{"id":11508,"date":"2025-05-16T21:08:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?page_id=11508"},"modified":"2025-09-29T11:35:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T03:35:27","slug":"13-tan-joo-khoon-ng-joo-tian","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/13-tan-joo-khoon-ng-joo-tian\/","title":{"rendered":"13 TAN JOO KHOON \u9673\u81e3\u5fe0 NG JOO TIAN \u9ec3\u5982\u73cd"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Marine Man in a <\/b>Double Teochew Tomb<\/b><\/h3>\n

TAN JOO KHOON\u00a0 \u9673\u81e3\u5fe0 (1882 – 1926) & NG JOO TIAN\u00a0 \u9ec3\u5982\u73cd (1888 – 1960 )
\n<\/span>Place of Ancestry : Teo Ann (\u6f6e\u5b89)<\/p>\n

Tan Joo Khoon spent his life career in the shipping circles and died of a heart attack as he was about to enjoy the sea waters during a holiday. When he passed away, a double tomb was erected for him and hiswife styled in Teochew fashion. His tomb is situated near the end of Hill 1 in a cluster with other Teochew tombs, distinct\u00a0 from the Hokkien tombs that make up a much larger area of Hill 1. There are other Teochew tombs elsewhere in\u00a0 Bukit Brown, most\u00a0 within\u00a0 clusters. This husband-and-wife tomb is typical with inscriptions that name his other wife. It is not uncommon to find inscriptions for up to 5 official wives on Teochew tombstones, an indication of the status of the husband\u2019s wealth and ability to support more wives. The double tomb also features some rare decorative tiles, an indulgence in some of the larger Teochew tombs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Decorative tiles from England (photo credit : Victor Lim)<\/p><\/div>\n

Tan\u2019s grave is also\u00a0 atypical in that it does include the names of all his children from both wives \u2013\u00a0 four sons, two daughters and one daughter-in-law, which were carved out in marble slab and\u00a0 embedded into the altar table. His son Lye Sia followed in his footsteps and also worked in the Master Attendant\u2019s office but passed away at age 52 in 1957.\u00a0 Another son, Ah Chua, trained as a dental surgeon and\u00a0 went on to be Deputy Chair of the Public Utilities Board and he also died relatively young at 53 in 1972.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tan himself finished his form six at Raffles Institution at age 16 and went on to be Chief Clerk to manage port operations for 26 years. With that, he can be considered a successful member of the Teochew community. He was said to be popular with his bosses and his staff.\u00a0 Among those in\u00a0 attendance at his funeral were his British bosses, a captain, a commander and a lieutenant, together with the entire marine department which sent a wreath in the shape of an anchor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tan was a man who obviously had deep connections to the sea. He lived in Beach Road at a time when it was still near the sea, worked in the Maritime industry contributing to Singapore\u2019s entrepot trade at a time when it had already taken off and still growing. He met with a poignant death after suffering from a heart attack just as he was about to enter the sea with other bathers. Despite first aid rendered on location, he died at just 44 years old on the way to the General Hospital.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

by Catherine Lim<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Marine Man in a Double Teochew Tomb TAN JOO KHOON\u00a0 \u9673\u81e3\u5fe0 (1882 – 1926) & NG JOO TIAN\u00a0 \u9ec3\u5982\u73cd (1888 – 1960 ) Place of Ancestry : Teo Ann (\u6f6e\u5b89) Tan Joo Khoon spent his life career in the shipping circles and died of a heart attack as he was about to enjoy the sea waters during a holiday. When he passed away, a double tomb was erected for him and hiswife styled in Teochew fashion. His tomb is situated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":11412,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11508","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n13 TAN JOO KHOON \u9673\u81e3\u5fe0 NG JOO TIAN \u9ec3\u5982\u73cd - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/13-tan-joo-khoon-ng-joo-tian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"13 TAN JOO KHOON \u9673\u81e3\u5fe0 NG JOO TIAN \u9ec3\u5982\u73cd - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0Marine Man in a Double Teochew Tomb TAN JOO KHOON\u00a0 \u9673\u81e3\u5fe0 (1882 – 1926) & NG JOO TIAN\u00a0 \u9ec3\u5982\u73cd (1888 – 1960 ) Place of Ancestry : Teo Ann (\u6f6e\u5b89) Tan Joo Khoon spent his life career in the shipping circles and died of a heart attack as he was about to enjoy the sea waters during a holiday. 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