Tan Kim Seng
Encyclopedia
Tan Kim Seng was a Straits Chinese
merchant
and public benefactor in Singapore
in the nineteenth century.
in 1805, Tan came to Singapore where he made a fortune as a trader
. Tan started his firm, Kim Seng and Company, in 1840 and amassed a large fortune in his lifetime. His public acts of charity
included endowing
a Chinese Free School, supporting the Tan Tock Seng Hospital
, and improving the public waterworks
in nineteenth century Singapore.
Tan donated generously to the building and maintenance of a school
for boys known as the Chinese Free School or Chui Eng Institute. The school originally taught in Hokkien
and was one of the better schools of the time.
One of Tan's best-known donation
s was the sum of $
13,000 in 1857 towards building Singapore's first public waterworks to ensure a better supply of fresh water
to the town. The Tan Kim Seng Fountain was erected by the Municipal
Commissioner
s to commemorate Tan's donation. However, his donation was squandered away by the Government Engineer
, who hoped to make water run uphill through water pipe
s. In 1882, possibly out of shame and to mark the British colonial government's appreciation for such a generous gift, the fountain
was installed in Fullerton Square to perpetuate his name. The fountain was moved to Battery Road in 1905 and later in 1925 to the Esplanade Park
where it now stands.
Tan Kim Seng was also the first Chinese
magistrate
in Singapore. He was the acknowledged Chinese leader in Singapore and Malacca, and was made a Justice of Peace in 1850, after his father's death. He was appointed the Municipal Commission's first Asia
n member in 1857. His numerous contributions to the society include the suppression of the secret society
riot
s in 1854 between the Cantonese
and the Hoklo
(Hokkien) communities.
Tan gave lavish parties
to which he would invite the Europe
ans 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:
in River Valley
which still carries his name — Kim Seng Road. This road led through Tan's property
in the area. Several other street
s, such as Beng Swee Place, Jiak Kim Street and Jiak Chuan Street, are named after his descendants
. 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
) on River Valley Road. It served as the early home of Tan Jiak Kim, grandson of Tan Kim Seng. This house was built in the 1860s and demolished around 1982.
Kim Seng Bridge across the Singapore River
, carrying Kim Seng Road from River Valley Road to Havelock Road, was first constructed by Tan Kim Seng and 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 the Governor W.O. Cavenagh
, was defrayed by him. The bridge was rebuilt in 1950-1951.
Peranakan
Peranakan Chinese and Baba-Nyonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara during the Colonial era....
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
and public benefactor in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in the nineteenth century.
Biography
Born in MalaccaMalacca
Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...
in 1805, Tan came to Singapore where he made a fortune as a trader
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
. Tan started his firm, Kim Seng and Company, in 1840 and amassed a large fortune in his lifetime. His public acts of charity
Charity (practice)
The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...
included endowing
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
a Chinese Free School, supporting the Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
The Tan Tock Seng Hospital is the second-largest hospital in Singapore after the Singapore General Hospital, but its accident and emergency department is the busiest in the country largely due to its geographically centralised location...
, and improving the public waterworks
WaterWorks
WaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. When it debuted in 1992, it was originally named Hurricane Reef...
in nineteenth century Singapore.
Tan donated generously to the building and maintenance of a school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
for boys known as the Chinese Free School or Chui Eng Institute. The school originally taught in Hokkien
Min Nan
The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
and was one of the better schools of the time.
One of Tan's best-known donation
Donation
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...
s was the sum of $
Straits dollar
The Straits dollar was the currency of the Straits Settlements from 1904 until 1939. At the same time, it was also used in the Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States, Sarawak, Brunei, and British North Borneo.-History:...
13,000 in 1857 towards building Singapore's first public waterworks to ensure a better supply of fresh water
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
to the town. The Tan Kim Seng Fountain was erected by the Municipal
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
s to commemorate Tan's donation. However, his donation was squandered away by the Government Engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, who hoped to make water run uphill through water pipe
Water pipe
Water pipes are pipes or tubes, frequently made of polyvinyl chloride , ductile iron, steel, cast iron, polypropylene, polyethylene, or copper, that carry pressurized and treated fresh water to buildings , as well as inside the building.-History:For many centuries, lead was the favoured material...
s. In 1882, possibly out of shame and to mark the British colonial government's appreciation for such a generous gift, the fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
was installed in Fullerton Square to perpetuate his name. The fountain was moved to Battery Road in 1905 and later in 1925 to the Esplanade Park
Esplanade Park
The Esplanade Park is a historic park located in the Esplanade within the Downtown Core of the Central Area in Singapore's central business district....
where it now stands.
Tan Kim Seng was also the first Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
in Singapore. He was the acknowledged Chinese leader in Singapore and Malacca, and was made a Justice of Peace in 1850, after his father's death. He was appointed the Municipal Commission's first Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n member in 1857. His numerous contributions to the society include the suppression of the secret society
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
s in 1854 between the Cantonese
Cantonese people
The Cantonese people are Han people whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, China. The term "Cantonese people" would then be synonymous with the Bun Dei sub-ethnic group, and is sometimes known as Gwong Fu Jan for this narrower definition...
and the Hoklo
Hoklo people
The Hoklo people are Han Chinese people whose traditional Ancestral homes are in southern Fujian of South China...
(Hokkien) communities.
Tan gave lavish parties
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
to which he would invite the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans as well as other prominent members of Singapore society of all races. A European guest who was there at his first ball
Ball (dance)
A ball is a formal dance. The word 'ball' is derived from the Latin word "ballare", meaning 'to dance'; the term also derived into "bailar", which is the Spanish and Portuguese word for dance . In Catalan it is the same word, 'ball', for the dance event.Attendees wear evening attire, which is...
, 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."
Legacy
Tan built a roadRoad
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
in River Valley
River Valley
River Valley is the name of an urban planning area within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.The River Valley Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by Orchard Boulevard, Devonshire Road and Eber Road to the north, Oxley Rise and Mohamed Sultan Road to the east, Martin...
which still carries his name — Kim Seng Road. This road led through Tan's property
Property
Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
in the area. Several other street
Street
A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...
s, such as Beng Swee Place, Jiak Kim Street and Jiak Chuan Street, are named after his descendants
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
. Kim Seng Road is known to the Hokkiens as hong hin lo, meaning "Hong Hin road".
One of the last landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
vestiges connected with the Tan family in this area is the house, Panglima Prang (Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
of the Fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
) on River Valley Road. It served as the early home of Tan Jiak Kim, grandson of Tan Kim Seng. This house was built in the 1860s and demolished around 1982.
Kim Seng Bridge across the Singapore River
Singapore River
The Singapore River is a river in Singapore with great historical importance. The Singapore River flows from the Central Area, which lies in the Central Region in the southern part of Singapore before emptying into the ocean...
, carrying Kim Seng Road from River Valley Road to Havelock Road, was first constructed by Tan Kim Seng and named after him. The cost of building the original bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
, as well as the other bearing his name in Malacca in 1862, which was opened by the Governor W.O. Cavenagh
William Orfeur Cavenagh
Major General Sir Orfeur Cavenagh KCSI was the last India-appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements, who governed the Straits Settlements from 1859 to 1867.Singapore's Cavenagh Bridge is named in honour of the governor...
, was defrayed by him. The bridge was rebuilt in 1950-1951.