A Brief Biography of Mr. Tan Kah Kee
BIRTH AND FAMILY
An overseas Chinese legend, Mr. Tan Kah Kee's legacies have inspired many in Southeast Asia. From humble immigrant origins, he rose to a prominence which few can match. Best remembered as an eminent entrepreneur, social reformer, political activist, philanthropist, community leader, and educationist, he died at the age of 87 in Beijing on 12 August 1961 and was accorded a national funeral by the Chinese Government for his contribution to society.
Born on 21 October 1874 in Fujian, China. At the age of 17, Mr. Tan arrived in Singapore to join his father, Mr. Tan Kee Peck in the family's rice business.
Business responsibilities came early as his father's business failed in 1904, leaving him much on his own. With extraordinary fortitude, enterprise and risk-taking ability, he set about establishing a business of his own which began in pineapple canning, then diversified into rice milling. He eventually found the mainstay of his fortune in rubber plantation. The switch from rubber plantation to rubber manufacturing was a move he made boldly, and it established him as one of the most successful Chinese overseas businessmen in the whole of Southeast Asia.
By the 1920s, he thus came to preside over a huge business empire which extended into most East and Southeast Asian cities, employed over 10,000 persons. It spanned areas as diverse as rubber plantation and manufacturing, shipping, import and export brokerage, real estate and rice trading.
His business success put him in the forefront of the leadership of the Hokkien community from which he originated. He held advanced views about social reform and criticized several outmoded practices then prevalent, such as gambling, opium-smoking and ritual extravagance.
An abiding interest that underpinned Mr. Tan Kah Kee's multi-faceted public activities sprang from his firm commitment to educational philanthropy. In 1894, at the age of 21, he established a school in his village in Jimei. In the decades, thereafter, his enthusiasm and passion for educational philanthropy grew, culminating in his endowment of the Xiamen university in 1921.
In Singapore Tan Kah Kee's educational endeavours were impressive, imbued by the same missionary zeal and vision that had inspired him to found the Xiamen University. Through his inspiration, five primary and secondary Chinese schools were founded here, chief among them being the Chinese High School. He also generously donated to schools which imparted English education. For instance, he donated $30,000 to Anglo-Chinese School in 1919.
THE BUILDING OF ENTERPRISES
Tan Kah Kee migrated to Singapore at the age of 17. He obtained his working experience as an apprentice in his father, Tan Kee Peck's rice trading company, Soon Ann. Tan proved himself to be an exceptional worker and was promoted to manager of the rice company. Unfortunately, Soon Ann did not do well and eventually failed in 1904. The young Tan Kah Kee resolved to be an entrepreneur to regain the family's fortune.
One of his first businesses was a small pineapple canning factory which he managed to start with a small capital of seven thousand Straits dollars. He was rather successful at the business and managed to get additional funds to open another firm. This time, it was a return of his family's old trade. Named Khiam Aik, the rice company was situated at North Boat Quay.
Tan's fortune really turned for the better in 1905. It was then he bought a 500-acre undeveloped forested land in Singapore. He started to open up the land, removing the thick foliage and started the Hock Shan Plantation there. Tan Kah Kee was already aware of the growing pineapple industry and that demand outstripped supply. He was determined to get into this business.
Tan's pineapple canneries for Southeast Asia had wider implications than just building up his personal fortunes. His industries were seen as the forerunners of an indigenous industrial revolution in Southeast Asia. It showed the rest in the region that industrialization is possible given the commercial impetus to do it.
