{"id":11500,"date":"2025-05-16T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?page_id=11500"},"modified":"2025-09-28T13:20:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T05:20:15","slug":"03-yap-yan-neo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/03-yap-yan-neo\/","title":{"rendered":"03 YAP YAN NEO \u8449\u7109\u5a18"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Power of the Word on Stone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

YAP YAN NEO\u00a0\u8449\u7109\u5a18 (1889\u20131925)\u00a0 Place of Ancestry : Tung Ann (\u540c\u5b89)<\/span><\/p>\n

Yap\u00a0 Yan Neo is\u00a0 wife to\u00a0 Tan Ean Kiam, one of the founders of the Oversea- Chinese Banking Corporation.\u00a0 The tomb is\u00a0 simple, but the inscriptions on the tombstone tells us more about her.\u00a0 What is inscribed on a tombstone in Bukit Brown, depends on whether it is a Hokkien grave, or a Teochew grave.\u00a0 These two types are the most commonly encountered graves in Bukit Brown.<\/span><\/p>\n

This grave is a Hokkien grave, and inscribed at the top of the tombstone are the characters for Tong An.\u00a0 In the case of married women, this is usually the ancestral village of the husband.\u00a0 In her case, it is also her ancestral village.\u00a0 The main inscription down the centre of the tombstone bears witness that she, Yap Yan Neo, is the wife of Tan Ean Kiam (<\/span>\u9673\u5ef6\u8b19\u59bb\u8449\u7109\u5a18) <\/span>This in itself departs from the norm, which would only disclose the family that the woman buried there married into, rather than naming the husband directly.\u00a0 In a way, this was a subtle message that she was not just married into the Tan family, she was my wife.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tombstone also discloses she had two sons, and that she passed away March 12, 1925.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the panel below the altar we find the greatest expression of her husband\u2019s grief :\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>

(photo credit Raymond Goh)<\/p><\/div>\n

“My wife, Madam Yap Yan Neo, hailed from Lianhua San Village, Tong’an. She was born on the 14th day of the 7th month during the 15th year of the Guangxu reign(1889) and passed away on the 12th day of the 3rd month in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925). This record is made in remembrance of her life.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In her lifetime, she upheld virtuous conduct. From the time she married and joined me, we shared 20 years of harmony without any shortcomings. She managed the household with great thrift. I now remain without a lifelong companion.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The inscription reads: With my wife now gone,I mourn her deeply. She lived a life of modesty and dignity. I dare not seek the words of a renowned figure for this inscription, For this is enough to honor her memory.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

These few words are written as a tribute to her,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Known as Yan Neo, the wife of Tan Ean Kiam<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Written by Tan Ean Kiam himself.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u4f59\u59bb\u8449\u6c0f\u5ae3\u5a18\u4e43\u540c\u5b89\u84ee\u82b1\u5c71\u9109<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u751f\u5149\u7dd2\u5341\u4e94\u5e74\u4e03\u6708\u5341\u56db<\/span><\/i> \u5352\u6c11\u570b\u5341\u56db\u5e74\u4e09\u6708\u5341\u4e8c\u6545\u70ba\u8a8c\u5e74\u8b5c\u3002\u6b64\u4e16\u82e5\u5176\u61ff\u884c<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u81ea\u53ca\u7b04\u6b78\u4f59\u5531\u96a8\u5eff\u8f09<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u7121\u7f3a\u5fb7\u6301\u5bb6\u9817\u5039\u3002\u9918\u8005\u7121\u7acb\u8a8c\u77e3\u3002\u9298\u66f0<\/span><\/i>:<\/span><\/i>\u4ee5\u592b\u9298\u6b78\u516e<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u81ea\u5ef6\u8b19\u62ac\u3002\u4e00\u9577\u4e0d\u53d6\u516e<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u60c5\u6b8a\u582a\u60b2\u3002\u4e0d\u6562\u4e5e\u7b46\u65bc\u540d\u4eba\u516e<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u547d\u4e5f\u53ef\u53d1\u3002\u90f0\u8a8c\u6578\u8a00\u65bc\u5955\u516e<\/span><\/i>,<\/span><\/i>\u77e5\u6631\u5ef7\u8b19\u4e4b\u59bb\u3002\u9673\u5ef7\u8b19<\/span><\/i> \u81ea\u7b46<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0(translated by Raymond Goh)<\/span><\/p>\n

by Darren Koh<\/strong> and Raymond Goh<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Power of the Word on Stone YAP YAN NEO\u00a0\u8449\u7109\u5a18 (1889\u20131925)\u00a0 Place of Ancestry : Tung Ann (\u540c\u5b89) Yap\u00a0 Yan Neo is\u00a0 wife to\u00a0 Tan Ean Kiam, one of the founders of the Oversea- Chinese Banking Corporation.\u00a0 The tomb is\u00a0 simple, but the inscriptions on the tombstone tells us more about her.\u00a0 What is inscribed on a tombstone in Bukit Brown, depends on whether it is a Hokkien grave, or a Teochew grave.\u00a0 These two types are the most commonly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":11412,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11500","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n03 YAP YAN NEO \u8449\u7109\u5a18 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/03-yap-yan-neo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"03 YAP YAN NEO \u8449\u7109\u5a18 - 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