Kiong Kong Tuan (; 1790–1854) was a Chinese merchant from

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

. He was a merchant in Penang before establishing himself in Singapore. Kiong Kong Tuan held the revenue farms for

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

in the 1830s, and also for spirits. He had a spirit factory at

Pearl's Hill Pearl's Hill, briefly Mount Stamford, is a small hill in Singapore. Located in the vicinity of Chinatown, it is one of the few surviving hills in the city area. History The hill was the location of gambier plantations owned by the Chinese who h ...

, and the site was known among the Chinese as Chiu-long-san ("Spirit Factory Hill"). He was known to have held the opium and spirit farms in 1848, and was the last opium farmer in Singapore. He was also involved in coffee and real estate. In the 1840s he had of coffee planted near

Jurong Jurong () is a major geographical region located at the south-westernmost point of the West Region of Singapore. Although mostly vaguely defined, the region's extent roughly covers the planning areas of Jurong East, Jurong West, Boon Lay, and ...

. Kiong was the grantee of a large, tract of land, with

Chin Swee Road The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be one ...

as the main artery and Cornwall Street and Seok Wee Road as side streets, which was a densely-populated Straits Chinese residential quarter. Kiong married a daughter of Choa Chong Long, by whom he had an only son, Kiong Seok Wee, and several daughters, one of whom became the wife of Wee Bin of the steamship firm Wee Bin & Co. He died at the age of 64 on 16 January 1854. Kiong was of Hokkien ethnicity from southern Fujian region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiong, Kong Tuan Hokkien businesspeople Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Malaysian people of Hokkien descent Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian emigrants to Singapore 1790 births 1854 deaths

See also

References