The Family of Compradors

CHIA HOOD THEAM 謝佛添 (1863 – 1938) & YEO LAN NEO 楊鱗娘 (1865 – 1949)
Place of Ancestry : Tseng Theh (前宅)

Chia was a founding member of the Straits Chinese British Association (SCBA) set up in August 1900. Their mission was to advance the interests and welfare of the Straits-born Chinese  in Singapore.  They stood a world apart from the “sinkehs” or first- time arrivals of the Chinese diaspora who could not speak English. The Straits born Chinese who identified themselves as Peranakan which means local born, were English educated, spoke baba Malay, and  dialects depending on their    They played important roles as intermediaries between the British and the local community in commercial and social matters, and were called the King’s Chinese. 

Chia attended Raffles Institution and worked at the Mercantile Bank of India as a comprador servicing loan accounts of  Chinese merchants and traders and also in charge of hiring local staff. Compradors typically had strong connections and family backgrounds, with the role often passed down through generations. Chia inherited the job from his father and in turn two of his sons also became compradors.  Three generations of the Chia family served the bank for a total of 170 years.

Chia owned properties in Geylang and Punggol, but he bought for his family a storied bungalow with sprawling grounds located at the corner of Killiney and Devonshire roads in 1915, and lived there till his death.

 It was called Rosedale, a large and lively household which included grandchildren. The sons were excellent athletes winning national competitions in   badminton and tennis.   Oftentimes music filled the grounds of Rosedale  It was music from  violins accompanying  Malay poems, known as pantuns, which follow strict rhyme and rhythm. The eldest son,  Chia Keng Tye, was passionate about music, and taught himself how to play the violin. He began playing pantuns with a group of four friends in Rosedale. From this small group Keng Tye funded its growth  to a full orchestra and took on an exclusive repertoire of Western classical music. He names the orchestra after himself, Chia Keng Tye orchestra’s first public performance was for the SCBA in 1916 to raise money for the Red Cross. They raised funds for a variety of causes from the Swatow Relief fund and for the girls school, Singapore Chinese Girls School ( SCGS )

Keng Tye however sent his daughters to the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus which was started in 1854, over 40 years before SCGS.  As recounted by his great granddaughter Noreen Chan, one day the CHIJ nuns paid him a visit, hoping to find  paying students so that they could continue to run the orphanage. They wanted his six-year-old daughter who they considered the right age but not his elder daughter who at nine, was considered too old to start school. Keng Tye insisted that the nuns enrolled both girls, or none. And if they accepted his daughters, he would speak to his brother Chia Keng Chin who lived behind, to send his daughters to CHIJ. At one stage there were two sets of four sisters from both families attending the convent. It is a mark of how the Chia men not only understood but demonstrated the importance of education for girls. : The Chia girls were encouraged to complete their secondary education even though the expectation was that they would get married, typically through matchmaking. The only  girl who had ambitions for university, had her plans drastically changed with the onset of WWII. She was married off at the age of 16 to protect her.

As a sign of modernity, the Chia’s tombs are constructed in marble and concrete, and tiled with art deco designs representing peacocks. The inscription “Tawee” refers to “Batawi” or Batavia, which today is Jakarta, the home of the Matriarch.

Little is known about Chia Hood Theam’s wife, Yeo Lan Neo, except that she was strictand stern, and was quite the gambler.  While she was always acknowledged as the “main” or “first” wife, there was a second wife, Chan Pek Eng, “Nenek Ka” to the children who was mother to two sons and three daughters..

Members of the Chia Hood Theam Family buried elsewhere in Bukit Brown include two of his brothers, an aunt and his son Chia Keng Tye and his wife. 

Rosedale (photo credit : CC Chia)