Cheong Yoke Choy

Cheong Yoke Choy, JP, OBE (Chinese: 張郁才), was born in Xinhui, China, on the 22nd of the sixth lunar month (16 July) in 1873 and died 26 May 1958. He was a famous philanthropist during the British Malaya era. He was well respected, much loved, and affectionately known as 'The Elderly Philanthropist' for all the charitable work he drove and supported even at an advanced age.

Cheong Yoke Choy came from humble beginnings. To support his family's livelihood, he moved to Guang Zhou at the age of 14 years and 2 years later travelled to Malaya. He arrived in Rawang and first worked for a local council as an office boy. He led a tough life back then, and was once – whilst running errands for the local council – purportedly forced, for the sake of survival, to drink his own urine after finding himself lost and dehydrated in one of many the rubber estates in Rawang.

Six months after first arriving in Malaya, he moved to Kuala Lumpur where he worked at the 'Tong Hing Long Company', a provision store owned and started by Loke Yew, who took an immediate liking to him. Even though he started off performing menial tasks, his hard-working and humble nature earned him Yew's trust, who gradually handed him more important responsibilities. When Loke Yew travelled up north to Perak to explore the possibilities of starting up a tin mining business, he left the young Yoke Choy in charge of his provision store. Cheong Yoke Choy saw Loke Yew not only as a benefactor but also a mentor. After saving sufficient money, he followed in Loke Yew's footsteps and started Hoong Fatt Tin Mining company with Chan Wing, but not before sending for his parents who were still back in China.

With the support of Loke Yew, he and some other partners including Chan Wing co-founded Kwong Yik Bank in July 1915.

Cheong Yoke Choy understood the importance of a formal education even though he himself lacked it. In 1918 he single-handedly founded 'Pak Peng Free School', an all-boys school aimed at providing free education to students from very poor families. He was considered by many to be very progressive for his time because – unlike a lot of the other Chinese patriarchs at the time – he believed that girls should also receive a proper education. This prompted him to form a partnership with Mr. Liao Rong Zhi to set up and run the 'Pak Weng All Girls School' at Sultan Lane – one of the few non-missionary girls school at the time. In 1926 he and three others – namely Xin Bai Hui, Liao Rong Zhi and Au Yang Xue Feng – went on to help establish Kwong Siew Free School; Confucian Private Secondary School; Kuen Cheng Girls School and also act as trustees for Wah Kiew Primary School.

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