 At that point, unexpected help arrived.Liau Chia-Heng (廖正興), a pepper merchant whom his father was friendly with at the Teochew Club, made a gift of $5,000 to help fund Koon-Teck's education abroad.Liau Chia-Heng (1870–1931), (also spelt as Liao Chia-Heng and Leow Chia Heng) was a founding member and a Chairman (1911–1912, 1914) of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, founding Shareholder-Director of the Chinese Commercial Bank, a founding Shareholder-Director of the Sze Hai Tong Banking and Insurance Co., Ltd., and the Teochew representative on the Chinese Advisory Board from 1921–1929.