Choa Chong Long Explained

Choa Chong Long
Birth Date:1788 3, df=y
Birth Place:Dutch Malacca
Residence:Singapore
Death Place:Macau
Office:1st Kapitan Cina of Singapore
Predecessor:Position established
Successor:Tan Tock Seng (acting)
Relations:Kiong Kong Tuan (son-in-law)
Father:Kapitan Choa Su Cheong

Choa Chong Long (; 1788-1838) was a Chinese prominent magnate, revenue farmer and pioneering colonist[1] [2] who served as the first Kapitan Cina of Singapore under the British colonial government.

He was the son of Choa Su Cheong, who was the Kapitein der Chinezen of Malacca in the Dutch colonial period.[3] [4] The younger Choa ventured out to Singapore when the British took over the island, but unlike most Chinese and Malay immigrants, Choa Chong Long was already a rich man. He was appointed Kapitan Cina of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles, who took control of the island for the British. He held the revenue farm for the import and sale of opium.[5] [6] He was also thought to be one of the first Chinese to manage a plantation in Singapore.[7]

Choa celebrated his forty-fourth birthday by giving a grand dinner to which all influential residents of the island, including many Europeans, were invited.[8] Choa's daughter married Kiong Kong Tuan, who was also a revenue farmer and businessman[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Choa died in Macau in 1838, leaving a will containing "a devise for ever of certain properties for sinchew (ancestral worship) purposes which was eventually declared void.[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

See also

  1. Chinese leadership and power in colonial Singapore by Ching Fatt Yong; Published by Times Academic Press, 1992,,
  2. Physical adjustments in a changing landscape: the Singapore story By Avijit Gupta, John Pitts published by Singapore University Press, National University of Singapore, 1992,
  3. Stories of early Singapore By Harold Frank Pearson, University of London Press, 1954
  4. Singapore civil society and British power By E. Kay Gillis,
  5. Entrepreneurs and institutions in Europe and Asia, 1500-2000 By Ferry de Goey, Jan Willem Veluwenkamp,
  6. 新社學報, Volumes 1-3 published by 新社, 1967

Notes and References

  1. Book: Trocki. Carl A.. Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control. 2006. Routledge. 9781134502431. 171. 11 January 2017. en.
  2. Book: Dorsett. Shaunnagh. McLaren. John. Legal Histories of the British Empire: Laws, Engagements and Legacies. 2014. Routledge. 9781317915744. 11 January 2017. en.
  3. A gallery of Chinese kapitans - Page 4 - by Choon San Wong - Foreign Language Study - 1963
  4. Karya lengkap Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munsyi, Volume 2 By Amin Sweeney,
  5. Opium and empire: Chinese society in Colonial Singapore, 1800-1910Asia, east by south (Food Systems and Agrarian Change) by Carl A. Trocki, Published by Cornell University Press, 1990,,
  6. Chinese society in nineteenth century Singapore - Page 25by Poh Ping Lee - Social Science - 1978,
  7. The Singapore house, 1819-1942 By Kip Lin Lee, Gretchen Liu,
  8. A social history of the Chinese in Singapore and Malaya, 1800-1911 by Ch'ing-huang Yen,,
  9. One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore by Ong Siang Song
  10. Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control By Carl A. Trocki Published by Routledge, 2006, ; pp. 17
  11. The Straits Settlements, 1826-67: Indian Presidency to Crown Colony By Constance Mary Turnbull Published by Athlone Press, 1972; pp. 31, 33, 415
  12. A History of Singapore, 1819-1988: 1819-1988 By Constance Mary Turnbull Published by Oxford University Press, 1989;, ; pp. 13, 14, 54
  13. Tan Tock Seng, Pioneer: His Life, Times, Contributions, and Legacy By Kamala Devi Dhoraisingam, Dhoraisingam S. Samuel Published by Natural History Publications (Borneo), 2003;, ; p. 9
  14. The study of Chinese society: essays By Maurice Freedman, George William Skinner published by Stanford University Press, 1979,,
  15. Chinese law and custom in Hong Kong - Page 141 - 1953
  16. A selection of oriental cases decided in the Supreme courts of the Straits' Settlements by Straits Settlements. Supreme Court, Robert Carr Woods, Compiled by Robert Carr Woods, Published and Printed for private circulation, 1869
  17. Cases heard and determined in Her Majesty's Supreme Court of the Straits Settlements 1808-1890, Volume 1, by James William Norton-Kyshe, Straits Settlements. Supreme Court published by Singapore and Straits Printing Office, 1885
  18. Journal of Southeast Asian history - Page 69 - by University of Malaya (Singapore). Dept. of History - History - 1962
  19. A cycle of Chinese festivities by WONG Choon San, published by Malaysia Pub. House, 1967