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Tan Teck Neo

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Tan Teck Neo
MBE
陈德娘
Born(1877-12-18)December 18, 1877
DiedFebruary 27, 1978(1978-02-27) (aged 100)
Singapore
Known forFounder of Chinese Women's Association
Spouse
​
(m. 1900⁠–⁠1924)​
FatherTan Keong Saik

Tan Teck Neo, MBE (born 18 December 1877 – February 27, 1978), well known as Mrs. Lee Choon Guan, was a Peranakan philanthropist and socialite.

Early life

Tan was born in Singapore, Straits Settlement. She was the third and youngest daughter of Peranakan Chinese businessman Tan Keong Saik. [1] Along with her sisters, she was one of the few girls in Singapore to receive English education in the late 19th century, and from 1885, she was personally tutored by Sophia Blackmore, who would eventually found Methodist Girls' School.[2][3]

Life

In 1900, she married the widowed Peranakan businessman Lee Choon Guan, becoming his second wife. She had a daughter and a son by him.[4] After his death on 27 August, 1924, she did not remarry.[5]

She was a popular socialite who would frequently host esteemed guests at her family residence, the Mandalay Villa, in Katong.[6] These guests have included important community leaders, like then Chief Justice Sir James William Murison, and Malay royalty, including the Sultan and Sultana of Johore, at her birthday celebrations.[7] Many of her home parties were also to raise awareness and garner support for charities like the Children's Aid Society and Rotary International.[8][9]

Philanthropy

Tan was an ardent supporter of women's causes in Singapore, with many of her contributions towards helping women and children, particularly young girls.[10] She was posthumously inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2018 for her philanthropy and pioneering community work.[11]

Chinese Ladies' Association

In 1915, she set up and became the first president of the Chinese Ladies' Association, a group of 23 women from other prominent families in Singapore.[12] It was the first charity in Singapore to specifically champion the social needs and self-enrichment of Chinese women, enabling women to meet, advise and teach younger girls.[13] Outside of charity and advocacy, the association also assisted in the First World War, canvassing to raise $6000 for a fighter plane representing Malayan women for the British troops. Tan also personally volunteered with the British Red Cross.[14] Her efforts in the war and other charitable actions led her to become the first Chinese woman to be awarded a Membership of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1918.[15]

Educational causes

Tan and her husband were both involved in improving access to education for the Chinese community. Tan set up an endowment fund for Singapore Chinese Girls' School, which then served mostly the Straits Chinese community, and the school gave out annual prizes in her name from this income.[16] At the Chinese Ladies' Association where she presided, they provided classes on domestic skills for women.[17]

Medical Causes

Tan donated $5000 towards the building fund for St Andrew’s Mission Hospital, which then primarily served the poorest local women and children, being situated in Chinatown.[14] In 1921, she was invited to lay the foundation stone at its opening.[18] She was among the first to offer scholarships to train more Chinese midwifes, who were scarce at the time in the 1900s, lowering the occurrence of maternal deaths in the community.[16]

Singapore Po Leung Kuk

Tan was a patron of Singapore Po Leung Kuk, initially an organisation that rescued victims of prostitution.[19] It eventually became a home for vulnerable young women to be trained in domestic skills before their adulthood, when they would go out to work or marry.[20] She funded their activities and would invite women and girls from the home to visit her Mandalay Villa home.[14]

Death

Tan contracted influenza in January 1978, and slipped into a coma on 26 February, 1978. She did not regain consciousness and died at 4 p.m. on 28 February, 1978.[21]

References

  1. ^ "Ceramic teacups". Roots. National Heritage Board (Singapore). Retrieved 2021-09-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "TLOW | School's Out". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO). Retrieved 2021-09-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Lee, Kip Lee (2001). "The Peranakan" (PDF). The Peranakan. Singapore: The Peranakan Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  4. ^ Wong, Hong Yi (2009). "Lee Choon Guan". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 15 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Song, Ong Siang (2020). One hundred years' history of the Chinese in Singapore. Kevin Y. L. Tan, G. Uma Devi, Mulin Ke, Singapore Heritage Society, Singapore. National Library Board (Annotated ed.). Singapore. ISBN 978-981-12-1763-0. OCLC 1149924505.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Thulaja, Naidu Ratnala (2017). "Mandalay Villa | Infopedia". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2021-09-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "MRS. LEE CHOON GUAN". The Straits Times. 19 December 1931. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Children's Aid Society. "At Home" To Secure Public Support". Malayan Saturday Post. 10 December 1932. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  9. ^ "Mrs. Lee Choon Guan Entertains 100 Rotarians To Dinner". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. 10 June 1935. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  10. ^ Tan Harper, Marina (August 2019), SHAPING PHILANTHROPY FOR CHINESE DIASPORA IN SINGAPORE AND BEYOND: FAMILY, ANCESTRY, IDENTITY, SOCIAL NORMS, p. 92
  11. ^ "5th Singapore Women's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony & International Women's Day Dinner – SCWO". Singapore Council of Women's Organisations. Retrieved 2021-09-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ Chinese Women's Association : 100 fabulous years. Editions Didier Millet (First ed.). Singapore. 2015. ISBN 978-981-4385-69-5. OCLC 911240532.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ^ "Chinese Women Revive Association". Malaya Tribune. 6 December 1938. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  14. ^ a b c Ooi, Yu-lin (August 2019). "Converging Cultures: Developments in Philanthropy, Singapore 1867-1919" (PDF). Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship & Philanthropy.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ Song, Ong Siang (1923). One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore. London: John Murray. p. 541.
  16. ^ a b Song, Ong Siang (1923). One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore. London: John Murray. p. 542.
  17. ^ "Great Peranakans Fifty Remarkable Lives" (PDF). National Heritage Board (Singapore).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ Davison, Julian (July–September 2017). "Swan & Mclaren Pioneers of Modernist Architecture" (PDF). Biblioasia. 13 (2): 26.
  19. ^ Xinyi, Hong (2020). The Istana. SG: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited. ISBN 978-981-4868-80-8. OCLC 1130901790.
  20. ^ Tan, Joanna Hwang Soo (2010). "Singapore Poh Leung Kuk | Infopedia". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2021-09-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ "Grand Old Lady of Singapore dies at 100". The Straits Times. 28 February 1978. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
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