Searching for the descendant of Wan Chin Neo (Bukit Brown)

source: Straits Times 
One of the top stories featured on the Sunday Straits Times, dated December 8, 2013 is a house in 168 Carpmael Road that was bought in 1937 for $1,900 and later sold in 2013 for $4 million.

Wan Chin Neo's house ( 168 Carpmael Road)
source: google map 
The house was bought by Madam Wan Chin Neo (Mrs.Koh Lian Ghee ) for the sum of $1,900 in 1937. Mr. Koh Lian Ghee passed away September 3, 1936 at the age of 82 and Madam Wan Chin Neo passed away October 25, 1938 at the age of 75. It was Madam Wan Chin Neo's wish (according to the article) that the house be kept for her children and her grandchildren. She created a trust for this.
Madam Wan Chim Neo (died Oct 25, 1938)


By 1939, her two daughter's  (Koh Sun Hay and Koh Keng Hay) has passed away. Only her son, Koh Hoon Teck survived as Madam Wan Chin Neo's only son. Koh Hoon Teck himself passed away in 1956.

$4 million waiting for distribution
The trustee of the estate recently sold the house for almost $4 million in 2013 at the request of the descendant's who challenge the trust should not last forever. The trustee (Rockwills Trustee) is now actively seeking to distribute this wealth to the surviving grand and great-grand children. The article mentioned that a total of 15 people have stepped forward to claim a share, all from Koh Hoon Teck's branch. The article reported that Koh Sun Hay and Koh Keng Hay had 11 children. Maybe, more might turn up to claim a share of the pie.

Bukit Brown connection
Koh Hoon Teck and his parents, Madam Wan Chin Neo and Mr. Koh Lian Ghee are buried in Bukit Brown Hill 1 Division B. I wrote an article about Koh Hoon Teck before in February 7, 2013, but as my articles is not on mapping the family tree, it was probably only used as a reference during Rockwills Trustee research but was not able to resolve their search for the complete descendants. I wish them all the best !

Rockwills Trustee can be reached at 6221-8633.

Koh Hoon Teck 

References
Search for the heirs to $4m fortune. (December 8, 2013). The Straits Times 

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