{"id":11589,"date":"2025-05-25T11:53:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T03:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?page_id=11589"},"modified":"2025-09-28T14:08:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T06:08:50","slug":"27-tan-ean-kiam","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/wayfinder\/27-tan-ean-kiam\/","title":{"rendered":"27 TAN EAN KIAM \u9673\u5ef6\u8b19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tan Ean Kiam The Patriot and Philanthropist <\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

TAN EAN KIAM \u9648\u5ef6\u8c26 (1881\u20131943 ) Place of Ancestry: Tung Ann\u00a0 \u540c\u5b89\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tan was a successful man of enterprise, a fervent China patriot and an advocate of social causes.<\/span><\/p>\n

As with other Chinese leaders\u00a0 on the Bukit Brown Wayfinder trail, Tan placed his bets on\u00a0 Dr Sun Yat Sen\u2019s vision of a Republican China. He together with five leading businessmen – Lee Kong Chian, Lee Chin Tia, Chew Hean Swee, Lee Choon Seng and Yeo Kiat Tiow<\/span>\u00a0 bought the villa now renamed Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall In 1937 and donated it\u00a0 as a memorial to the cause of the 1911 republican revolution and to honour the comrades who fought for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1927, he was involved in the development of Katong East Coast Road, building shophouses, markets and residential houses. For a time this place was known as Ean Kiam District.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Sino-Japanese war\u00a0 broke out in July 1937, he headed\u00a0 the Hokkien division of the Chine Relief Fund started by Tan Kah Kee to fund the Kuomintang\u2019s fight against the Japanese.\u00a0<\/span>And when WWII arrived on our shores, he chose to stay and was co-opted into the Oversea Chinese Association (OSA) to cooperate with the Japanese on managing the Chinese affairs under occupation. As a banker, he was involved in raising the $50 million ransom demanded by the Japanese, and in exchange, the Sook Ching operation would cease. Between <\/span>21 February to 4 March 1942, Chinese males between the ages of 18 and 50\u00a0 were summoned to various mass screening centres, many were rounded up and\u00a0 <\/span>massacred in various parts of Singapore.\u00a0 It was payback time for Japanese for the support\u00a0 of the China Relief Fund in the Sino Japanese wars,\u00a0 and also to exterminate potential resistance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After weeks of humiliating wrangling, the OSA finally raised the $50 million with a loan from the Yokohama Specie Bank and it was Lim Boon Keng as head of the OSA who\u00a0 presented it to General Yamashit on 25 June, 1942.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just under a year later on 30th March, 1943, Tan Ean Kiam at 62 years of age died of a heart attack. He had witnessed so much of suffering both in his birth country and his adopted country in war. He donated generously to both countries in numerous causes. Till this day, a eponymous foundation named after him funds scholarships.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although he was deeply involved fund-arising for China, engraved on his tomb are a pair of couplets he wrote, which resolved for him and many sojourners like him, where is home?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the same quilt we have the same dream<\/em>
\n\u540c\u88d8\u6210\u4e00\u5922
\n<\/em>Just bury me and let me have a deep sleep <\/em>
\n\u5b89\u571f\u597d\u9577\u7720
\n<\/em>No need to bury me in my hometown<\/em>
\n\u57cb\u9aa8\u4f55\u987b\u6545\u91cc
\n<\/em>For when you close the coffin lid, that will be my abode <\/em>
\n\u84cb\u68fa\u4fbf\u662f\u543e\u5eec<\/em><\/p>\n

(Translated by Raymond Goh )<\/p>\n

From the photos on his grave, it was prepared for two but he is buried alone. His wife Yap Hwee Cho <\/span>( \u53f6\u6167\u73e0) who was to be buried with him\u00a0 was a devout Buddhist from Fujian Province. After Tan\u2019s passing under Japanese Occupation which must have been\u00a0 \u00a0 devastating as he was\u00a0 the head of the\u00a0 clan. she spared no effort in the promotion of Buddhism and built a family temple for meditation and prayers .<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Ceramic frames of\u00a0 encasing photos of Tan Ean Kiam & Yap Choo Hwee (photo credit Raymond Goh)<\/p><\/div>\n

by Lee Chyen Yee<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tan Ean Kiam The Patriot and Philanthropist \u00a0 TAN EAN KIAM \u9648\u5ef6\u8c26 (1881\u20131943 ) Place of Ancestry: Tung Ann\u00a0 \u540c\u5b89\u00a0 Tan was a successful man of enterprise, a fervent China patriot and an advocate of social causes. As with other Chinese leaders\u00a0 on the Bukit Brown Wayfinder trail, Tan placed his bets on\u00a0 Dr Sun Yat Sen\u2019s vision of a Republican China. He together with five leading businessmen – Lee Kong Chian, Lee Chin Tia, Chew Hean Swee, Lee Choon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1489,"featured_media":0,"parent":11412,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11589","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n27 TAN EAN KIAM \u9673\u5ef6\u8b19 - 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\/27-tan-ean-kiam\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"27 TAN EAN KIAM \u9673\u5ef6\u8b19 - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tan Ean Kiam The Patriot and Philanthropist \u00a0 TAN EAN KIAM \u9648\u5ef6\u8c26 (1881\u20131943 ) Place of Ancestry: Tung Ann\u00a0 \u540c\u5b89\u00a0 Tan was a successful man of enterprise, a fervent China patriot and an advocate of social causes. 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