Tan Kim Seng (18 November 1805 – 14 March 1864), was a prominent Straits-born Chinese merchant and philanthropist in Singapore in the 19th century.

Biography

Born in

Malacca Malacca (), officially the Historic State of Malacca (), is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, southern region of the Malay Peninsula, facing the Strait of Malacca ...

in 1805 to Tan Swee Poh (), he was the grandson of Tan Sin Liew (). Tan came to Singapore where he made a fortune as a trader. He started his firm, Kim Seng and Company, in 1840 and amassed a large fortune in his lifetime. His public acts of charity includes endowing a Chinese Free School, supporting the

Tan Tock Seng Hospital Tan Tock Seng Hospital (abbreviation: TTSH) is a tertiary referral hospital in Singapore, located in Novena. Named after Tan Tock Seng, the hospital has 45 clinical and allied health departments, 16 specialist centres and is powered by more ...

, and improving the public waterworks in 19th century Singapore. Tan donated generously to the building and maintenance of a school for boys known as Chui Eng Institute (). The school was originally taught in

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

and was known as the top school in Singapore at the time. One of Tan's best-known donations was the sum of $13,000 in 1857 towards building Singapore's first public waterworks to ensure a better freshwater supply to the town. The

Tan Kim Seng Fountain The Tan Kim Seng Fountain is a fountain in Singapore that was erected in 1882 in honor of notable philanthropist Tan Kim Seng for his donations for the Singapore's first reservoir and waterworks. History The erection of the Tan Kim Seng Fountain ...

was erected by the Municipal Commissioners to commemorate Tan's donation. However, his donation was squandered away by the Government Engineer, who hoped to make water run uphill through water pipes. In 1882, possibly out of shame and to mark the British colonial government's appreciation, the fountain was installed in Fullerton Square to perpetuate his name. The fountain was moved to

Battery Road Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Battery indicator, a device which ...

in 1905 and later in 1925 to the

Esplanade Park Esplanade Park is a park located at the Esplanade area within the Downtown Core district of Singapore. History Built in 1943 when Singapore was ruled by Japan, the Esplanade Park is one of the oldest parks in Singapore. The park was redevelope ...

where it currently stands. Tan was also the first magistrate of Chinese descent in Singapore. He was the acknowledged Chinese leader in Singapore and Malacca, and was made a Justice of the Peace in 1850, after his father's death. He was appointed the Municipal Commission's first Asian member in 1857. His numerous contributions to the society includes the suppression of the

secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

riots in 1854 between the

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

and the

Hoklo The Hoklo people () are a Han Chinese subgroup who speak Hokkien, a Southern Min language, or trace their ancestry to southeastern Fujian in China, and known by various related terms such as Banlam people (), Minnan people, Fujianese people or ...

(Hokkien) communities. Tan gave lavish parties in which he would invite the Europeans as well as other prominent members of Singapore society of all races. A European guest who was there at his first ball, said of the feast: :''"It was a chaos of dainties, each more tempting than the other. All the fruits of the Indian Archipelago, of India, China and the West — some in their natural state, others exquisitely preserved — were piled around us."'' Upon his death in 1864, Tan had amassed immense wealth that stemmed most notably from his control over Singapore's waterworks system and his own real estate holdings. It is estimated that Tan owned 50–60% of the land in Singapore.

Legacy

Tan built a road in

River Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ...

which still carries his name —

Kim Seng Road Kim Seng Road () is a street in Singapore that runs along the upper-easternmost portion of the Bukit Merah- Central Area border. It was named after Peranakan philanthropist, Tan Kim Seng. Today, the boundaries of Kim Seng division are: Indus Road ...

. This road led through Tan's property in the area. Jiak Kim Street and

Jiak Chuan Road Jiak Chuan Road () is a two-way road in Chinatown within the Outram Planning Area in Singapore. The road links Teck Lim Road to Keong Saik Road, it is home to several budget hotels and rows of shophouses. The place was formerly part of the Keong ...

are named after his two prominent grandsons

Tan Jiak Kim Tan Jiak Kim CMG (29 April 1859 - 22 October 1917) was a Peranakan merchant, political activist and philanthropist from Singapore. He co-founded the Straits Chinese British Association along with Lim Boon Keng, Seah Liang Seah and Song Ong Sian ...

() and

Tan Jiak Chuan Tan or TAN may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Tan'', an album by the Polish rock band Kult * TAN (group), South Korean boy band * ''Tan'' (newspaper), a newspaper in Turkey * ''Tan'' (weekly newspaper), a newspaper in Kosovo Businesses ...

() respectively. Kim Seng Road is known to the Hokkiens as ''hong hin lo'', meaning "Hong Hin road". One of the last landscape vestiges connected with the Tan family in this area is the house, ''Panglima Prang'' (

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

) on

River Valley Road River Valley is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. The planning area shares boundaries with Orchard in the north, Museum in the east, Tanglin in the west, and Singapore River in the south. River ...

. It served as the early home of Tan Jiak Kim, who was a great-grandfather of former President of Singapore

Tony Tan Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean banker and politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017. Prior to entering politics, Tan was a general manager at OCBC Bank. He made his polit ...

.Portrait of Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam, General Manager of Overse-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited
/ref> This house was built in the 1860s and demolished around 1982.

Kim Seng Bridge Kim Seng Bridge is a road bridge in Singapore River. Singapore. The bridge is named after Tan Kim Seng, who was a Singaporean businessman and philanthropist from the Peranakan ethnic group. It marks the start of the Singapore River to its mouth. C ...

across the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper drainage basin, watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Plann ...

, carrying Kim Seng Road from River Valley Road to

Havelock Road Havelock may refer to: People As a surname * Havelock-Allan baronets, holders of the baronetcy * Sir Henry Havelock (1795–1857), British general, active in India * Lieutenant General Sir Henry Havelock-Allan, 1st Baronet (1830–1897), ...

, was first constructed by Tan and was named after him. The cost of building the original bridge, as well as the other bearing his name in Malacca in 1862, which was opened by W.O. Cavenagh, Governor of the Straits Settlements, was defrayed by Tan. The bridge was rebuilt around 1950–1951.

References

*Victor R Savage, Brenda S A Yeoh (2003), ''Toponymics – A Study of Singapore Street Names'', Eastern Universities Press, *Lee Geok Boi (2002), ''The Religious Monuments of Singapore'', Landmark Books, {{DEFAULTSORT:Tan, Kim Seng 1805 births 1864 deaths People from British Malaya Singaporean philanthropists People from Malacca Singaporean people of Hokkien descent 19th-century philanthropists

Biography

Legacy

See also

References