The name of Eu Tong Sen is well known in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Yet to date, there has been little of substance written about the man; much
of what there is, has drawn from a deep well of unsubstantiated folklore.
Ilsa Sharp's account of Eu Tong Sen's life, based on voluminous research by
academic Maria Yang Tse-oy, has theatre aplenty, from mystic feng shui
mountains and murder by poison, through dare-devil jungle trekking to
fending off revolutionaries, taking on the opium establishment, playing
political games with colonial masters, consorting with opera stars,
racehorses, flashy cars and women (11 wives), building stately palaces and
castles, and above all, the amassing of enormous personal wealth, a
respectable part of which went to family, friends and needy causes, from
schools to hospitals. Yet, this is no ordinary tale of a towkay who just
struck it rich. Eu Tong Sen stands tall as a man of his age, and also ours,
signalling a future 'Renaissance Chinese' character that would combine the
best of many worlds and so produce something quite new In this, Eu Tong Sen
was a man well before his time. His life was not a footnote to the period
of history he lived in; it was an integral part of the main narrative of
the lives of the people who called themselves hua qiao, the Overseas
Chinese. This first authoritative biography of Eu Tong Sen is therefore of
interest to both academics and those interested in the dramatic life of an
extraordinary man of his time.
Author: Ilsa Sharp
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: LANDMARK BOOK PTE LTD
Publication Date: 2008
