James Sing was born on Thursday Island on 6th June, 1898.
His father, George Sing, was a merchant who had emigrated to Australia in 1873 to find his fortunes on the Palmer River goldfields. George operated a general store in Palmerville, then Cooktown, and then finally moved to Thursday Island when the goldrush had petered out to establish a store and market garden.
James’ mother, Mary Ah Bow See, was the daughter of a rich Hong Kong merchant who was the main supplier to George Sing’s business in Australia. A deal was made and Mary was sent to Australia to marry George, a man that was seventeen years older than her. Mary quickly became pregnant and over a twenty-three year period produced fifteen children. James was George and Mary’s oldest son and their second child.
Being the oldest son, James did not go to school like his younger siblings as he was expected to work at the store. Chinese children were initially not allowed to attend the island’s public school, so the Sing children all went to the Catholic mission school. Because of this, all the Sing children became devout Catholics… all except James.
In 1922, George died of Spanish Flu. Because the pearl industry had started to decline and the family business began to struggle, James had to find a job to support the family. He got a job with a Japanese company selling pearls in China. Over the next four years his job took him to Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai and Taiwan. While in Taiwan, which was a Japanese colony at the time, he served as a spy for the British, collecting important intelligence. On his last trip to Taiwan, his bag was checked by Japanese police, and some maps were discovered. He was immediately thrown into prison and was scheduled to be executed, but his Japanese boss paid a bribe and he was released on the next ship out. In 1925, Mary sold the family business and the whole family moved to Tully, to stay with another Chinese family, the Kum Yuens, who were also from Thursday Island. The Sings lived and worked with the Kum Yuens at their general store until the Kum Yuens left Tully in 1927 and moved to Port Douglas. The Sing family moved to Innisfail, but James returned to open a general store of his own. He named it Tully Cash Stores, and it was established at a site that is now where today’s Tackle Village is situated.
In 1929, James married Ellen Gee Kee from South Johnstone, the eldest daughter of Tam Gee Kee, a merchant who his father George had known on the Palmer River goldfields. After they got married, James bought the old hospital at 35 Bryant St. and turned it into a home. Ellen’s sister Maud moved in with them and together the two sisters worked at Tully Cash Stores. James and Ellen’s marriage was to be very short lived, as Ellen developed stomach cancer and died in 1933. Maud remained at James house to work at the store and in 1936, the two were married. Because Maud was a strict Methodist, James also became one. Maud had three sons over the next few years… George “James” (1937-2018), Alfred John (1938-1938), and Robert Ray (1940-2013). Alfred died in a tragic accident when he was only a few days old when Maud tripped and dropped him.
Over the next few years, James expanded his businesses and established a timber mill, a soil transport company, and three cane farms (the biggest being the DiBella farm on Mission Beach Rd.) Many of the Innisfail Chinese, including several of his siblings were employed by these businesses.
James spent a lot of time volunteering as the president of the Tully Chinese War Relief Fund in the late thirties and early forties. He held many events to raise money to send back to China to help the Kuomintang fight the Japanese in the Sino-Japan War.
James was known for his generosity. During World War II, when money was short, he often gave credit to farmers to get them by, much to the chagrin of Maud. This ended up backfiring on him, as many of those people refused to repay him, and he was forced to sell Tully Cash Stores to the Taylor family to get out of debt. After selling the store, he focused on his farms, where his brother Billy and his eldest son James also worked.
A man of hobbies, James loved hunting and was a crack shot with the rifle. He could often be found down on the shores of Mission Beach shooting Torres Strait pigeons, or hunting ducks in the swamps of Tully Heads. He was also one of the first spearfishermen in Tully.
His other passion was dogs. James always had a couple of dogs and owned the first labrador in Far North Queensland. James was quite the dog whisperer, and was well know for training dogs to do amazing things. One of his labradors “Rio”, was famous for walking down the street by himself with a shopping basket containing a shopping list and money, to collect items from the store.
James’ weakness was sweets, and he loved boiled lollies. He was quite popular with the Sing and Gee Kee families, as a visit to Tully always resulted in being treated to a slice of cake or fresh homemade ice-cream. His massive sweet tooth ended up being his demise, as in his fifties he developed diabetes. Maud tried to control his diet, but James always managed to secretly send the dog down to buy some more sweets.
In 1965, his condition deteriorated and he died of kidney failure at the Tully hospital. Despite being Methodist, James’s final wish was to have his funeral at St. Clare’s Catholic church. He was buried at the Tully cemetery.
Despite growing up and living in Australia during a time of great discrimination towards Chinese, James Sing managed to succeed in life and become a well respected part of the Tully community. To his family, he will always be known as a kind and generous man who had a cheeky and humorous personality.
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