Lien Ying Chow

 

The Altruistic Ambassador

 

China-born Lien Ying Chow helped to ease tensions between Singapore and Malaysia when their bilateral relationship was fractured after Separation in 1965. A big-hearted philanthropist, he donated almost half of his wealth to set up the Lien Foundation in 1980 to bring education to the disadvantaged, and supported numerous educational institutions. But he is probably best remembered as the founder of the Overseas Union Bank (OUB) which became one of Singapore’s biggest banks.

 

At 14, Lien Ying Chow came to Singapore from China in 1920 alone with only a few coins in his pocket. He started work as an assistant at a ship’s chandler and was promoted to its assistant manager. By the time he was 21, he had started his own company. It would be the first of many businesses. Over time, his list of businesses grew to include a sundry supply shop and what would be one of his most lasting legacies, the OUB, which eventually became the fourth largest bank in Southeast Asia in the mid-1990s.

Lien, who was the second person to be granted Singapore citizenship when the Singapore Citizenship Ordinance was passed in 1957, is well known in the business world. Not many, however, would recall his role as High Commissioner to Malaysia from 1966 to 1969. In 1966, Lien was approached by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to be the High Commissioner to Malaysia. Recalling this in his oral history interview, Lien remembered, “Mr Lee said, you know the Tunku, you know me; you can be a good go-between. I know you will do the best for the country. I told him, ‘Yes, Mr Lee, I will do my best’.” In his eulogy of Lien, who died in 2004, Lee highlighted the banker’s role as an envoy: “He helped keep relations steady during the turbulent time after Separation.”

Lee and Lien were friends even before the former became a politician in the 1950s. Lee was working as a legal assistant at Laycock & Ong in Malacca Street and OUB was situated just round the corner. Lien recalled in his oral history: “Before he came into power, sometimes we stood there and talked. And before Lee became a politician, I already [had] been friends with him.” Lien also knew Lee’s family well.

Lien’s friendship with former Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman went back even further—they knew each other before World War II and had bonded over conversations about Malaya’s independence from the British.

By the late 1930s, Lien was one of the most successful businessmen in Singapore. He was elected chairman of the Teo Yeoh Huay Kuan (clan association), and president of the Provision and Wine and Spirit Association. In 1941, aged 34, Lien became the youngest president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI).

Lien's grandson, Michael Lien, said his grandfather hosted meetings of politicians from the People’s Action Party (PAP) and the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) when Singapore and Malaya were negotiating freedom from British rule, and later, when Singapore merged with the Federation of Malaya to become Malaysia in 1963. Michael, who is now executive chairman of the family's investment company, Wah Hin & Company, said, “as a businessman, his instinct was to be in the same room as the key decision makers.”

So close was Lien to the political leaders in Malaya that Tun Dato Tan Cheng Lock, the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association, asked Lien to become a politician. Lien declined, saying that he “likes to be a businessman,” and continued living here because Singapore was a business port.

After Lien accepted Lee’s invitation to be Singapore’s high commissioner to Malaysia, he relocated to Kuala Lumpur and left the day-to-day management of OUB to his colleagues. The separation of Malaysia and Singapore still cast a lingering shadow over the two countries. But managing their rocky relationship was made easier because Lien was close to both parties. He wrote in his autobiography, From Chinese Villager to Singapore Tycoon, “I could just pick up the telephone and settle many things.”

According to Michael, his grandfather played poker with the Tunku, knowing that the game was one of the Tunku's hobbies. Even after he completed his diplomatic posting in 1969, he would visit his ex-associates in Kuala Lumpur during Hari Raya Eid al-Fitr celebrations. They would still address him as “His Excellency”. They became “real friends,” Michael said.

Though Lien was a prominent personality in the business community, he realised that doing business was not an end in itself, said Michael. Thus, Lien contributed almost half of his wealth to set up the Lien Foundation in 1980, which supports social initiatives in the areas of eldercare, early childhood, and water and sanitation. When Michael’s sister, Virginia, completed her medical studies, Lien told her, “You have to treat everyone who comes to see you even if they have no money. Those who have no money, I will pay for them.”

As Lien had been orphaned at the age of 10, he never had an opportunity to receive a formal education. Deeply concerned about the plight of the poor who were deprived of formal schooling, he consistently gave a portion of his income to education over the years. He supported institutions like Nanyang Girls’ High School and The Chinese High School, and played a key role in the founding of Nanyang University and Ngee Ann College (now Ngee Ann Polytechnic). Lien was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in 1964.

In 2004, Lien passed away at the age of 98.

References

Lien Ying Chow, From Chinese Villager to Singapore Tycoon: My Life Story
(Singapore: Times Book International, 1992).

Alvin Chua, “Lien Ying Chow,” Singapore Infopedia, accessed August 2015,
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1786_2011-02-24.html

Lien Ying Chow, interviewed by Mrs Lily Tan, February 11, 1981, accession number 000057/15, transcript, Oral History Centre, National Archives of Singapore.

Interview with Michael Lien in August 2015.

 

 

Lien Ying Chow
China, 1906-2004