Henghua

In 1911 there was another influx of Chinese Methodists, when a missionary called Brest brought a large party of Henghuas.

The Kotak Association, mentioned above, is an example. Its membership was overwhelmingly Henghua (96%).

Between Foochow and Amoy they speak Henghua.

Apparently, a Henghua immigrant named Yeow in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya, who had apprenticed himself to an agent for British cycles, learned the business thoroughly, left his employer, and established his own shop. Inevitably, his own (Henghua) employees hived off likewise so that within half a century the Henghua had established thousands of bicycle shops in Singapore, Malaya, and Indonesia. In Singapore, the Henghua were joined by Henghua-speaking Hokchia who later branched out into spare-parts, motorcycle, trishaw, and taxicab business.

Road development greatly motivated the Henghua people to expand their control of the transport business, with which no other dialect group was believed to be familiar.

Originally from Henan, the Henghua people migrated to Putian, part of the Fujian province after the civil war before coming to Malaysia.

"It seems Henghua people have all the while been very proud," Mr Lim said, noting that this pride might come from their long association with scholarly achievement.[...]"I think youngsters are getting interested in nostalgia, and heritage food," said Mr Ho, who remembers watching Henghua puppet shows outside the restaurant when it was still located in Sungei Road.