Bastianpillai Paul Nicholas

Bastianpillai Paul Nicholas or simply known as B.P. Nicholas was the founder of the Oriental Bank of Malaya and was the first Asian banker in the history of British colonial Malaya. He was also the only ethnic Ceylonese (Sri Lankan Tamil) ever to acquire a banking license in Malaya.

Background

B.P. Nicholas arrived in Malaya sometime in 1892 and received his early education in Singapore. He served in various Malayan states in a company called the Federal Engineering Company and had been appointed the accountant of the Penang branch.

After leaving the company, he set up one of the first companies providing financial services in partnership with his friend a Mr Kock, a contractor based in Ipoh, Perak. This financial business was in reality a money lending activity. The partnership was later dissolved and Nicholas started a business under the profile of B.P. Nicholas & Sons Bankers, with an office at Mountbatten Road, Kuala Lumpur.

The Bank of Malaya Limited was incorporated on December 31, 1936 and was capitalised at $180,000. The bank held its first meeting on January 9, 1937.

The main proportion of the business was limited to handling remittances by the members of the Ceylonese community working in Malaya, who gave the bank their firm and solid support. He later acquired the Bank of Jaffna in Sri Lanka in 1938. In its second year of operation, the Bank of Malaya actually reported a net profit of $16,085. In late 1938, the bank was advised by the government to change its name to the Oriental Bank of Malaya Limited. The crucial reason being the British banks were unhappy over the use of the name as it lifted up the profile of the real status of the bank and the original name helped attract business, not only from the Tamil community but also from some established local businessmen.

Nicholas was highly respected by both the British and Malayans of different races. This will explain why his name got mentioned in the illustrious compendium of the Who’s Who. For an Asian to be given a respectable 9 line mention during the Colonial reign reaffirmed even the British found him an admiral character.

Demise

B.P. Nicholas died on October 20, 1942, during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya.

Just an hour before he died, Nicholas called each of his family members individually to his bedside and gave them specific instructions on how he wanted the business to be run. His eldest son Edwin, who was a young maturing man in his thirties and had been a director since 1936, was appointed chairman.

In 1968 a Malaysian-born entrepreneur, Cho Jock Kim, approached the family and offered $1.60 a share to buy out the family’s controlling 52% share. In 1969, the vision of B. P. Nicholas who founded the one-time ‘Nicholas Bank’ as it was popularly known among older clients came to an end.

References

* [http://www.antonnicholas.org.uk/profiles/oriental.htm The story of the Oriental Bank]