Overview
Lim Peng Siang (; also known as Lin Bengxian; 1872–1944) was an entrepreneurin Singapore and Malaya. Together with his brother Lim Peng Mau (Lin Bingmao), he founded the Ho Hong Group of companies in 1904, shipping, parboiled rice, oil mills, cement, coconut and other businesses. He was a president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Chinese Advisory Board. Peng Siang Quay in Singapore is named after him.
Early life and education
Lim was the sixth son of Lim Ho Puah a prominent merchant whose marriage into the established peranakan business family of Wee Bin integrated the Lim family into Southeast Asia’s ethnic Chinese commercial networks. His mother was the only daughter of Wee Bin, the founder of Singapore-based Wee Bin & Co.. Lim was born in Chengnei village, Longxi county, Zhangzhou, Fujian. Before emigrating to Singapore, Lim studied Chinese classics and history at a private school in China. Like his father, Lim was naturalised as a British subject, in 1902. He received private tuition in English and was a student at the St. Joseph's Institution.
Career
Lim distinguished himself through his systematic adoption of Western industrial technology and managerial practices. He employed European and American engineers and managers to modernize production across his enterprises. The Ho Hong rice mills using high-speed mechanized engines capable of producing approximately 100 tons of rice daily, utilizing a 250 horsepower engine to manufacture up to 130 tons of coconut oil weekly for export markets. Lim also invested over Straits $1 million to establish the Ho Hong Portland Cement Works at Ulu Pandan in 1918. Designed by American engineer James Cecil Muir, the factory was one of the earliest attempts to establish large-scale modern cement production in Singapore. In 1913, Lim founded the Ho Hong Steamship Company Ltd. He sold most of his shares in Ho Hong Steamship to the Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation in 1936.
By the 1910s, Ho Hong Group was the most diversified group of companies in Malaya. Companies in the group founded by Lim included Ho Hong Steamship Co. Ltd., Ho Hong Oil Mills Ltd., Ho Hong Parboiled Rice Mill, Ho Hong Bank Ltd., and the Ho Hong Portland Cement Works Ltd. He also had plans for a bucket-making factory, and for the reclamation and development of several big pieces of swampy land in a big industrial area in the immediate neighbourhood of Singapore Town.
Public life
Lim was involved in the formation of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and was its president from 1913 to 1916, except for 1914 when he was vice president. He was a member of the Chinese Advisory Board between 1921 and 1941, as one of the representatives of the Hokkien community. Along with his brother, he was an honourable chairperson of the Hong Kong Fujian Chamber of Commerce between 1930 and 1941. Lim was a director of several public companies, including Central Engine Works (Chop Hong Chang Keok), an engineering firm comprising Western engineers and iron founders. He was a Justice of the Peace, a title noted in reports as early as 1936 describing him as one of Singapore's "greatest magnates."
Further reading
* * Asian Culture 28 (June 2004) by Singapore Society of Asian Studies: In the 28th issue of the journal of Singapore Society of Asian Studies, the essays in English discuss Lim Peng Siang and the building of the Ho Hong Empire in colonial Singapore. * Seaports of the Far East: Historical and Descriptive, Commercial and Industrial, Facts, Figures, & Resources By Allister Macmillan Compiled by Allister Macmillan Published by W.H. & L.
Collingridge, 1925; p. 441 * * The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1928 by Great Britain Office of Commonwealth Relations – Page 418 * The Dominions Office and Colonial Office List for 1929 by Great Britain Office of Commonwealth Relations – Page 431 * The Ship Compendium & Year Book Published by Compendiums Ltd., 1922; Item notes: 1922; Page 262 * * Sociétés et compagnies de commerce en Orient et dans l'océan Indien: actes du huitième Colloque international d'histoire maritime (Beyrouth, 5–10 septembre 1966). By Michel Mollat Published by S.E.V.P.E.N., 1966; p. 696 * * Shinozaki 1982: 40–50