haa, yest beb and ling went to work, so i went to find them at around erm 5 something, since they havent knock off, i went to the national library, then read about the singapore history, haa,

the japanese first introduced their light tank during the war world II, they brought in the tanks to counter the resistive force at the bukit timah battle. it was first seen at a place where we re very familiar, the junction where traffic is damn hev in the morning, the junction along ten mile junction.

then after tt read about the pioneers of singapore which include plantation king Tan Kah Kee, his son-in-law known as the pineapple king, Lee kong Chian, and several familiar nams like muhammad Eunos, Lim boon keng, lim nee soon, yusof bin ishak, tan tock seng, tan kin ching son of Tan Kah kee.

then after tt i went out, sit at a bench, then something caught my attention, the posters read: exhibition on Lee Kong Chian and Tan Kah Kee, daily from september 2008 to 31st dec 2008, 10th storey, national library, so i went up

haa, then it was very interesting to read the lives of our pioneers, then they displayed a video, which i sat through 2 hours and finished it. i find the video rather "qing qie" as often the character will speak in hokkien. So here's a short introductory of both our respectable pioneers.




Tan Kah Kee arrived in Singapore at age 16 (1890) to begin his career in his father’s rice store. That business collapsed in 1903, but Tan Kah Kee went on to build an industrial empire ranging from rubber plantations and manufacturing, sawmills, canneries, real estate, import and export brokerage, ocean transport to -- rice trading. The years 1912 – 1914 were the best for his enterprises when he amassed a huge fortune. He came to be known as the “Henry Ford of Malaya.”

He spent his fortune not on himself or his family, but on education, for education, not business, was his abiding concern. He founded and financed several schools and other educational institutions in his native Jimei as well as in Singapore. In 1921 he set up Xiamen University where Lim Boon Keng was first Vice-chancellor, and maintained it for 16 years even during his financially difficult years, before the Chinese government took it over in 1937. Among the schools he founded in Singapore are Singapore Chinese High, Daonan, Aitong, Chongfu, Huachiao and Nanyang Girls’ High. Besides Chinese schools he also made contributions to Anglo-Chinese School and Raffles College. He was also active in campaigning for educational and social reforms in the 1920’s and 1930’s.




Lee Kong Chian began his education in the privately run schools there. In 1903 he joined his father in Singapore where he studied in the Anglo-Indian School and Chongzheng School. He returned to China in 1909 to continue his secondary and tertiary education, but the 1911 Revolution cut that short. Back in Singapore he first worked as a teacher in Daonan School and as translator in a Chinese newspaper, before joining the China Guohua Company in 1915, where he was soon spotted by Tan Kah Kee. The older man not only tutored the younger in business skills but also gave him his daughter in marriage in 1920.

Like Tan Kah Kee he poured his wealth into education and other philanthropic work. He set up the Lee Foundation in Singapore in 1952 and in Malaysia in 1960. In 1965 the Lee Foundation Ltd. was established in Hong Kong. Between 1952 and 1993 the Foundation donated sums amounting to $300 million to various causes, regardless of race, language, religion, nationality, geographical location, and with no strings attached. Seventy-five percent of that sum went to education.

When Lee Kong Chian was chairman of the Board of Directors of Huachiao School he gave huge sums to develop the school. Similarly when the University of Malaya was set up in 1949, he contributed $500 000 towards its building fund, and when Nanyang University was founded in 1953 he donated 10percent of the total fund. In 1962 he became the first Vice-chancellor of the University of Singapore. Again he gave out $1 million to set up a medical college.

Like Tan Kah Kee again he did not forget his native China when it came to giving to education. In 1939 he founded and financed the Guozhuan primary school in his home village of Furong, and in 1943 set up the Guoguang secondary school. Between 1950 and 1954 he contributed towards the financing of Xiamen University as well as the Jimei schools founded by Tan Kah Kee.

Lee Kong Chian’s work and generous contributions to education and society were recognized when he was conferred an honorary degree in law by the University of Malaya in 1958, the title PMN (Panglime Mangku Negara) by the Agong of Malaysia in 1964. Before that he had been made Dato by the sultans of Johore and of Kelantan.