Posts

But Tuan Douglas said the market place is mine to keep (1883)

Image
From Yap Tek Loy Captain China To the Tuan Besar 4th Moon 5th day 11th May 1883 After Compliments Your Petitioner Yap Tek Loy in obedience to order begs that your benignity and patronage be unfolded. That on the 29th December 1882, 11th moon 20th day, your Petitioner received a letter from Tuan Governor about the present market place to be given up to the Government after your Petitioner's death and cannot be preserved for his posterity. Formerly Capt. Douglas ordered Your Petitioner to pull down several shop houses and made into a market and rented out to provision sellers. This your Petitioner obeyed but could not be helped in wasting money and labor, at that time, Capt. Douglas said that if after your Petitioner's death the market to be removed to any place where the Government likes, but ground is still your Petition...
Post a Comment
Read more

Yap Ah Loy's curriculum vitae in his petition to Weld (1882)

Image
To His Excellency Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld, K. C. M. G., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Straits Settlements, etc, etc. The Humble Petition of Yap Teck Loy of Kuala Lumpur Sheweth: 1. That your petitioner is now of the age of forty-six years and was born at Canton in the Empire of China. 2. That your petitioner is the Captain of the Chinese at Kuala Lumpur, and has resided in Malacca about 7 years and afterwards in Kuala Lumpur aforesaid where he now resides for 18 years, 4 years of which time as a merchant and 14 years as the Captain of the Chinese. 3. That your petitioner was married at Malacca aforesaid and has had issue, to wit four children. 4. That your petitioner has permanently settled in Kuala Lumpur and is the largest landed proprietor here and is under British protection. Your petitioner therefore humbly pray that your Excellency may be pleased to grant him the privileges of naturalization unde...
Post a Comment
Read more

Five-gun salute given to Yap Ah Loy (1885)

Image
An account detailing the discovery of Captain Yap's death by his wife can be found in The Straits Times (20 April 1885, p. 3): . . . at midnight between the 14th and 15th March, his wife visited him at his bedside and gave him some food and then retired to bed for the night. Between 5 and 6 o'clock, not seeing the Capitan as usual going about, she went to waken him, and found him dead, cut off almost in the prime of life at the age of 48 . . . The report was consistent with the calendrical data written on the photo housed in the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple. We were told by the same newspaper clip that Captain Yap was honored with two series of five-gun salute (10 o'clock, fired from the Joss House, and 7 o'clock the next morning when the body was placed in the coffin. Military salute given to Yap Ah Loy, Bendahara of Pahang, Sultan of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Colonel Anson and his land tax implementation (1879)

Image
Sunday morning, 9 February 1879 . A 45-year-old was received at the jetty by a distinguished gathering of officials from the Protected Native States. The names of the bigshots were Hugh Low, the Resident of Perak; William Maxwell, the Assistant Resident of Larut; and Bloomfield Douglas, the Resident of Selangor. They had assembled to bid farewell to their boss as he departed for England. With a 17-gun military salute, fired from the fort, the reign of Sir William C. F. Robinson was officially brought to an end. While the statement released to the press declared that he was taking an eight-month leave, there were however widespread rumours 1 suggesting Robinson would not be returning to Singapore. Two days earlier, on Friday, the Lieutenant Governor of Penang, Colonel Archibald E. H. Anson, departed Penang aboard the steamer Geelong , bound for Singapore. His new assignment was to temporarily assume the duties of Robinson. Unfort...
Post a Comment
Read more