Tan Kim Seng 陳金声/后/专荣, 16 (後)

http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/maltribun...

biography:
https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/newpaper...

•Note: Tan Kim Seng, the founder of the well-known firm of Kim Seng & Co., was born in 1805 in Malacca, which was also the birthplace of his father. Coming to Singapore, he embarked in business as a trader and by his perseverance, intelligence and integrity he rose steadily in the world and left a large fortune to his descendants. He was made a J.P. in 1850 on the death of Tan Tock Seng, and was highly respected by the whole community, and his advice on Chinese questions was frequently sought by the Government. He was a public benefactor on a large scale, and numerous are the gifts which bear his name and serve to keep his memory green. He constructed the Kim Seng Bridge over the river close to the Stadt House in Malacca ; he built and endowed the Chinese Free School known as "Chui Eng Si E " in Amoy Street, Singapore, and dedicated to the public the thoroughfare known as Kim Seng Road, leading from River Valley Road to Havelock Road. He was the President of the principal Chinese Temple in Malacca and leader of the Chinese community in Singapore and Malacca. A warm supporter of Tan Tock Seng Hospital, he used to send annually at Chinese New Year a ration of pork and a few cents for each of the inmates. In 1850 he was a member of the committee appointed to arrange for sending exhibits to the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace, London. On the 18th November 1857 Mr. Kim Seng offered the Government a sum of $13,000, a princely sum in those days, for the purpose of bringing a better supply of water into the town. He stipulated that the whole of that sum should be devoted to the purpose specified and that the works, when completed, should be taken charge of by the Government or the Municipality, and always maintained in an efficient state. "His offer is hereby accepted," wrote Mr. Blundell, the Governor in January 1859, " with warm acknowledgments, and the assurance that the conditions imposed by him shall be strictly carried out." The sanction of the Governor-General in Council to the work being undertaken having been obtained, plans and estimates were prepared, but matters dawdled on, and the first water-works were not finished till 1877 and opened in 1878. In 1882 the Municipality erected the large fountain close to Johnston's Pier with the inscription :- "This fountain is erected by the Municipal Commissioners in commemoration of Mr. Tan Kim Seng's donation towards the cost of the Singapore Water-works," -a matter of fourteen years after the death of the donor, for Mr. Tan Kim Seng had died on the 14th March 1864 at Malacca at the age of 59 years. Mr. Tan Kim Seng maintained his popularity with the European community until the end of his life. One of the recorded events of the year 1861 was a Ball given during the race week in May, in the Masonic Lodge on the Esplanade, by Mr. Kim Seng to all the Europeans. It must have been of him that Mr. Cameron has this note in his book (Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan India (1865)) :- "A Chinaman who had come to Singapore, a poor man about thirty years ago, died in March 1864, worth close upon two million dollars. He had grown up to be an extensive merchant, planter and tin miner, had adopted the settlement as his home and had left be- hind him many memorials of his public spirit and charity" He was a third generation Straits Chinese born in Malacca. His grandfather migrated to Malacca in the 18th century from Eng Choon Village in the district of Fujian Province, China. He became a very successful businessman in Malacca. When Singapore was founded in 1819 by Stamford Raffles, he moved to Singapore. Growing even richer in Singapore, he contributed generously to society. He built Kim Seng Bridge to facilitate people crossing the Singapore River. He was the first to donate 880 Straits Dollars towards a fund for the establishment of the first Chinese school in Singapore called Chong Wen Ge in Telok Ayer Street. The building still stands today adjoining Thian Hock Keng Temple, the oldest temple in Singapore. In 1854, he donated $13,000 to the British Government for the construction of the first reservoir and the introduction of pipe water to Singapore. The Kim Seng Fountain in Elizabeth Walk was built in commemoration of this contribution. Tan Kim Seng never forgot his place of birth, Malacca. His contributions to Malacca were equally significant. The Malacca Kim Seng Bridge and Kim Seng Clock Tower are but just some of his legacies. •Change Date: 14 FEB 2014 at 10:29:49