Low Kiok Chiang

Mr Low Kiok Chiang (1843 – 12 March 1911), also known as Jacob to his contemporaries, was a successful businessman and prominent Roman Catholic Church philanthropist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Singapore, Thailand (then called Siam) and China.

He played a major role in financing the construction of major Roman Catholic infrastructure in Singapore, Bangkok and China, which is still in use today.

Jacob Low was born in the South Chinese Guangdong province coastal town of Shantou (formerly Swatow) in 1843 in a Teochew family. Due to financial difficulties his family sent 2 sons to Singapore in search of work. Low, arriving in Singapore as a 16-year-old in 1859, had originally worked as a cook, and later as a clerical assistant at the French Roman Catholic religious order Missions Étrangères de Paris (MEP) headquarters in Oxley Road, Singapore, from the 1850s. It was during his employ as a young man that the residing parish priest Fr Patria recognised promise in Low and advised the young man to relocate to Bangkok in Siam to start up a business venture. According to family sources the Roman Catholic Church extended a generous loan to Low in order for him to see the plan through.

By 1872, Low established the retail/import-export firm Kiam Hoa Heng along the east bank of the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok. He did so with a childhood friend and now business partner Mr. Joseph Chan Teck Hee (1845–1930). It was from their import-export business based in Bangkok, Kiam Hoa Heng and in 1883 Buan Hoa Seng in Singapore were set up. The Singapore side of this operation was overseen by Mr. John Goh Ah Seng (1851–1916).

In the 1880s, Kiam Hoa Heng received royal Siamese patronage from King Chulalongkorn himself. The story goes that one day a man walked into his shop with an entourage of people. No one knew who he was but one employee did recognise this person as the King. Low was at the local church for his daily afternoon prays and so missed this visit. After the visit the owner was invited to the royal palace to receive a plaque signifying royal patronage.

According to the Miramar shipping index website, Low commissioned a 1,100 ton powered ship, the 'Ban Hong Liong' in 1906. The ship was later sold and played a prominent role as a transport and logistics ship for British forces during the second World War.

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