A Suggestion For The Monument

I think the statue of Tan Kah Kee should be erected next to the Chinatown MRT Station, where there is a large crowd of Singaporeans and tourists who will benefit from seeing the tale of Tan Kah Kee and appreciate what he has done for colonial Singapore.



The statue should have a plaque below that has all the contributions of Tan Kah Kee and his life story in chinese, malay, indian and english, for the benefit of the different races in Singapore, as well as tourists. There should also be logos of all the schools he has helped to build in Singapore on the plaque.

How His Contributions Made An Impact On Singapore

Tan Kah Kee founded several schools in Singapore. At that time there were few schools and most people wanted to make their children work instead of sending them to school. Tan Kah Kee founded many schools which provided education for the poor. One of the schools was Hwa Chong Institution which produced many of the top scholars in Singapore. His has made a big impact on Singapore for his philanthrophy in building schools. The schools made Singapore have better lives due to their better education. At that time, there was no secondary school in Singapore. Tan Kah Kee built the first one which was Hwa Chong Institution. It gave better education to the richer people and cut down on travelling costs as at that time children had to go to other countries for secondary education.

Reflections

I find that Tan Kah Kee is quite easy to find information about in the internet. Also, we have learnt about him during the Tan Kah Kee performance and that has helped me alot in this assignment. However, I do not know how to make a scetch. I do not have a scanner and I could not find any usefuldigital tools.

Bibliography

1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Kah_Kee


2)http://www.huayinet.org/biography/biography_tankahkee.htm


3)http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_839_2004-12-28.html


4)http://www.blueskiescom.com/alumni/feb_mar_09/tan_kah_kee.htm

Biography of Tan Kah Kee

Tan Kah Kee was a resident of Jimei, Xiamen, China.He was born in October 21, 1874. He went to Singapore in 1890 to work for his father's rice store. When the it collapsed in 1903, he started his own bussiness and became a very successful bussinessman from rubber plantations, trading and other bussinesses. With the profit he made from his bussiness, he contributed greatly to the setting up of schools. He founded both the Jimei University (China) and Hwa Chong Institution (Singapore). He suppoted the school financially until the Chinese government took over. In 1920, he married his daughter to Lee Kong Chian who worked under him at that time. Lee Kong Chian also became a famous philanthropist and bussinessman in later years.

He died in August 12, 1961. He was a prominent bussinessman and philanthropist in colonial Singapore. However, he died penniless because he spent all his wealth in building and financially supporting schools. His children were not given a single cent.