Huang Yan Pei (1878-1965) was a renowned Chinese national educationist from the late Qing dynasty and to the People’s Republic. In 1919, he spent over a month in Burma when he visited several cities in Southeast Asia to study overseas Chinese education between January 25th and April 24th. He kept brief but concise accounts of his activities and impressions in his Diary, in volumes compiled later by the CASS (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) Institute of Modern History and published by the Beijing Chinese Press in 2008. On pages 42 to 52 he wrote about Burma, and referred to Grandfather as both Yeo Soo Seng and Yeo Teang Ann.
On Feb 23th, Huang was warmly welcomed on board the ship by Grandfather with the Chinese community from Rangoon. In the following days, he visited the Chinese Educational Syndicate, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Teong Hwa School and even the Sin Chip Moh to meet Grandfather, and held discussions with him about Chinese education. In Rangoon, Grandfather also took him to the Forest Museum, the High Court, and Palace of Lim Chin Tsong. There was also a visit to Grandfather’s villa in Kokhine. Huang noted in his diary that he saw “chickens, rabbits, ducks and hamsters” in the villa, a biscuits confectionery. In addition, he mentioned that the food at the dinner tasted “superb”.
During his visit, Huang witnessed the re-election of the executive board of the Chinese Educational Syndicate, where Grandfather was re-elected as President and Mr Zhang Yong Foo as Vice-President.
Huang had presented Grandfather with a couplet that commended him as a patriotic industrialist dedicated to Chinese education in the southern land.
On March 12th, Huang went to Mandalay for a week. Travelling with him were our 7th Great Uncle Cheow Hypyeow and our First Uncle Cheang Chew.
Concluding his visits to the Chinese schools including Teong Hwa, Huang drafted a proposal on a new Chinese school that was to be set up in Rangoon. The idea was presented to the Chinese Educational Syndicate on March 20th and instantly accepted. Later, his report, “Status of Chinese Education in Burma” was published on pages 81 to 97 in the Educational Bulletin, Vol 6, Issue 11 of 1919. In it, he described the status of the following vein. “Schools were run by different clan associations with language of instructions in different dialects, giving hindrance to the promotion of Mandarin. There was an overall lack of pupils in the higher classes and hence conducting more advanced subjects of learning was not economical.” He went ahead to propose to set up a new Teong Hwa school, with different campuses for boys and girls, to teach the advanced subjects for higher levels. The existing schools could continue running classes in lower levels, advancing pupils to the new Teong Hwa only after their completion. A high school could be started after this progressive integration.
Huang again commended in the report on Grandfather. “Mr Yeo devoted his time outside his portfolio of an industrialist to personally oversee the Chinese education. He was evidently concerned with the hiring of qualified teachers for the primary schools in every town.” This incisive observation indeed collaborated strongly with the recollection that Grandfather had spared no expense to attract good teachers to the Xiayang Primary school he founded in the hometown back in 1904.
Huang was born in the same year as Grandfather. Both were 41 when they met in 1919.