The Life & Times of a Wealthy Revolutionary 

TAN CHOR NAM (陈楚楠) 1884–1971    Place of Ancestry: Amoy  厦门 

Both into an affluent family, his given name was Tan Lian Chye (陳連才), His father  Tan Tye, was a pioneer  in the agriculture industry. He owned rubber and timber plantations, traded in rice and was dubbed The Pineapple King of Singapore for canning home grown pineapple for export.   A street in Clarke Quay where he owned warehouses is named in his honour.

 While father was conferred a fourth ranking title by  the Qing dynasty for his contributions, his son was to spend his wealth on revolution. Together with  like minded and wealthy friends Teo Eng Hock and Lim Nee Soon, The Little Peach Club (小桃園) was set up  as a platform for anti Qing activities. By now he had adopted the name  Chor Nam, so his revolutionary activities would not affect the family business. 

The  three gentlemen embarked on a plan to galvanised support for a revolution in the motherland. They drew public attention to the cause when they appealed to the British Consul in Shanghai to stop two anti Qing detainees from being extradited for execution. They promoted revolutionary ideals  through two local newspapers which they founded. And that’s how Dr. Sun Yat Sen discovered that overseas Chinese in Singapore shared his vision for China. 

 Their meeting was inevitable, and almost immediately after   the Tong Meng Hui (同盟会; Chinese Revolutionary Alliance) was born in 1906.  The result of this union of minds and action resulted in no fewer than four   uprisings that were planned and partly financed in Singapore between 1906-09. Dr. Sun’s revolutionary principles were mainly influenced by the American Revolution. These ideas were translated into a wave of fervor linking the birth of a modern society with mass education.  The enthusiasm for  girls’ education in science and democracy  post 1911 revolution in China culminated in a wave of support for vernacular schools. Chor Nam and his comrades  answered the call for social change in their pioneering effort in establishing one of the most notable  and enduring  institutions in Singapore –  Nanyang Girls High School in 1917 – some two years before Chinese High School for boys was founded in 1919.  Talk about revolution.

In death, Tan Chor Nam’s grave is modern and simple,  almost revolutionary compared to the traditional Hokkien graves around him.  The grave of his wife Goh Peck Guat 吳碧月 (1883 – 1948)  buried next to him is in the Hokkien style. 

Goh Peck Guat 吳碧月 (1883 – 1948) Photo credit Raymond Goh