Chow Ah Ming came to Singapore from Ipoh, Malaysia, in the 1950s and joined the Teachers’ Training College. At this time, he lived at the Kingsmead Hall student hostel for Malayan trainee teachers run by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Chow’s Christian faith was an important part of his life and he attended the Straits Chinese Methodist Church at Kampong Kapor Road, where his marriage with Soong Nyet Yun was also solemnised, as indicated in this marriage certificate. The Straits Chinese Methodist Church is the first Peranakan church in Singapore, having started in 1890 along Middle Road. It was then also known as the Malay Church or the Middle Road Church. As the congregation grew, the current building in Little India was built in 1930, and in 1957, in recognition of the diversity of its congregation, the church changed its name to the Kampong Kapor Methodist Church. It now conducts Peranakan, English, Mandarin and Tamil services.
