Hong Lim Exclusive
5
defence efforts by sponsoring Maxim guns for the Singapore Volunteer Artillery. He even owned a private fire brigade manned by 37 uniformed firemen that he put at the disposal of the community. In addition, he donated to the Bengal Famine in India and to the French colonies in Southeast Asia, receiving a medal from the French Government for his philanthropy. His contributions to China, his father’s homeland, won Cheang the Qing Dynasty Imperial Title of “First Ranking Official”.
A Grand Opium Empire
Like many Straits-born Chinese businessmen of his time, Cheang’s wealth was tinged with moral ambiguity. By modern standards, he would be deemed a drug lord— the source of his prosperity was a monopoly on selling opium, sirih (betel), and liquor in Singapore.
Hong Lim’s father Cheang Sam Teo had obtained licenses to sell these products from the British government. His thriving business guaranteed that taxes from the large population of opium-smoking coolies flowed steadily into British coffers. Hong Lim inherited these lucrative “revenue farms”, and brought them to greater strength by investing in opium syndicates in Hong Kong and French Indochina. Hong Lim also became a successful property magnate in Singapore, inspiring a saying of the era— “You can be rich as Hong Lim, but you will never have as many houses as him!”
Not content with dominating the local market, Cheong Hong Lim's overseas sydincate, named the "Grand Opium Syndicate", aimed to create a cartel controlling the export of virtually all
Chinese coolies and opium in Southeast
Asia, the China coast and the entire Pacific Rim. including Hawaii, California and Australia. While Cheang’s syndicate managed to wrest some control of the Hong Kong opium farms from the Cantonese, the plan for world domination, ultimately failed.
The Darker Side of Charity
Cheang had a reputation for being a ruthless businessman, as he occasionally resorted to underhanded tactics. In 1883, he orchestrated a massive opium-smuggling plot aimed at ruining his business rivals. Although Cheang’s conspiracy was found out, he was too influential a public figure to be imprisoned, as his altruism had won him the support of many. The government could only punish him by forcing him to sign a humiliating apology.
This was not Cheang’s only brush with the law. Earlier in 1872, Cheang was charged with forgery of his father’s will. The complainant was his brother. After five days of trial with several “reluctant” prosecution witnesses, then-Chief Justice Thomas Sidgreaves interrupted proceedings to declare Hong Lim not guilty. To celebrate his acquittal, Cheang threw a banquet, complete with theatrical performances, for the Chinese community in Pasir Panjang.
Some historians argue that Cheang’s charitable endeavours were not