Reverend Dr. Huong Pau Seng’s was the third name on the marble tablet of the Pioneer Methodist Church, Sitiawan, unveiled on January 29, 1928 at the memorial service to the pioneers. Reverend W. E. Horley summed up the many glowing tributes paid at Reverend Huong's funeral when he said: “One soweth, another reapeth”. Reverend Huong died on September 7, 1927. He was laid to rest days later at the cemetery at Simpang Dua, about 1½ miles from the Pioneer Church.
It is shrouded with mystery as to why Reverend Huong was buried at Simpang Dua and not at the Pioneer Methodist Church burial ground. Some speculated that there was a minor misunderstanding between the Huong family and the church elders over the latter’s reservation and reluctance of the church to hold any funeral services before its dedication.
Nevertheless, the Foochow Christian community acquiesced to Reverend Huong’s wish, made known even before his unexpected demise, that his last journey to his resting place must begin from the Pioneer Methodist Church which he held so dear. They felt that it was appropriate that Reverend Huong was to be buried at the community cemetery at Simpang Dua. Reverend Huong’s funeral was the first big gathering ever in Kampung Koh. Over 1,000 people attended the funeral, with representation from almost every family in the community.
Born in Hui Ang, Amoy, on November 3, 1854, he made his way to Hockchiang, Fujian, at an early age, married a Hockchiang and spent the better part of his life there. He developed a very close relationship with the Hockchiang dialect group. He was educated in the Chinese scholastic system and attained a high rank in the literati. He was described as a man of great ability and experience and had been a presiding elder for many years in China. He was one of the delegates from the Foochow Conference in the China Methodist Conference in 1900.
In 1908, Reverend Huong attended the General Conference in Baltimore, USA. In late 1911, he was requested to come to Sitiawan and by March 1912, he had taken charge of the Chinese church in Kampung Koh. At the beginning of his stewardship, his Sunday congregation was over 100 and by the time he retired in 1917, the Chinese church had a congregation of over 1,000. Under his pastorate, the church had extended its function as a place of worship to an institution, meeting the social needs of the community, as noted by Dr. W. G. Shellabear in 1916. “At my last visit to Sitiawan I was told that it is now a regular thing for non-Christians to come to our Church to be married. What is more heartening is that there were over 1000 persons under immediate influence, practically all of them have given up their idols.”
This observation was endorsed two years later when it was reported that “…there is no heathen temple for miles around and practically no idolatry in the homes of the people”. Dessei Fay Silverthorn, wife of the resident missionary in Sitiawan, reported in December 1918 about the Christmas services:
In these two Chinese Christmas services there must have been eight hundred people in each meeting. It was a wonderful sight to see these men, women, boys, girls and MY, I have never seen so many babies at one time.
It was in no small measure due to what Reverend Huong had left behind. A man of towering personality, a Chinese scholar of high esteem, Reverend Huong was unmistakable with his Mandarin beard and a sage walking stick. He was a Chinese physician of reputable standing and after retirement from the Methodist Mission, he continued to serve the Chinese community with free medical treatment, operating from No. 70, Main Road, Kampung Koh.
He died at the age of 74. He was survived by his wife and seven children, three of whom were educated in the United States. His wife, from the Ho family, lived until a month short of her 91 birthday. She died on March 17, 1952. His characteristics of service in the church and the community were well reflected by his children and members of the Huong family (Huong in the Foochow dialect, Hong in Hokkien and Fang in Mandarin). His eldest son, Chau Yoong (C. Y. Fang) was a leading personality in the education fraternity and other welfare organisations. He was the founding president of the Chung Hua Kung Hui, Kampung Koh. When the war broke out, Chau Yoong was taken away with many favourite sons of Sitiawan (among them Gong Diong Chang, Ding Liong Di, Liong Hor and Wong Ming) on March 15, 1942 and was never heard of again.
The tradition to serve the Methodist Mission continued to challenge the members of the family of Reverend Huong Pau Seng. Among them, his grandson Reverend Fang Ming Tek (M. T. Fang), his nephew, Reverend C. E. Fang and not less than 15 others (for example, Reverend Hong Han Keng, Reverend Fang Chao Tze, and Reverend Hong Chong Si) were in the service of the churches in Malaysia, Singapore and China, including a bishop of the Methodist Church of Malaysia, Bishop Fang Chun Nan (C. N. Fang).
