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 (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

and later the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

. 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 center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

. 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 Wang 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 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

''. 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 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. Lim was of Peranakan descent, with ancestry from Chenghai D ...

, 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, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

, 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 ...

, 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 (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and t ...

. However, he later became a supporter of

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 foundation located 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 China in the late ...

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. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Co ...

bar, and his great-grandnephew is politician

Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tiuⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former two-star rear-admiral who has been serving as Senior Minister of Singapore since 2019 and Coordinating Mi ...

. He died in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

on 5 April 1959 after a short illness.

References

{{reflist 1872 births 1959 deaths Tongmenghui members