A Woman of Measure

 TAY CHOON NEO 鄭春娘 (1879–1942) Place of Ancestry : Ho San (禾山)

Madam Tay’s tomb propels us back into the our maritime past when Singapore was already a very busy international port.  It is here the bustling entrepot business that made Singapore began. 

Then,  the larger merchant ships of the day would sail through the Straits of Malacca, stopping at Singapore.   These ships were too large to dock alongside the available quays and would therefore have to be loaded and unloaded offshore.  Once these ships were anchored somewhere offshore, small sturdy boats known as lighters or bumboats would swarm out from the warehouses along the quays, to pick up cargo which would be loaded on the smaller boats.  

Later, the reverse would happen as supplies and new goods would be brought out to be loaded on board the ship. These twakows (as these bumboats were known locally) were developed and run by the local Hokkiens and Teochews.  The Hokkien twakows had red, green and white boat-heads, whereas Teochew ones were usually just red.  The advent of modern container shipping, however, meant very much the downturn in the lives of these bumboat operators as larger ships now dock right up to the quays and are loaded and unloaded quayside.

But back in the  days of Madam Tay Choo Neo  these twakow were the lifeblood of the Singapore ports as they enabled the larger ships to load and unload here.   Her husband Koh Siao Seng rose to prominence in the field and became   the director of the Chinese Twakow Association.  Unfortunately, he died  in the 1920s, leaving his widow to raise her four sons.  Years later, one of these sons Koh Swee Gin,  would rise to prominence and assume the directorship of the Chinese Twakow Association – as his father had, so many years before him.

Tay Choon Neo grave has two epitaphs engraved penned by the Chinese Twakow Owners’ Association and Lee Tiong Sek, a family friend and writer. Lee was also the first President of the Singapore Buddhist Lodge.

The epitaph by the Chinese Twakow Owners’ Association pays tribute to  the life of her husband Koh and his contributions to the twakow industry. It also honours Tay’s virtue and devotion to her family in bringing up four children after his death. It observes that the tomb is placed in an auspicious location and will bless all descendants.  The grave is located on an incline. 

If you look closely here, the  altar of the earth deity or  tudi gong  there are two tigers guarding the Earth Deity, instead of guardian lions!

The earth deity is the  all powerful protector of the grave and the spiritual protocol dictates you seek permission before you can begin any rituals are the grave. It starts from the very first formal  request, ask the deity to to guided  your ancestor to the tomb!

Earth Deity with tiger guardians. (photo credit : Peter Pak)