Sng Eke Ewe (Bukit Brown)

Sng Eke Ewe was a Straits-born Chinese who worked as a clerk for Messrs. Boustead and Company. He was an hon. auditor for the Straits Chinese Amateur Dramatic and Musical Society.  On 25 August 1929, he was a passenger in a "mosquito" bus, and was seated in the front next the driver. The vehicle was proceeding towards Geylang when it skidded and overturned. He was admitted to hospital and was diagnose to have all his left ribs fractured and the 5th and 6th right ribs were also fractured. Sng Eke Ewe was bleeding from the mouth and was able to say that he had a pain the chest. He died at 5:35 pm the same day. Sng Eke Ew was 25 years old when he passed away. Post mortem examination list the cause of death has shock and hemorrhaged from fractured ribs.

A witness, an Indian Police Constable said that he was on duty near Mr. Tan Kah Kee's rubber factory when he saw a bus travelling very fast (faster than the usual bus speed) and it suddenly swerve to its left and the front wheels left the road and the bus overturned. It appeared as though the driver suddenly jammed on the brakes. After the accident, witness saw that the left front tyre was punctured and the passenger seated in front was badly injured (Sng Eke Ewe). The other passengers has only minor injuries. The driver, Lim Ah Fong, absconded after the accident and has not be found.  

Sng Eke Ewe 

Mosquito Bus

The Mosquito Bus is a small, seven-seater motor bus commonly seen on Singapore roads in the 1920s and 1930s. They were modified American cars and the most favored chassis was Ford’s Model T. The demand for this buses came from a time in the early 1920s where Singapore’s population was growing rapidly and larger number of people are living outside the city where public transport is lacking and hence this buses appeared to fill the gaps. 

 

Mosquito Bus (source: National Archives, Singapore)

Side profile of a Mosquito Bus at Lim Teck Whee's tomb in Bukit Brown
(photo courtesy of Lim Soon Hoe, great grandson of Lim Chan Siew, grandson of Lim Chin Chye )

Location of tomb 

Sng Eke Ewe tomb is located at Block 3 Division A, plot 1167. There are decorative tiles on its tomb shoulder and a list of children on his tomb (sorry i am able to decipher the names of his children). His tomb is close by to the tomb of Miss. Lee Kwee Neo. 

Sng Eke Ewe 

Reference 

Coroner's Inquiry into Bus Accident. (1929, August 30). Malaya Tribune, page 8