The Penang Po Leung Kuk was founded in 1889 by Foo Tye Sin, Koh Seang Tat, Khaw Sim Bee, Ong Boon Teik and Ong Beng Teik.
[1] The organization was based on the Po Leung Kuk in Hong Kong, which was founded in 1878.
The Po Leung Kuk homes in Singapore, Malacca and Penang were controlled by committees of Chinese gentlemen, and financed by endowment funds raised from public subscriptions.
[3] Rosalind Hoalim, wife of Lim Cheng Ean and a well-known figure in colonial Penang, was sympathetic to the plight of unfortunate servant girls and helped various escapees from cruel households re-establish themselves at the Penang Po Leung Kuk.
[4] Later, her daughter, Datuk Lim Phaik Gan better known as P. G. Lim, led the Penang Po Leung Kuk in the 1920s and 1930s, helping to train and rehabilitate Chinese prostitutes.