Teo Eng Hock ( zh, 张永福; 1872 - 5 April 1959) was a rubber tycoon and the founder of the Singaporean branch of the

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, on 20 August 1905, with the goal of overthrowing China's Qing dynasty. It was formed ...

and later the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

. He later moved to China and became involved in politics there.

Early life

Teo was born in Singapore in 1872.

Career

Teo invested in rubber plantations and was the founder of a rubber shoe factory. He was also a cloth merchant. He initially supported the reformists and was a member of the Chinese Philomatic Society, but later began supporting

Sun Yat Sen The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction, reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei ...

. In 1904, he established the '' Thoe Lam Jit Poh'' with fellow revolutionist , and was the paper's editor. However, the paper folded after two years due to financial difficulties. He used the Chinese Reading Room, which was established by fellow revolutionist Tay Sek Tin, to spread his revolutionary ideas. His bungalow, the Wan Qing Yuan, served as the headquarters of the revolutionists. In 1906, Teo established the Singapore branch of the

. Sun Yat Sen visited Singapore in June 1906 and reorganised the branch, with Teo becoming the branch's chairman. In the same year, Teo founded the pro-revolution newspaper '' The Union Times''. However, the newspaper fell under the control of reformists three months later. In the following year, he founded the pro-revolution newspaper '' Chong Shing Yit Pao'' with fellow revolutionists Tan Chor Lam and Lim Nee Soon, and established the Tung Teh Reading Room. In February 1912, the Singapore branch of the Tongmenghui became the Singapore branch of the

, following the establishment of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, and Teo served as its honorary chairman. In 1914, the Singapore branch of the Kuomintang began using the Tung Teh Reading Room as a front organisation. In 1925, he was made a Justice of the Peace. In 1926, the colonial government dissolved the Singapore branch of the Kuomintang. In the 1930s, Teo was known as the "Rubber King" of Singapore. He also founded the '' Min Kuo Jih Pao'' in Singapore. Teo moved to China in either 1926 or 1932 and was appointed the Chief of the Central Bank in

Swatow Shantou, alternately 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 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative a ...

, the Mayor of Swatow, and the head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Bureau. He was also made a member of the Chinese Affairs Committee in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

. However, he later became a supporter of

Wang Jingwei Wang Zhaoming (4 May 188310 November 1944), widely known by his pen name Wang Jingwei, was a Chinese politician who was president of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan. He was in ...

and was made a member of the Central Supervisory Committee, which Wang had established with the assistance of the Japanese. Due to this, Teo was arrested by the Kuomintang after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for treason. After being released from prison, Teo returned to Singapore. He became a trustee of the

Ngee Ann Kongsi The Ngee Ann Kongsi () is a Charitable organization, charitable foundation in Singapore and governed by the Ngee Ann Kongsi Ordinance of 1933. It is one of many Overseas Chinese Kongsi, or clan associations, that were set up by immigrants from C ...

Personal life and death

Teo was married. His daughter was Teo Soon Kim, who was the first woman admitted to the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements () were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under control of the ...

bar, and his great-grandnephew is politician

Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tioⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián, first=poj; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and two-star rear-admiral who served as Senior Minister of Singapore and Coordinating Minister for ...

. He died in

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 ...

on 5 April 1959 after a short illness.

References

{{Authority control 1872 births 1959 deaths Tongmenghui members Immigrants to China