Lim Peng Siang (; also known as Lin Bengxian; 1872–1944)The Kuomintang Movement in British Malaya, 1912–1949 By Ching Fatt Yong, R. B.; p. 5, 258, 282 was a businessperson in Singapore and Malaya. Together with his brother Lim Peng Mau ( Lin Bingmao), he founded the Ho Hong Group of companies in 1904, which had interests in banking, shipping, parboiled rice, oil mills, cement, coconut and other businesses.The Economic Growth of Singapore By W. G. Huff; p. 147, 225, 459 He was a President of the

Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI; ) is a business chamber in Singapore. The chamber was originally created to protect and promote the commercial interest of the Chinese community in Singapore but it also played a r ...

and a member of the Chinese Advisory Board. Peng Siang Quay in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

is named after him.

Early life and education

Lim was the son of Lim Ho Puah. His mother was the only daughter of

Wee Bin Wee Bin () born in China in 1823, was a Chinese migrant of the mid-nineteenth century who founded what was, at the time, Singapore's largest Chinese shipping firm.One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore by Ong Siang Song, 1923Family ...

, the founder of Wee Bin & Co. He was born in

Amoy Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

, Fujian, China in 1872.Singapore By Gretchen Liu; p. 174 After receiving his education in Chinese, he travelled to Singapore when he was still very young. Like his father, Lim was

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

as a British subject, in 1902. He received private tuition in English and was a student at the

St. Joseph's Institution St. Joseph's Institution (SJI) is an independent Catholic educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1852 by the De La Salle Brothers, it is the first Catholic school and the third oldest school in the country. SJI has been offering a dual-t ...

.One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore by Ong Siang Song, 1923 - Page 114–116

Career

Lim joined the firm of Wee Bin & Co., which was then under the management of his father, and eventually rose to its head before setting out to start the Ho Hong Group. He took over the greater part of the firm's business, including the large steamships, when the firm of Wee Bin & Co. was

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

in 1911 In 1914, Lim founded the Ho Hong Steamship Company Ltd. He sold most of his shares in Ho Hong Steamship to the Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation in 1936. Lim founded the

Chinese Commercial Bank The Chinese Commercial Bank was a Malayan bank established in Singapore in 1912. It was also the first Hokkien bank in Singapore. In 1932, the bank was merged with Ho Hong Bank and Oversea-Chinese Bank to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporati ...

in 1912 together with other members of the Singapore

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

business community. Together with

Lim Boon Keng Lim Boon Keng (; 18 October 1869 – 1 January 1957) was a Peranakan physician who advocated social and educational reforms in Singapore in the early 20th-century. He also served as the president of Xiamen University in China between 1921 and ...

Seow Poh Leng Seow Poh Leng (1883 - 1942) one of the first few Peranakan Babas at Emerald Hill,Historic buildings of Singapore by Edwin Lee, Singapore. Preservation of Monuments Board, 1990, , was a prominent and successful Singaporean banker, founding ...

and others, he founded the

Ho Hong Bank The Ho Hong Bank (1917–1932) was a Malayan bank, established to provide banking services that, until 1912, were solely delivered by European banks. The bank was founded in 1917 and in 1932 merged with two other banks in Singapore to form the Ove ...

in 1917. In 1932,

and Ho Hong Bank merged with the Oversea-Chinese Bank to form the

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited (), often known as OCBC Bank (), is a Singaporean multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in OCBC Centre, Singapore. OCBC Bank was born out of the Great Depression thr ...

. By the 1910s, Ho Hong Group was the most diversified group of companies in Malaya. Companies in the group founded by Lim included Ho Hong Steamship Co. Ltd., Ho Hong Oil Mills Ltd., Ho Hong Parboiled Rice Mill, Ho Hong Bank Ltd., and the Ho Hong Portland Cement Works Ltd. He also had plans for a bucket-making factory, and for the reclamation and development of several big pieces of swampy land in a big industrial area in the immediate neighbourhood of Singapore Town.

Public life

Lim was involved in the formation of the

, and was its President from 1913 to 1916, except for 1914 when he was Vice President. He was a member of the Chinese Advisory Board between 1921 and 1941, as one of the representatives of the

community. Along with his brother, he was an honourable chairperson of the Hong Kong Fujian Chamber of Commerce between 1930 and 1941. Lim was also a director of a number of public companies, including the Central Engine Works Ltd. and the Central Motors Ltd. He was also a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

. In his later years, he was less active in public life, and declined the offer of a seat on the Legislative Council several times, in order to concentrate on his industrial work.Chinese Leadership and Power in Colonial Singapore By Ching Fatt Yong Published by Times Academic Press, 1992; , ; p. 71

Early life and education

Career

Public life

Benefactor

References

Further reading