A lifelong Methodist and one of Singapore’s pioneers, Mr Cecil Wong, was called home to the Lord on September 11, 2024, at the age of 101.

Mr Wong leaves behind four children – David Wong, Rev Dr Norman Wong, Bishop of the Methodist Church in Singapore Dr Gordon Wong, and Elizabeth Wong. He also leaves behind 12 grandchildren, including their spouses, and 10 great grandchildren.

Mr Cecil Wong, who turned 100 in 2022, attended Kampong Kapor Methodist Church and Wesley Methodist Church. He was a student at Anglo-Chinese School (ACS), serving as a member of the ACS Board of Governors from 1955 to 1958, and was President of the ACS Old Boys’ Association from 1958 to 1960.

A chartered accountant and son of the late Mr Evan Wong, who in 1926 set up one of Singapore’s first accounting firms, Evan Wong & Company, the irrepressible Cecil Wong was still director of four companies and on the board of numerous others at the age of 90. He also read law and economics at Cambridge University, despite his tertiary education plans being disrupted in the 1940s because of World War II. 

Mr Wong in his home in 2010.

In 2022, the Methodist Message sat down with Mr Cecil Wong and Bishop Dr Gordon Wong to reminisce about the past and about family.

Here are some excerpts from that conversation.

Both avid golfers, Bishop Dr Gordon Wong and his dad, Mr Cecil Wong, shared many good times at the golf course.

Bishop Dr Gordon Wong (GW): So, Dad, when I was young, what did you want me to be when I grew up?

Cecil Wong (CW): When I was young, my parents gave myself and my sister free reign (to choose what we wanted to be). Of course, they guided us and encouraged us to go to church, and taught us what is right and wrong, (such as) not to tell a lie.

Cecil Wong with his mother in 1923.

The Wong family in 1959.

Bishop Dr Gordon Wong’s first Chinese New Year. His mother would pass away soon afterwards.

Mr Wong’s first winter in Cambridge (left). Reading letters from home (right).

In his office in the 1970s. After six years studying in Cambridge and working at an audit firm, Mr Wong returned to Singapore to helm Evan Wong & Company, one of Singapore’s first accounting firms set up by his father.

But apart from that, I was free to choose what profession I wanted to be. In those days, in Singapore, parents wanted their children to either become doctors or lawyers. Accountants would come lower down (in status), and I suppose even going into the Church would come even lower down.¹

At some point, I remember you saying that you looked up to Norman (Bishop Gordon’s brother, Rev Dr Norman Wong), and he was already in the Church. In the financial world, pastors are not as well-paid as doctors, lawyers and, of course, businessmen.

But as far as I was concerned, it was fine (for the two of you to go into the Church).

GW: Mum passed away when I was only a baby, so you pretty much had to raise us (on your own). Do you look back and wish you had done anything differently in the way you raised us?

CW: I am generally happy because I think all of you have turned out quite well. I am proud of you all, and I’ve got a Bishop!

I had a good start; my father was a chartered accountant. His company was (one of the) first Asian chartered accountants. He was on his own (in the beginning) and he built up quite a good practice, and so I had a good start. I tried to help all of you, where and when I could.

Mr Wong and his wife, Kismet, at their wedding on July 12, 1952.

Three generations of the Wong family at their home in Tanjong Rhu in 1959.

GW: Yes, you helped us a lot! Do you have any favourite memories about our times together?

CW: We’ve had a lot of good fun together. In terms of sports, we play together, and we enjoy that. And we have parties together. During Lunar New Year, you (and your family) come around early to our place.

GW: And also on the eve – we come for the reunion dinner. Last year, because of COVID-19, we had to do it in groups.

Do you remember there was a time when I got quite angry with you?

CW: We used to call you chilli padi! Chilli is the hot stuff, and chilli padi is supposed to be even hotter.

GW: I must have got angry quite often! I don’t know what led you to call me chilli padi, but I remember quite clearly once when I was probably throwing a tantrum.

I must have said something along the lines of how it would be so much nicer living with Uncle Thiam Siew². And you replied: “Well, if you’d like to live with him, you go ahead and ask him!”

Obviously, I didn’t want that, and I just wanted to say I’m sorry, because it was a very hurtful thing for a child to say to a parent.

CW: I don’t even remember that at all!

GW: Do you think I’ve raised my children in a way that’s different from or similar to the way you’ve raised me? I suspect I might have raised Deborah and Jeremy³ in very much the way that I feel you have raised me.

CW: I agree with that in the sense that you’ve given them a free hand to do what they want.

GW: I think so as well. You supported us, gave us the free hand to explore, to make mistakes. You were a very patient, kind, not demanding, sort of father.

With his four children in 1966.

More extracts from the conversation, including on Rev Dr Norman Wong.

CW: Norman was a big baby – 9 pounds 10 ounces (4.4kg). He was a very good baby. We called him a gentle giant. There was a baby contest in Cairnhill, and we entered him in it.

Before it started, he was acting very good. But at the contest, when the judge picked him up, he started to make a row, and he couldn’t be stopped! So he didn’t win a prize.

CW: When Norman was at ACS, he was in the finals of the inter-school hockey team and they won. The finals were played on the Padang, on the ground of the SRC (Singapore Recreation Club), and Minister Eddie Barker was there. He and I used to play as full-backs in the same Singapore national hockey team.

When Norman joined the Church, he gave up playing hockey. One day I saw Barker and he asked: “What happened to your son?” He was looking for Norman to maybe play (hockey) for Singapore.

On Dr Chen Su Lan, the founder of Chen Su Lan Methodist Children’s Home.

CW: I had quite a few friends who were in (ACS with me) right through (from primary one to primary six).

I think of Dr Chen Chi-Nan⁴ — he was son of Dr Chen Su Lan, who was one of the first medical graduates in Singapore. He was a Christian of what I call the “stern Christian type”.

He ran an opium clinic in Kampong Java Road. In those days, we had rickshaw pullers, and they had quite a hard life. Some of them took to opium as relief. And of course, if you imbibe too much, you become an addict. That was where Dr Chen Su Lan helped, by running this opium clinic. An act of kindness is never forgotten

CW: We were staying at River Valley Road, and my father took me in a rickshaw to Coleman Street.⁵. On my first day in school, I was dressed appropriately [in the school uniform of white shirt and blue shorts], but I didn’t have a pencil or eraser.

I sat next to a boy named Cherry Quah. Cherry had two or three pencils and two erasers, and he immediately offered me a pencil and eraser. I didn’t even have to ask. And I will always remember that … and I’ve always remembered him as a good friend. He was a good badminton player, and represented his house in the house competition.

Years later, when he passed away, I saw his obituary and that he had taken on a Christian name … so I was very happy for that.

GW: Yes, I remember that. And what struck me when you first told me this story about Cherry was that his little act of kindness stayed in your mind for more than 90 years. And that is what God wants us to do – to always look for opportunities to show kindness to people.

Did you enjoy this conversation, Dad? It’s always nice to hear you tell stories, about different parts of your life and the different people that you’ve met.

Golf with his sons (from left) Norman, David and Gordon. A sportsman who played competitive cricket and hockey in his youth, Mr Wong considered sporting activities as important as studies, as he mentioned in an oral recording with the National Archives of Singapore.

Notes: 
1. Cecil Wong’s father, Evan Wong, was one of the first qualified accountants in Singapore. He founded Evan Wong & Co, one of the first Asian chartered accountant companies.

2. Bishop Dr Wong was referring to Cheong Thiam Siew, who helmed real estate firm Knight Frank for almost 60 years. Cecil Wong and Cheong Thiam Siew were close friends.

3. Bishop Dr Wong is married to Lai Foon, and they have two children, Deborah and Jeremy.

4. Dr Chen Chi-Nan, a member of Wesley Methodist Church, passed away in Vancouver in September 2020.

5. ACS used to be located at Coleman Street, before they moved to Barker Road in September 1950.

This interview was first published in the Methodist Message and is republished with permission.

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