Teo Soon Kim

Teo Soon Kim (b. 23 June 1904, Singapore–d. 23 April 1978), also known as Teow Soon Kim and later Lo-Teo Soon Kim, was the first local woman admitted to the bar of the Straits Settlements¹ and the first woman barrister in Hong Kong when she was admitted to the Hong Kong bar on 8 August 1932.² She studied in London and was the second Malayan Chinese woman to qualify as a barrister in England, but only practised in Singapore between 1929 and 1932.³

Early life
Teo was the daughter of the Teochew rubber baron, Teo Eng Hock, and his second wife, Tan Sock Gee.⁴ Her family was prosperous and lived in various homes on Read Street, Prinsep Street, North Bridge Road and in Woodlands where her father had a rubber plantation. She studied at the Methodist Girls’ School even though women’s education was not a high priority for Chinese families at the time, because her father wanted all his children to have the best education possible. He believed that education, unlike wealth, could not be lost. It was unusual then for girls to complete their Senior Cambridge examination, and teaching was one of their few career options.⁵

Major accomplishments
Studying in England
With her father’s financial support, Teo travelled to England to study law. During her voyage, Teo was looked after by a couple introduced to her family by a missionary. She then converted to Christianity, despite her grandmother’s warning that she would end up as a “hungry ghost”.⁶ Once in England, she enrolled at the University of London and lived in Finchley.⁷

In May 1924, Teo was admitted to Inner Temple in London and studied under H. H. L. Bellot, former secretary of the International Law Association. She was called to the bar of England and Wales in June 1927.⁸ 

Making history in Singapore and Hong Kong
Upon Teo’s return home in late 1928 (as Lo-Teo Soon Kim) she applied to the bar and was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple, and to the Singapore Bar in 1929, thus becoming Singapore’s first female barrister.⁹ Teo’s father encouraged her to pursue a legal career, but after spending some time in a law firm she decided it was not an appealing vocation.¹⁰

Teo spent the next two years in China, then returned to practise in 1931.¹¹ In 1932 she went to the Supreme Court to argue her most significant case, defending a farmer charged with murder after killing his cousin in a fight.¹² In doing so, she became the first woman barrister to appear at the assizes.¹³ Her debut at the assizes drew an unusually large crowd to the public gallery, including many women and friends, who witnessed Teo succeed in securing her client’s acquittal.¹⁴

Later that year Teo won another case at the assizes involving a fatal motor accident, but soon thereafter moved to Hong Kong.¹⁵ In August 1932, she became the first woman admitted to the Hong Kong bar, making her a pioneer in two colonies. She was uncertain whether to remain there permanently, and details of her subsequent career are unknown.¹⁶

Teo died on 23 April 1978.¹⁷ In 2014, she was posthumously inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame by the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations.¹⁸

Family
Siblings: Half-brother Teo Ping Keh (whose mother was deceased), and one younger sister Teo Moh Tet. She probably had other younger half-siblings, as her father had more than one wife.¹⁹
Husband: Lo Long Chi (Dr), whom she married in 1928.²⁰
First cousin once removed: Teo Cheng Guan (d. 10 May 2002), former chairman of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation.²¹
First cousin twice removed: Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean.²²



Author
Duncan Sutherland



References
1. Aedit Abdullah, “The Legal Profession,” in Essays in Singapore Legal History, ed. Kelvin Y. L. Tan (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic and Singapore Academy of Law, 2005), 202. (Call no. RSING 349.5957 ESS)
2. “Chinese Woman Barrister,” Straits Times, 16 August 1932, 18. (From NewspaperSG)
3. D. Malathi, “40 Law Society and Legal Firsts Facts,” Law Gazette, accessed 30 December 2016; “Chinese Woman Barrister.”  
4. “Teo Soon Kim,” Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, accessed 30 December 2016.  
5. Goh Heng Chong, oral history interview by Daniel Chew, 23 December 1992, transcript and MP3 audio, 30:29, Reel/Disc 1 of 2, National Archives of Singapore (accession no. 001392), 1–5, 11.
6. Goh Heng Chong, interview, 23 December Reel/Disc 1 of 2, 7, 10–11.
7. Teo Soon Kim, “Chinese and England,” Straits Times, 27 January 1925, 10 (From NewspaperSG)
8. “Chinese Woman Barrister.”
9. Malathi, “40 Law Society and Legal Firsts Facts.”
10. Goh Heng Chong, interview, 23 December Reel/Disc 1 of 2, 7.
11. “Social and Personal,” Straits Times, 27 June 1931, 10. (From NewspaperSG)
12. “Assizes Triumph for Mrs Lo,” Straits Times, 9 January 1932, 12, 16. (From NewspaperSG)
13. “Teo Soon Kim, the First Woman Barrister To Appear at the Singapore Assizes,” Straits Budget, 14 January 1932, 9. (From NewspaperSG)
14. “Woman Assigned for the Defence,” Straits Times, 8 January 1932, 14; “Assizes Triumph for Mrs Lo,” Straits Times, 9 January 1932, 12, 16. (From NewspaperSG)
15. “Negligence That Was Not Criminal,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942),6 May 1932, 8 (From NewspaperSG); Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, “Teo Soon Kim.”  
16. “Chinese Woman Barrister,” Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, “Teo Soon Kim.”
17. “Teo Soon Kim,” Rojak Librarian, accessed 5 January 2017.  
18. Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, “Teo Soon Kim.”
19. Goh Heng Chong, interview, 23 December Reel/Disc 1 of 2, 2, 4.
20. “The Wedding of Singapore’s First Lady Lawyer,” Malayan Saturday Post, 22 December 1928, 15. (From NewspaperSG)
21. Goh Heng Chong, interview, 23 December Reel/Disc 1 of 2, 8; “Obituaries,” Straits Times, 12 May 2002, 30; “Former OCBC Bank Chairman Dies,” Straits Times, 11 May 2002, 2. (From NewspaperSG)
22. Leo Suryadinata, ed., Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012), 1157. (Call no. RSING 959.004951 SOU)

The information in this article is valid as at 2015 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.