{"id":3940,"date":"2012-06-18T00:23:42","date_gmt":"2012-06-17T16:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?p=3940"},"modified":"2012-07-27T01:50:22","modified_gmt":"2012-07-26T17:50:22","slug":"luah-kim-kway-the-chivalrous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/2012\/luah-kim-kway-the-chivalrous\/","title":{"rendered":"Luah Kim Kway, The Chivalrous"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luah Kim Kway (\u8d56\u91d1\u594e) the Chivalrous<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

by Ang Yik Han<\/p>\n

On first impression, his is a typical story of a poor migrant made good. Orphaned when young, Luah Kim Kway left for the Nanyang at the age of 19 to seek his fortune. Like other uneducated migrants who toiled unceasingly, he was at various times a coolie, a hawker and a miner before hitting his first pot of gold as a building contractor. Subsequently, he branched out into the rubber and import\/export businesses. As a community leader, he was one of the founders of the Chin Kang Association, a locality association catering to Hokkiens from Chin Kang (\u664b\u6c5f \u2013 \u201cJin Jiang\u201d in pinyin) county in Fujian province. He served as the association\u2019s vice chairman for many years and was actively involved in its mutual aid group and school.<\/p>\n

Many also knew Mr Luah, or Kway Pek (\u201cUncle Kway\u201d in Hokkien) as he was respectfully called, as a powerful secret society headman.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Luah Kim Kuay taken from his gravestone (photo Yik Han)<\/p><\/div>\n

A coolie newly arrived in Singapore found himself amongst strangers in a strange land.\u00a0 Very often, there was no one he could trust and turn to for support other than clansmen or associates from his home village. Thus was born the \u201ccoolie keng\u201d<\/em> or coolie quarters which provided shelter, occupational support and fellowship for coolies sharing a common origin. In return for a small sum every month, the coolie had a space where he could sleep and stow the trunk containing his meagre belongings.<\/p>\n

Due to the nature of migrant society then, differences were often settled by force of arms and numbers counted. Members of coolie kengs<\/em> banded together for self protection and over time coolie kengs<\/em> became synonymous with secret societies. There were frequent clashes amongst rival coolie kengs<\/em> over turf issues.\u00a0Some of them even evolved into criminal organisations which were a constant headache to the colonial authorities.<\/p>\n

Many of the Chin Kang Hokkiens who arrived in Singapore in the early days worked as lightermen and dock labourers, traditional occupations as their homeland was by the sea. Like coolies from other regions, they were organised along the lines of the coolie kengs<\/em> they belonged to. According to the Chin Kang Association\u2019s records, at one point there were more than sixty coolie kengs<\/em> in town set up by Hokkiens from Chin Kang. In areas like Bali Lane, there were Chin Kang enclaves due to the presence of numerous coolie kengs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bali Lane where\u00a0 chic eateries are now housed used to house coolies\u00a0 (photo Yik Han)<\/p><\/div>\n

The Puah Kor (Hokkien for\u516b\u80a1 or \u201c8 formations\u201d) was a confederation of societies largely made up of Chin Kang coolie kengs<\/em> with a sprinkling of non-Chin Kang groups. Unlike other secret societies which were involved in activities of a criminal nature, the Puah Kor was known for its tight discipline. It did not actively seek conflicts with other groups and acted only to protect its members’ interests. Mr Luah was the leader of the Puah Kor, a position which must have reinforced his ability to arbitrate in conflicts between Chin Kang coolie kengs<\/em> as well as within the larger Chinese community in his other role as a representative of the Chin Kang Association.<\/p>\n

An anecdote demonstrates the extent of his influence. After the war, a Chinese basketball team from Manila composed largely of Chin Kang Hokkiens was in Singapore on a fund raising campaign. For some reason, some factions took a dislike to the team\u2019s captain and there were rumours floating that the coming matches would be violently disrupted. One of the worried organisers took the matter to Mr Luah. Mr Luah only commented in his quiet manner, \u201cShall we have some fried bee hoon?\u201d During the meal, the conversation ranged far and wide with many things discussed but not the subject of the visit. As the guest was about to take his leave, Mr Luah told him, \u201cGive me sixty tickets for tonight\u2019s game.\u201d That night, two hundred stout men turned up for the game at Gay World which proceeded peacefully. The following evenings were without incident as well.<\/p>\n

For obvious reasons, it is almost impossible to obtain documented accounts of secret society personalities. Mr Luah was an exception. His contributions and high regard in society were acknowledged in an obituary published in the Nanyang Siang Pau when he passed away in 1951. It described him as a principled man whom others trusted and mentioned his generosity to those in need. As an epitaph, a phrase used by the paper, \u201ca chivalrous man\u201d (\u5927\u4fa0) would be most fitting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Obituary of The Chivalrous Luah (Nanyang Siang Pau)<\/p><\/div>\n

Mr Luah\u2019s final resting place is by the side of the road in Hill 3, a short distance from Tan Chor Lam\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The grave of Luah (photo Yik Han)<\/p><\/div>\n

References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \u65b0\u52a0\u5761\u664b\u6c5f\u4f1a\u9986\u7eaa\u5ff5\u7279\u520a\uff081918-1978\uff09[Commemorative Publication, 1918-1978]<\/li>\n
  • \u65b0\u52a0\u5761\u664b\u6c5f\u4f1a\u9986\u5e86\u795d\u6210\u7acb80\u5468\u5e74\u66a8\u4e92\u52a9\u90e8\u6210\u7acb52\u5468\u5e74\u7eaa\u5ff5\u7279\u520a [80th<\/sup> Anniversary and Mutual-Aid Section\u2019s 52nd<\/sup> Anniversary Souvenir Magazine]<\/li>\n
  • Interview with Ho Bee Swee, Collection of Oral History Recording Database<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Luah Kim Kway (\u8d56\u91d1\u594e) the Chivalrous by Ang Yik Han On first impression, his is a typical story of a poor migrant made good. Orphaned when young, Luah Kim Kway left for the Nanyang at the age of 19 to seek his fortune. Like other uneducated migrants who toiled unceasingly, he was at various times a coolie, a hawker and a miner before hitting his first pot of gold as a building contractor. Subsequently, he branched out into the rubber […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,88,81,84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-memoriam","category-slider","category-tombs"],"yoast_head":"\nLuah Kim Kway, The Chivalrous - 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\/2012\/luah-kim-kway-the-chivalrous\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Luah Kim Kway, The Chivalrous - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Luah Kim Kway (\u8d56\u91d1\u594e) the Chivalrous by Ang Yik Han On first impression, his is a typical story of a poor migrant made good. 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