Wee Peck Hay nee Mrs. Lim Nee Soon (S.S. Kuala victim)

The family cluster of Lim Nee Soon in Hill 4 Division B, has been always enthralling to me as there are many stories one can tell from tomb cluster of Madam Wee Pek Hay (Mrs. Lim Nee Soon), Lim Chong Kuo, Lim Chong Pang and his wife, Lee Poh Neo. We know for a fact that Mr. Lim Nee Soon was not buried in Bukit Brown but in Nanking, China and that the tomb of his wife, Madam Wee Pek Hay is an empty tomb because she was lost at sea, one of the many victims of the tragic sinking of S.S. Kuala during the chaotic evacuation of  military and civilians in the last days before the fall of Singapore on 13 February 1942. 

She was however, not the only family member of Lim Nee Soon's family who was lost at sea on that day. I came across this advertisement in the The Argus and The Courier-Mail (both Australian newspapers) put up by Mr. Lim Chong Pang seeking news on the whereabouts of his mother; Mrs. Lim Nee Soon nee Wipekhay and his sister, Miss Lim Seok Geck.

Wi Pek Hay
(source: Roots.sg)

Family photograph of Lim Nee Soon and Wee Peck Hay in the 1930s (source: National Archives)

1945 advertisement in Australia

From oral records and research efforts by others, i now know that there were other family member's of Lim Nee Soon's family who also died.  Other than Wee Peck Hay, her daughter, Miss Lim Seok Geck went missing on that ill fated day. Miss Lim Seok Geck was the youngest daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Lim Nee Soon, and therefore sister to Lim Choong Pang. According to the Lim genealogy , Lim Seok Geck was born at No. 56/57 Robinson Road [subsequently renumbered as 112/114 Robinson road] on 22nd December 1921. She was only 21 years old when she died on the ill fated day. Another name from the blog which compiled the list of casualties of S.S. Kuala that caught my attention was Madam Chua Chit Nya (wife of Mr. Lim Chong Min and daughter of Mr. Chua Guan Chui ) and their 3 children. This means that her daughter-in-law and her grandchildren also died in the sinking of S.S Kuala.  From the article below we can see how Chua Chit Nya looks like where Miss Chua Chit Nya married Mr Lim Chong Min (Lim Chong Meng 林忠民), youngest son of Mr and Mrs Lim Nee Soon in September 19, 1931 at the Garden Club, Tanah Merah. The best man was Mr. Ong Swee Kee and bridesmaid was Miss Lim Soo Geck, sister of the bridegroom.

Lim Chong Min and Miss Chua Chit Nya
(source: NewspaperSG)

Empty tomb of Mrs Lim Nee Soon nee Wi Pek Hay (Wee Pek Hay)

On the tomb of Madam Wee Peck Hay, the name of the children engraved are sons; Lim Chong Kuo, Lim Chong Pang, Lim Chong Min, Lim Chong Hsien, daughters; Lim Chit Geck, Lim Kheng Geck, Lim Soo Geck, Lim Mui Geck, Lim Leck Geck, Lim Seok Geck.

Sinking of S.S. Kuala

From what i can gather from the various online sources compiled by researchers and heritage enthusiast, an estimated 650-700 people boarded the S.S Kuala. There was no passenger list but there were evacuation permits given to prominent Europeans and Asians to board S.S Kuala and S.S. Tien Kwang.(S.S. Tien Kwang suffered the same faith as well). From what was gathered, only an estimated 300  survived ( this includes those women and men who ended up as internees or POWs in Sumatra, Java and Singapore). This means that at least 150 people were killed as a result of the bombing and drowning at Pom Pong Island on 14th February 1942 and almost 200 lost their lives at sea when the rescue ship “SS. Tanjong Pinang”, which had earlier picked up some of the survivors from Pom Pong Island, was sunk by the Japanese on 17 February 1942.

S.S. Kuala

Among the survivors that were rescued from the sinking of S.S. Kuala was Lim Chong Pang and his story was well recorded on how he was among the few  survivors picked by fisherman, Tay Ah Soey and Tan Ah Ngoh among others. A comprehensive list of passengers that was meticulously compiled over the years on who are the survivors and in attempting to established who died can be retrieved online.

Heroes 

Tan Ah Ngoh, B.E.M. (British Empire Medal recipient in 1949) was decorated at Government House for his efforts in organising a rescue party of 4 fishing boats and his with his 6 friends, picking up over 40 people who were drifting out at sea, clinging to planks and floating baggage.

Tan Ah Ngoh (source: NewspaperSG)

Tay Ah Soey received the B.E.M. (British Empire Medal) in 20 December 1952 in a simple ceremony by the then Governor, J.F. Nicoll at Government House. Tay Ah Soey picked up 62 people in his sampan including Lim Chong Pang. Tay Ah Soey passed away at the age of 97 on August 2011.

Tay Ah Soey receiving the British Empire Medal (source: NewspaperSG)

Tay Ah Soey

[research on-going]

References 
Advertising. (1945, November 24).The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)  p 20
Advertising. (1945, December 26).The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 - 1954) p 6
Award for 1942 rescue hero. (1949, May 25). The Straits Times, page 7
22 get medals from Governor. (1952, December 21). The Straits Times, page 2
WWII hero dies at age 97. (2011, August 10). The Straits Times, page 10
Malayan Volunteers. (website)
https://rnzncomms.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/kuala-passenger-list-v-6-4-0-november-2014-word-97-to-2003-doc.pdf
http://www.malayanvolunteersgroup.org.uk/uploads/1/0/7/3/107387685/s.s._kuala_passenger_list.pdf
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/search-results/?CemeteryExact=true&Cemetery=S.S.%20KUALA&Size=100&Page=1

Mrs. Lim Nee Soon nee Wi Pek Hay and her eldest son Lim Chong Kuo

Wee Peck Hay is also spelt as Wi Pek Hay