Dr. Charles Joseph Pemberton Paglar (former Bidadari Cemetery)

Mr. Charles Joseph Pemberton Paglar, / Dato C.J. Paglar (1st September 1894- 9 December 1954) was a prominent Eurasian gynaecologist, and President of Singapore Recreation Club from 1946 to 1954. He was a graduate of King Edward VII College of Medicine (1917); Progressive Party Member of Legislative Council for Changi (1951-1954); Justice of the Peace; Vice-President (1948) and later President of Boy Scouts Association, Singapore (1949-1951); Vice-President of Eurasian Association.

Born in Batu Gajah, Perak, he was the illegitimate son of an English planter from Wigan and a local Indian woman (that's where the family name Pemberton came from). C.J. Paglar was adopted from an orphanage convent in Penang by Mr. Alexander John Francis Paglar and his wife Mary Emaline, both Catholic Eurasians and childless (Mr. A.J.F. Paglar was a Malacca planter and miner, customs officer, Justice of Peace, magistrate). He received his education in St. Francis Institution, Malacca before heading to Singapore were he gain medical medical qualifications from King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1917 and became assistant house Surgeon in General Hospital. In 1920 he set up private practice which he held until he died. 

Dr. C.J. Paglar enjoyed close relationship with the Sultan of Johor (Major-General Sir Ibrahim ) as his personal medical advisor (a role he played even up to 1949) , hunting friends and also being the consultant and advisor in the setting up of the Johore Bahru General Hospital. For his contributions to the state. he was conferred the tile - Dato - Order of the Crown of Johore.

Dr. C.J. Paglar (source: National Archives)

On 7 December 1954,  Dato C.J.P Paglar had a stroke and was warded to the General Hospital. At his side was Dain Emily Paglar and his son, Eric. He passed away on 9 December 1954. Over 4,000 people paid their last respects to Dato C. J. Paglar on 13 Decemeber 1954 at Bidadari Cemetery as testament of the many good deeds he did and his impact on society. The cortege left his residence in 321 Joo Chiat place and reached St. Joseph's Church in Victoria Street. Rev. Father Theseira presided the service before heading to Bidadari. 

Family 

1st Wife: Marie Kathleen Shelly / Marie Kathleen Paglar

C.J. Paglar married Marie Kathleen Shelly (20 years old) in January 1919 at the Cathedral of Good Shepherd on Queen Street and from the union they had a daughter, Ethel Barbara who was born in December 1919. They eventually divorced in 1942. Trouble first began in 1929, when Mrs. Paglar told the courts her husband began to stay out late at night and not return home 2 or 3 times a week. However they manage to reconcile. In 1937 they adopted a girl called June. In 1939, marital troubles surface again and this time she hired a private detective by the name of Walter Neubronner (an undertaker and private detective). He gave witness that he saw Dr. Paglar on several occasion with a Chinese girl (dressed in Shanghai style dress) arriving late and leaving early in the morning. The decree nisi was made absolute 6 months later on the grounds of adultery by Chief Justice, Sir Percy McElwaine. 

Alice Shelly (matriach) with her 1 son and 6 daughters
Dr. C.C.J. Paglar is standing second from the right (source: NLB)

2nd Wife: Lim Geok Neo / Mani Lim Geok Neo

Mani Lim Geok Neo was a daughter of a rich Chinese family from Thailand. From this union, they had Eric (1929) and Renee Paglar (1930). It was Mani that financed Dr. C.J Paglar when he opened his first clinic at 32 Joo Chiat Road.  Their relationship eventually soured and Dr. C.J Paglar had a new woman in his life.  

3rd Wife : Baby Quek 

From their union, a son - Kenneth Paglar (1942) and Hana Paglar (9 August 1944). The closest information i can find so far is that Baby Quek is the daughter of Madam Loke Ah Lian. In her 1992 obituary i found that Baby Quek has her sister called Girlie Quek. Among the grandchildren listed are Kenneth Paglar and Hana Paglar. 

4th Wife: Emily Paglar / Datin Emily Paglar 

She was a nurse and described to be "Nurse Emily" who stuck with Dr. C.J. through thick and thin (probably describing his time in Outram Prison on trial for treason).

Daughter: Ethel Barbara P. Paglar / Barbara Kinna

Miss Ethel Barbara P. Paglar (daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Paglar of Johore) married Mr. Stanley Lee ( a Hong Kong swimmer who went to Berlin with Chinese Olympic in 1936) in Kowloon, Hong Kong in May 1940. The wedding took place at the Church of the Precious Blood, Shamshuipo. Miss Paglar while in Malaya was an assistant cubmistress in the Boy Scout movement. She is painter having studied art in Belgium. The bridegroom is an aeronautical ground engineer of Imperial Airways. 

At some point, she remarried and became Mrs. Barbara Kinna. 

Mrs. B. Kinna was a social worker for the Singapore Children's Society when her father passed away. From Singapore's Children Society report, i found out that Mrs. Barbara Kinna was their first social worker that was hired. 

Barbara Kinna and her step-brother Eric Paglar

Son: Eric Paglar / Eric Charles Pemberton Paglar (15 Feb 1929 - 12 October 2005)

A medical student when his father passed away. Eric Paglar followed his father's wishes presented more than half a dozen of books from his father's library to a representative from the Philippines. This are books include rare one on Philippines and about Dr. Rizal. Eric Paglar was instrumental in the biography book of his father and there are many oral interviews on him from the National Archives, Singapore. He went to have a successful career as the Director of Customs and passed away on 12 October 2005. 

Eric Paglar

Daughter: Renee Paglar / Renee Robertson (30 March 1930 -2016)

Renee Paglar was a medical student in New Zealand in 1954 when her father passed away. She became a physiotherapist and continued her practice in Dunedin, New Zealand until she passed away. Her husband is Arthur Robertson.

The “Daughters of Dai Toa” was series of featured interviews during the anniversary week of Singapore’s surrender where each day, The Syonan Shinbum reports on a young woman representing each major ethnic community in Singapore and Malaya, in short a propaganda piece extoling the virtues of their Japanese masters. The first “Daughter of Dai Toa” featured was Rene Paglar, the 14-year-old daughter of Dr. C.J. Paglar, a leader of the Eurasian community in Singapore. The article depicted her as a bright and civic-minded girl who spoke five languages and who, as a member of the Medical Auxiliary Services, helped her father as a nurse after her day’s studies. Her love for learning the Japanese language and her sense of selfless duty, the article exclaimed, meant that she was behaving in every way a “Nippon-Fujin” (i.e., a mature Japanese woman). Rene Paglar “looked a typical maiden of Dai Toa” in her “striking purple kimono, complete with a red obe and clogs.” 

Renee Paglar 

Paglar Maternity 

In 1920s, he set-up his private practice at 32 Joo Chiat (known as Joo Chiat  Clinic). It expanded to the one at Coleman and also Joo Chiat Place which eventually led to the establishment of the Paglar Maternity and Nursing Home (where the current Parkway East Hospital is). I got interesting insight that the establishment of this clinics was made possible from a loan from his wife Mani Lim who came from a rich Thai family. According this son, Eric Paglar, his father never repaid his wife ! 

In 1926, he furthered his studies in Edinburgh for the Triple Q (triple qualifications conferred by the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow) and graduated with the Triple Q in August 1927. 

Brushes with Death

Ong Boon Tat Pavilion collapse at Pular Damar Laut 

Dr. C.J. Paglar was good friends with Ong Boon Tat. Both had parcel of lands at Pulau Damar Laut. While driving to go to Pulau Damar Laut, his car had a puncture thus delaying them and arriving at the pavilion late. When they arrived at the Pulau Damar Laut, the pavilion had  already fallen crushing Ong Boon Tat and Low Kim Swee. If the tyre incident didn't happened, the pavilion would have crushed also Dr. C.J. Paglar and his son Eric Paglar.  

Ambushed by the MPAJA

It was the difficult times when the settlers of the Bahau Settlement in Negeri Seremban were dying from malaria. Dr. C.J Paglar drove regularly between Singapore to Bahau to deliver medicine and treat those who fell ill. It was one of these trips, he was ambushed by the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA). Accusing Paglar of being a Japanese collaborator. they were about to kill him but fortunately a senior officer of the MPAJA stopped them. Despite this incident he continued his work but deaths due to malaria continued to increase. Between December 1943 - April 1944 about 2000 Eurasians went to Bahau. 500 failed to make it back after the war. This incident reminded me a bit of the story of Tan Ean Teck who was also ambushed by the MPAJA but was killed. 

Treason Trial and other controversies 

Treason Trial 

When the British returned, many notable leaders were detained by the British Military Authority (BMA) as suspected collaborators. If you can remember, Lim Chong Pang were among those put into Changi Prison. C. J. Paglar was no different as he was a respected medical practitioner who, for the lack of any other candidate had acted as a figurehead leader of the Syonan Eurasian Welfare Association, passing intelligence reports to the Japanese masters, recruiting Eurasians into the military and auxiliary forces as well as labour service corps, made a number of broadcast messages and finally was the Eurasian leader tasked to send many Eurasians and others to Bahau Settlement (where many perished due to malaria). 

Mamoru Shinozaki, the well known Japanese civilian administrator (who post war testified for many of the local leader actions) gave evidence that during the war he had taken upon himself to see through the protection of vulnerable local community groups, such as the Eurasians and the Straits Chinese. Shinozaki argued that Paglar acted upon the occupiers instructions, and under the compulsion of protecting his community. The Japanese regime, he said, was ‘like a stepfather after the real father, the British, left their children behind. The stepfather was brutal… Now, alas, the real father has returned and is blaming these leaders for obeying their stepfather.’ 

However, C.J. Paglar was still charged and tried before the Superior Court for having aided and adhered to the king's enemies under the Treason Act 1351. It was later amended to abetting the waging of war against the king under section 121 of the Straits Settlement Penal Code. The prosecution withdrew its case before the trial began and thus the trial was adjourned sine die. 

Weakness to women and drinks 

According to his good friend, Ronald Benjamin Milne, "Dr Paglar lived very well. He liked company and a good party and was a jovial sort of person. But women were his weakness. He liked his women and he liked his drink though he was never ever drunk. 

Road rage incident 

In 1939 while driving to see a patient along Grove Road (now Mountbatten Road) he got into fight with a European driver. Dr. C.J Paglar said he knock him out in self defence. Charged in the courts, he was fined $25. 

Dr Paglar: Everyman's hero 

This book shares the life of Dr. Paglar and was published in 2010. I manage to get hold of it and a lot of the work is based on the oral interview of Eric Paglar (his son) by the National Archives of Singapore. This book greatly supplemented my understanding of his early life and family story and finally despite it all, why he was loved by the community he served. 

President S.R. Nathan even wrote the foreword of the book extolling his many contributions as doctor and as an elected member of the Legislative Council. There is also a personal account of how Dr. C.J Paglar help S.R. Nathan's widowed mother and made house calls whenever his sisters and him were ill and treated them gratis. He went on the recount that when he was 9 years old the Dr. made a house visit in the middle of the night even when it was not needed and again at no charge. 

Charles Paglar public and private life was not without controversy, but many remember him for his generous spirit and championship of worthy causes. The best evidence of this when many turn up during his cortege procession - people of all races and the poor as well as the well-to-do. 

Headstone of Dato. Dr. Charles Joseph Pemberton Paglar 

Fortunately the headstone was one of the few salvaged after Bidadari made way for development. Dr. C.J. Paglar headstone can be found at the Bidadari Heritage Park

To the dear memory of 

Dato Dr. Charles Joseph Pemberton Paglar

Beloved Husband of Emily 

1st September 1894- 9 December 1954

His Daily Prayer Far Better Understood

In acts than words, was simply doing good

His life was an inspiration, his memory a benediction

Base marble platform were additional words

O Come to the throne of Grace

O come to the Heart most Pure 

The headstone of Dr. Charles Joseph Pemberton Paglar (Bidadari Heritage Park)

Variant Names

Dr. Charles Joseph Pemberton Paglar also refers to:

Dr. Charles Joseph Paglar

Charles Paglar

Dr. C.J. Paglar

Dato. C.J. Paglar

Dato. C.J.P. Paglar 

[research on-going]

References 

Oral Interview: Paglar, Eric Charles Pemberton. (Reel Disc 1). National Archives Singapore. 

Mrs. E.M. Paglar at the age of 71. (1938, October 23). The Straits Times, page 1

Johore Girl Wed in Hong Kong. (1940, May 17), page 2 

Decree Nisi granted to Doctor's Wife. (1940, October 17). The Straits Times, page 11

Decree Nisi made Absolute. (1941, May 3). The Singapore Free Press, page 7

I Feel I am a Nippon-Fujin Says Miss Paglar. (1944, February 11). Syonan Shimbin, page 2

Paglar Case Adjourned Sine Die. (1946, March 18). The Straits Chronicle, page 2

Tributes to Dato Paglar pouring in. (1954, December 10). The Straits Times, page 9

https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/image-detail?cmsuuid=da227205-3c60-4803-be76-84163b4ae944

https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/15621

https://journals.openedition.org/archipel/2620?lang=en

Bidadari Christian Cemetery. Rojak Librarian