About

Loke Yew  , CMG, LL.D. (1845-1917) was a famous businessman and philanthropist during the British Malaya era. He played a significant role in the growth of Kuala Lumpur and was one of the founding fathers of Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur.

His actual name was Wong Loke Yew and born of humble parentage in the village of Dong Jiang in the district of Heshan, in the Guangdong  Province of China in 1845. He was the only son in a family of four children, and spent his childhood working as a farm hand before he decided to set sail to Malaya to seek his fortune. He was only 13 years old then. The young Wong dropped his surname Wong upon arriving in Singapore, and changed his middle name to as he thought the new name sounded more auspicious. His relatives recommended him for his first job at Kwong Man General Store, a provision shop in Market Street and earned $20 a month.

The young Loke scrimped and managed to save $99 after 4 years of hard work. With the money, he started his own provision store called Tong Hing Loong. His business gradually grew and Loke left his staff in charge of the store while he travelled to northern Malaya, particularly Perak to explore the tin mining business. Source : Wikipedia