Dr LIM Boon Keng 林文慶

Lin Wen-ch'ing, known as Lim Boon Keng, a successful doctor, entrepreneur, and public figure in Singapore who abandoned his lucrative career to serve as president of Amoy University from 1921 to 1937.

residence: 116-1 River Valley Road
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•Occupation: Doctor •Education: RI, MBCM (Edin) 1892 Hon LLD (HK) 1919 •Title: Dr. •Title: O.B.E 1918 •Death: 1 JAN 1957 in Singapore •Burial: 3 JAN 1957 Bidadari Cemetery, Singapore •Note: Dr Lim Boon Keng was born in Singapore on October 18, 1869. His grandfather, Lim Mah Peng, was from Fukien province and first arrived in Penang in 1839. His father, Lim Thean Geow, was born in Penang, making him a second generation Straits-born Chinese. Dr Lim was known to be an outspoken and eloquent speaker, qualities which he put to good use, raising funds for the building of the King Edward Medical School which later formed the medical faculty of the University of Malaya. Dr Lim worked hard as co-founder of the Singapore Chinese Girl's School, as he saw the apathy of Chinese parents towards the education of their daughters as one of the basic factors in the decline of the Chinese nation. His campaign for education was guided by this concept: "A good English education is, no doubt, the best legacy a Chinese or any other parent in the British Empire can leave to his children. What I deplore is the absolute staleness of the education our children get. There is neither spirit or fire in all they learn. It is mere routine of simple rules and memory work in which neither patriotism, nor piety, nor virtue, nor wisdom recieve adequate justice... We must try to understand that education, as conceived by our best thinkers, is quite sound in principle. Our countrymen in China do not look upon education merely as a means of earning their livelihood. Their idea, that education should ennoble a man's mind and purify his character, is the highest we can entertain." Dr Lim was a student at Raffles Institution from 1879 to 1887 following Confucian classics classes conducted by the Hokkien Clan Association and the Government Cross Street School. Even at a young age he was impressive- he learned quickly and, although books were scarce at that time, he was fortunate to be given access to the library of Mr Wee Thean Tew, a prominent lawyer. That greatly improved his knowledge of English language and literature which caught the attention of his school master, Mr RW Hullet who then volunteered to tutor him; this helped him to become the first Queen's Scholar in 1887. Boon Keng was 13 years old when his father died. He dropped out of school to eak out a bare living as a hawker. Mr Hullet went in search of him and found Boon Keng hawking Nonya cakes. Through the intervention of Hullet and Cheang Hong Lim that enabled Lim to complete his education which threatened to end when his father died. Later on Boon Keng honoured his teacher by naming a road that branches off from Emerald Hill Road as Hullet Road. Dr Lim went to medical school at Edinburgh University, Scotland. According to Khor Eng Tee who wrote The Public Life of Dr Lim Boon Keng, Dr Lim opted for medicine because his father died from blood poisoning from a razor cut as no doctor could help him. His keen interest in the Chinese language was attributed to two incidents. During his stay in Scotland, he met some students from China who refused to recognise him as a Chinese because he was not fluent in the Chinese language. In another incident, he was unable to translate a Chinese scroll when he was asked by a professor. He was so ashamed that it was then that he decided to be proficient in Chinese. In later years the humiliation suffered by China and the Chinese made him champion the status of the Chinese through promoting the study of Chinese Language and culture. Dr Lim's enthusiasm was perhaps influenced by his wife, Huang Tuan Ching, and herfather, an imperial scholar who published the daily Sing Pau. In 1892, Dr Lim graduated with a first class honours degree in medicine and surgery. In May 1893 he was back in Singapore and set up a private practice in Telok Ayer Street. He studied Mandarin and Cantonese after work and soon became known as a linguist. Lim's popularity as a doctor soared and within three years he was well recognised by fellow doctors in the colony. At 26, Dr Lim was appointed one of the two Chinese Members of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlement. When he was first nominated, the Government rejected the nomination because it was thought that he was too young to command the respect of the Chinese community. Besides, at that time, Lim was not wealthy, which was one of the criteria for a respectable member of the council. A good speaker, Dr Lim was known to be courageous and independent. Twelve years before the revolution in China he was at the forefront of the queue -cutting movement in Singapore, causing displeasure to the more more influential. He was seen as a champion of the rights of his compatriots and had been regarded as a danger to public peace when he participated in a protest against the military contribution to be made by the colony to the British Empire. He gave a series of public lectures from 1893 to 1895, campaigning for educational reforms and leading the fight against opium smoking which was one of the main commercial activities of some prominent businessmen at that time. When he was finally appointed in 1895 as the two Chinese Members of the Legislative Council, it was a significant moment for the Chinese of the colony. Forthe first time a highly educated Chinese joined the government, an appointment not based on wealth. Dr Lim was reappointed to the council in 1898, 1901 and 1915. Lim Boon Keng's name would appear in all important organisations in the colony. He was a co- editor of the Straits Chinese Magazine through which he forwarded his ideas of education for the Chinese. He also founded the Chinese Philomathic Society and got together a group to study English literature, Western music and Chinese. His house became the venue for Mandarin classes which were held every Sunday. He also made time to lecture at the King Edward Medical School. During the First World War, Dr Lim campaigned for the Chinese to contribute generously to the war effort. It was through his work and influence that enough money was raised from the Chinese in Malacca to purchase two aeroplanes. He was also one of the first to sign up as a private for the Chinese Volunteer Company to mark his loyalty to the British Empire. In 1916 he spearheaded a fund-raising campaign for the British Red Cross, raising more than $40,000. In addition, Dr Lim was appointed a member of the Committee of Raffles Library and Museum which he served from 1897 to 1910. Dr Lim's business interests included the first Chinese rubber plantation to be cultivated on a commercial scale. Located in Yeo Chu Kang Road, the plantation was a result of his experiments with Tan Chay Yan as early as 1896 under the influence of HN Ridley. He aslo founded the Overseas Assurance Corp Ltd in 1920 and had interest in several other banks and businesses. Lim resigned from the commercial bodies when he accepted the appointment to head the University of Amoy which was financially backed by Tan Kah Kee, owner of the largest rubber manufacturing concern and pineapple canning industry in Singapore at that time. Dr Lim's contribution to public service did notgo unnoticed. He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1918. Even the Chinese government recognised his efforts for the Chinese community and invited him to serve in the Chinese Embassy in London in 1897, an offer he declined. In 1921 Dr Lim left with his family for Amoy University. The university became widely acclaimed under his leadership, but its rapid expansion also meant that it needed much more money than it was getting from its sponors. From 1928 to 1937 Dr Lim spent most of his time overseas trying to raise funds. In 1930, when he was bringing the Mayor of Shanghai around Sinagpore, Dr Lim receivied in his head an assassin's bullet meant for the Mayor of Shanghai. Fortunately Boon Keng survived the shooting incident with no lastingdamage. He returned to Singapore at 73 to retire to his Paterson Hill Road home, but was pushed to the limelight when the Japanese occupied the colony. Dr Lim was made the head of the newly formed Overseas Chinese Association through which money from the Chinese community in Malaya was collected and channeled to the Japanese Military Administration. That was his last public office. When the Japanese surrendered in 1945, Dr Lim retired from public life. He died in 1957. Today Dr Lim is immortalised by a road named after him: Boon Keng Road. The National Museum has a collection of insect specimens which he donated while the National Library was given nine science books. The site of his family home at 37 Emerald Hill Road is where the Singapore Chinese Girl's School stood for many years. LIM Boon Keng, Dr. (Lin Wenqing) AA JP 1897; OBE 1918. 1869-1957; First Western-trained Chinese doctor; first Vice-Chancellor of Amoy (Xiamen) University, China 1921-37; born Singapore; Straits Chinese; 2nd son of Lin Thean Geow (Tian Giow); 3 wives, 6 sons, 1 daughter; both his grandfather and father managed the spirit and opium farms of Cheang Hong Lim. Educ: Cross Street Govt Sch and Raffles Instn under Hullet; the first Chinese Queen's Scholar in 1887 to study medicine at Edinburgh Univ graduating in 1891 with 1st Cl Hons; Fellow, Royal Medical College, Edinburgh; Hon LLD, Univ of Hong Kong. Private medical practice at Telok Ayer Street; maintained a private hospital for prostitutes; raised funds for the founding of King Edward VII Medical Sch 1905; started Sembawang Rubber Plantations Ltd during the rubber planting boom in 1909; founded United Saw Mills Ltd. One of the founders of Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce 1918; one of 4 founders, Straits Chinese British Assocn 1900; founded Chinese Philomathic Society, a Baba assocn devoted to the study of English literature, Western music and the Chinese language; led the Straits Chinese Reform movement and campaigned for the removal of the pigtail; from 1894-1911 led Confucian revival in Singapore and Malaya; co-founded Anti-Opium Society 1906. Vice-Chairman, Chinese Commercial Bank 1912; co-founder, Malaya Tribune 1913; 1st Chairman and Director, Oversea-Chinese Bank Ltd 1919; President, Singapore Kuomintang, 1913; youngest member of the Legislative Council at age 26, and a Municipal Commissioner. Member, Chinese Advisory Board; Founder and Chairman, Overseas Chinese Association 1942-45 formed under Japanese directive to convey Japanese orders to the Singapore Chinese; served briefly as Sun Yat Sen's confidential secretary in Nanjing when Dr Sun became China's provisional president in 1911. Donated his house at 37 Emerald Hill Rd to Singapore Chinese Girls' Sch, which he co-founded with Song Ong Siang and Khoo Seok Wan in 1899; translated the Chinese classic Li Sao into English; with Song Ong Siang and Wu Lien-teh started the Straits Chinese Magazine in 1897. Biography in Chinese: (Dr Lee Guan Kin)The Thought of Lim Boon Keng: convergency and contradiction between Chinese and Western culture. Boon Keng Road named in his honour.

Called the 'sage of Singapore' upon his death, Lim Boon Keng bridged the British and Chinese worlds in a way no Singaporean had done before.

"Meeting of Two Worlds"

His grandfather was a China-born Hokkien who arrived in Penang in 1839 and subsequently settled in Singapore. Both his grandmother and mother were Nyonya, the one hailing from Penang, the other from Malacca. Both his grandfather and father earned their living managing the spirit and opium farms of Cheang Hong Lim, whom the British recognized as a leader of the Hokkien community. Lim was educated first at a Hokkien clan temple and then at a government school in Cross Street. Promoted to Raffles Institution, he excelled in his studies, becoming the first Chinese to be awarded the Queen's Scholarship in 1887. At the University of Edinburgh he won a First Class Honours degree in medicine.

At Edinburgh he was not accepted as Chinese among fellow students from China and was piqued by his inability to translate a Chinese scroll presented by a lecturer. Upon returning to Singapore in 1893, he started to learn Mandarin and Cantonese and to read Chinese literature. English, however, remained the strongest language - as was evidenced by his reliance on an interpreter when he gave a speech at Amoy University in 1926.

His private medical practice at Telok Ayer Street established his reputation among Chinese and oriented him towards social reform. He maintained a private hospital for prostitutes and co-founded the Anti-Opium Society in 1906. He raised funds for the founding of the King Edward VII Medical School in 1905. A man of many parts, he was also active in business, particularly the rubber industry, shipping and banking. That he was one of the founders of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, a body in which China took much interest, demonstrated his acceptance by the China-born community.

Community Standing

At the same time, he served as an adviser to the British in such institutions as the Legislative Council and the Chinese Advisory Board, professing allegiance to the colonial masters on occasions such as the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in 1897, when he made a statement assuring them 'that to no other of Her Majesty's subjects will the Chinese of Singapore yield in loyalty and adhesion to Her Majesty.' He attended the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and that of King George V in 1911. During World War I he raised support among Straits Chinese for the Prince of Wales Relief Fund and also contributions towards the purchase of war planes. In recognition of his 'good work on behalf of war charities,' he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1918.

Lim co-founded the Straits Chinese British Association in 1900 and was twice elected president in the first two decades of its existence. He also founded the Chinese Philomathic Society, a Baba association devoted to the study of English literature, Western music and the Chinese language. He led the Straits Chinese Reform movement at the turn of the century and campaigned for the removal of the queue (pigtail) and against superstitious practices in Chinese folk-religious life. His promotion of education did not stop at the founding of the Singapore Chinese Girls' School; he urged the use of Chinese as a medium of instruction for Chinese children, and started Mandarin classes for Straits Chinese at his home. Between 1894 and 1911 he led the Confucian revival in Singapore and Malaya. A member of the anti-Manchu Tongmeng Hui, the predecessor of the Kuomintang, he became president of the Singapore branch of the latter party in 1913.

Tan Kah Kee praised him as one 'who was well-versed in Western materialistic sciences and Chinese cultural spirit.' At Tan's request, Lim became vice-chancellor of Amoy University in 1921-37, even though this was at the expense of his medical practice and business interests in Singapore. The university benefited from the funds he raised on its behalf from wealthy Chinese in Singapore, Malaya and Indonesia; from the medical school he set up and his efforts to make English a second language.

Politics and War

But his sympathy for Confucianism and the use of Classical Chinese did not go down well with the students, on whom the anti-traditionalism of the May Fourth Movement had had a decided influence. Only in retrospect, perhaps, would they see him not as an anachronism but as a modernizer in his own way.

Back in Singapore he was to suffer at the hands of the Japanese army of occupation, which, to pressure him into working for it, made his wife kneel under the scorching tropical sun for hours at a stretch in addition to bearing other hardships. Lim maintained his interest in the promotion of Chinese culture after the war, becoming the first president of the China Society in 1949 and remaining its patron until his death in 1957. •Date: 27 JUN 2005

•Note: LONELY CHILDREN OF LIM BOON KENG by Stella Kon

When we set up Lim Boon Keng descendants' website, we soon noticed that the Lim side was not very vocal. On the Tan Tock Seng side is a flood of chatty, jovial, friendly people, eager to connect to each other. On the Lim side, till now only a handful of the descendants of Lim Boon Keng have made connection. I wonder whether this has something to do with the fact that so many of the immediate descendants of Lim Boon Keng were cut off from family and home in their formative years.

The sons of Boon Keng by the first wife are Robert, Francis, Walter, & John. Robert Lim was sent to Edinburgh at an early age, maybe twelve years old. He ended up in America and married an American wife. His brothers Francis and John were sent out to him there and also married Americans. We have hardly any contact with their families.

Walter was the only one kept at home long enough to marry a Chinese wife and beget an heir, then he went to Edinburgh.

The sister Ena had a cleft palate which was treated in late childhood by surgery and according to Aunt Ah Jin her mother hated her. The youngest unadmitted son Peng Thiam lived with the family and according to him he was treated like a kind of Cinderella by the 2nd Mrs LBK.

The children of Walter by his first wife were also sent away from home. My father Kok Ann was sent to Singapore and lived with many different relatives in one house after another. His youngest sister Mimi was given away for adoption. The two elder sisters Ee Jin and Ee Lay lived with their mother.

Family anecdotes paint the 2nd Mrs Lim Boon Keng as the wicked stepmother who was responsible for all this. But where was Lim Boon Keng all this time? It is said that in the traditional household, the wife ran everything and the husband did not interfere. But we have here a doctor, an educated man, who is struggling in the Legislative Council for justice for the people, who leads inquiries on the health conditions of the prostitutes and rickshaw pullers. Why didn't he intervene when Peng Thiam was unjustly treated? Why didn't he send Ena for surgery earlier? If he agreed to send the 3 sons overseas - why didn't he keep in touch with them by correspondence?

I remember that Boon Keng himself was a lonely child. First, his education in English may have isolated him from his loving but uneducated mother and sisters (Father died when he was young.) He was sent to Scotland in 1887 at the age of 18 according to the historian, 14 according to aunt Ee Jin, and lived with a Scottish family. He graduated in 1892. (This is only 4 yrs to get medical degree.) Presumably during this time he did not have any contact with his family in Singapore as they would not have been letter writers - unless they could write to him in Malay?

It does seem that Lim Boon Keng had no role model of a family and father-figure. For whatever reason, he did not nurture his own sons. They were sent away perhaps feeling rejected and unwanted. They would have felt the extended family ties were useless, and the only important emotional links are the ones a man finds for himself. Perhaps this is why they have not kept up links with Singapore.

http://limsumin-bukitbrowntrails.blogspot.my/2012/04/he-died-that-w...

So eleven doctors in the family, sparked off by the death of Lim Mah Peng from blood poisoning following a razor cut: He died that we might live lives that involve saving of lives;

1) Dr Lim Boon Keng 2) His son Dr Robert Kho Seng Lim, stalwart work in China with China Red Cross 3) His son Dr Lim Peng Thiam, General Practitioner Singapore 4) His grandson (via Peng Han) Dr Lim Kok Kian, General Practitioner USA 5) His grandson (via Peng Han) Dr Lim Kok Lian, General Practitioner USA 6) His grandson ( via Walter) Dr Lim Kok Ann, Professor of Micobiology, Dean Faculty of Medicne Singapore 7) His great grand daughter Dr Suzanne Low: Anaethesiology USA, (via Walters' daughter Ee Jin)

8) His great grand son Dr Lim Su Chong, General Practice Canada (via Walters' son Albert Kok Ann Lim) 9) His great grand son Dr Lim Su Min [Me] Retired OBGYN 10) His great great grand son Dr Lim Min Yu OBGYN Singapore [my son!] 11) His great great grand son Dr Mark Kon Radiologist UK [ son of my sister Stella] (12) And Michael Kenneth Palmer , (son of my dad's sister Mimi) also did medicine: Radiologist in UK

https://cargocollective.com/witnessthewhatness/Lim-Boon-Keng

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