Great Grandfather Tiong King Sing : His Written Words

My great grandfather Tiong King Sing was a stern but loving husband,father and grandfather.

Besides being a business man he was keen to extend his knowledge of herbal cures to his fellowmen. He could read pulses and treat the simplest of illness from his office in Hua Hong Ice and Rice Mill in Pulau Kerto. He treated Chinese, Iban and Malays who came to him for free consultation.

Many who got cured were so grateful that they later brought him gifts of ducks, or fish or other farm products. The little children were often in awe when gifts were pushed towards my grandfather. The normal polite Chinese reluctance to accept gifts usually ended when the giver placed the gifts some where in the house before leaving by boat. Hua Hong was rather isolated and visitors came by boat, very often, the smallest of rowing boats, enough for two.


One of  his hobbies,especially, towards the end of the Japanese Occupation was compiling the family book of genealogy. He would spend a lot of time to look at the family tree and history and reflect on his own life.

He was glad that his only surviving sons, Tiong Kung Ping had 6 sons and 11 daughters at the time when he reached his old age of over 60. He had lost one son at a very young age in China (before he left for Nanyang) and one son Kung Eng (the pioneer of 24 Acres, Bukit Lan) who passed away early during the Japanese Occupation.

He was a very devout Methodist and would wear his white suits every Sunday to attend church service at Masland Church. In fact he was one of the contractors who helped build the original Masland Church.

Like any traditional Chinese, he had ordered his own coffin and my grandmother's coffin from China (via Singapore). These two coffins were kept in the middle room of the office block and I do remember that very well.

His was ill for sometime during the Japanese Occupation and his best friend, Tiong Pek Yeen Zhang (a well known Chinese Sin Seh) came to stay in the house until his last moments.

According to other relatives, Dr. Chee Ching Nam also attended to him, crossing the river every now and then.