Entrepreneurship
In 1870, Yap packed his bags for Selangor where he began his hard work to help pioneer the tin mining industry. He made his fortune in tin-mining. It is said he had a workforce of 7,000 and soon owned more tin mines than any of his contemporaries.
As a businessman, he foresaw an increased demand for bricks in fast-growing Kuala Lumpur and established a kiln in a district which came to be called Brickfields, a name by which it is still known today.
Yap was elected the fifth Kapitan in 1890 and was also appointed a member of the State Legislative Assembly of Selangor.
He ran his own small police force that helped him manage his many business interests. Yap was also the first Chinese to serve on the Kuala Lumpur Sanitary Board.
During the Pahang War in 1892 and the Boer War, Yap assisted the British by providing transportation, supplies and funds.
Yap also helped introduced the Chinese system of mining in West Africa when he sent thirty of his miners to assist the governor Sir William Maxwell in establishing the mining industry.
Read more about this topic: Yap Kwan Seng