Ong Sam Leong was a businessman who was born in 1857, in Singapore. He came from a humble background and received little education; and he was known to be a workaholic who kept working even in his last days. When he died in 1918, he owned several large properties, plantations, brickworks and sawmills. He was said to enjoy motoring and going to the sea; and also entertained friends on a grand scale at his home in Bukit Timah, named Bukit Rose, completed a few years before he passed on.
In 1899, his company Ong Sam Leong and Company became the key supplier of labourers to the Christmas Island Phosphate Company Limited. The company arranged for labourers from the coolie houses along Pagoda Street in Singapore to work in the phosphate mines on Christmas Island. Ong also owned a sundry shop on Christmas Island, which provided provisions to the workers there. (Today, the road named after him is the local hangout for migrant workers from the Indian continent.)
Ong was a member of several Chinese clubs and was president of the Ban Chye Hoe Club for several years. He contributed to fund raising efforts during World War 1 for the defence of the Straits Settlements and gave money to build a grarage for the Straits Volunteer Corps.
Ong Sam Leong was married to Yeo Yean Neo, who came from a well-known family, and had two sons and several daughters. His obituary names one daughter, Mrs Khoo Peck Lock, surviving him, but his wife's obituary identifies three sons-in-law. One of the sons-in-law is Lim Teck Kim, who is uncle to Lim Yew Hock, Chief Minister of Singapore from 1956-1959. Ong's two sons, Boon Tat and Peng Hock, were co-owners of New World Amusement Park and were also well-known figures in the business community. One of his grandsons is Ong Tiang Wee, a partner of law firm Laycock & Ong and president of the Peranakan Association from 1948 to 1992.
Ong Sam Leong is buried together with his wife in the largest grave and on the highest hill of Bukit Brown Cemetery. The hill named Tai Yuan hill was sometimes referred to as Sam Leong Hill. When he died in 1918, the cemetery was known as Seh Ong cemetery and administered by the Seh Ong kongsi (clan). Only Hokkiens with the surname Ong were allowed to be buried there. In 1918, there were no restrictions on the size of the tomb and Ong Sam Leong's grave has a land area of 600 square metres, the size of several 3-room HDB flats. It was only in 1922, when the Municipality acquired part of the Seh Ong cemetery, that sizes were restricted and the Bukit Brown Cemetery became a public Chinese cemetery.
His grave has many traditional designs of Chinese graves like the 'Golden Boy, Jade Girl' (金童玉女), lions, a moat - just much larger than any of the other graves in the cemetery. The 15 metre moat was said to be used as a swimming pool by cemetery workers. There are also beautiful elaborate carvings depicting traditional virtues of the ‘24 examples of filial piety’. A pair of life sized Sikh Guard statues stand by his grave.
The Ong graves were discovered recently in 2006 after several years of searching by the Singapore Heritage Board. It seemed to have been lost after an earlier discovery was made in 1993 and which was reported in Chinese newspaper Sin Ming Daily. Ong Sam Leong's younger son was buried on the same hill, just below his father’s grave in 1968.
Ong Sam Leong may not be a well-known personality in 2011 as he was in 1911, but his legacy lives on through the roads named after him and his son, the local history from the businesses and public service he and descendants engaged in, and of his grave which contributes to the rich tapestry of local Chinese culture and history.
By Yvonne Ho.
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References
• National Library Singapore Infopedia – Ong Sam Leong http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1461_2009-02-19.html
• National Library Singapore Infopedia – Bukit Brown Municipal Cemetery http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1358_2009-07-13.html
• API Forum, Post subject: Uncovering the largest tomb in Singapore http://www.api.sg/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1228
• Au Yong, Jeremy. ‘Tycoon's tomb uncovered’ The Straits Times, 4 June 2006. http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article/straitstimes20060604.2.5.13.aspx
• Savage, V. R. and Yeoh, B. S. A. Toponymics: A Study of Singapore Street Names
• Lessons from Tomb carvings – I, II, III, IV http://bukitbrown.org/lessons-from-tomb-carvings-i
Further Readings
• ‘A closer look at the magnificent tomb of Ong Sam Leong’ http://oceanskies79places.blogspot.com/2011/08/closer-look-at-magnificent-tomb-of-ong.html
• The unkempt beauty of Coffee Hill http://thelongnwindingroad.wordpress.com/tag/grave-of-mr-ong-sam-leong/
• Bukit Brown Cemetery : Burial ground of the pioneers of Singapore http://bukitbrown.org/
