Kapitan Chung Thye Phin (1879 - 1935) was a wealthy Chinese tin miner who was raised on the island of Penang in the state of the same name in Malaysia, known at that time as Malaya. He was a member of the Perak Advisory Board and the last Kapitan China of Perak and Malaya. During the Portuguese and Dutch colonial rule in Malaysia, Kapitans were appointed chiefs or headmen of the various ethnic communities. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... State motto: Bersatu dan Setia (United and Loyal), formerly Let Penang Lead Capital George Town Governor Tun Dato Seri Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon Area 1,030 km2 Population  - Est year 2006 1,500,000 State anthem Untuk Negeri Kita (For... State motto: no State motto Capital Ipoh Royal Capital Kuala Kangsar Sultan Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Chief Minister Dato Seri Diraja Tajol Rosli bin Mohd Ghazali Area 21,006 km2 Population  - Est. ... The Federation of Malaya, or in Malay Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, was formed in 1948 from the British settlements of Penang and Malacca and the nine Malay states and replaced the Malayan Union. ...

Life

Chung Thye Phin was born 28 Sep 1979 in Kota, Taiping, Perak Malaya.

It was said that he owned expensive cars, prize-winning horses, and even issued his own currency for use in his mines.

Chung Thye Phin first issued private banknotes in 10 cent denominations on February 11, 1918. These notes were only circulated within his mining concessions and the Kapitan's trading outlets at Phin Kee Chan in Ipoh and were used by large numbers of labourers in the mining areas in exchange for goods. No other denominations have been discovered. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CTPbanknotefront.jpg & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CTPbanknoteback.jpg) A £20 Ulster Bank banknote. ... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... During the Portuguese and Dutch colonial rule in Malaysia, Kapitans were appointed chiefs or headmen of the various ethnic communities. ... Ipoh City Hall Mayor Hasan Nawawi Abdul Rahman Address Bangunan Dewan Bandaraya Ipoh, Jln Sultan Abdul Jalil, 30450 Greentown, Ipoh Phone number +(605)2413733 Official website: www. ...

He had a famous deep-shaft mine at Tronoh or Teronoh. Tronoh was the centre of the mining field containing the mine of Chung Thye Phin's Tronoh Mines Company Ltd. Teronoh or Tronoh is a small tin-mining town located some 30 km south of the Perak state capital Ipoh in Malaysia. ... Teronoh/Tronoh is a small tin-mining town located some 20 km south of the Perak State Capital Ipoh in Malaysia. ... Teronoh or Tronoh is a small tin-mining town located some 30 km south of the Perak state capital Ipoh in Malaysia. ...

Apart from Phin Kee Chan (referred to by many other names, among them the Chung Thye Phin Building), he is also associated with his father's townhouse in Penang, Hai Kee Chan, and with some other structures, most of which exist today. The fabled Chung Thye Phin Mansion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CTPMansion.jpg) at Gurney Drive with its subterranean passageways and chambers was, after his passing, sold and turned into a hotel (The Shanghai Hotel) but was later demolished and on its footprint now stands an imposing condominium (1 Gurney Drive). State motto: Bersatu dan Setia (United and Loyal), formerly Let Penang Lead Capital George Town Governor Tun Dato Seri Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon Area 1,030 km2 Population  - Est year 2006 1,500,000 State anthem Untuk Negeri Kita (For...

He donated Relau Villa, his holiday resort with a swimming pool ringed by private and other types of rooms, and the fountain to the Penang Turf Club and the Taiping Lake Gardens to the Perak State Government. Both of these still exist today. State motto: no State motto Capital Ipoh Royal Capital Kuala Kangsar Sultan Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Chief Minister Dato Seri Diraja Tajol Rosli bin Mohd Ghazali Area 21,006 km2 Population  - Est. ...

Education and Official Appointments

He studied at St. Xavier's Institution on Penang Island. In 1904, he was made a Justice of the Peace as noted in the 1904 rolls. He also played an important role in the administration of the country, as he was not only a State Councillor but also a Federal Councillor. He was a member of the Perak State Advisory Board and the last Kapitan China of Perak and Malaya. On March 24, 1921, His Highness Iskandar Shah K. C. M. G., the Sultan of Perak, conferred on him the title of "Kapitan China". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CTPappointmentcertificate.jpg) The current building of St Xaviers Institution St. ... State motto: Bersatu dan Setia (United and Loyal), formerly Let Penang Lead Capital George Town Governor Tun Dato Seri Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon Area 1,056 km2 Population  - Est year 2000 1,225,501 State anthem Untuk Negeri Kita (For... State motto: no State motto Capital Ipoh Royal Capital Kuala Kangsar Sultan Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Chief Minister Dato Seri Diraja Tajol Rosli bin Mohd Ghazali Area 21,006 km2 Population  - Est. ... The Federation of Malaya, or in Malay Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, was formed in 1948 from the British settlements of Penang and Malacca and the nine Malay states and replaced the Malayan Union. ... Sultan Iskandar was a Sultan of Perak, a state in modern Malaysia. ... A sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ...

Personal Life

He was the son of Kapitan Chung Keng Quee (also spelt as Chung Ah Kwee) an immigrant from China. He had 7 wives but was survived by 6 of them who gave him 10 sons and 7 daughters. Chung Thye Phin was born in 1879 in Taiping, lived most of his life in Penang and passed on in 1935.^[1] Chung Keng Quee (Zheng Jinggui 1829 to 1916) was born into a peasant family in Xin Cun village, Cheng Sheng (Zengcheng) county, of Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, China. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Taiping (also Itu Aba, Chinese: 太平島) is the largest island of Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea. ... State motto: Bersatu dan Setia (United and Loyal), formerly Let Penang Lead Capital George Town Governor Tun Dato Seri Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon Area 1,030 km2 Population  - Est year 2006 1,500,000 State anthem Untuk Negeri Kita (For... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Notes

Sources

THE KAPITAN SYSTEM - XI Sunday Gazette, June 19, 1960, By Wu Liu (pen name of Mr. C. S. Wong)

A gallery of Chinese kapitans. by Mr. C. S. Wong; Published in Singapore: Ministry of Culture, 1963. 114p. [DS596 Won]

Twentieth Century impressions of British Malaya: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources, by Arnold Wright, Published 1908 - Page 130, 203, 252, 262, 508, 509, 568

Record of Meritous Deeds of the Chung Family, op. cit., pp. 9-12

K. L. F. M. S. Correspondence Ref: No 3663-1917 dated 20th March 1918

K. L., F. M. S. Correspondence Ref: No. 508-1919 dated 29th Jan., 1920

"Miscellaneous Chronicles of Penang", Kuang, Kuo-hsiang op. cit., pp. 112-113

The Case of the Chinese in Penang, 1890s-1910s | SHINOZAKI Kaori, Ph.D. student

200 years of the Hakkas in Penang (檳城客家兩百年) By the Federation of Hakka Associations of Malaysia

Reveal the True Face of Secret Societies (揭開私會黨真面目) Written by Guo Rende (郭仁德) Published by the Malaysian Chinese Cultural Center

"The Luxuriant Tree" and "Chung Keng Kwee, the Hakka Kapitan" by CHUNG Yoon-Ngan (鄭永元)

The installation of Chung Thye Phin as Capitan in 1921. G.1784 (N.22/84) National Archives of Malaysia.

List of Qualified Jurors, Penang, 1904 transcribed from the Straits Settlements Government Gazette, December 23, 1904.

Heritage Road named in honour of Chung Thye Phin by Sita Ram, Stories Of Yesteryear, The Ipoh Echo 16 March - 31 March 2006

Timothy Tye who has been researching Chung Keng Quee for the Pinang Peranakan Mansion and historian Khoo Salma Nasution

The Tin Resources of the British Empire by Norman Mosley Penzer, published by W. Rider in 1921, page 90 of 716 pages.

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