Thank you Cmdr. Anderson for the informative history about our Ipoh pioneers. The towkays Mr Foong Seong and Mr Lau Pak Khuan were well known to me as my maternal Grandfather’s mining colleagues. They were probably members of the mahjong club “Lok Lam” in Ipoh where the amenities and services were provided by the “Mah Jeahs” in the 1950s. One cannot miss the mansion of Lau Pak Khuan when driving along Jalan Bandahara towards the Hakka Association on the left-hand side and the solitary bungalow of Chong Soon Fan in Menglembu. I was hoping you would consider continuing this series with other towkays including my great grandfather Foo Choon Yit, OBE, my grand uncle Foo Yet Kai and my maternal grandfather Chong Soon Fan (and his colleague Choong Sam). Like most immigrants to Malaya, they came with nothing more than “a singlet and blue underwear” – a common description of these towkays of humble and impoverished beginnings. There were also famous professionals, medical – Drs Chong Tak Nam, Ong Liang Seang, Ng Yuk Hing; lawyers – Yeoh Kean Teik, Seenivasagam, etc. Their contributions to Ipoh should also be written.
Ipoh-born Kid
