Choa Chong Long

Choa Chong Long (Chinese: 蔡滄浪; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhòa Chhong-lōng; 1788-1838) was a Chinese prominent magnate, revenue farmer and pioneering colonist^[1][2] who served as the first Kapitan Cina of Singapore under the British colonial government.

He was the son of Choa Su Cheong, who was the Kapitein der Chinezen of Malacca in the Dutch colonial period.^[3][4] The younger Choa ventured out to Singapore when the British took over the island, but unlike most Chinese and Malay immigrants, Choa Chong Long was already a rich man. He was appointed Kapitan Cina of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles, who took control of the island for the British.^[1] He held the revenue farm for the import and sale of opium.^[5][6] He was also thought to be one of the first Chinese to manage a plantation in Singapore.^[7]

Choa celebrated his forty-fourth birthday by giving a grand dinner to which all influential residents of the island, including many Europeans, were invited.^[8] Choa's daughter married Kiong Kong Tuan, who was also a revenue farmer and businessman^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

Choa died in Macau in 1838, leaving a will containing "a devise for ever of certain properties for sinchew (ancestral worship) purposes which was eventually declared void.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]}