Path of the Righteous Crane - The Life & Legacy of Eu Tong Sen

by Ilsa Sharp

The name of Eu Tong Sen is well known in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Yet to date, there has been little of substance written about the man; much of what there is, has been drawn from a deep well of unsubstantiaed folklore.

Ilsa Sharp's account of Eu Tong Sen's life, based on voluminous research by academic Maria Yang Tse-oy, has theatre aplenty, from mystic feng shui mountains and murder by poison, through dare-devil jungle trekking to fending off revolutionaries, taking on the opium establishment, playing political games with colonial masters, consorting with opera stars, racehorses, flashy cars and women (11 wives), building stately palaces and castles, and above all, the amassing of enormous personal wealth, a respectable part of which went to family, friends, and needy causes, from schools to hospitals.

Paperback

About the author

Ilsa Sharp is a British-born freelance writer and specialist in SE Asian affairs, with a Chinese Studies honours degree from Leeds University. She has built up a strong track record for current affairs and economics/business reporting, writing and editing, as well as environment/nature/wildlife/popular science over her long career as a journalist and author, based in Singapore/Hong Kong/Australia and including extensive travel throughout the Asia-Pacific region, since 1968. She was a Hong Kong-based ‘China-watcher’ for the Far Eastern Economic Review in the 1970s, and among the first foreign journalists to travel in and report from China towards the end of the Cultural Revolution, in 1971.

Ms Sharp also has a parallel track record of public relations copy-writing and consultancy, both for business corporations and for government. She has specialised in commissioned institutional, corporate and government history books.

Reviews

[Tin Wee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of Eu Tong Sen and the rise of his business empire. It begins with the foundations of the family business laid by his father, traces intrigues in the Eu family, and the shrewd investments leading him to be one of the richest men in Malaya and Singapore. Unfortunately, his many properties and assets were divided among his descendants and little is left of his tin/ properties/ banking legacy today except for Eu Yan Sang medical hall. A good read into the life of one of Singapore's philanthropists.