Chan Wing and his Istana

The following description on the old Istana was written by Chan King Nui 陳瓊女 (#8/26, b. ?, d. ?), with notes supplied by her younger brother, Chan Chin Cheung 陳千祥 (#22/26, b. 12 November 1934, d. ?).

Their father, Chan Wing 陳振永, was born in 1872^a. In 1887, the 15-year-old decided to leave his hometown in Xinhui (新會縣 龍灣里 石頭鄉). He traveled to Singapore but eventually landed in Sungei Besi. Chan Wing first worked as a coolie 苦力 but Loke Yew 陸如佑 (b. 1846, d. 1917) soon noticed that he can be put to better use. He was made, in 1891, the person-in-charge of two Tong Hing Loong 東興隆 shops at the relatively young age of 20.

In 1905, Chan Wing partnered with Cheong Yoke Choy 張郁財 (b. 1873, d. 1958), Liew Weng Chee 廖榮枝 (b. 1884, d. 1948), San Ah Wing 辛亞榮 (b. 1872, d. 1953), and took over a European mining company and renamed the company to Hong Fatt^b 鴻發礦場公司. The open-cast tin mine operated by Hong Fatt Company was the largest in the world and is today the site of the Mines Wellness City.

In 1913, he and his friends (Cheong Yoke Choy, Leong Yan Teck 梁仁德, Liew Weng Chee, Chew Kam Chuan 周錦泉, San Ah Wing, Yun Tin Cheng) incorporated Kwong Yik Bank^c 廣益银行, at the Old Market Square. Kwong Yik was the first Chinese bank in Kuala Lumpur, seeded with a capital of 1 million dollars. In 1928, he started his rice business in Siam 暹京恒豐米行 and began to export rice to Malaya. In 1935, he acquired a piece of 6,464-acre land in Chaah and planted the high-yield rubber clone, the TJIR 1.^d

1. Chan King Nui incorrectly marked the birth year of her father as 1873. Chan Wing was born on 31 October 1872 (Thursday 壬申年九月三十日酉时) in Village of Shitou 石頭鄉. The Klang Civil War was ongoing in Kuala Lumpur when Chan Wing was born in Guangdong. The War was concluded about half-a-year later, with Yap Ah Loy 葉德來 (b. 1837, d. 1885) and Tunku Kudin (b. 1835, d. 1909) as winners in March 1873. Chan Wing passed away in Singapore on 27 February 1947 (Thursday, 丁亥年二月七日巳时) but he was buried in Kwong Tong Cemetery, Kuala Lumpur.
2. 鴻發 = Hong Fatt = Abundant Prosperity.
3. The Kwong Yik (Selangor) Banking Corporation, Ltd., was incorporated on 15 July 1913 at the Old Market Square.
4. TJIR 1 was able to yield 0.93 ton per hectare per year, approximately 4 times higher than the normal species at the time when the clone was introduced.

As the 19th century drew to its close, Father's fortunes were at their peak. He acquired 13 acres of land along Taylor Road¹ in Kuala Lumpur and engaged the architects Swan & Maclaren to design for him the biggest house in Kuala Lumpur and the Straits Settlements. It was completed in 1929² and cost $380,000.

The red and white building with its twin domes was an impressive sight occupying the hill slope and commanding a view of the Klang River and beyond to the Railway Station. Father and his family of wives and 25 children³ (the youngest son was born later in India) lived here until the Japanese invaded Malaya in 1941. The Japanese took over the mansion.⁴ Later, after the war, it was acquired by the Government and became Istana Negara, the palace of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which it remains to this day. You can see it depicted in the $5/- Malaysian currency note, complete with the twin domes.

Happy events took place in this mansion. In 1935⁵, my 22nd brother, Chin Cheung (who later became a doctor of medicine and a successful entrepreneur), was born here and so were three young sisters, 23rd, 24th, and 25th. Two of my sisters, King Mui and King Doa, the 4th and the 6th, married here in 1935 and 1937, respectively.

1. Taylor Road was later renamed to Jalan Istana. Sir William Thomas Taylor (b. 1848, d. 1931) was the last Resident-General of the FMS (1905 - 1910).
2. Construction of Chan Wing's mansion started in 1928.
3. Chan Wing family size: 8 wives + 26 children. The last boy was born in India and did not spend his childhood in the mansion. The names of Chan Wing's sons can be found his tombstone: 德祥, 献祥, 世祥, 泽祥, 吉祥, 星祥, 左祥, 发祥, 定祥, 祯祥, 千祥, 四川 (born in India).
4. During the War, the mansion was occupied by 山下奉文 (b. 1885, d. 1946) between 1942 and 1945. After the War, it was repurposed as the administrative centre and residences of high-ranking Royal Air Force officers. Between 1952 and 1956, it was rented to the Selangor Sultan ($5,000 p.a.). In 1957, the house was sold ($1.4 million) to the Government and it was made the official residence for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The Istana was retired on 15 November 2011 when the new Istana was made available and the old Istana was converted to a museum in 2013.
5. Chan Chin Cheung was born on 12 November 1934. His sister apparently got the year of birth incorrectly. Actually, Chan Wing's daughter got the birth year of her father incorrectly. She also got the Gregorian date incorrectly when her father died in Singapore (Chan King Nui quoted 7 February 1947, but the correct date should be 27 February 1947 丁亥年二月七日, as engraved on Chan Wing's tombstone)