This is a free-form poem by Khoo Soo Hay in tribute of the Plague Fighter, Dr Wu Lien-Teh. The poem was published online today by Penang Institute as part of their wider coverage on the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The poem is rather long and it is with my apologies if you do see unwanted advertisements added in by Google.
The Plague Fighter - A Brief Retrospect
By Khoo Soo Hay, 8 Mar 2014
Founding Member of the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society, Penang
One hundred and thirty-five years ago on 10th of March 1879, there was born
The eighth son of a Sinning couple by the name of Ng Khee Hock and Lam Choy Fun,
Who named their fourth son Ng Leen Tuck, meaning in Chinese, “Five United Virtues”.
Or in Mandarin, “Wu Lien-Teh", but in Penang Free School registered
As “Gnoh Lean Teik” by the Hokkien School Clerk, Mr Kam Im-Keat,
And when in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he ended up as Gnoh Lean Tuck.
Whether it was Ng, Gnoh, Wu, Teik, or Tuck, he was an Old Free,
Penang-born on China Street, brought into the world by a Malay bidan,
And like his ten siblings all breast-fed by their mother, no condensed milk then.
In 1886 he entered Penang Free School at the age of seven.
In 1893 through to 1896 under Head Master Mr William Hargreaves,
Gnoh Lean Tuck’s academic achievements won him the Queen Scholarship
And he applied and was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Under the advice of Mr R.J. Wilkinson, then First Magistrate of Penang.
Gnoh Lean Tuck embarked on 7th August on the P. & O. boat “Pekin”,
And at Colombo on the 11th, changed to the larger vessel, “Ballarat”.
Before reaching Gibraltar, he decided to rid himself of his queue,
Hallmark of the Chinese world-wide, but in reality
The very symbol of Chinese servitude to the Manchu Emperor.
Remember this was before China became a Republic.
Emmanuel College, founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Midway
Produced John Harvard, (1607-1638) who emigrated to America,
Prospered and founded Harvard University in Cambridge,
Near Boston, Massachusetts in 1636 with a gift of 780 Pounds
And two hundred and sixty books, which in its 378 years
Has been at the forefront of seeking knowledge
And producing Nobel Prize winners.
Wu Lien-Teh spent five and a quarter years in Cambridge
From 1897 to 1902 when he qualified as M.D. well before his time
At the age of twenty-four, and had to wait for another two years or more
Before officially being awarded the coveted Degree.
While at Emmanuel he won two Awards, that of Exhibitioner in Natural Sciences
And also made a Foundation Scholar, both of which carried some financial reward.
From Emmanuel he spent his University Scholarship at St. Mary’s Hospital
At which he was the first Chinese student ever admitted.
While at St. Mary’s he won four prizes, The Special Prize in Clinical Surgery,
And in Medicine, the Kerslake Scholarship in Pathology, all in 1901
Followed by the Cheadle Gold Medal for Clinical Medicine in 1902.
He reported that it was at St. Mary’s Hospital that Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin.
He spent six months as House Physician at Brompton Hospital
For Consumption Disease of the Chest in South West London,
Before accepting the Emmanuel College post-graduate Research Studentship
Which he elected to do at the Institute of Medical Research in Malaya.
Prior to returning to Malaya, he spent eight months in 1903
At the Halle-an-der-Salle institute under Prof Karl Frankel,
And at the Pasteur Institute in Paris under Prof Metchnikoff,
Both of which were well known for their research into bacteriology.
Wu Lien-Teh arrived back in Singapore by ship at the end of September 1903
And was met by Dr. Lim Boon-Keng, the first Queen’s Scholar,
Whose sister-in-law, Ruth Huang became his fiancée,
Their marriage was solemnised at the American Methodist Church
In Singapore in July1905 two years later.
According to Wu Lien-Teh, he was fortunate that he was not required
To convert to Christianity and continued to be a filial son,
Sticking to his Taoist and Confucian family roots.
As for his first family history, it was tragic in a sense, in that
Ruth died quite young in 1937, at 53 years of age.
And his three sons also died prematurely.
The eldest, named Davenport, Chang-Keng, born in 1906 at Love Lane, Penang
Survived long enough to obtain his tertiary education and M.D. in the States
And London, and worked for the Peking Municipality.
However, he died, age thirty-six, of tubercular infection in November 1942 in Peking
His second son, Tommy, Chang-Fu, born in Tientsin, China,
Died of pneumonia complications in 1925 at the age of sixteen.
The third son, Willy, Chang-Ming, born in 1911 died six months after birth
Due to bacillary dysentery in Yamei Kin’s Hospital, Tientsin.
Wu Lien-Teh's second family began with his marriage to Marie, Shu Chiung,
Who was born in Kirin, Manchuria, of Cantonese parentage.
From her he had three daughters and two sons, all of which survived him.
The eldest was Betty, Yu Lin, followed by Ellen, Yu Chen, Fred, Chang-Sheng,
John, Chang-Yu, all of whom were born in China,
And the last, Pearl, Yu Chu was born in Ipoh, Perak,
Whom I used to know when the family lived in Penang.
After his time at the Institute of Medical Research was over,
He started his medical practice at Chulia Street and lived in Green Hall,
Until he was invited to accept the appointment by the Grand Councilor,
Yuan Shi-Kai of China to be the Vice-Director of Imperial Army Medical College in Tientsin.
He left early in May 1908 for Shanghai in the North German Lloyd liner, “Prinzessin Alice”.
Prior to his leaving for Tientsin, Wu Lien-Teh paid a visit to England,
Where he attended a big Anti-Opium Meeting at Queen’s Hall in London,
Where he gave an address which was well-received by the participants.
Before that, while he was in Penang, he carried out anti-opium activities,
Which led to his prosecution by the authorities for possessing, without license,
“An ounce of tincture of opium” and was fined one hundred Straits dollars.
In 1910, he was called to Harbin in Manchuria to end the bubonic plague,
A disease that was claiming thousands of lives, both Chinese and Russian.
How he did it has been well-recorded in his autobiography,
And in the medical history of bacteriology in the world, more than a century ago.
You can read a short summary of Wu Lien-Teh’s life, in an article
Published in the book, “Doctors Extraordinaire” by Ho Tak Ming in August 1983.
All I can say is that in his autobiography, you will not only find his life history
And contribution to medical science, but the amount of history
And important people who lived at that time and their contributions
Should actually be a text book for historians, medical and political.
It is with much regret, in retrospect, that only a century after what this medical man
From Penang Free School had contributed, that at last we are giving him due recognition
Of his life and what he had done for the world, and by reflection for his country,
Malaya then, with the formation of the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society of Penang, spearheaded by none other
Than my good friend, an old Free, Dato’ Prof Dr. Anwar Fazal
At its Inaugural Meeting on 14th October 2012 held at the Penang Medical College.
The Society was duly approved by the Registrar of Societies.
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