Lim Nee Soon (; 12 November 1879 – 20 March 1936) was a Singaporean banker and businessman who promoted social and community matters, and was a respected
community leader in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
. Lim was of
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 ...
descent, with ancestry from
Chenghai District,
Shantou
Shantou, Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 20 ...
in
Guangdong
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
He was a rubber magnate and was nicknamed the "pineapple king" for being the leading pineapple planter in the region. He was also a banker, contractor and general commission agent. He was the first general manager of the Bukit Sembawang Rubber Company Limited, formed in 1908. Nee Soon and Company was formed in 1911.
As a Chinese Peranakan, known as "Baba" locally, he was affectionately known as Bah Soon Pah (). Bah Soon Pah Road was named after him.
Early life
Lim Nee Soon was born in Kampong Glam, Singapore. His family was from Shantou, Guangdong, China.
His father died when he was eight and his maternal grandfather, a merchant, took care of him. Lim was educated in English at the
St. Joseph's Institution
St. Joseph's Institution (SJI) is an independent Catholic educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1852 by the De La Salle Brothers, it is the first Catholic school and the third oldest school in the country.
SJI has been offering a dual ...
, and then later, at the
Anglo Chinese School.
Career
Lim was one of the pioneers that opened up
Sembawang
Sembawang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the North Region, Singapore, North Region of Singapore. Sembawang planning area is bordered by Simpang to the east, Mandai to t ...
. He served on the Rural Board from 1913 to 1921 and was also appointed a
Justice of Peace. In the field of education, he was one of the founders of
The Chinese High School and also a member of the
Raffles College Committee.
He was the President of the
Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce for two periods, from 1921-1922, and 1925-1926.
Later life
Lim, along with his uncle Teo Eng Hock, were the leading members of the
Teochew clan association
Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan
Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan () is a Teochew clan association in Singapore. ''Poit Ip'', which means eight districts in the Teochew dialect, stood for the eight Teochew districts in the province of Guangdong, China. ''Huay Kuan'' means "clan ass ...
, and was a close friend of
Dr Sun Yat Sen.
He died on the way home from a trip to China and his embalmed body was scheduled to be brought back to Singapore. However, the Chinese government requested to give him a State burial and so he was buried in Nanjing,
near the mausoleum of his close friend, Dr Sun Yat Sen.
Family
Lim married Ms. Wi Peck Hay () and had 3 sons and 6 daughters. His sons Lim Chong Kuo () and Lim Chong Pang () later also became prominent merchants and community figures. One of his daughter, Lim Chit Geck, married Oei Tjong Tiong, son of
Chinese-Indonesian
Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...
Businessman,
Oei Tiong Ham
Oei Tiong Ham, Majoor-titulair der Chinezen (; 1866–1924) was a Chinese Indonesian tycoon and the son of Oei Tjie Sien, the founder of the Kian Gwan, a multinational trading company. Born in Semarang, Central Java, Dutch East Indies (now Indo ...
.
Legacy
Nee Soon Road was officially named in 1950 by the Rural Board to facilitate postal services. Nee Soon also owned a large plot of land in the area and several roads in this area are named after his business concerns and family members. For example, Chong Kuo Road is named after his eldest son Lim Chong Kuo, and
Chong Pang City his second son Lim Chong Pang.
The residential town of
Yishun
Yishun ( ), formerly known as Nee Soon, is a New towns of Singapore, residential town located in the northeastern corner of the North Region, Singapore, North Region of Singapore, bordering Simpang and Sembawang to the north, Mandai to the we ...
in the
northern part of Singapore, is also named after him. Although originally named Nee Soon, the name was subsequently romanized to its current appellation, to reflect
the Singapore government's move to use
standardised Mandarin over the unstandardised
Chinese variants prominent amongst local dialect groups.
References
Secondary sources
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External links
Genealogy entry of Lim Nee Soon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Nee Soon
1879 births
1936 deaths
Singaporean bankers
Singaporean chief executives
Peranakan people in Singapore
Singaporean people of Teochew descent
Businesspeople from British Malaya
Anglo-Chinese School alumni
History of the pineapple