Cheah Cheang Lim (Chinese: 謝昌林; pinyin: Xiè Chānglín; Jyutping: Ze6 Coeng1 Lam4; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chiā Chhiong-lîm; 6 December 1875 – 15 November 1948) was born in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia.
Brought up by his father, Cheah Boon Hean, who was in the trading business, he grew up to become a businessman and miner.
He was introduced to the tin mining industries of the time by his uncle Foo Choo Choon, the 'Tin King',[1] who hired him as his attorney.
Cheah Cheang Lim was born to a Penang Hokkien family in Taiping and started out as a postal assistant on the Perak frontier.
At that time, British administrative branches occupied the area, together with the Perak Sikhs, the police force.
The family was invited to stay at Dr. Legge's residence until Cheah Boon Hean made new arrangements.
Later, he went to replace a brother officer in Port Weld and subsequently, to his friend Joo Sip San at Lahat, Perak.
He had planned to travel to China but was offered a job as the private secretary of Foo Choo Choon, his cousin, proprietor of the globally known Tronoh Mines.
By the time the International Opium Convention Treaty was registered with the League of Nations in 1922, Cheah became the President of the Anti-Opium Society.
Consequently, in October 1923, a joint Federated Malay States petition for the abolition of the opium trade was strengthened by 2,000 signatures.
[6] In 1927, he was exempted from the obligation of attending the monthly meetings, due to his increasing commitment to the Federated Malay States.
In 1924, Cheah was requested by Colonel Parr to instill the volunteering spirit of the Straits Chinese youth.
Ghim Leng was previously a sergeant in the Chinese Company of the Penang and Province Wellesley Volunteer Force, before taking over his father's business in Ipoh.
In the beginning of the year 1941, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire and became a member of the Perak State Council.
Upon reaching 60 years of age, he hired Francis Cooray, author and journalist of The Malay Mail to write his biography.