Sye Leong was born and raised in a village called Daan Quai (or Xiqiao County (Covers Xiqiao town and Danzao town in modern maps) near Canton. He donated a lot of money to the village. The Ching Dynasty had great problems in security in the coastal areas in Kwangtung & Fookien provinces. The government asked citizens to vacate. Grandfather fled with his mother in a big Chinese junk when he was about 15 years old. After he became successful, he set up name patterns for his descendents. His sons first name will be Seck & daughters Choy. As for his grandchildren, the boys first name is Wai & girls second name Ching. This would become easier for outsiders to identify the generations. (This is an old Chinese tradition). The records could be found on a plaque in a temple. Grandfather died in April 1927. He was 73.
He started a small medicine shop in Chinatown, Singapore before investing in a rubber plantation and diversifying his investments into property.
Choon Yin was born in Hubei and fled the Nian Rebellion to Southern China. Together with his husband they donated to the Fukien/Kawngtund and Malayan Floor relief and she continued to involve herself in charitable causes such as the Honon-Shenshi-Kansu Famine.
This website is dedicated to the Sye Leong Phoon family.
When the “Phoon” brothers first arrived in Singapore they noticed that there were some Chinese in Australia with the surname spelt “Poon” so not to cause confusion they collectively agreed to add a “h” to their English surname “Phoon”.
For more inquiries contact – Email: info@phoon.family