Yap Kwan Seng Memorial / 葉觀盛墓園

Yap Kwan Seng Memorial / 葉觀盛墓園

His name in Traditional Chinese – 葉觀盛 and in Simplified Chinese – 叶观盛.

Born 1846, Yap Kwan Seng is the last Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur. After his passing, the position of kapitan was abolished.

He moved from china to malaya at the age of 18 and work as a tin miner in Seremban before moving to Selangor to setup his own tin mining business.

Known for his philanthropic deeds and his many great contributions, He founded the Pooi Shin Thong / Pei Shan Tang / 培善堂 which provided the poor with free medical services. Pooi Shin Thong was later renamed to Tung Sing hospital (同善醫院) located along Jalan Pudu. There is much more that he has done.

Yap Kwan Seng passed away in 1902. Based on read up, It is said that he was originally buried at Maxwell Hill but when the government wanted the land for development, his remains were exhumed and are now placed at a pagoda at the Lian Lin temple (蓮林廟) in the Kwang Tung cemetery (廣東義山), Sg Besi.
It would be great to know the date his remains were exhumed and moved. This would be great historic value to future readers. There is an old man we met at the Kwangtung cemetery that has told us his exhumed bones were actually reburied at the opposite site of the Hockien cemetery but he could not tell me where exactly. If any of you knows where his original grave / tomb was before or when was his bones exhumed or where he is reburied, do email me or leave a comment.

His memorial plate was easy to find. As soon as you turn into the Lian Lin Temple area, and it’s just there.

Yap Kwan Seng is the last person to hold the Kapitan title in Kuala Lumpur and he’s also known as the person who developed a brick factory in the now known Brickfield area which was fill with clay on it’s surrounding area back then.