From Labourer to Fabulously Wealthy  

TEO HOO LYE  (张扶来)  1853 – 1933 Place of Ancestry : Tong Ann

Teo  arrived in Singapore at the age of 18. He started as a laborer before saving enough to open Chop Soon Bee, a grocery store on Rochor Road. At 25, he ventured into the copra trade in the Natuna and Anambas Islands, eventually becoming a steamship owner. His company, Teo Hoo Lye S.S. Co. (also known as Soon Bee Steamship Co.), managed shipments of copra, sago, and rubber to Singapore and Sarawak. After his passing, the company was liquidated in 1935, with its fleet sold to Heap Eng Moh Steamship Co.

Beyond shipping, Teo invested in real estate and owned two sago factories—Hock Soon Guan on Havelock Road and Hock Bee Guan in Geylang. He was also a shareholder in Sze Hai Tong Bank and a member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce. In 1925, he partnered with Rev. Chanan Singh to establish the Teo Hoo Lye Institution.

Teo resided at 13 Dhoby Ghaut, a Victorian-style mansion later sold and demolished for the Cathay Building. The school he established was based in this mansion. He passed away on November 16, 1933, a week after his wife. Despite his massive wealth, Teo was described in a Malaya Tribune obituary as a reserved man who led a “simple life and refrained wholeheartedly from entering into the realm of politics” His funeral, one of the longest recorded, ended at Bukit Brown Cemetery.

Funeral of Teo Hoo Lye Source : 南洋商报, 23 November 1933, Pg 4