{"id":11573,"date":"2025-05-25T11:50:36","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T03:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?page_id=11573"},"modified":"2025-09-28T13:55:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T05:55:28","slug":"20-teo-hong","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/20-teo-hong\/","title":{"rendered":"20 TEO HONG \u8d75\u82b3 & ANG CHEOK NEO \u6d2a\u8db3\u5a18"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Teo Hong in Reality\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

TEO HONG \u8d75\u82b3 (1847\u20131945)\u00a0 ANG\u00a0 CHEOK NEO\u00a0 \u6d2a\u8db3\u5a18 (1877 -1936)
\n<\/span>Place of Ancestry: Lam Ann\u00a0 (\u5357\u5b89\uff09<\/span><\/p>\n

Teo Hong started work as a carpenter doing small jobs soon after after arriving from China. He had to\u00a0 work for many years before saving enough money to return to Lam Ann, and came back\u00a0 with a wife and continued working as a small time carpenter.\u00a0 His big break came when he subcontracted carpentry work for building contracts, and his fortunes grew steadily after.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Teo Hong’s rags-to-riches story mirrored that of other migrants who made it as big time contractors from humble beginnings as coolies or skilled workmen during the late 19th to early 20th century. Some of the buildings which they helped build remain standing to this day, but their names are not as well known as the architects or the main contractors which were\u00a0 usually western firms. Teo Hong’s contractor counterparts amongst the Lam Ann Hokkiens included Lim Loh\u00a0 whose son Lim Bo Seng <\/span>\u00a0\u00a01909\u201329 1944) did succeed the family business well, but it was short lived. WWII put paid to his business growth,\u00a0 as Lim joined Force 136 to fight against the Japanese, But he was captured by the notorious\u00a0 Kempeitai, tortured, and at 35 years old died in a prison in Perak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Teo Hong’s descendants are known to have followed in his footsteps, setting up business in construction or hardware supplies. One of his sons became a doctor in Australia where he had a son, Charlie Teo. Decades later, Charlie Teo who was by then a renowned brain surgeon in Australia, returned to Singapore to search for his roots. His story was featured in the show\u00a0 “<\/span>Who Do You Think You Are<\/a>?\u201d.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Charlie Teo at\u00a0 tomb of his\u00a0 grandfather Teo Hong (photo credit SBS Australia)<\/p><\/div>\n

by Ang Yik Han<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Teo Hong in Reality\u00a0 TEO HONG \u8d75\u82b3 (1847\u20131945)\u00a0 ANG\u00a0 CHEOK NEO\u00a0 \u6d2a\u8db3\u5a18 (1877 -1936) Place of Ancestry: Lam Ann\u00a0 (\u5357\u5b89\uff09 Teo Hong started work as a carpenter doing small jobs soon after after arriving from China. He had to\u00a0 work for many years before saving enough money to return to Lam Ann, and came back\u00a0 with a wife and continued working as a small time carpenter.\u00a0 His big break came when he subcontracted carpentry work for building contracts, and […]<\/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-11573","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n20 TEO HONG \u8d75\u82b3 & ANG CHEOK NEO \u6d2a\u8db3\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\/20-teo-hong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20 TEO HONG \u8d75\u82b3 & ANG CHEOK NEO \u6d2a\u8db3\u5a18 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Teo Hong in Reality\u00a0 TEO HONG \u8d75\u82b3 (1847\u20131945)\u00a0 ANG\u00a0 CHEOK NEO\u00a0 \u6d2a\u8db3\u5a18 (1877 -1936) Place of Ancestry: Lam Ann\u00a0 (\u5357\u5b89\uff09 Teo Hong started work as a carpenter doing small jobs soon after after arriving from China. 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