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.
Below:- Up close.
My Time – my.72dragon.com – A web blog cataloging chinese temples in malaysia / 記錄馬來西亞廟宇文化.
I HAVE JUST FOUND THIS MEMORIAL PAGE. YKS IS MY GREAT GRANDFATHER ON MY MOTHERS SIDE, MY GRAND FATHER IS YAP TAI CHEONG. I AM COMING BACK TO KL THIS SEPTEMBER AND IS WONDERING IF THERE IS AN ANNUAL GATHERING AND CELEBRATION FOR YKS AND IS THERE ANYWHERE I CAN GO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE YAP CLAN.THANKS TO YOU ALL FOR THIS WEBSITE.
Hi Andrew:
I am Yap Weng Yue, grand daughter of Yap Tai Kong. I am unable to identify your lineage from the existing Family Tree of Yap Kwan Seng, in geni.com. As I am a registered user of the said application, I shall be able to update the tree. Verification, if any, will be based on other registered user for the mentioned family tree.
Can you provide the following details for your family members:-
1. Full Name & Nick/family name, if any
2. Gender, if not obvious eg. grandmother, obviously Female but not necessarily for your siblings or children
2. Date or birth, if known. If not birth year will also help.
3. Current status – Living or Deceased
Lineage of Yap Tai Cheong
1. Wife of Yap Tai Cheong or your Grandmother’s details
2. Your mother & father’s details
3. Your sibling(s) details
4. Your children & grandchildren details, if any
5. Your sibling’s children & grandchildren, if any
Lastly, the family clan is too widespread globally and as far as I know, no one had organised any meet-ups. Yap Kwan Seng’s memorial is at a temple in Kuala Lumpur (location can be easily found on the internet. May I ask which part of the world are you residing.
Regards,
A distant cousin ..
Hi, I’m a Chinese Adoptee from Foshan, Guangdong. I’ve recently started looking for my birth family. While doing that I’ve been able to link my DNA to a descendant of Yap Kwan Seng. According to the amount/segments of DNA we share, I’m guessing that I may be related via one of the other wives of Yap Kwan Seng. This may be a total longshot but if anyone in the lineage has done a DNA test and would be willing to allow me to if we share any matching segments/where it may be extremely useful to my search. Even knowing something like if we have the same mtdna or not would allow me to continue the process of phasing my DNA.
I’m currently working on a multi-pronged approach. I’m working across various platform to triangulate DNA matches, I’m doing my best to read through some zupus that have been shared with me from mychinaroots, and studying the various family trees I come across.
If anyone has any help/advice to offer I’d greatly appreciate it. I didn’t realize until recently how many parents didnt want to give up their children and it makes me very sad. I want to find my parents and tell them thank you and that I’m okay (and hopefully take care of them if they’ll let me!).
Thank you for reading.
Leah (adopted 1998 to USA from Foshan)
Hi Weng Yue, my apologies for late reply, haven’t look at this web page for a while. I am thrilled that you have got in touch.
My Grandmother is the 3rd wife of Grandpa Yap Tai Cheong, I believe my Grandmother’s name is Mdm Chan Ying Tai. My Mother
is the eldest of Grandma Chan’s children.
I live in Melbourne, what about You, would love to meet up if possible.
Regards, Your Distant Cousin, Andrew Cheah
Dear PK, My grandma, Yap Swee Koon, b 1907, to my great grandfather and great grandma, Yap Tai Nyen & Chen Fong Show….
To: Weng Yue,
Is your brother, Peng Siew?
If so, he would have my copy of “Kapitan Yap Kwan Seng’s Geneology Sons v2020.8.25, which is my computer file for all those names in the YKS Family Tree that I could gather over 5 or 6 years.
If you wish to contact me, Peng Siew has my mobile number and email address.
To: Andrew Cheah,
I have in my record that Tai Cheong’s 3rd wife was from Kampar but I don’t have her name until now.
Can you tell me what is your mother’s name? I have Tai Cheong’s 10 daughters’ names.
To: Administrator,
As in the past, you have my consent to give Mr Andrew Cheah my email address and KL mobile number.
Lastly, I am Yap Peng Kong from YKS’s 10th son, Tai Wah’s line. I live in KL until 2007 when I migrated to Sydney. In the last few years I have been spending more time in KL than Sydney.
Regards to all.
Peng Kong, Will do when requested. Cheers.
Hi Peng Kong Kor-Kor (I assume you should be my x-remote elder cousin),
Yes, I am sister to Peng Siew. Andrew Cheah posted messages through this medium, which I seldom access. Hence did not make any arrangements to meet up him during his Malaysia visit.
In addition, since online with you. I found out a friend living in Melbourne who could be a distant relative. He is not really close to any family members but he provided me with following information. Do you have records of Yap Koon Cheng, who is daughter of Yap Tai Nyen and Chen Foong Chow. I was informed her brothers are Pow Kong, Pow Choy, Pow Pin and Voon Seen(could be a girl-not sure). Just want to confirm if information is consistent from what you have.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Weng Yue
Hi Dato Yap Peng Kong,
My Mother’s name is Mdm Yap Foong Loong. I understand Grandpa Yap Tai Cheong has 4 wives, 4 sons and 11 daughters. All these info were supplied by my cousin Rachel Liao who lives in KL.
To Administrator,
Can you please swap my details with Dato Yap.
Thanks
Rgds Andrew
Andrew, Kindly check your mail. Cheers