{"id":11554,"date":"2025-05-25T11:44:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T03:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?page_id=11554"},"modified":"2025-09-28T13:27:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T05:27:49","slug":"05-chua-sin-ghee","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/","title":{"rendered":"05 CHUA SIN GHEE \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 & MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Mountains have Dragon Veins, People have Their Roots <\/b>(\u5c71\u6709\u9f8d\u8109 \u4eba\u6709\u6728\u672c)
\n<\/span><\/h3>\n

CHUA SIN GHEE\u00a0 <\/span>\u8521\u65b0\u7fa9<\/span> (1862 -1927) MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18 (unknown – 1942)
\n<\/span>Place of\u00a0 Ancestry Hai Teng\u00a0 \u6d77\u6f84\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chua Sin Ghee was an educated young man seeking success or adventure. He took a leap of faith and ventured out from his hometown, and journeyed down to Singapore.\u00a0 He did achieve success, which in turn enhanced his standing in society \u2013 enough to be noticed and included in\u00a0 a\u00a0 1922 publication\u00a0 called \u201cBiographies of Prominent Personalities in Nanyang\u201d <\/span>\u00a0(\u5357\u6d0b\u540d\u4eba\u50b3), <\/span>which recorded the stories of 3,045 prominent Chinese of the day in Southeast Asia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from his business, we also know he was a community leader.\u00a0 When the Colonial government wanted to acquire part of the Sehnh Chua Burial Ground in Silat Road, they faced a problem: the trustees of the cemetery had long since died out and were never replaced. So on 19 September, 1921, Chua convened a large gathering of the Chua clan at his home and it was agreed that a new Committee of Management had to be formed to negotiate with the government on behalf of the community. Chua was elected Honorary Treasurer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He died on October 21, 1927 at his home at 139 Lavender Street. A newspaper obituary announced his death at the age of 65 leaving behind a widow, 4 sons, 5 daughters and 15 grandchildren.<\/span><\/p>\n

The inscriptions on the tombs\u00a0 of Chua and his wife Madam Soh* tells us he was from Hai Teng, an old county in Fujian province<\/span><\/p>\n

But it is in the epitaph that the story of this man unfolds in his words.\u00a0 In short, the epitaph speaks of the young scholarly man venturing out to engage in commerce, arriving in \u201c<\/span>\u53fb<\/span>\u201d or <\/span>Le,<\/span><\/i> an old name of Singapore, and then establishing his two factories. In classical style, the tomb epitaph also refers to the virtues of his first wife, Madam Soh (<\/span>\u5143\u914d\u8607\u6c0f\u4e09\u5f9e\u56db\u5fb7)<\/span>, and records, <\/span>\u201cthe couple treated one another with utmost respect\u201d (<\/span><\/i>\u592b\u5a66\u76f8\u656c\u5982\u8cd3).<\/span> \u00a0What is also interesting is that the epitaph reveals that the tombs had been prepared in 1925, before the death of the couple and what is known as a <\/span>\u201clive tomb\u201d <\/span><\/i>( \u58fd\u584b).<\/span><\/p>\n

So the words remain etched in stone to this day for generations of descendants who can still come and be reminded of their origins and roots \u2013 beyond what was once printed on paper.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(*For Madam Soh, we were not able to translate her full name in Chinese characters to her Hokkien name in English)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

(photo credit and transcription by\u00a0 Raymond Goh)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u5c71\u6709\u9f8d\u8109\u4eba<\/span><\/p>\n

\u6709\u6728\u672c\u6c34\u6e90<\/span><\/p>\n

\u65b0\u7fa9\u5b57\u514b\u914d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u539f\u662f\u6f33\u5dde\u6d77<\/span><\/p>\n

\u6f84\u8b1d\u84bc\u84bc\u982d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u793e\u5f9e\u5e2b\u5b66\u6587<\/span><\/p>\n

\u9752\u5e74\u5c55\u5fd7\u51fa<\/span><\/p>\n

\u5916\u7d93\u5546\u521d\u5230<\/span><\/p>\n

\u53fb\u6642\u672a\u4e45\u5275<\/span><\/p>\n

\u5efa\u6a5f\u5668\u4e24\u678b<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

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

\u5ee0\u9ad8\u6230\u5345\u9918<\/span><\/p>\n

\u8f09\u53a5\u5f8c\u9042\u6210<\/span><\/p>\n

\u5de8\u5bcc\u83ef\u5937\u5747<\/span><\/p>\n

\u7686\u862d\u6842\u817e\u82b3<\/span><\/p>\n

\u5143\u914d\u8607\u6c0f\u4e09<\/span><\/p>\n

\u5f9e\u56db\u5fb7\u592b\u5a66<\/span><\/p>\n

\u76f8\u656c\u5982\u8cd3\u4e59<\/span><\/p>\n

\u4e11\u590f\u9593\u5148\u9810<\/span><\/p>\n

\u7bc9\u4fbf\u4e24\u58d9\u4e4b<\/span><\/p>\n

\u58fd\u584b<\/span><\/p>\n

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

\u00a0Mountains have Dragon Veins, People have Their Roots (\u5c71\u6709\u9f8d\u8109 \u4eba\u6709\u6728\u672c) CHUA SIN GHEE\u00a0 \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 (1862 -1927) MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18 (unknown – 1942) Place of\u00a0 Ancestry Hai Teng\u00a0 \u6d77\u6f84\u00a0 Chua Sin Ghee was an educated young man seeking success or adventure. He took a leap of faith and ventured out from his hometown, and journeyed down to Singapore.\u00a0 He did achieve success, which in turn enhanced his standing in society \u2013 enough to be noticed and included in\u00a0 a\u00a0 1922 publication\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1489,"featured_media":0,"parent":11412,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11554","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n05 CHUA SIN GHEE \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 & MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18\u00a0 - 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\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"05 CHUA SIN GHEE \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 & MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18\u00a0 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0Mountains have Dragon Veins, People have Their Roots (\u5c71\u6709\u9f8d\u8109 \u4eba\u6709\u6728\u672c) CHUA SIN GHEE\u00a0 \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 (1862 -1927) MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18 (unknown – 1942) Place of\u00a0 Ancestry Hai Teng\u00a0 \u6d77\u6f84\u00a0 Chua Sin Ghee was an educated young man seeking success or adventure. He took a leap of faith and ventured out from his hometown, and journeyed down to Singapore.\u00a0 He did achieve success, which in turn enhanced his standing in society \u2013 enough to be noticed and included in\u00a0 a\u00a0 1922 publication\u00a0 […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-28T05:27:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Epitaph-on-Chua-Sin-Ghees-tomb-_Raymond-Goh.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/\",\"name\":\"05 CHUA SIN GHEE \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 & MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18\u00a0 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Epitaph-on-Chua-Sin-Ghees-tomb-_Raymond-Goh-1024x768.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-25T03:44:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-28T05:27:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Epitaph-on-Chua-Sin-Ghees-tomb-_Raymond-Goh.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Epitaph-on-Chua-Sin-Ghees-tomb-_Raymond-Goh.webp\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"(photo credit Raymond Goh)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bukit Brown Wayfinder (2025) : The Scoop!\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"05 CHUA SIN GHEE \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 & MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/\",\"name\":\"Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\",\"description\":\"All Things Bukit Brown\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"05 CHUA SIN GHEE \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 & MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18\u00a0 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/05-chua-sin-ghee\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"05 CHUA SIN GHEE \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 & MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18\u00a0 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014","og_description":"\u00a0Mountains have Dragon Veins, People have Their Roots (\u5c71\u6709\u9f8d\u8109 \u4eba\u6709\u6728\u672c) CHUA SIN GHEE\u00a0 \u8521\u65b0\u7fa9 (1862 -1927) MADAM SOH\u00a0 \u8607\u872f\u5a18 (unknown – 1942) Place of\u00a0 Ancestry Hai Teng\u00a0 \u6d77\u6f84\u00a0 Chua Sin Ghee was an educated young man seeking success or adventure. 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