Yeo Family In Labuan

by Jennifer Yeo

Yeo Kok Hoe was one of the first Asiatic Inspectors appointed by the British in the Straits Settlements Police and in 1939 he was seconded to Labuan, off the northwest coast of Borneo. He was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese and could not be found after the war. In 2010 I set off for Labuan on a journey 65 years into the past to find out about this Grandfather I never knew and whom neither Grandma nor Papa would speak about. The night before I left, I said to my daughter, Melissa, "If I meet even one person who remembers Grandfather Yeo, it will be a miracle." My journey to Labuan generated more questions that took me to Grandfather Yeo's birth place, Penang and to the Imperial War Museum in London. This is the story that I pieced together of the Yeo Family Labuan and those who were drawn into their lives.