At thirteen years of age he accompanied his father, Foo Yu Chio (Chinese: 胡玉池; pinyin: Hú Yùchí; 30 July 1860 - 27 Mar 1921), to Malaya where he studied at Penang and worked his uncle's mines in Perak.

[3][4] A 1908 profile reads: "Mr. Foo Choo Choon, proprietor of the Tronoh Mines, and a member of the Perak State Council has had a remarkable career.

Afterwards he entered the employment of an uncle who had extensive mining rights at Taiping, and a few years later commenced business on his own account.

Ill-health necessitated a visit to China, and on returning to the Federated Malay States he became connected to the Tronoh Mines owing to the owners abandoning their workings.

He visited and examined the place thoroughly, and subsequently obtained a sublease of the land, upon which he decided to install extensive modern plant.

On returning to China during a famine he built and supplied several public granaries, established schools in his native district, and directed that the revenue of his property there should be used in assisting the poorer scholars.

His generosity during the Shantung famine was the means in bringing him to the notice of the Chinese Government, and he received the honorary title of magistrate, with the additional privilege of wearing peacock feathers.

He is a member of the committee of King Edward VII School, Taiping, and is a patron in the Perak Anti-Opium Society.

Mr. Cheah Cheang Lim,[5] his cousin, is Mr. Foo Choo Choon's attorney, and since 1894, has managed his business affairs in the native states."

[13] Foo Choo Choon and partner Loke Yew defrayed the total cost of the Anglo Chinese School, Ipoh, in 1904.

I have never met a finer type of a Chinese gentleman than he and it was mainly due to his and Mr. Cheah Chiang Lim's exertions that a monster petition was presented to the Government asking for the suppression of licensed gambling houses.