The stories of these great women have been captured by local author Daryl Yeap in her latest book, “As Equals: The Oei Women of Java”.
This non-fiction work is Yeap’s second, her first being “The King’s Chinese”, published in 2019.
Yeap’s interest in Malaysian history is personal as she hails from a prestigious family instrumental in the development of Penang.
After all, her great-grandfather was Yeap Chor Ee, “The Grand Old Man of Penang” who rose from poverty to become one of the state’s richest.
For context, he single-handedly established an independent bank, and later funded Universiti Malaya in its early days.
While “The King’s Chinese” focuses on her great-grandfather’s exploits, “As Equals” tells the tale of the women from the Oei family, who married into the Yeap household.
The Oeis were a Chinese Indonesian family based in Java, with their patriarch, Oei Tiong Ham, a sugar mogul.
That said, the Oei women were interesting individuals in their own right, which is why Yeap decided to tell their stories.
“I didn’t plan to be a writer,” she told FMT Lifestyle. “I was just doing research about the family and one thing led to another.”
Before the Yeaps and Oeis became in-laws, their patriarchs were business partners. “When (Tiong Ham) was producing sugar, he was selling to people like my great-grandfather,” said Yeap.
Two of Oei’s daughters were betrothed to Chor Ee’s sons, Yeap’s grandfather and granduncle respectively.
Yeap said that many books on Malayan history tell the story of great Malayan men, but not so much the women.
She attributed this to the practice of coverture, a British legal doctrine which gives away a woman’s rights to her husband.
“That’s why it is very difficult to find information on individual women. They are always known as Mrs So-and-So, but never by their individual name.”
The lack of information was exactly what drove Yeap to dig deeper, starting her research on her Oei relatives in 2018.
Interviews and archival searches reaped much valuable information for Yeap. She even travelled to Bangkok to meet Tiong Ham’s last surviving daughter, then in her nineties.
Of the three Oei women discussed in “As Equals”, Oei Hui-Lan can be described as the main character, with her many lifelong achievements.
“She became the most celebrated Chinese woman of her era,” said Yeap, adding that she was wedded to Wellington Koo, a famous Chinese statesman.
“His career very much depended on his wife. Of course, nobody acknowledged that because everything was so male-dominated.”
Yeap said Hui-Lan was Tiong Ham’s favourite daughter, to the point he provided a British governess for her European-style education.
“As Equals” tells of Hui-Lan’s many talents, including her multilingualism. She even performed a French opera in Singapore before a British audience.
“You must remember that women of the time were uneducated. Many Chinese women especially,” said Yeap, emphasising how important this feat was.
Whilst living in London, Hui-Lan skilfully manoeuvred her way through European society, regardless of anti-Asian bias.
Hui-Lan later met and married Wellington Koo there, proving a boon to his diplomatic efforts in her own way.
“She knew how to behave and more importantly, she had money. At the time, if you were in the diplomatic service, you had to fund it yourself.”
Thus, Hui-Lan’s familial wealth was instrumental in furthering recognition of the young Republic of China, while ensuring a comfortable lifestyle for her family.
“Without her, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve what he did,” said Yeap.
“It is not easy to see these women’s struggles until you put things into context,” she said, admitting her admiration for them.
While “As Equals” is targeted at women, Yeap believes any history lover will enjoy the book and its contents.
“I think it is written from a different perspective. History is normally told from a man’s eyes. This one? It is told from a female perspective, a Chinese female perspective at that.”
‘As Equals’ can be purchased at major bookstores and at www.darylyeapbooks.com.