The shophouses along this street were built by Ong Ewe Hai (王友海) in 1886. He was one of Sarawak’s Hokkien pioneers and also the first president of the Hokkien Kongsi (福建公司). He was also appointed the first Chinese Kapitan (community leader) of Sarawak. Ong Ewe Hai came to Sarawak from Singapore in 1864 and in the beginning, he was just a boat trader (水客) of goods. As time progressed he ventured into local products trade and also import and export trade. In 1884, he managed to obtain the licence for the government’s Farm Tax System and from there acquired a lot of wealth. The descendants of Ong family include Ong Tiang Swee 王长水, Ong Kwan Hin 王观兴, Ong Kee Hui 王其辉 and Ong Tiang Swee’s son-in-law, Wee Kheng Chiang黄庆昌 who were all influential leaders in politics and trades.
友海街
街上的店屋在1886年由王友海斥资建造，他是砂拉越第一位福建大老，是福建公司（福建公会）的首任总理，也是砂拉越第一位华人甲必丹。1864年，王友海从新加坡来到砂拉越，初期只是带货的水客，后来慢慢发展成土产杂货与进出口贸易，并在1884年后标得政府的饷码执照，自此累积了巨大财富。王家后人包括王长水、王观兴、王其辉，以及王长水的女婿黄庆昌等，都曾经是政商界的风云人物。
