Neo Ao Tiew

Neo was born in Nan'an, Fujian, Qing Dynasty in 1884.[2] In 1914, Neo, then a young colonel in the Chinese Army, immigrated to Singapore.[3] He built his home in the forests of Singapore and away from the main city.[3] This house, which later became a travellers' inn, was the centre of Thong Hoe village, a village that Neo built up.[3]

Neo Ao Tiew, together with British and Arabic investors, constructed roads, houses and a seaport in the Lim Chu Kang area.[2] He also raised funds and built Lim Chu Kang Road, which was completed in 1929.[2] With these developments, the population of Lim Chu Kang grew to 10,000 people.[2]

Neo played the roles of judge, sheriff and mayor of the village he founded in Lim Chu Kang.[3] As a sheriff, he ran his own vigilante police force that meted out justice in the village.[3] Neo's police force used heavy-handed methods to police the population; for example, they paraded thieves from house to house to publicly shame them.[4] As a result of his policing, the village recorded no crime despite having a relatively large population of 10,000 people.[3]

In 1938, Neo founded Kay Hua School (the predecessor of the current-day Qihua Primary School) to cater to residents living in Ama Keng Village.[5] It subsequently expanded to include 2 branch schools to serve more residents in the area.[5] In 1980, Qihua Primary School shifted out of the Lim Chu Kang area to its current location in Woodlands.[5] To further improve villagers' welfare, Neo also set up a maternity hospital with only one resident midwife.[4] He was also known to personally send expectant mothers to the Kandang Kerbau Hospital.[4]

During World War II, Neo actively raised funds from the Chinese community to support the anti-Japanese war effort.[2] He also encouraged Chinese youths to join the British army in defending the Lim Chu Kang-Kranji port defence line from the invading Japanese army.[2] For his efforts in the war, he was appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.[2] After the Japanese successfully invaded Singapore, Neo fled to China to escape the Japanese's persecution.[3] His 45 relatives who remained behind were all killed by the Japanese conquerors.[3]

After the war, Neo returned to his former role of running the village.[3]

Neo died in 1975 at the age of 91 or 92.[4]

Neo Ao Tiew was awarded the S.C.H. medal by King George VI after World War II.[2] He was also awarded the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire medal by Queen Elizabeth in 1954.[2][1]

For his contributions in the development of the Lim Chu Kang area, the British colonial government named a 3.5 km stretch of road as Neo Tiew Road in his honour.[2]