Tan Kah Kee

Tan Kah Kee (a.k.a. Chen Chia Keng) (b. 21 October 1874, Jimei, Tong'an, Quanzhou, Fujian - d. 12 August 1961, Beijing, China). Prominent Chinese pioneer and philanthropist, nicknamed "Rubber King". He contributed extensively in financing schools both in Singapore and in Xiamen.

Early Life
Tan's birthplace - Jimei (Chip Bee, Chi Mei) in Fujian was a few miles from Xiamen Island. Both counties were to receive extensive donations for educational institutions from Tan. He himself was schooled between the ages of 8 to 16 at his village school in Jimei, departing for Singapore immediately after his graduation.

Career
Tan made his way to Singapore as a penniless 17-year old to work at his father's sundry shop. It had been managed by an uncle but Tan took on its management when the uncle returned to China soon after Tan's arrival in Singapore. For the next 50 years, he was to multiply the fortunes and expand the business enterprise moving into pineapple canning, brickworks, shipping but principally rubber manufacturing and processing. Noted businessmen and later sons-in-law, Lee Kong Chian and Oon Khye Hong were his employees.

Timeline
1890 : Came to Singapore to work at his father's sundry shop, Chop Soon Ann (Shun'an) Rice Company.
1891 - 1892 & 1894 - 1898 : Takes over the management of Chop Soon Ann, including that of a sago factory and a pineapple factory.
1903 : Family embezzlement led to the decline of his father's business and the closure of Soon Ann.
1904 : Set up a pineapple cannery, Sin Lee Chuan (Xinlichuan) on a limited budget of $7,000 and bought over Jit Sin after his partner dies.
1905 : Purchased 500 acres of jungle land in Singapore, initially for pineapple plantations but in the next year, used for rubber planting, making the Hock Shan Plantation, as it was named, Tan's golden goose. From here, Tan launched into the rubber business.
1906 : From the profits of his pineapple cannery, he set up Khiam Aik (Qianyi) Rice Mills.
1917 : Khiam Aik was converted into a rubber mill.
1919 - 1925 : Founded Tan Kah Kee Co. in 1919 and business peaked during this period with his empire stretching to Thailand and beyond to China. In the 1920's, he was known as the "Henry Ford of Malaya".
1920 : With help from his brother, Tan Keng Hean, the company set up the Sumbawa Rubber Manufacturer, a manufacturing complex at Sumbawa Road, creating various rubber goods from toys to tyres.
1925 : Tan Kah Kee & Co. was valued at an estimated S$7.8 million and noted as a pioneer in industrial development in Southeast Asia.
1929 - 1931 : The impact of the Great Depression affected Tan's company. The bank required that the organisation convert to a limited company.
Feb 1934 : Tan Kah Kee Ltd wound up after conflicts between the board and Tan concerning the rubber business. Despite major losses, Tan continues to finance the various schools he had thus far supported.
1942 : Escaped to Java, Indonesia, during World War II.
1950 : Retired to Jimei.

Social Contributions
Along with his business ventures, Tan was also instrumental in contributing to various educational endeavours. In Singapore he helped set up schools like Ai Tong, Nan Chiau Girls', Chong Hock Girls' and Kong Hwa. In 1918, he founded the first Chinese secondary school in Singapore - the Nanyang Chinese High School, which was opened in March 1919. Originally located at Niven Road, it moved to to a bigger premise at Bukit Timah Road six years later. Furthermore, he donated large sums of money to two English-medium institutions - the Anglo-Chinese School and Raffles College. He was also co-founder with Tan Lark Sye in the start-up of the Nanyang University. He also developed key educational institutions in China, establishing the Amoy University in Fujian in 1921 as a private University and maintaining it for the next 16 years.

Tan was also a social activist during tumultuous times, aiding relief efforts such as the Fujian and Guangdong Flood Relief Fund and was closely associated with the Kuomintang and the Nationalist movement. During World War II, he helped recruit Chinese to assist the British. However, his support for the Chinese Communist Party led the British to deny him re-entry to Singapore after the war. He lived the rest of his life in the Fujian Province.

Schools in Singapore
1907 : Set up Tao Nan.
1912 : Set up Ai Tong.
1915 : Set up Chung Fook Girls' School.
1915 : Set up Chung Poon.
1918 : Set up Singapore Chinese High School.
1919 : Donated S$100,000 to the proposed Anglo-Chinese College but this monies were transferred as S$30,000 paid subscription to the physics and chemistry fund in the Anglo-Chinese School when plans for the former was aborted.
1929 : Donated S$10,000 to Raffles College which became University of Malaya.
1941 : Set up Nanyang Normal School.
1947 : Set up Nan Chiao Girls' High School.
1955 : Founded Nanyang University in Singapore.

Schools in China
1913 : Set up Jimei Primary School.
1918 : Set up Jimei Normal School and Secondary School.
1919 : Set up Jimei kindergarten.
1919 : Set up Xiamen University, the first Chinese to have founded a major modern university.
1920 : Set up Jimei Marine School and Commercial School.
1921 : Set up Amoy University.

Family
Father: Tan Kee Peck (b.1842? - d.1909).
Wife: Teo Po Ke (b.? - d. spring 1917).
Brother: Tan Keng Hian, younger brother. Helped Tan Kah Kee in both business and in contributing to school development.

In recognition of his contributions, he was given a state funeral by the Chinese government upon his death on 12 August 1961.

Quotes : "Wealth would impair the ambition of the wise and increase the follies of the foolish; our children can make their own fortunes, there is no need to be their slaves" (taken from Yong, C. F. (1987). A short biography of Tan Kah Kee (p. 12).  Singapore: The Management Committee of Tan Kah Kee Foundation. Call no.: SING 959.57020924 YCF)



Author
Bonny Tan



References
Biographies of prominent Chinese in Singapore (p. 1). [1950]. Singapore: Nan Kok Pub.
(Call no.: RRARE 920.05951 SIM) 

Chen. J. (1994) The memoirs of Tan Kah-Kee. Singapore: Singapore University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 338.04092 TAN) 

Pioneers of Singapore: A catalogue of oral history interviews (pp. 22-112). (1984). Singapore: Archives & Oral History Dept.
(Call no.: RSING 016.9595700992 SIN)

Yang, J. F. (1987). Chen jia geng xian sheng zhuan lèue (pp. 11-23) [A short biography of Tan Kah Kee]. Xin jia po: Chen jia kang ji jin li shi hui.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57020924 YCF)

Yong, C. F. (1987). Tan Kah-kee: The making of an overseas Chinese legend. Singapore: Oxford University Press.
(Call no.: RSING 338.040924 YON) 

8 years in school but a champion of education (1997, September 11), The Straits Times, Life: Life!, p. 2.

A rich legacy shared. (1986, November 2). The Sunday Times, pp. 1- 2.

Tan Kah Kee: A chinese patriot. (1987, December 22). The Straits Times.



Further Readings
The encyclopedia of the Chinese overseas (p. 207). (1998). Singapore: Archipelago Press.
(Call no.: RSING 304.80951 ENC) 

Hew, K. Y. (1995). Tan Kah-Kee: Pictorial stories of a legendary overseas Chinese in English and Chinese. Singapore: Canfonian.
(Call no.: RSING 338.04092 HEW)

Mulliner, K. (1991). Historical dictionary of Singapore (pp. 146-7). Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press .
(Call no.: RCLOS 959.57003 MUL)

Who's who in Malaya, 1925 (p. 175). (1925). Singapore: [Fishers Ltd & Mass Printers].
(Call no.: RCLOS 920.9595 WHO)

Yang, J. F. (1982). Zhan qian de chen jia geng yan lun shi liao yu fen xi [Tan Kah Kee in pre-war Singapore: Selected documents and analysis]. Xin jia po: Nan yang xue hui.
(Call no.: RCLOS 959.57020924 TKK.Y )

Pioneer's search for roots. (1982, November 8). The Straits Times, Section 3, p. 1.

Play tells life story of Tan Kah Kee. (1991, July 11). The Straits Times, p. 18.

Tan Kah Kee: More to the man than public figure. ( 1988, July 11). The Straits Times, Section 2, p. 3. 

Life of Tan Kah Kee. Pioneers [Videotape]. Singapore: SBC, 1993
(Call no.: RAV 959.57 PIO)



The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Pioneers
Chen, Jiageng, 1874-1961
Pioneers--Singapore--Biography
Philanthropists--Singapore--Biography
Singapore--History
People and communities>>Social groups and communities

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