{"id":11564,"date":"2025-05-25T11:46:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T03:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?page_id=11564"},"modified":"2026-03-08T11:08:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T03:08:52","slug":"15-lim-keng-chiew","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/15-lim-keng-chiew\/","title":{"rendered":"15 LIM KENG CHIEW \u6797\u955c\u79cb"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0 Speech Writer\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

LIM KENG CHIEW \u6797\u955c\u79cb (Circa 1870\u20131942) Place of Ancestry: Ho Shan\u00a0 \u79be\u5c71\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lim Keng Chiew was instrumental in the success of\u00a0 Sun Yat-sen\u2019s revolutionary activities in Singapore, helping with his speeches, raising funds and setting up the Singapore branch of <\/span>Tong Meng Hui<\/span><\/i> (\u540c\u76df\u4f1a), in 1906 the predecessor of Kuomintang, the Nationalist Party. While Tan Chor Nam was elected as President, Lim was elected secretary.<\/span><\/p>\n

A shoe store owner who had\u00a0 aspirations for a stronger China, Lim contributed articles on democratic doctrines to the newspaper\u00a0 The <\/span>\u201cChong Shing\u201d <\/span><\/i>Press (\u4e2d\u8208\u65e5\u5831), launched in 1907, and also served as its Chairman.\u00a0 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\u2019s 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.\u00a0 For his fervent dedication, Lim was awarded a merit certificate of commendation by Sun in 1912, when the Republic of China was formed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0 the late 1890s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/span>Tong Meng Hui<\/span><\/i> compatriots raised money to help house, feed and find employment for 800 disbanded rebel militia from China after one of Sun\u2019s uprisings failed. Lim\u2019s 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 14 April 1942 (29th day of the second month on the Lunar calendar) and buried the next day, just weeks after the Japanese Occupation began. According to burial registry records, he was 72 and was buried in Bukit Brown at Block 1, C plot AA15.<\/span><\/p>\n

On reflection Lim\u2019s death might have been a blessing in disguise as he was bound to be on the Japanese invaders\u2019 hit list for the\u00a0 Sook Ching massacre. The list included\u00a0 Kuomintang members,\u00a0 fund-raisers for the China Relief Fund against the Japanese and organisers of anti-Japanese resistance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chong Shing Yit Pao (photo credit : Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall)<\/p><\/div>\n

by Lee Chyen Yee<\/strong> and Fabian Tee<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0 Speech Writer\u00a0 LIM KENG CHIEW \u6797\u955c\u79cb (Circa 1870\u20131942) Place of Ancestry: Ho Shan\u00a0 \u79be\u5c71\u00a0 Lim Keng Chiew was instrumental in the success of\u00a0 Sun Yat-sen\u2019s revolutionary activities in Singapore, helping with his speeches, raising funds and setting up the Singapore branch of Tong Meng Hui (\u540c\u76df\u4f1a), 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\u00a0 aspirations for a stronger China, Lim […]<\/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-11564","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n15 LIM KENG CHIEW \u6797\u955c\u79cb - 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\/15-lim-keng-chiew\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"15 LIM KENG CHIEW \u6797\u955c\u79cb - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0 Speech Writer\u00a0 LIM KENG CHIEW \u6797\u955c\u79cb (Circa 1870\u20131942) Place of Ancestry: Ho Shan\u00a0 \u79be\u5c71\u00a0 Lim Keng Chiew was instrumental in the success of\u00a0 Sun Yat-sen\u2019s revolutionary activities in Singapore, helping with his speeches, raising funds and setting up the Singapore branch of Tong Meng Hui (\u540c\u76df\u4f1a), in 1906 the predecessor of Kuomintang, the Nationalist Party. 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