Chee Swee Cheng (1866 — 22 August 1938) was a prominent

Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...

businessman and banker in Singapore and North Borneo.

Early life and education

Chee was born in

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

in 1866, where he received his education. He was the grandson of prominent merchant Chee Yam Chuan.

Career

Chee came to Singapore at the age of 16 and became employed at Lim Tiang Wah & Co. as a cashier. He was employed at Leack, Chin Seng & Co four years later. In 1890, he became a trustee of the Keng Teck Whay society. In 1900, he became a partner of the General Spirit and Opium Farm in

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

. He was later appointed the farm's manager. He was then given 5,000 acres of land by the local government for planting, which he used for cultivating

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the tubers of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but which has ...

and later rubber, as well as establish a sawmill. He also founded two scholarships, established several

brickfields A brickfield is an open site where bricks are made. Place names are often formed from the word. Brickfield, Brickfields, or Brickfielder may also refer to: Australia * Brickfielder, an arid wind * Brickfield Hill, an area of Sydney * Brickfields ...

and developed many

shophouses A shophouse is a building type serving both as a residence and a commercial business. It is defined in the dictionary as a building type found in Southeast Asia that is "a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the owner's residence ...

. He then returned to Singapore and established an ice factory. In 1917, Chee co-founded the

Ho Hong Bank The Ho Hong Bank (1917–1932) was a Malayan bank, established to provide banking services that, until 1912, were solely delivered by European banks. The bank was founded in 1917 and in 1932 merged with two other banks in Singapore to form th ...

in Singapore, and served as the bank's director. When the bank merged with the

Chinese Commercial Bank The Chinese Commercial Bank was a Malayan bank established in Singapore in 1912. It was also the first Hokkien bank in Singapore. In 1932, the bank was merged with Ho Hong Bank and Oversea-Chinese Bank to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporati ...

and the Oversea-Chinese Bank to form the

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (), abbreviated as OCBC, is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at the OCBC Centre. It operates through subsidiaries in several countries, primarily i ...

in 1932, he became the first chairman of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation.

Personal life and death

Chee built the Chee Family Mansion in Malacca in honour of his father. He was a philanthropist, and frequently donated to several local institutions, including the St. Andrew's Mission Hospital and the Child Welfare Society. He died on 22 August 1938.

References

{{Reflist 1866 births 1938 deaths Businesspeople from British Malaya