Chung Guat Nya (Mrs. Lam Teng Kam), death October 1922, Batu Gajah

A telegram from our Ipoh correspondent says that the sad death of a Chinese lady, Mrs Lam Teng Kam, daughter of the Kapitan China, took place at the Tronoh Cinema, on Sunday. She was near a Kitson light when the flames suddenly caught her clothes. She ran out in the general stampede carrying her baby in her arms. The latter was saved but the woman was taken to Batu Gajah hospital badly burnt, and died soon after. The funeral took place yesterday. The Straits Times, 25 October 1922, Page 10

LOCAL WIRES | TRAVELLING CINEMA FATALITY | (From Our Own Correspondent) Ipoh Oct 25: A distressing incident occurred at a travelling cinema at Tronoh, resulting in the death of a Chinese lady, the wife of Lam Teng Kam and the daughter of the Kapitan China, Chung Thye Phin. It appears that while she was viewing the show, with an infant in her arms, her kebaya became saturated with oil dripping from a Kitson lamp, and caught fire. She created a panic and the audience stampeded. By the time the jaga had plucked the child away, the woman was badly burned, and she died in Batu Gajah hospital the next day. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884-1942), 26 October 1922, Page 6

A Tronoh Tragedy: The funeral took place ast the Cantonese Cemerery to-day, says the Times of Malaya of Tuesday, of Mrs Lam Teng Kam, the daughter of Kapitan Chung Thye Phin. The deceased lady, who was only 25 years of age, met her end under sad circumstances. She was attending a travelling cinema show at Tronoh with her husband and children a few nights back, when her clothes caught fire from one of the Kitson lights, it is alleged. Exactly how the accident happened is not very clear but it would appear that the deceased's kabaya was saturated with oil from the light and that her clothes were soon in flames. There was apparently the stampede that usually accompanies an accident of this nature at a public show, and the suffering woman was badly scorched before the fire could be beaten off her clothes. She was taken to Batu Gajah Hospital immediately, but the injuries were of a serious nature and death soon followed. At the time of the accident Mrs Lam Teng Kam had her last child in her arms and, in the excitement and confusion, held her child away from her as she ran about in the agony of the flames that were consuming her clothes. Fortunately a Sikh jaga held out his arms for the child and she handed the infant over before it could be hurt by the flames. - The Straits Times, 28 October 1922, Page 10.