation of Denghubang ancestral hall; 1931 remittances to build Dexing Residence honoring ancestor Zishun Gong.
May 1938: upon his passing, son Poh Swee Hoe redirected $300 reserved for funeral expenses to China Relief (reported in Nanyang Siang Pau/Malaya Tribune), reflecting family’s public-spirited ethos.
Family
First wife: Teo Geok Neo 張玉娘 (Anxi). Died 30 May 1938, age 72, at 61 Havelock Road; funeral 5 Jun to Bukit Timah Cemetery. Her obituary notes 6 sons, 4 daughters, many in-laws and grandchildren.
Second wife: Lim Geok Lan 林玉兰; passed 13 Dec 1993, age 93.
Children (from clan record/obits):
Sons: Tiancheng 添成, Thiam Hock 添福, “Huoyan/Ah Goh” 火炎/亞鵝, Swee Hoe 瑞和, Thiam Oon 添溫, Thiam Soo 添賜, Thiam Teck 添德.
Daughters: 4 (names not all recorded in press; sons-in-law Soh Boon Hup, Goh Eng Kee). Grandson mentioned: Poh Kim Guan (son of Poh Ah Goh). Later notice includes Poh Kim Kiat.
Address: 61 Havelock Road (family home in the 1930s).
Tomb and art
Tomb inscriptions align with Anxi genealogy and press records, enabling reconnection between Singapore and China branches.
Carved panel: likely “The Plum Blossoms Twice” (二度梅) scene—Mei Liangyu parting from Chen Xingyun—an emblem of virtue, adversity, and reunion (identification tentative).
Passing
Husband and wife died within days (May 1938). Community notices appeared across the vernacular and English press; FMS papers requested to copy.
Notes and sources
Malaya Tribune (25 & 31 May 1938); Nanyang Siang Pau (21 May 1938); The Straits Times (7 Mar 1930; 15 Dec 1993).
新加坡安溪会馆钻禧纪念特刊 (1982) and 30th-anniversary magazine (1952).
Anxi Yingyun Ancestral Hall genealogy (应运祖宇族谱).
Ongoing: Relatives in Anxi seek contact with Singapore descendants to complete the family link.
張玉娘 Teo Geok Neo.
TEO—Madam Teo Geok Neo, wife of the late Mr Poh Chwee Chiang,
aged 72, passed away peacefully at her residence No. 61 Havelock Road on the 30th.
May 1938, leaving behind 6 sons, Messrs
傅添福 Poh Thiam Hock
傅亞鵝 Poh Ah Goh - son Poh Kim Guan
傅瑞和 Poh Swee Hoe
傅添賜 Poh Thiam Soo
傅添德 Poh Thiam Teck
傅添溫 Poh Thiam Oon
two sons-in-law,
Messrs
Soh Boon Hup
Goh Eng Kee
4 daughters, 5 daughters-in-law, 4 grandsons-in-law
34 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren to mourn her loss.
Funeral on Sunday, June 5, and thence to Bukit Timah Cemetery.
Deeply regretted. FMS papers, please copy
FUNERAL COSTS FOR CHINA RELIEF
Malaya Tribune, 25 May 1938, Page 12
Poh Swee Hoe, of Messrs Heng Hin and Co., 61 Havelock Road, a sum of $300 in Chinese currency. This sum was formerly intended as expenditure for the funeral of his late father, Mr. Ho Chwee Chiang, who died recently. Realizing that the need of immediate help for the relief of sufferers in his mother country is more important, Mr Poh Swee Hoe made this amount a generous contribution to the fund.
Both husband and wife died within days of each other
Death of second wife Lim Geok Lan 林玉兰
The Straits Times 15 December 1993
Deaths LIM GEOK LAN (MRS. POH CHWEE CHIANG) AGE: 93 Passed away peacefully on Monday, 13/12/93.
Leaving behind:
Sons:
Poh Tian Soo
Poh Tian Teck
Daughters-in-Law
Lim Ai Tee
Tang Wai Sin
Chia Sian Choo
Soh Kwee Hur
Daughters:
Poh Chwee Hoon
公自适年往新加坡谋生，先以收废品为业后发达，并开设恒兴贷栈发达致富，在那处深受英欧信仰。对家乡祖宗公益事业都有贡献，丰州开闽始祖于1927年重修捐献壹千元。民国癸亥年（1923年）登虎榜祖宇重修，谢谱、捐丁其费用与广候、伯士及公三人负担。开支剩余按十股均分，每股三十元，组织办篷席一桌，择冬至在祖宇奠献黑龛。公民国辛未年（公元1931年）汇款给火贵，兴建德兴居，以安资顺公始祖。
First board of trustees. Poh Chwee Chiang is on the left, 1st row.
Poh Chwee Chiang
Anxi Huay Kuan's 3rd anniversary in 1925 in 30 Hokkien Street
Poh Chwee Chiang's son, Poh Thiam Hock, was listed as one of the founders of Anxi Huay Kwan in their 30th-year anniversary magazine published in 1952. He was previously the treasurer and vice chairman of Anxi Huay Kwan.
安溪縣
登虎榜
DEATH.
Malaya Tribune, 31 May 1938, Page 12
aged 72, passed away peacefully at her residence No. 61 Havelock Road on the 30th.
May 1938, leaving behind 6 sons, Messrs
傅添福 Poh Thiam Hock
傅亞鵝 Poh Ah Goh - son Poh Kim Guan
傅瑞和 Poh Swee Hoe
傅添賜 Poh Thiam Soo
傅添德 Poh Thiam Teck
傅添溫 Poh Thiam Oon
two sons-in-law,
Messrs
Soh Boon Hup
Goh Eng Kee
4 daughters, 5 daughters-in-law, 4 grandsons-in-law
34 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren to mourn her loss.
Funeral on Sunday, June 5, and thence to Bukit Timah Cemetery.
Deeply regretted. FMS papers, please copy
FUNERAL COSTS FOR CHINA RELIEF
Malaya Tribune, 25 May 1938, Page 12
Poh Swee Hoe, of Messrs Heng Hin and Co., 61 Havelock Road, a sum of $300 in Chinese currency. This sum was formerly intended as expenditure for the funeral of his late father, Mr. Ho Chwee Chiang, who died recently. Realizing that the need of immediate help for the relief of sufferers in his mother country is more important, Mr Poh Swee Hoe made this amount a generous contribution to the fund.
傅瑞和君節省尊翁喪事費用三百元繳籌賑會助賑
南洋商报, 21 May 1938, Page 8
Both husband and wife died within days of each other
Death of second wife Lim Geok Lan 林玉兰
The Straits Times 15 December 1993
Deaths LIM GEOK LAN (MRS. POH CHWEE CHIANG) AGE: 93 Passed away peacefully on Monday, 13/12/93.
Leaving behind:
Sons:
Poh Tian Soo
Poh Tian Teck
Daughters-in-Law
Lim Ai Tee
Tang Wai Sin
Chia Sian Choo
Soh Kwee Hur
Daughters:
Poh Chwee Hoon
Page 6 Advertisements Column 4
The Straits Times, 7 March 1930, Page 6
ERRING SON BOUND OVER
Malaya Tribune, 22 July 1948, Page 6
Poh Kim Kiat
银青公廿九世裔
丕宗公諱沯字申候 美士公四子
生于公元1860年，卒于公元1938年，享年79岁
娶张氏玉娘，续娶林氏玉兰娘
子八：添成、添福、火炎、阿俄、瑞和、天温、天赐、天德
根据应运祖宇族谱抄录
现居住在安溪登虎榜的傅兴文热心寻找以上在新加坡的后裔亲人，希望丕宗公后裔看到该语文后，来电话联系：13788836859，以圆多年寻亲之梦。
A fortuitous find in Hokkien Cemetery off Bukit Brown helped to reunited descendants of Singapore to their ancestor's tomb today ... the tomb may also help to connect the descendants of Singapore to those of China, as the tomb inscriptions and newspapers archives match the genealogy record as described by the relatives of China … the journey continues…
This was transcribed according to the genealogical records of Yingyun Ancestral Hall.
29th Generation Descendant of Yin Qing Gong
**Pi Zong Gong, known as Zan, courtesy name Shen Hou, fourth son of Mei Shi Gong**
Born in 1860 AD, passed away in 1938 AD, at the age of 79.
Married Ms. Zhang Yuniang, later married Ms. Lin Yulan Niang.
Eight sons: Tiancheng, Tianfu, Huoyan, A'e, Ruihe, Tianwen, Tianci, and Tiande.
Gong (Poh Chwee Chiang) went to Singapore to make a living at an early age, initially working in the scrap business. He later prospered and founded the Hengxing Loan Depot, achieving great wealth. He was highly respected by the British and Europeans there. He contributed to the public welfare and ancestral projects of his hometown. In 1927, he donated one thousand yuan for the renovation of the ancestral founder of Fengzhou Kaijin. In the year of Guihai in the Republic of China (1923), he and two others, Guanghou and Boshi, shared the expenses for the renovation of the ancestral hall, donating and covering the costs. The expenses were divided into ten shares, each thirty yuan. They organized a banquet to commemorate the ancestors at the ancestral hall on the winter solstice. In the year of Xinwei in the Republic of China (1931), he remitted funds to Huogui to build Dexing Residence to honor the founding ancestor Zishun Gong.
Now Poh Heng Boon from his village, Anxi, is currently residing and actively searching for the descendants of Poh Chwee Chiang in Singapore. It is hoped that the descendants of him will see this message and contact us at 13788836859 to fulfill the long-held dream of a family reunion.
Pic of Poh Chwee Chiang
First board of trustees. Poh Chwee Chiang is on the left, 1st row.
Poh Chwee Chiang
Anxi Huay Kuan's 3rd anniversary in 1925 in 30 Hokkien Street
Source
新加坡安溪会馆钻禧纪念特刊, 1982年
新加坡安溪会馆于一九八二年庆祝六十周年纪念所出特刊.
Pic of Poh Thiam Hock
Poh Chwee Chiang's son, Poh Thiam Hock, was listed as one of the founders of Anxi Huay Kwan in their 30th-year anniversary magazine published in 1952. He was previously the treasurer and vice chairman of Anxi Huay Kwan.
————
Tomb artifact
A tentative identification of a panel theme
二度梅 The Plum Trees Blossom Twice
This is a novel written during the Qing Dynasty, which has been adapted for opera performances. During the Tang Dynasty, the upright official Mei Kui was framed by his political opponent Lu Qi and executed. Luckily, Mei Kui's son, Mei Liangyu (梅良玉), escaped. Eventually, he took up a position as a servant in the house of Chen Dongchu, where he fell in love with the Chens' daughter, Chen Xingyun (陈杏云). Chen happened to be a good friend of Mei Liangyu's father, and when he discovered Mei Liangyu's identity, he decided to betroth his daughter to him. Unbeknownst to them, the villain Lu Qi had put up a memorial to the Tang Emperor to dispatch Chen Xingyun to foreign lands for a political marriage.
The scene in the panel shows Mei Liangyu bidding his beloved Chen Xingyun farewell as she rides off with a troop of attendants as befitting a marriage procession.
Thus ends the first part of the novel. There is a second part where the pair get back together again, but that is a story for another day.
(Courtesy of Yik Han)