The  Speech Writer 

LIM KENG CHIEW 林镜秋 (1891–1942) Place of Ancestry: Ho Shan  禾山 

Lim Keng Chiew was instrumental in the success of  Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary activities in Singapore, helping with his speeches, raising funds and setting up the Singapore branch of Tong Meng Hui (同盟会), in 1906 the predecessor of Kuomintang, the Nationalist Party. While Tan Chor Nam was elected as President, Lim was elected secretary.

A shoe store owner who had  aspirations for a stronger China, Lim contributed articles on democratic doctrines to the newspaper  The “Chong Shing” Press (中興日報), launched in 1907, and also served as its Chairman.  Lim kept in close touch with Sun, who visited Singapore eight times between 1900 and 1911 to raise funds for his uprisings in China. As there was a considerable Hokkien community in Singapore and Sun was Cantonese, Lim was tasked with writing Sun’s speeches in Hokkien to rally the community to support the cause of overthrowing the Qing dynasty. He was said to have even personally delivered speeches to the Singapore Hokkien community to raise funds and solicit support.  For his fervent dedication, Lim was awarded a merit certificate of commendation by Sun in 1912, when the Republic of China was formed. 

Originally from Mao Hou Village in Xiamen, Fujian province, Lim was an illustrious classical scholar who obtained third place in the imperial examination in China in 1895. His academic achievements landed him a magistrate position, but he soon grew disillusioned with the corrupt and ineffective Qing government that he decided to venture to Nanyang, or the Southern Seas, by moving to Singapore around  the late 1890s. 

When in Singapore, he went into the shoe business and also became a Chinese-language teacher, though his heart was always close to China. He believed in transforming China into the first-ever republic in Asia, a modern democratic state headed by a president based on a written constitution as the best way forward for China. And for that to happen, the Qing Dynasty to go. As an ardent supporter of Sun, he and his fellow Tong Meng Hui compatriots raised money to help house, feed and find employment for 800 disbanded rebel militia from China after one of Sun’s uprisings failed. Lim’s commitment and devotion resulted in an economic hit to his shoe business and with a huge family of four wives and 13 children, his money ran out and he eventually died poor on 29 February 1942, just weeks after the Japanese Occupation began. He was in his 70s.

On reflection Lim’s death might have been a blessing in disguise as he was bound to be on the Japanese invaders’ hit list for the  Sook Ching massacre. The list included  Kuomintang members,  fund-raisers for the China Relief Fund against the Japanese and organisers of anti-Japanese resistance. 

Chong Shing Yit Pao (photo credit : Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall)