Goh Soon Tioe
| Goh Soon Tioe | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Native name | 吴顺畴 |
| Born |
18 October 1911 Padang, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) |
| Died | February 27, 1982 (aged 70) |
| Genres | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Conductor, pedagogue, violinist |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Years active | 1947–1976 |
Goh Soon Tioe (simplified Chinese: 吴顺畴; traditional Chinese: 吳順疇; pinyin: Wú Shùn Chóu) is known in Singapore musical history as a key player in the development of classical music for the post-war Singapore. He is also the father of Singaporean violinist-conductor Vivien Goh.
Born on 18 October 1911 in Padang, Indonesia, Goh was the tenth of the eleven children in the family. His father Gho Goan Tee owned a trading firm and was a local Kapitan – a spokesperson for the Padang Chinese community and a representative for the Chinese government. Mother Lie Kie Pat was from Nias and was of mixed Chinese and native parentage. They live in house on Batipuh Street (now known as Jalan Pasar Batipuh) in Padang.
The elder Gho died when Goh was three years old, leaving him in the care of his mother and Goh's older siblings. As a boy, Goh studied in the local town school and primarily taught in Dutch language. But he was active and mischievous child who often played truant from school and indulge in cock fighting. His strict disciplinarian mum would often punish him for playing truant – at one time she even put a ball and chain on the boy's leg, and sent him to school in a horse carriage, or a Bendi.
It came to the point that his mother felt she could not control him any longer, and thus sent him and other relatives to Singapore. Goh was 13 years old then, living with his 2nd eldest brother Soon Ho in Newton Road and continued his schooling at the Anglo-Chinese School. The year was 1924.
Goh's family members were musically-inclined. In his home in Pandang, there was a piano left behind from his grandfather's time. And not to mention that Goh Soon Hin, his third elder brother also played the violin. But in all his childhood years the young Goh had never expressed any interest in music at all. And thus his passion for music started relatively late – and by chance as well.
It was the time when he moved to Singapore, he would hear his cook's son playing the violin at the back of their Newton house every night. That got the 17-year-old Goh interested in the violin, and embarked his musical journey with the violin with his first teacher, Filipino violinist Aguedo Raquiza. Raquiza taught all that he knew to his prodigy, and advised him to seek further instruction overseas. Despite his newfound love and conviction to become a great violinist, he could not convince his family to let him study music overseas. Instead, he was sent to work in their family business. But music still was never far from his mind.
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