19
May
2021
|
15:03
Asia/Singapore

Proceeds from new book of family stories of Hochstadt Clan in Singapore to support deserving and needy NUS students

Almost exactly a year ago, NUS Press and NUS Libraries launched lives & times of hrh, a memoir of distinguished NUS alumni and benefactor, Mr Herman Ronald Hochstadt. Today, NUS Libraries and Talisman Publishing announced the release of the sequel to the memoir – The Clan … At Large: Singapore’s Hochstadt Clan – Tales from Around the Dining Table. Proceeds from the sales of the new book, like that of Mr Hochstadt’s original memoir, will go to the Hochstadt NUS Bursary Endowment Fund, which provides financial assistance to deserving and needy undergraduate students at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

This is a book about the extended Hochstadt family in Singapore, also known as The Clan. There is just one Hochstadt family in all of Singapore and Malaysia. Its progenitor, Mr Philip Peter Hochstadt settled in Singapore around 1881, after travelling from Bavaria to the East. First, he landed in India, got married, headed to Sarawak to become Inspector of Police, and then to Singapore, where he engaged in various businesses, including carriage building and rentals, and dairy farming.

Mr Philip Peter Hochstadt and his wife, Ms Elizabeth Haslam (whom he married in India) had seven, possibly even 10 children. The most well-known of their children was John Hochstadt, who founded the Singapore Casket Company in 1920, after a marine engineering career in the merchant navy. The stories of John’s family, his descendants and their spouses are featured in this book. The Hochstadt and Phillips families were joined through the marriage of John’s son, Mr Henry David Hochstadt to Ms Beryl Lucy Phillips in October 1929, and the clan grew significantly, with the many Phillips cousins who were also brought into the tight-knit family fold. Their stories, as well as other family stories and lore about the Clan and the places where they lived – especially, the Hochstadt House at 14 Parkstone Road and the Phillips’ Sennett House – are lovingly and vividly told in this volume.

Finally, this book is not just about the Hochstadt clan and their progeny, but offers an intimate look into the lives, customs and traditions of Singapore’s Eurasian community, of which the Clan have been prominent members for well over a century.

NUS benefactor’s commitment to education

Mr Herman Ronald Hochstadt graduated from the then University of Malaya in Singapore with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 1958. He rose through the civil service to serve as Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Communications, Education, Finance and Law. Since the 1990s, he has served Singapore as a diplomat, Chairman and member of government-linked and other corporate entities, and on national-level advisory councils.

The Hochstadt NUS Bursary Endowment Fund was established in 2018 through a donation of $750,000 by Mr Hochstadt, in aid of deserving and needy undergraduate students who enrol in any course of study at the University.

Besides the Hochstadt NUS Bursary Endowment Fund, he also set up the Hochstadt Scholarship in The Humanities in 2014. This Scholarship is awarded to outstanding students from the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, who major in Humanities subjects, including English Language, English Literature, Theatre Studies, History and Philosophy. In 2013, Mr Hochstadt set up the Peggy Wai Chee Leong-Hochstadt Fund, in memory of his late wife who was the first Chief Librarian of NUS, to develop and upgrade NUS Library services and facilities.

For his service and contributions to NUS and the community, Mr Hochstadt was honoured with the NUS Distinguished Arts and Social Sciences Alumni Award in 2015, and the Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2019.

The book is now available at all leading bookshops or from customersvc@apdsing.com at $48.00 (before GST).