Leong Sin Nam (梁燊南; 20 April 1880 – 19 January 1940), alias Leong Sin, Leung Sin, Leong Sin Hee,Memorandum of Resealing. The Estate of Leong Sin Nam alias Leong Sin alias Leung Sin alias Leong Sin Hee Deceased. The High Court of the State of Singapore, Island of Singapore. 25 November 1959 was a Malaysian businessman. He migrated and settled in British Malaya in 1898. From humble beginnings, he worked hard to become a wealthy tin mine owner in Perak. He was a businessman, an active community leader and a philanthropist. He was a Chinese revolutionary with similar aspirations as Sun Yat-sen and a strong supporter of the Chinese war efforts during the Sino-Japanese War.
Early life Leong Sin Nam was born on 20 April 1880 in Thai Chook Pau, a village in the district of Mooi Yan (Kaying), Guangdong province, south eastern China. He was a Hakka. His other names were Leong Sin, Leung Sin and Leong Sin Hee.
His father Leong Hin Fook (), also known as Leong Tin Siew, left Guangdong with the family to settle in Penang in 1883. Leong Sin Nam was only 3 years old and had two younger brothers, Leong Yoon Hee and Leong Lian Hee. China was then ruled by the Qing dynasty where wars and famines were common. The failed Taiping Rebellion led by a Hakka caused widespread misery.
Leong Sin Nam grew up and received his early Chinese education in Penang. He was described as a brilliant and diligent scholar and completed a middle course in Chinese.Straits Echo. 20 January 1940. However his education was interrupted by the death of his father in 1894. Leong Sin Nam then aged 14 years and being the eldest of the three sons took on the responsibility of looking after the family.
In 1896, Leong Sin Nam's mother decided to return to China with her husband's remains (ashes). During the journey she fell ill and died at Shantou. From Shantou, Leong Sin Nam hired a sampan and proceeded to Mooi Yan. Leong Sin Nam held the responsibility of burying his mother and looking after his two younger brothers aged 6 and 10 years old. He had a warm welcome on arrival in Mooi Yan.
Little was known of his teenage life in China. Apparently he led a carefree life and even experimented with opium. Fortunately for him he realised his errors in life early, repented and decided to start a new life in Malaya.
In 1898, Leong Sin Nam at age 18 years returned to Malaya.Perak Khek Association Handbook. 1951. China was politically unstable. The Empress Dowager was fending off foreign intervention. The Boxer Rebellion was crumbling. The Chinese were attracted to British Malaya to work, trade and seek their fortunes in the tin fields. The British policies to increase the labour force to work in the tin mines fielded immigration to Malaya.
Tin mining Upon his arrival in Malaya Leong Sin Nam first worked as a mining labourer and then as a purchasing clerk in Perak. He worked and lived in a mining "kongsi" under the "Co-Operative System", commonly known as the "Fun-Si-Kai", whereby the employed entered himself as a shareholder, identifying his fortune with those of the mine.Selangor Journal. Vols. 4, Chapter 2, Page 43 – 46. It was a long and hard struggle to make ends meet in the beginning, but with perseverance and self-denial, he succeeded brilliantly. He steadily climbed the ladder to become a supervisor. He was hardworking and made the best of his job. His employer, Leong Pit Loo, trusted and relied heavily on him for advice. In 1906, at age 25 years, they both went to Keng Chiow, China to investigate and learn more about the mining industry. This and other experiences laid the foundation for his future mining business. Leong Sin Nam once worked in the Leong Fee's tin mine at Tambun, four miles (6 km) away from Ipoh.Everitt, W.E. History of Mining in Perak. 1952. Vols. 14, Page 60
After working for several years, Leong Sin Nam saved some money and ventured into tin mining with other miners. He had several disappointments. His first break came in Telok Kruin. With a capital of $200 he entered into partnership with other miners and made a few thousand dollars. The price of tin was high then at $89 per pickul in 1906. Tin mining and prosperity in the Kinta valley had already surpassed Larut in importance. Tin was discovered in Kinta in the 1880s.Khoo, Kay Kim. Tanjong, Hilir Perak, Larut and Kinta; the Penang-Perak nexus in history. Department of History, University of Malaya. The Penang Story – International Conference 2002. In 1908 the Ipoh Tronoh branch railway opened. The railway line ran through rich mining centres like Menglembu, Lahat, Papan, Pusing and Siputeh.
In 1910 Leong Sin Nam started the Sin Nam Kongsi in Menglembu. The Leong Sin Nam Lode Mine was very profitable and with the profits he bought two other mines, one in Pusing in 1912 and the other at Falim in 1913.Teoh, Guat Kim. "The Life and Times of Leong Sin Nam OBE, JP, MCH, MCS in Ipoh (1880–1940)." Diss. University of Malaya, Singapore. 1957.11 The Leong Sin Nam Lode mine was abandoned in 1917 because of subterranean streams which made mining activities dangerous. Attempts to pump out the water failed. Leong Sin Nam came to Ipoh, a booming tin mining town, in 1913. Ipoh was rapidly developing and had expanded across the Kinta River which divided the Old and the New Town. Brick houses had replaced attap houses after a great fire in 1892. The Birch Memorial Clock Tower, Rest House, Post Office and Town Hall, Yau Tet Shin Market, Church of England, Anderson School, Methodist Girls' School, Convent and Anglo-Chinese School buildings were already in existence. There were many successful European mining companies in Ipoh like the Tronoh Mines Ltd., Gopeng Tin Mining Co. Ltd.and Kinta Tin Mines Ltd. There were many successful Chinese miners too like Foo Choo Choon, Eu Tong Sen, Leong Fee, Chop Thai Lee, Chung Thye Phin, Au Moh Yi, Yau Tet Shin, Khi Ho Nin, Shak Yin Fuk,Tak Ming Ho. 'Generations: The Story of Batu Gajah'. 2005. Lam Look Ing and Aw Kong all of whom were large employers of labour. There were three banks namely, the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and later the Bank of Malaya Ltd.Straits Echo. 17 July 1920. In view of the rapid development of Ipoh the Town Planning Committee of Ipoh was formed in 1914.
Leong Sin Nam was at different times the chairman and managing director of the Toh Allang Chinese Tin Ltd., the first Chinese limited liability company concerned with tin. It was formed in 1925 by Ho Man, Foo Choong Nyit and Chung Thye Pin.Khoo Salma Nasution & Abdur-Razzaq Lubis. Kinta Valley Pioneering Malaysia's Modern Development. Perak Academy. 2005:183.
In 1931 Leong Sin Nam bought the Ampang mine near Tambun from the son of Yau Tet Shin and started the Lean Pang Kongsi. Later, in 1933, he acquired the mining leases of the Ampang Tin Dredging (Perak) company.Ingham, F.T. & E.F. Bradford. The Geology and Mineral Resources of the Kinta Valley, Perak. Kuala Lumpur: Government Printer, 1960:274 These mines covered an area of of land and were very profitable.
His mines were part mechanised to save labour which was expensive and in short supply. Even then these two large mines were once said to have supported the livelihood of more than 1,000 families. The tin ore was exported via ports like Teluk Anson and Port Weld which were already connected by the railways and roads to Ipoh.
In 1935 he was sent to China by a Limited Company to prospect for tin. Before he left for China he was entertained by the local Chinese community at the Chinese Assembly Hall, which included speeches by Lai Tet Loke and Cheong Yoke Choy. He left Malaya on 28 September 1935 by the boat "Cathay"Straits Times. 24 September 1935 and returned in December the same year.Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle. 21 December 1935 The trip turned out to be a disappointment because of poor transportation in China.
Other business interests By 1912 Leong Sin Nam had saved enough money and bought houses in Menglembu, Brewster Road and in 1919 a bungalow in Gopeng Road from a European which he renovated extensively in 1925. Later Leong Sin Nam ventured into real estate where he built several blocks of houses in Ipoh. He built houses on Leong Sin Nam Street, Anderson Road (1926), Falim (1928), Clarke Street (1929), Horley Street (1930) and two bungalows in Penang (1927) located at Ayer Rajah Road.Teoh, Guat Kim. "The Life and Times of Leong Sin Nam OBE, JP, MCH, MCS in Ipoh (1880–1940)." Diss. University of Malaya, Singapore. 1957.33Desmond Tate and Chai Hon Chan. Ipoh: The Town That Tin Built. A town that grew between two rivers. The Straits Times Press ( Malaya), 1962.24
Leong Sin Nam owned and managed several large rubber estates. In 1912 he bought an estate at Siputeh and in 1913 with Lim Sin Chew as partner he bought land at Malim Nawar and in 1920 land in Jelapang for rubber planting. Other notable Chinese planters included Foo Choo Choon and Chung Thye Phin. Rubber plantations were found in Batu Gajah, Tanjong Tuallang, Chemor, Tanjong Rambutan and Gopeng.
Leong Sin Nam was also interested in the Chinese media. He was the chairman of the Malayan Chinese Daily News Ltd. in Kuala Lumpur and managing director of the Perak Chinese Daily News in Ipoh.
In 1933 Leong Sin Nam built a bungalow in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang when access was made possible by a new road from Tapah. In 1934, recognising Cameron Highlands as a potential holiday resort destination, he and a group of people formed the Eastern Hotel Company where he was the chairman and built the Eastern Hotel.Teoh, Guat Kim. "The Life and Times of Leong Sin Nam OBE, JP, MCH, MCS in Ipoh (1880–1940)." Diss. University of Malaya, Singapore. 1957.41 The company's aim in building the hotel was to provide comfortable accommodation at a cheap rate to the Chinese and others. The hotel was opened on 19 January 1935 and The Straits Times reported, ".....the Eastern Hotel consists of twelve bedrooms with private verandahs and bathrooms attached, one common or public lounge, a large dining room with kitchen and servants' quarters, a garage and for exercise tennis and badminton courts in front of the main building together with a lily and fish pond." This hotel was a great help to the further development of Cameron Highlands for soon more people went there for a holiday. In 1935 following the success of the hotel Leong Sin Nam built another bungalow in Ringlet, Cameron Highlands.
He was also active in financial institutions where he was the chairman of the Perak Trust and Investment Co. Ltd. in Ipoh and a director of the Bank of Malaya Limited. He helped the foundations of the Bank of Malaya in 1920 and the Hakka Chung Khiaw Bank in Perak.
Lastly, he was a director of Kinta Electrical Distribution.
Leong Sin Nam's personal and trusted secretary was Thong Siew Seong.
Contributions to charitable, educational, sporting and social institutions Once established Leong Sin Nam quickly showed that he had no desire to hoard his wealth but others less fortunate than him should derive benefit from his success. From historic records, during the thirty years he had been in Malaya, he had contributed no less than half a million Straits dollars to charitable, educational, sporting and social institutions and later, particularly to the China Distress Relief Fund during the Second Sino-Japanese War.