Sunday 7 October 2012

Oh Cheng Chan

An interesting piece of news from 16 July 1897, as it had then appeared in The Straits Times:


It was just a one-paragraph story that went:
A death has been one of the immediate results of the late gang-robbery at Mr Cheah Chen Eok's house off the Waterfall Road. We regret to report that Mr Oh Cheng Chan, who fractured his thigh in jumping from the window on the occasion, and probably suffered other internal injuries, died on Wednesday morning. It is quite time the lash or rattan were applied to villains, whose practices cause such sad consequences.
By the way, Oh Cheng Chan was my great-great-grandfather on my mother's side, which means that I am the fifth generation living here in this country. That's how far I had managed to trace my roots. The manner of his tragic death notwithstanding, I'm mighty proud of and excited by this fact. Pretty chuffed by it, actually.



1 comment:

Dave Lim descendant of CCE said...

He would be a fellow member of the Penang Literary Association https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/pinangazette18970712-1.2.9?ST=1&AT=search&k=Cheah%20Chen%20Eok%20Penang%20Literary%20Association&QT=cheah,chen,eok,penang,literary,association&oref=article