Lim Peng Siang (; also known as Lin Bengxian; 1872–1944)The Kuomintang Movement in British Malaya, 1912–1949 By Ching Fatt Yong, R. B.; p. 5, 258, 282 was a businessperson in Singapore and Malaya. Together with his brother Lim Peng Mau ( Lin Bingmao), he founded the Ho Hong Group of companies in 1904, which had interests in banking, shipping, parboiled rice, oil mills, cement, coconut and other businesses.The Economic Growth of Singapore By W. G. Huff; p. 147, 225, 459 He was a president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Chinese Advisory Board. Peng Siang Quay 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 ...

is named after him.

Early life and education

Lim was the son of Lim Ho Puah. His mother was the only daughter of Wee Bin, the founder of Wee Bin & Co. He was born in

Amoy Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

, Fujian, China in 1872.Singapore By Gretchen Liu; p. 174 After receiving his education in Chinese, he travelled to Singapore when he was still very young. Like his father, Lim was

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

as a British subject, in 1902. He received private tuition in English and was a student 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 ...

.One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore by Ong Siang Song, 1923 - Page 114–116

Career

Lim joined the firm of Wee Bin & Co., which was then under the management of his father, and eventually rose to its head before setting out to start the Ho Hong Group. He took over the greater part of the firm's business, including the large steamships, when the firm of Wee Bin & Co. was

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as wound-up or dissolved, although di ...

in 1911 In 1914, Lim founded the Ho Hong Steamship Company Ltd. He sold most of his shares in Ho Hong Steamship to the Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation in 1936. Lim founded 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 ...

in 1912 together with other members of the Singapore

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

business community. Together with

Lim Boon Keng Lim Boon Keng (; 18 October 1869 – 1 January 1957) was a Peranakan physician who advocated social and educational reforms in Singapore in the early 20th-century. He also served as the president of Xiamen University in China between 1921 and ...

, Seow Poh Leng and others, he 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 1917. In 1932,

and Ho Hong Bank merged with 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 ...

. By the 1910s, Ho Hong Group was the most diversified group of companies in Malaya. Companies in the group founded by Lim included Ho Hong Steamship Co. Ltd., Ho Hong Oil Mills Ltd., Ho Hong Parboiled Rice Mill, Ho Hong Bank Ltd., and the Ho Hong Portland Cement Works Ltd. He also had plans for a bucket-making factory, and for the reclamation and development of several big pieces of swampy land in a big industrial area in the immediate neighbourhood of Singapore Town.

Public life

Lim was involved in the formation of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and was its president from 1913 to 1916, except for 1914 when he was vice president. He was a member of the Chinese Advisory Board between 1921 and 1941, as one of the representatives of the

community. Along with his brother, he was an honourable chairperson of the Hong Kong Fujian Chamber of Commerce between 1930 and 1941. Lim was also a director of a number of public companies, including the Central Engine Works Ltd. and the Central Motors Ltd. He was also a Justice of the Peace. In his later years, he was less active in public life, and declined the offer of a seat on the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

several times, in order to concentrate on his industrial work.Chinese Leadership and Power in Colonial Singapore By Ching Fatt Yong Published by Times Academic Press, 1992; , ; p. 71

Early life and education

Career

Public life

Benefactor

References

Further reading