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Lee Kong Chian

A philanthropist and multi-millionaire businessman, the late Lee Kong Chian was the son of an immigrant from Fujian who made the journey to Singapore in 1903 with his father. His intelligence and talents attracted tycoons Cheng Hee Chuan and Tan Kah Kee who were responsible for his early start in business. Lee made his mark in rubber and later expanded into pineapple, coconut oil and sawmills among others.  Lee also invested large capitals in big enterprises like the Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation,  Great Eastern Life, Sime Darby (Singapore), Singapore Cold Storage and the Straits Tradings Company. The last fifteen years of his life was devoted to charity work under the Lee Foundation of which the beneficiaries included the Singapore Chinese High School, Nanyang University, University of Malaya, and the National Library.  Though a corporate magnate, Lee led a simple life and was known to be humble.  His legacy lives on, with landmark institutions named after him, including the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library (National Library Board), the Lee Kong Chian School of Business and the Lee Kong Chian Building (Singapore Management University).

Early life
Lee Kong Chian (b. 18 October 1893, Fujian, China - d. 2 June 1967, Singapore) alias Geok Kun, was a native of Fujian province, having been born and raised until he was 10 in Fu Yong village, Nan Ann district. Back in his hometown, Lee received his early education in a private school.  Lee's father, Lee Kuo Chuan, was a poor tailor and like many other Fujian natives, turned to Singapore to make a better living. Father and son arrived in Singapore in 1903.   Lee was only 10 then and he went to the Anglo-Indian School at Serangoon.  The fees were cheap and though it was a Tamil school, Lee learnt English.  He then enrolled into Yeung Chia School (predecessor of Chung Cheng School) at Aliwal Street to continue with his Chinese education.  A hardworking and excellent student, he topped his classes.  In 1908, the 15 year-old Lee was among 15 overseas students armed with a Manchu government scholarship to study in Chi Nan school in Nanjing. He continued his excellent streak and graduated as the top student two years later.  Ching Hwa High School in Peking was his next destination for advanced study (a two-year course which was equivalent to pre-university standard).  Lee subsequently went to the College of Mining and Communication in Tang Shan to study engineering.  But China's political development and internal turmoil as the country headed towards a Republic put a stop to Lee's educational pursuit in China and he came back to Singapore in 1912.

In Singapore, Lee's drive and energy took him through four jobs and two courses. His working day started from dawn as an assistant in the Survey Department, a job that lasted until noon.  Lee then continued at Lat Pau Chinese Press as a translator of English articles into Chinese.  At night, he taught at the Tao Nan School in Armenian Street and at Chung Cheng School in Aliwal Street.  His thirst for knowledge led him to take up two courses - a Special Survey Class run by the Survey Department and a correspondence course in civil engineering with an American University.  Even before putting the knowledge to use, Lee was courted into business.

The multi-millionaire businessman
Lee's break at business came in 1915 when, upon noticing Lee's talent, Cheng Hee Chuan invited Lee to join China National Products Company. The company was formed to import goods from Malaya into China as European merchandise during WWI were in shortage.  When Chee invited public investments, Lee subscribed to a number of shares and was appointed assistant English Secretary to the company.  The venture did not take off but another opportunity came knocking two years later.  Rubber tycoon Tan Kah Kee offered Lee to manage his rubber company at a time when Tan was planning to expand his rubber business to America and Europe.  Tan's rubber company, Khiam Aik, grew by leaps and bounds under Lee's capable management and Tan took Lee to be part of his family by marrying him to his eldest daughter, Tan Ai Leh.

Lee started his own business in 1927 when he formed Lee Smoke House in Muar, Johore, and in 1928 renamed it to Lee Rubber Company.  The company survived the hard times of the 1930s' Depression, which forced many enterprises including Tan Kah Kee Ltd. to wind down.  Khiam Aik in fact went bankrupt in 1931. Lee saw his company through a reorganisation to a limited company, and getting his bosom friend, Yap Geok Tui, and his clansman, Lee Pee Soo, to be directors of the company.  Cash-rich at a time when prices of land were at rock-bottom, Lee acquired acres of rubber land and rapidly expanded his enterprise. Trade with every part of the world followed, and in Indonesia and Southern Thailand, separate companies were set up and independently developed. Besides establishing himself as a rubber tycoon, Lee diversified his business interest to include pineapple, coconut oil, saw mills, biscuits and raw material trading.  In 1931, apart from establishing the Lee Rubber Co. Pte Ltd., Lee also set up Lee Pineapple, Lee Produce, Lee Sawmills, Lee Printing and Lee Biscuits. 

Lee's business acumen not only benefited his own companies, but also saved others. Lee was responsible for saving small Chinese banks when these banks were feeling the heat from the crash on Wall Street in 1929.  Under his leadership, Lee, who was then the director of the small Oversea-Chinese Bank, persuaded two other banks, the Ho Hong Bank and the Chinese Commercial Bank, to merge with his. By the end of 1932, the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), which was the largest bank in Singapore, was formed.  Lee assumed chairmanship of the bank in 1938 until his death in 1967.  Other big names that Lee invested in included Great Eastern Life Insurance, Sime Darby (Singapore), Singapore Cold Storage and Straits Trading Company.

Lee's leadership graced important organisation like the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce to which he was twice elected as President.  Lee also headed the Rubber Trade Association of Singapore, and as President, he represented the association in various rubber conferences.  At the end of 1941, he was attending one of this conferences in Washington D.C. when the Japanese descended on Malaya.  He stayed in New York during the Pacific War and was appointed as a lecturer for Columbia University, educating the US military and civil officers on Southeast Asia.

Lee's trademark was his progressive business style, exemplified by his success in transforming a traditional rubber business into a modern corporation, thus earning him the title, "the first modern towkay in Singapore".  His simplicity and humility often impressed his peers. By 1952, through the Lee Foundation which he established with a capital sum of $3.5 million, Lee began using his wealth to sponsor his strong belief in education.  Generous donations to school-building funds and charities started and have continued since.

The Philanthropist and the Lee Foundation
The Lee Foundation bears the mark of Lee Kong Chian's progressive outlook on charity. The Lee Foundation was looked after by a committee whose task was to channel interests derived from Lee's properties into cultural, educational, charitable and public organisations.  This was to ensure the longevity of the Lee Foundation's work; to provide steady and continuous support to organisations and charities in both good and bad times.

Many have benefitted from the Lee Foundation's generosity.  Among the educational institutions were the Singapore Chinese High School, Nanyang University, University of Malaya, and the Amoy University in Fujian. In 1965, Lee donated $1 million to the Singapore Medical Research Funds to start the Institute of Medical Specialties. By March 1967, 15 years after it was set up, the Lee Foundation had donated a total of $10 million.  When Lee passed away in 1967, he left half of his fortune to the Lee Foundation so that it could continue Lee's philanthropic work.

Lee was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Malaya in 1958.  His mark in education continued when he was installed the Chancellor of the University of Singapore on 3 June 1962, the highest honour for a civilian. He had to withdraw from the post in 1965 due to ill-health and he passed the baton to President Yusoff bin Ishak.

Lee's passing
Lee's health deteriorated in 1964 and he was admitted to Queen Mary's Hospital in Hong Kong for treatment of liver cancer.  He made a recovery after an operation, and in 1965, he proceeded to Shanghai for further examination by Chinese physicians.  He came back to Singapore three months later and following months of rest, his health improved.  However, his conditions took for the worst and he passed away peacefully on Friday 2 June 1967 at 7 pm at his mansion in Mount Rosie.  His funeral service was held at Mount Vernon Crematorium, and people from many walks of life from millionaires to rubber tappers paid their last respect. The funeral procession was one of the biggest seen in Singapore but was kept simple despite Lee's millionaire status.  He was survived by his wife, three sons, three daughters and several grandchildren.

Lee's current legacies
One of the hallmarks of the Lee Foundation was the National Library of Singapore. In 1953, Lee donated $375,000 for the construction of the Library's new building on the condition that the Library waived its annual fees. The enjoyment of a free public library by Singaporeans today owed much to Lee's generosity.  Lee officiated the laying of the foundation stone of the new building on 16 August 1957.  In the new millennium, 50 years after this first donation, the National Library once again benefited from the Lee Foundation through a S$60 million donation. To honour the Lee Foundation's contribution, the National Library named its new reference library at Victoria Street the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library.  Continuing Lee's strong support for higher education, the Lee Foundation contributed S$50 million to the Singapore Management University (SMU).  In recognition of this generosity, SMU has named in perpetuity the university's School of Business, its building and its university-wide scholars programme after Dr Lee Kong Chian.

Family
Wife: Madam Tan Ai Leh, (m.1920, Singapore)
Sons: Seng Gee, Seng Tee, Seng Wee.
Daughters: Seok Kheng, Seok Tin, Seok Chee.



Author
Nor-Afidah Abd Rahman

 

References
Chew, M. (1996). Leaders of Singapore (pp. 23-28) . Singapore: Resource Press.
(Call no.: RSING 920.05957 CHE)

Li, Y. R. (1998). Li guang qian zhuan.  Xianggang: Ming liu chu ban she.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 LYR  -[HIS])

Zhang, B. S. (1997). Li guang qian zhuan. Beijing:  Zhong guo hua qiao chu ban she.
(Call no.: RSING 959.57 ZBS  -[HIS] )

Orbituary - Tan Sri Dr. Lee Kong Chian. (1967). Dong nan ya yan jiu [Journal of Southeast Asian Researches], 3, 1-8.
(Call no.: RCLOS Chinese 959 JSAR)

Final tribute to Lee Kong Chian [Microfilm: NL 12194]. (1967, June 5). The Straits Times, p. 9.

From rags to "rubber King" [Microfilm: NL 12194]. (1967, June 3). The Straits Times, p. 11.

Lee Kong Chian dies at 75 [Microfilm: NL 12194]. (1967, June 3). The Straits Times, p. 1.

Make it simple, was Dato Lee's last wishes...[Microfilm: NL 12194]. (1967, June 4). The Straits Times, p. 3.

Tan, B. H. (1987, November 10). Rubber tycoon who never forgot the poor. The Straits Times.

Automobile Association of Singapore. (1996-2005). The three kings. Retrieved July 13, 2005, from www.aas.com.sg/features/archive/f05023.htm

Ministry of Education. (2004). Speech by Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education, at the dinner in appreciation of the Lee Foundations gift to the Singapore Management University at the Istana on Tuesday, 17 August 2004, at 7:30 pm. Retrieved May 26, 2006, from http://www.moe.gov.sg/speeches/2004/sp20040817a.htm



The information in this article is valid as at 2006 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Pioneers
Lee, Kong Chian, 1893-1967
Philanthropists--Singapore
Pioneers--Singapore
People and communities>>Social groups and communities



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