Exchanging keys

From the 17 September 1935 copy of the Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle, an old defunct newspaper from Penang, comes this story about that old Penang millionaire, Yeap Chor Ee. I believe this story could have been timed to coincide with the date of Ban Hin Lee Bank's incorporation as a limited company. Same year, same month, same day. Previously, it was a private community bank operating as a sole-proprietorship with all the personal risks shouldered solely by the owner. To me, the section on his banking business made the most interesting reading. The rest of Yeap Chor Ee's history is more or less widely known but that little snippet of him exchanging safe keys with his son, Lean Seng, in Kuala Lumpur, well, that was quiet something new to learn! Happy reading....

ROMANTIC CAREER OF MR YEAP CHOR EE

The announcement that Messrs Ban Hin Lee and Co, the well-known bankers of Beach Street, Penang, intend converting the business into a limited liability company marks another milestone in the romantic career of its sole proprietor at the present time, Mr Yeap Chor ee, now easily Penang's wealthiest citizen. Truly Mr Yeap Chor Ee's rise from poverty to affluence is one of the romances of Penang, one of the romances of the Chinese in Malaya. There have been other figures almost as romantic as him, Foo Choo Choon, the Tin King, for instance, but whereas Foo Choo Choon ended his days in comparative penury, nothing like that sort is likely to occur to Mr Yeap Chor Ee who has laid the foundations of his prosperity on solid structures. Today he is the recognised Sugar King; the biggest landed proprietor of Penang, deals largely in tin and has a banking business as safe as the Rock of Gibraltar.

OF HUMBLE BIRTH

Mr Yeap Chor Ee is a man of humble birth. A native of Fukien, he came to Malaya about 50 years ago, when Malaya was still jungle and entirely undeveloped. About 32 years ago he settled in Penang and owned a small barber's shop. That barber's shop gave way to other small businesses. Some time between 1890 and 1900 he started to deal in the brown sugar trade and from that time he has never looked back. The main industry in Province wellesley was then sugar planting, no fewer than four mills being in operation. From 1900 to 1910 Mr Yeap Chor Ee confined his attention to white sugar. Then came the rubber boom, and sugar plantations were turned into rubber estates. One dollar shares in the sugar plantations became ten dollar shares in rubber estates. That meant the end of the sugar industry in Province Wellesley. Later Mr Yeap Chor Ee turned his energies to tapioca and other trades, extending the scope of his activities and increasing his wealth.

THE BANKING BUSINESS

We are not quite certain when Mr Yeap Chor Ee started his banking business, known as Ban Hin Lee; but it is now well-known throughout Malaya. Mr Yeap Chor Ee has always controlled the Penang business which is regarded as the head office, while the Singapore business has been in charge of a son. Several years ago Mr Yeap Chor Ee, in the course of a case in the Police Court, revealed how carefully he conducts his business. Mr Yeap Chor Ee occasionally used to visit the Singapore Branch. When he did that he notified his son at Singapore. The son had to leave Singapore by the night mail just as the father left Penang. They met at Kuala Lumpur for the purpose of exchanging the keys of the safes. Mr Yeap Chor Ee took the Singapore keys with him, while his son had to continue to Penang with the Penang keys. The same process was repeated when Mr Yeap Chor Ee was on his way back to Penang. That was, of course, several years ago, before Mr Yeap Chor Ee's other sons began to help him in the firm. Now, they all work at his banking firm.

THE TOUCH OF MIDAS

In recent years Mr Yeap Chor Ee's wealth has accumulated with such strides that he has become known as the Chinese with the touch of Midas - everything he touches turns to gold. A couple of years ago, before the Tin Control Scheme came into operation, Mr Yeap had bought a great deal of tin, which he stored up until better prices set in. Tin went up and he made an enormous of profit. About a year ago he bought Homestead, Northam Road, the most palatial residence in Penang, on which Mr Lim Chin Guan, then in his hey-day, spent a fortune. Mr Yeap Chor Ee obtained it "for a song." Today he is easily the richest man in Penang, and his fortune is expanding with a vengeance. He donated $10,000 to the Penang Jubilee Fund.

Mr Yeap Chor Ee is one of the most careful and frugal men, and that is the main reason why he has amassed such a great fortune; unlike Foo Choo Choon, who spent his money with a lavish hand. In spite of his colossal wealth Mr Yeap Chor Ee still remains the humble individual who prefers a ricksha to a car, a plain white tunic suit to palm beach. One other fact about this remarkable man is that he does not know a word of English and transacts most of his business through interpreters.

Hits and misses

We never had our bak chor mee in Singapore. That was my initial plan when we went down to Singapore in February but like all plans go, it was subjected to change once we got there. Neither did we get our chilli crab there. What happened was that a few days before my gang of brothers and sisters-in-law in Penang were due to fly south to Singapore to visit my brother-in-law there, we received word that an aunt there had invited all of us to lunch on the second day of our stay. But with no further details, our plans became awry.

It was an invitation that was impossible to decline. Everyone had to accept. After all, this was the family of my father-in-law's youngest brother in Singapore. We had plans to visit them but they had better plans for us. Anyway, it would be a fabulous opportunity for my wife and her brother and sister to meet up with their Singapore cousins. It wasn't like they were staying in Penang and we could pop around the corner to visit them. So in accommodating them, that put a clanger in all our feasting plans. But we still had our makan moments....

This was our first meal in Singapore at a Chinese coffee shop in Ghim Moh. Belachan chicken wings. One of many dishes ordered by our sister-in-law there. I must say that the wings - and other dishes- tasted delicious. Maybe it was because we were famished. Very famished.

We were in Chinatown. We wanted to see the last of their Chinese New Year street lights there but we saw very little. Frustrated, we walked around and landed at this shop in Tiong Bahru that sold chicken rice. It's supposed to be well-known, this Tiong Bahru Hainanese chicken rice. Even claimed to have a bib gourmand award from the Michelin fellas. In my opinion, their reputation is a little over-rated.

Although the portion was generous enough and there was an endless flow of soup if one is so inclined to drink and drink it, I found the chicken meat to be a bit too dry to the extent that it had lost its succulence. So I can't claim to be impressed with this coffee shop despite their reputation. There must be better chicken rice stalls or shops elsewhere!

Oops, walking aimlessly around Chinatown after our dinner, we suddenly found ourselves entering the Maxwell food court. We were supposed to have this place in our itinerary on the following day and yet, here it was right in front of us. So we went in to look around. I showed them the Tien Tien chicken rice outlet which was in the midst of clearing up after the day's business. Anyway, we wouldn't be able to eat any more chicken rice for the day. We bumped into this stall and my wife and my nephew had the experience of deep frying the mini hum chim peng themselves. Five pieces for one Singapore dollar. We ordered 10 pieces to take away.

This I liked, the satay centre at the Gardens-by-the-Bay. Its uniqueness was that it sold pork belly satay. Everyone of us thought that it was heavenly. This is not something that we would see at satay stalls in Penang: pork satay, yes, pig intestine satay, yes, but pork belly satay, no. 

On the second day of our stay, we had breakfast at the Ghim Moh market's food court. A very traditional food court. I turned my attention to their chwee koay. I had it before and it tasted very good. But in this visit, it tasted kinda bland. Not as delicious as before, unfortunately. Oh yes, a word of caution for anyone from Penang searching for good popiah here. Don't bother. Unlike the Penang version, the version we are all so very familiar with, the Singapore popiah is all dry. Definitely not to our liking! I'd give it a BIG miss.

Two pictures of chicken rice in one story. But this one's from a stall at Food Loft in Geylang. stall by the name of Teik Kee which serves roast pork, char siew, roast duck etc. I opted for their chicken rice since it looked so irresistible and I did not regret it. In my opinion, one of the better sources for chicken rice in Singapore. My brother-in-law chose their roast pork and char siew rice and did not regret it either. 

For breakfast on the third day, I was rather apprehensive of the choices at the Ghim Moh market food court and opted for a simple roti telor. But then I saw that the same stall was offering mini roti chanai too. So I ordered a plate too. This mini roti chanai was nothing different from an ordinary one. It's just that the hawker had sliced up the flipped dough into five parts and made mini pieces out of each of the parts.

Quick lunch at the Changi airport before heading home. I ordered the prawn paste ramen from Woke Ramen. Can't say that I enjoyed the bowl. Maybe it was because I was too anxious about making sure that we did not miss the flight. While everyone else were taking their sweet time to finish their food, I kept looking at my watch. Would we make it to the gate? Luckily my mother-in-law was on a wheelchair which I could push ahead while the others caught up with us. Anyhow, we did make it to the gate before it closed.

LYF One-North

During my recent visit to Singapore, my group of travellers stayed at the very hip LYF One-North Hotel which was about a 15-minute walk to my brother-in-law's place in Ghim Moh. Located right next door to the One-North MRT station, thus making it very convenient for hotel guests. The place looked decent enough when I made the booking for three rooms and indeed, when we checked into the hotel, it surprised me and brought out our smiles. First impressions: nice lounge area, very polite and helpful staff to assist with our check-in, amenities included a swimming pool, an amphitheatre, a fitness room, laundromat, barbeque area and a well-equipped kitchen for anyone wanting to cook. 

Overall, a nice, clean environment. As I understand it, the hotel caters to a growing community of 400 companies, 800 start-ups and 50,000 professionals such as technopreneurs, creatives and self-starters. It is a vibrant cluster that hosts prominent research and knowledge-based organisations, startups as well as business schools. 

But as I said elsewhere in this blog, my group consisted of in-laws here on a short holiday stay. I only happened to bump into LYF One-North because it was recommended by my brother-in-law in Singapore. The studio rooms were rather small but that was no issue with us as we were out of the hotel for most of the time. We found them functional: comfortable bed, nice showerheads, wash basin outside the toilet and ample points to recharge our mobiles, even beside the bed. But there was no refrigerator in the room. Have to use the shared refrigerator on each floor and for this, there's a need to trust your food or belongings with the other guests well...people that you do not know at all.

I noticed that the rooms lacked complimentary drinking bottles and I did mention this in the feedback form. The reply from the hotel was, "To share, lyf is a co-living brand designed and managed by millennials for millennials, the millennial minded and the next gen travelers. It signifies a new way of living and collaborating as a community, connecting guests with fellow travellers and change-makers. While we do not provide complimentary beverages, as a co-living service residence, we have a social kitchen within the property which our guests are encouraged to use during their stay. The social kitchen is available 24/7 for the convenience of our guests coupled with vending machines that display an array of beverages and snacks. In addition, our lyf residents enjoy exclusive discounted rates at reputable food and beverage establishments within the one-north vicinity and our lyf Guards are always on hand at our Say Hi! counter to render any assistance to our guests as needed." 

So I get it....a hotel for millennials and run by millennials. I'm not one, unfortunately, the time has passed me by. Values have changed with the changing times. No wonder I noticed several millennials with laptops doing their work in the hotel's co-working lounge. The lobby has become a mobile workplace and replaced their cubicles in offices. 

Would I stay here again? I think so. The main drawcard would be the proximity to the MRT station. Practically a case of hopping-on, hopping-off after a long day of walking our feet off.

Gutsy lady

I met a very special person yesterday: Dr Jemilah Mahmood, the gutsy founder of MERCY Malaysia, who was in Penang to receive the second Dr Wu Lien-Teh award for Leadership in Public Health. Later, she delivered a very absorbing lecture on her pet subject of Planetary Health. 

I had heard about MERCY Malaysia - she's no longer heading this humanitarian aid organisation, by the way - long before the organisation's involvement with the Acheh earthquake relief work in 2004. A brave lady indeed, she was even shot at and injured while delivering medical aid to Iraq a year earlier. (I didn't ask about her injury but I was told that she treated herself for a wound on her hip before continuing on with her work.) Needless to say, but I'm saying it anyway, it was a very big thrill to have met her finally! 

Cutting it very close

It has been 10 days since I returned from a very short holiday in Singapore. How short was it, you may ask. Well, is a three-days, two-nights stay considered short enough? In my opinion, yes, because there are lots of things to do in Singapore. Of course, many people will dispute me saying this but all I can say to them is that you've got to make your own time interesting. If not, then your holiday will be boring.

Anyway, what happened is that my brother-in-law and his wife and kid, my sister-in-law and her husband, and my wife and I flew down to Singapore with my mother-in-law after months of persuading her to go visit her eldest son there. To my mother-in-law, two nights to anywhere outside Penang would be considered very long for her already. Ideally, she would prefer to fly into Singapore in the morning and return by night time. She is that homely a person. And the danger with her is that she was liable to change her mind at the last minute. We told her no way could she back out from the trip because the flight tickets have been bought and the hotel rooms booked. So finally, the extended family vacation for the eight of us became a reality. 

We went on Friday and came back on Sunday. There were anxious moments for my wife and I before the two flights. On the day of our departure, we were supposed to pick up my brother-in-law and family from their house in Bandar Tasek Mutiara at 6.30am. But horrors! Something went awry with the alarm clock and my wife woke me up ay 6.25am. We're late, we're late, she told me frantically. Her mobile alarm did not go off and for some strange reason, my own mobile phone went into a reset mode. Whatever sleep vanished from our eyes. We phoned her brother and told him to drive separately to the airport. We would join them there. Luckily, we had fully packed our bags the night before, It was only a matter of us washing up and loading up the luggage into the car. We did all that within 20 minutes. We left the house and hoped that there would be no traffic congestion on the Penang Bridge or the roads around the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone. There were none.

The other anxious moment was our return on Sunday. We cut it too close going to Changi airport. Our flight was at 2.55pm and I hadn't even printed our boarding passes. But I finally managed to get it down by 1.15pm. Then it was a rush for lunch which we managed to complete by two o'clock. I was a nervous wreck and had no appetite to complete my meal, but the rest of my group was oblivious to it. Afterwards, we had to rush to the boarding gate. I asked my mother-in-law to sit in a wheelchair and we followed my brother-in-law in search of the gate with the rest in tow behind us. As luck would have it, the gate had to be he farthest away. Except for five more persons lingering there, there were no more passengers. I heaved a big sigh of relief when everyone of us boarded.