Chan Kim Boon

Chan Kim Boon, (b. 1851, Penang d. Singapore?, 1920), is a Peranakan who gained fame from his Baba Malay translations of Chinese classics such as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Water Margin.

Early life

Chan was the son of a Penang trader, Chan Yong Chuan, whose business interests were mainly in Padang. Educated in English at the Free School in Penang, the younger Chan also received private tuition in Chinese. Thus Chan's early education gave him the foundation for him to master at least three languages, namely Malay, English and Chinese. His further studies were at the Foochow Naval School in China where his academic interests laid with military tactics. However, he had to forgo his ambitions of becoming an army officer because of poor health. Instead, Chan remained in the institution to tutor mathematics to military men, several of whom became great Chinese leaders. These included Admiral Sah, Admiral Yin, and Chi-chen Lo Feng-luh (who later became a Chinese diplomat in London). A fortune teller's prediction that Chan would not live to see his 25th birthday sent him packing to Penang in January 1872, presumably to say his goodbyes to his widowed mother. However, he was to outlive this prediction by 44 years.

Publications

He arrived in Singapore in March 1872, and built a career as an administrator at the legal company Aitken & Rodyk (later known as Aitken & Co and thereafter Donaldson & Burkinshaw). The book-keeper and cashier however became more known for his translations of Chinese classics into Baba Malay, which he diligently did after office hours. He thus displayed not only a gift for figures but also for languages as he published at least six of such Baba translations.

It was Chan's publication of Luo Guang Zhong's Samkok (1892 - 1896) [The Romance of the Three Kingdoms] which brought him fame, primarily because it was serialised over 30 volumes. The popular read was well-illustrated and included letters from readers in Chinese, English and Malay. The story also has the author's footnotes which give details of Chinese culture, notes on Romanised Malay terms and names, to which Chinese text was added for clarification. Jokes and even a portrait of the author are found in this serial. Some scholars have suggested that Chan had used a Hokkien text as his source document for the translation work. His work is likeliest the earliest Malay translation of this story as the Indonesian versions from Java only came about in 1910. Other researchers have also noted that Chan's published language is closer to proper Malay than to authentic Baba Malay. Chan also peppers his translations with English sayings and idioms, suggesting that his readers were probably more familiar with this language.
 
Other famed translations include his Baba Malay translations of Chinese classics such as Shi Nai An's Shui Hu Zhuan [The Water Margin] (1899 - 1902) and Kou Chey Thian pergi di negri Seh Thian C'hu Keng [Journey to the West] (1911 - 1913). Some of his earlier works such as Chrita dahulu-kala nama-nya Gnoh Bee Yean (Orang Lima bini) di jaman Beng Teow [Ancient story entitled Five beauties or five wives during the Ming Dynasty] (1891 - 1892) were written under the pen-name, Batu Gantong. Often, this has been mistaken as a reference to his birthplace but in actual fact, it refers to a cemetery in Penang. Some people have read this as an hint on his preference for his final resting place.

Announcements in Sam Kok of 15 December 1892 indicate that Chan had planned to translate 14 other titles. Only Song Kang and Chey Thian Hoey Sion later renamed Kou Chey Thian (1911 - 1912) are extant and it remains uncertain if Chan actually published the other 12 titles. 

These stories gained a measure of popularity toward the end of the 19^th century as seen in the many reader requests for the concluding books of Fan Tang yanyi [Story of the revolt against the Tang dynasty] (1889 - 1893). The first few translated books were begun by Tan Beng Teck but his departure to Japan prevented its completion. Cheah Ann Siang and Cheah Choo Yew appealed to Chan to complete the task and he kindly obliged with translations of books Four to Eight between 1892 and 1893. 

Chan was assisted by Tan Kheam Hock in several publications including Gnoh Bee Yean (1891) and in selected volumes of Hong Keow (1892). Meanwhile, Cheah Choo Yew also helped Chan to translate volumes Six and Eight of Hong Keow. Though Chan put his works through other publishers such as Kim Sek Chye Press, a large number were self-published. His eldest son, Chan Yen Pai, presumably continued his fathers work and helped republish the Sam Kok in 1932 (vol. 1-5)  with Fang Heng Printing Press, possibly Song Kang in 1934 with D. T. Lim and Kou Chey Thian (1933) (vol. 1 only).

Chan was also a member of the Celestial Reasoning Society and a Council member of the Chinese Philomathic Society (1897). Today, his home at 75 Lebuh Muntri in George Town has become a tourist destination because of the fame which he had gained through his Baba Malay translations.

Works