Chan Sow Lin was one of the modern founding fathers of Kuala Lumpur of Cantonese ancestry .

Chan was born into a poor family in the Panyu District (part of Guangzhou city now), Guangdong province of China in 1845.

Chan quickly proved himself useful, and was appointed to supervise the tin mines at Assam Kumbang, Taiping within a few months.

During his time in Taiping, he met Loke Yew, fellow Chinese migrant who later came to be the richest man in British Malaya.

In 1893, Chan leased two rich mine lands at Serdang and Sungei Besi from Loke Yew under his firm, Chop Tan Kee, and later the mining lands at Simpah, Sungei Puteh, Kuala Kubu, Setapak, Kepong and Petaling from the government.

[4] He employed technicians from Guang Zhou and Hong Kong to train local labor in the engineering works.

After visiting the Chinese-owned companies and tin mines, the commissioner had written a report to the viceroy praising Chan's role in promoting Chinese culture, knowledge and technology in his business in the Malay states.

He was awarded another medal by Wong, the Chinese ambassador to England (Malaya was under British rule at the time) for his philanthropic work.

[1] The British Malayan government named a road Jalan Chan Sow Lin, after him, to commemorate his contributions to the development of Kuala Lumpur.