Penang Po Leung Kuk

The Penang Po Leung Kuk was founded in 1889 by Foo Tye Sin, Koh Seang Tat, Khaw Sim Bee, Ong Boon Teik and Ong Beng Teik. The Penang Po Leung Kuk was the first Anglo-Chinese welfare organisation in Penang dedicated to protecting Chinese female immigrants from exploitation and sexploitation.^[1] The organization was based on the Po Leung Kuk in Hong Kong, which was founded in 1878.

The Po Leung Kuk homes in Singapore, Malacca and Penang were controlled by committees of Chinese gentlemen, and financed by endowment funds raised from public subscriptions.^[2] The Penang Cheshire Home was set up in 1978, in a wing of the former Penang Po Leung Kuk Home.^[3]

Rosalind Hoalim, wife of Lim Cheng Ean and a well-known figure in colonial Penang, was sympathetic to the plight of unfortunate servant girls and helped various escapees from cruel households re-establish themselves at the Penang Po Leung Kuk.^[4] Later, her daughter, Datuk Lim Phaik Gan better known as P. G. Lim, led the Penang Po Leung Kuk in the 1920s and 1930s, helping to train and rehabilitate Chinese prostitutes.^[5]

References

^ The Penang Po Leung Kuk: Records and Recollections (1889-1934): Chinese Women, Prostitution & a Welfare Organisation By Neil Jin Keong Khor, Keat Siew Khoo, Izrin Muaz Md. Adnan Published by Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2004; ISBN 967-9948-32-3, ISBN 978-967-9948-32-5; pp. 53-57
^ Report by His Majesty's government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Council of the League of Nations on the administration of Togoland under British mandate for the year ... By Great Britain Colonial Office, League of Nations Council Published by H.M.S.O., 1925; pp. 76, 87, 88
^ History of the Penang Cheshire Home
^ A reluctant hero by NEIL KHOR JIN KEONG, The Star Sunday 10 September 2006 reviewing the book, MY LIFE: Chronicles of a Wartime Pilot and Other Stories By Lim Kean Chong published by Trafalgar Publishing House; ISBN 983-43245-0-2
^ A woman for all seasons, by Clarence Y K Ngui published by Malaysian Business, 16 Apr 2004