Song Hoot Kiam (; 1830–1900) was a Singaporean community leader.

Early life

Song was born 1830 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 ...

British Malaya The term "British Malaya" (; ) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British Empire, British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. Unlike the ...

. His father was Song Eng Chong. He attended an English educational institution, after following Christian

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

James Legge to England, alongside two of his Malaysian peers. He also studied at

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

's Anglo-Chinese College, taking up the

Cantonese language Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic languages, Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River ...

as a subject. He was a choir member at the Strait Chinese Church.

Career

After arriving back 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 ...

, Song worked as a teacher for a short period of time, before working as a cashier for much of his lifetime, from 1853 to 1895. He is cited as having "founded the oldest family of Straits Chinese Christians in Singapore", as well as being the "first local Christian pioneer in Singapore".

Personal life

Song had his first marriage some time after his return to Singapore, though not to the girl his parents had chosen for him, for she was not of Christian faith. His first spouse was Choon Neo (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Yeo), an alumna of the Chinese Girls' School. He later wed Phan Fung Lean, a

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais) are persons of Chinese people, Chinese descent in Thailand. Thai Chinese are the largest mixed group in the country and the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a popul ...

, following the death of Yeo. One of his children was author

Song Ong Siang Sir Ong Siang Song (; 14 June 1871 – 29 September 1941) was a lawyer and active citizen of the British Crown Colony of the Straits Settlements. He was an ethnic Chinese of Hokkien descent as well as a third generation Hokkien Peranakan Baba ...

. Song had fourteen children and three marriages in total. He was a Christian, and could speak excellent English, and could also converse well in the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

(particularly his

Baba Malay In addition to its classical and modern literary form, Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra, Indonesia. Also, Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south Ea ...

vernacular). A road was named after him in Singapore.

Death and legacy

Song died in 1900, aged 70. The ''Straits Chinese Magazine'' wrote that Song "was a specimen of the best type of the Chinese character", describing him as a "mighty rock to his large family". Hoot Kiam Road, located near River Valley Road, is named after him.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Song, Hoot Kiam 1830 births Malaysian people of Chinese descent 1900 deaths Converts to Presbyterianism People from Malacca Peranakan people in Malaysia Malaysian Presbyterians Presbyterian missionaries in Singapore Malaysian emigrants to Singapore Malaysian Presbyterian missionaries