Draft:Tsao Ah Chee

Tsao Ah Chee (1782 – 1831?), also known as Tsao Ah Chih, Chow Ah Chey, Cao Yazhi, Chow Ah Chi or Cho Ah Chee was a Chinese carpenter who founded the Cho Kah Koon, the first Chinese clan association in Singapore. In a popular legend which first emerged in 1906, Tsao was aboard the Indiana with Sir Stamford Raffles, who sent him on a reconnaissance mission to Singapore before landing there himself. In the legend, Tsao painted the Union Jack on the island to signal that the island was clear. In 1969, historian Tan Yeok Seong found that while Tsao did exist, the flag painting story was false.