Leong Fee

Leong Fee
Born Liang Pi Joo
1857
Guangdong Province in China
Died 1912
Occupation Tin miner, businessman, politician, philanthropist
Known for
  • He held the world record for tin production.
  • He was the first Chinese Member of the Federal Legislative Council.

Leong Fee (simplified Chinese: 梁辉; traditional Chinese: 梁輝; pinyin: Liáng Huī; Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Liòng Fî) is the Hakka name for Liang Pi Joo (1857–1912), a worker from Guangdong Province in China who emigrated to Malaya in 1876.

Career

He arrived in Penang and, half a year later, moved to Perak where he began to make his fortune in tin. He was a tin miner, businessman, a visiting Justice for Kinta (1892), the first Chinese Member of the Federal Legislative Council (1909)[1] a Penang state senator, a member of the Perak State Council, a Chinese Vice-Consul to Penang (1902 to 1908) and a philanthropist.[2] He was a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.[3]

In 1902 he opened a mine in Tambun. Renowned Malaysian businessman Leong Sin Nam once worked in his tin mine.[4] One year later Tambun held the world record for tin production.[5]

Leong Fee Mansion

Built on Leith Street around the 1900s as a personal residence, it now belongs to the Christian Brothers and has been leased to an art school, Akademi Seni Equator.[6]

Hakka Chinese Tin Miners Club

Leong Fee founded the club in Ipoh in 1893. His son, Leong Yin Khean alias Liang En-Chuen, continued to sponsor the lodge after his father's death in 1912 and eventually sold the house cheaply to the club.[7] He was a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.[3]

Personal life

He married the daughter of millionaire-philanthropist Hsieh Yung-kuan, the Chinese Vice-Consul to Penang before him.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Generations: The Story of Batu Gajah By Tak Ming Ho, Perak Academy Published by HO TAK MING, 2005; ISBN 983-40556-5-X, ISBN 978-983-40556-5-3; pp. 105, 113, 117, 119, 120, 132
  2. ↑ Days Gone By: Growing Up in Penang By Christine Wu Ramsay, South Yarra: Macmillan, 2004
  3. 1 2 Virtual Malaysia, The official ePortal of Tourism Malaysia Archived 2005-11-19 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Everitt, W.E. History of Mining in Perak. 1952. Vols. 14, Page 60
  5. ↑ Ipoh Echo, July 2007
  6. ↑ John Glines
  7. 1 2 The Official Website of Tourism Penang by The Penang Tourism Action Council
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