Rose Chan's philanthropy gained her the moniker the "Charity Queen".
24 Facts About Rose Chan
1.
2.
Rose Chan had no formal education, save for eight months of schooling at the age of 12.
3.
Rose Chan next worked at making mosquito nets, where she was better paid, with eight gantangs of rice, six katis of sugar, two bottles of oil, and one loaf of cornbread a month.
4.
In 1941, when Rose Chan was 16, her mother arranged for her to marry an elderly Chinese Singaporean harbour contractor to become his fourth wife, as her boyfriend could not afford the kind of dowry that was expected.
5.
Rose Chan sent her back to Kuala Lumpur and gave her SGD$600 a month, on the condition that her mother would get a servant to do the housework.
6.
Rose Chan stayed behind to become a cabaret dancer at the Happy World, her husband's favourite haunt, in order to spite him.
7.
In 1951, Chan opened her own show, The Rose Chan Revue, touring the whole of then-Malaya.
8.
Rose Chan was just as quick to earn the "Charity Queen" moniker.
9.
When Rose Chan comes on stage, she moves subtly, gently swaying in a slow dance, all by herself.
10.
Rose Chan takes an old man's spectacles, rubs it against her private parts, and then gives it back to him.
11.
Rose Chan brought her striptease act to Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Alor Star, always donating part of her proceeds to charity, benefiting children and old folks' homes, institutions for the blind, and tuberculosis patients, earning another moniker of "Charity XQueen".
12.
In 1954, Rose Chan upped the ante for revues by introducing circus stunts that included:.
13.
Rose Chan's stunts made her famous, and she took her act around the world, including Germany, France, Britain, Australia, and Indonesia.
14.
In July 1957, Rose Chan embraced Islam when she married Indonesian Mohamed Nazier Kahar, and in accordance with Muslim rites in Singapore, changed her name to Rosminah binti Abdullah.
15.
Rose Chan's marriage lasted three years, and bore no offspring.
16.
Rose Chan subsequently married a company manager Chong Yew Meng in 1962, and had a son, but the marriage again failed in 1965.
17.
Rose Chan would perform for two weeks in one town, and then move on to another.
18.
Rose Chan performed private shows where people who had the money could hire her to perform at their own place.
19.
In 1967, Rose Chan was banned from performing in Kuala Lumpur following a police raid at BB Park.
20.
Rose Chan's shows received many complaints and in 1973, the government revoked her performing licence.
21.
Notwithstanding, Rose Chan introduced her daughters Jennifer and Irene Rose Chan as two of her several proteges to the press in 1974 and kept performing until she officially announced her retirement in 1976, with her last striptease show taking place in Kuala Lumpur.
22.
Around 1980, Rose Chan was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she chose to spend her final days in Penang, after being told by her doctors that she had only 18 months to live.
23.
Rose Chan attributed the blood clots around her body to the python-coiling acts.
24.
Rose Chan was interred at the Beow Hong Lim Columbarium in Air Itam, Penang.