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Seow Poh Leng (蕭保龄 1883 - 1942), one of the first few Peranakan Babas〔Reconstructing identities: a social history of the Babas in Singapore - Page 327 - by Jürgen Rudolph - History - 1998〕 at Emerald Hill,〔Historic buildings of Singapore by Edwin Lee, Singapore. Preservation of Monuments Board, 1990, ISBN 9971-88-224-8, ISBN 978-9971-88-224-2〕 was a prominent and successful Singaporean banker, founding member of the Ho Hong Bank, member of the committee of the Straits Settlement (Settlement of Singapore),〔British Malaya By Association of British Malaya Published by Newton & company, 1928 Item notes: v.2 1927-1928; p. 60〕 philanthropist and benefactor of public development works. He was a strong advocate of limited liability trading and promoted the advantages of the Limited Liability Company system.〔One hundred years' history of the Chinese in Singapore - Page 474 - by Ong Siang Song - Social Science – 1923/1985〕〔Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society - Page 120 - by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Malaysian Branch, Singapore - History - 1953〕〔Emerald Hill, the story of a street in words and pictures - Page 23 - by Kip Lin Lee, National Museum (Singapore - Architecture) - 1984〕〔Building bridges, carving niches: an enduring legacy - Page 10 - by Grace Loh, Chor Boon Goh, Teng Lang Tan - Business & Economics - 2000〕〔Seaports of the Far East: historical and descriptive, commercial and ... by Allister Macmillan - 1925〕〔Readings in Malayan economics by Thomas Henry Silcock - 1961〕 ==Background== Seow Poh Leng, the second son of Seow Chye Watt,〔Song Ong Siang (1923) ''One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore''.London : J. Murray. pp 474 - 475〕 came from humble beginnings. He spent two years in a Chinese school and completed his schooling at the Anglo-Chinese School. After passing his Senior Cambridge examinations, he decided to become a teacher. He competed for the Queen's Scholarships in 1902. He failed to win the much-coveted prize, and attributed his failure to the fact that he had to divide his time between his duties as a pupil teacher and preparing for the examinations.〔〔Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society By Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Malayan Branch Published by The Branch, 1923 Item notes: v.26 1953; p. 117. 118, 119 and Journal By Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Malaysian Branch, Published 1958, Pgs 117, 119 & 120.〕 In order to help support his family, he was forced to take up additional work. After school each day he would sell nonya cakes and nasi lemak cooked by his mother and sisters. One day, when he saw some of his pupils in the distance, he threw all of his food away fearing they would see him and lose respect for him. He was punished when he returned home. Later, Seow moved on from teaching to become the manager of the Ho Hong Bank. He was also a cashier at John Little & Co for many years, before he entered the rice business. His chequered career included stints as a chemist's assistant, schoolmaster, lawyer's clerk, stock-broker, insurance agent and company liquidator.〔〔〔The Chinese in Southeast Asia and Beyond By Qinghuang Yan, ISBN 981-279-047-0, ISBN 978-981-279-047-7〕 He was one of the promoters of the Eastern United Assurance Corporation Ltd. (EUA), Chinese Commercial Bank (CCB) and Ho Hong Bank (HHB). He founded HHB in January 1917〔(Lim Boon Keng - A Life To Remember (1969-1857), Exhibition )〕 together with Lim Peng Siang, Dr Lim Boon Keng and others, and served as its secretary and general manager. HHB was the first Straits Chinese institution to enter the field of worldwide banking and established connections with London, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Batavia and many others, in order to facilitate direct trade between the Chinese in Malaya and people in other parts of the world. Later, HHB was amalgamated with CCB and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd (OCBC).〔〔〔Readings in Malayan Economics By Thomas Henry Silcock Compiled by Thomas Henry Silcock Published by Published by D. Moore for Eastern Universities Press, 1961; 458, 459, 460〕〔Chinese Business Enterprise By Rajeswary Ampalavanar Brown; p. 137〕〔Capital and Entrepreneurship in South-East Asia By Rajeswary Ampalavanar Brown, 1943- Brown Published by St. Martin's Press, 1994 ISBN 0-312-12096-6, ISBN 978-0-312-12096-2; p. 161〕 According to government archives, Seow was responsible for the development of a row of nine terrace houses along Cairnhill Road. The same records show that he owned bungalows in Emerald Hill Road and Lorong 20 Geylang Road, and had additions and alterations done to them.〔Singapore National Archives -- Maps & Building Plans 1918, 1926, 1927, 1929 -- Microfilm No: CBS 105, Microfilm No: CBS 1105, Microfilm No: CBS 1038〕 He bought 117 Emerald Hill in 1902.〔Illustrated Magazine Publishing Co.,Ltd., 1992: Singapore: days of old, Page 101〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Seow Poh Leng」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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