Chinese-medium schools and their founders in pre-independence Singapore

Before Singapore gained independence in 1965, primary and secondary schools that used the Chinese language as the medium of instruction were mainly founded by civic organisations and members of the Chinese community.¹ Most of the founders of these early Chinese-medium schools were leaders of clan associations and Chinese temples who played an active role in Chinese-language education at that time. The “public schools” among the Chinese-medium schools were mostly built by people from all walks of life, such as plantation workers and fishermen, who generously donated money and land for schools so that their children could receive an education. After World War II, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and professionals such as doctors and lawyers also contributed to Chinese-language education in Singapore.

Such Chinese-medium schools usually had a board of directors to appoint principals. Generally, principals helmed the schools until they retired, exerting a profound influence on the school’s culture and ethos.

Schools established by Chinese temples and clan associations before World War II

In the early 19^th century, Chinese settlers from the Guangdong and Fujian provinces in southern China crossed the sea to Singapore. To help these immigrants settle down and connect with their communities, leaders of the five major dialect groups, namely Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, and Hainanese, set up their own clan associations. According to historical records, there were about 32 Chinese clan associations registered with the colonial government from 1819 to 1890.

After realising that many school-aged children were not attending school, some leaders of the Chinese community and chairmen of the board of directors of clan associations suggested running schools at the premises of the clan associations to nurture the next generation and transmit Chinese culture and values.

At the time, the schools set up by Chinese temples or clan associations were: Po Chiak School (founded by Po Chiak Keng in 1889), Chongzheng Primary School (formerly known as Yeung Ching School, founded by Soon Thian Keing in 1903), Yin Sin School (founded by Ying Fo Fui Kun in 1904), Qifa Primary School (formerly Khee Fatt School, founded by Char Yong Association in 1906), Kwong Fook School (founded by Kwong Fook Temple in 1916), Poi Ching School (founded by Futsing Association in 1919), Hong Wen School (founded by Hin Ann Huay Kuan in 1920), San Shan School (founded by Foochow Association in 1924), Kong Chow School (founded by Kong Chow Wui Koon in 1929), Nam Shun School (founded by Nam Shun Wui Kun in 1931), Sam Kiang School (founded by Sam Kiang Huay Kwan in 1937), and Chin Kang School (founded by Chin Kang Huay Kuan in 1946).

Among these, Chongzheng Primary School, Qifa Primary School, Poi Ching School, and Hong Wen School are still around today, and are now English-based bilingual schools.

‘Public schools’, free schools, and other schools before 1965

Before Singapore’s independence, there were a total of 351 Chinese schools, and many had the prefix “public” in their names. However, the nature of our public schools (set up by the public) was different from that of those in China (government-funded). The schools in Singapore started out as traditional private schools (where teachers held classes in private) and free schools (where members of the community hired teachers to teach poor students). As the number of students increased, they gradually transformed into “public schools”.

These public schools were generally poorly equipped and faced funding shortages from time to time. Fortunately, they had boards of directors of the schools who often came forward to raise funds or make donations to help the schools tide over the difficult times.

Based on historical records, public schools at that time include Whye Nam School (1933), Pei Chun Public School (1933), Pei Hwa Public School (1934), Puay Kee Public School (1935), Seletar Chinese School (1936), Wa Mong School (1937), and Fook Hing Public School (1937).

Many of these schools are now lost in the mists of time or have had the word “public” removed from their names before transforming into government schools. Only Pei Chun continues to retain the word “public” in its name.

Chinese-medium schools during the Japanese Occupation

During the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945, almost all Chinese schools in Singapore were shut down, and some of their premises were used by Japanese soldiers as command headquarters (Nan Hwa Girls’ High School), military hospital (Nanyang Girls’ High School) or warehouse (Hwa Nong School).

After the Japanese Occupation, many schools resumed classes. In July 1945, the boards of directors of the schools and principals of 25 Chinese-medium schools set up the Singapore Inter-school Association, (the predecessor of The Society of Chinese Education Singapore) to help Chinese-medium schools resume classes.

Schools established by entrepreneurs and philanthropists

In the history of Singapore’s education, several community leaders from the various dialect groups had donated money and land to build schools and actively promote Chinese language education. They include Tan Kah Kee (1874–1961), Lee Kong Chian (1893–1967), Tan Lark Sye (1897–1972), Lim Boon Keng (1869–1957), Tan Kim Ching (son of Tan Tock Seng, 1829–1892), Tan Boo Liat (grandson of Tan Tock Seng, 1874–1934), and Neo Ao Tiew (also known as Neo Tiew, 1884–1975).

Among these community leaders, Tan Kah Kee is noted for making significant contributions to Chinese-language education in pre-war Singapore. In 1906, Tan Boo Liat and leaders of the Hokkien community jointly founded Tao Nan School, using the residence of Tan Tock Seng’s son, Tan Kim Ching, as the school campus. In 1909, Tan Kah Kee, then chairman of Hokkien Huay Kuan, took the lead by donating $2,000 to build a new campus for the school, and suggested enrolling students from different dialect groups. In 1916, upon learning that Ai Tong School was on the verge of closure due to financial problems, Tan Kah Kee took over the school’s management and bore its running costs. In 1941, he spearheaded the establishment of the Nan Chiau Teachers’ Training School (predecessor of Nan Chiau High School) to train teachers. Chinese High School, which was not among the schools affiliated to Hokkien Huay Kuan, was set up when Tan Kah Kee brought together the chairmen of 16 schools, including Yeung Ching School, in 1919. At that time, Tan Kah Kee led the fund-raising by donating $30,000, and other leaders of the Chinese community also responded positively. About $494,000 was raised in development funds for the school.

Tan Kah Kee’s devotion to the cause of education deeply inspired two men — Lee Kong Chian and Tan Lark Sye, who both once worked at Tan Kah Kee’s companies and were highly valued by him. Both men spared no effort to promote education throughout their lives.

In 1941, when Tan Kah Kee proposed setting up the Nan Chiau Teachers’ Training School, Lee Kong Chian donated a villa and land at Kim Yam Road as the school premises. In 1950, the Singapore government set up the Singapore Council for Adult Education with Lee as vice chairman and treasurer, and worked with the Chinese Schools’ Conference to actively promote adult education. In 1951, Tan Lark Sye, then chairman of the Hokkien Huay Kuan, donated a piece of land to build a school, while Lee donated a huge sum of money in his name, and the school was subsequently named “Kong Chian School”. However, the board of directors later renamed the school “Kong Hwa School” to respect Lee’s wishes. Lee once said, “My greatest contribution to the country is educating the youth”, attesting to his passion for education and the importance he attached to it.

After being elected chairman of Hokkien Huay Kuan in 1950, Tan Lark Sye continued Tan Kah Kee’s commitment to the cause of education by serving as chairman of the boards of directors of five schools affiliated to Hokkien Huay Kuan: Tao Nan School, Kong Hwa School, Ai Tong School, Nan Chiau High School, and Chongfu School. He also often donated generously to the schools.

Deeply influenced by Tan Kah Kee’s devotion to education, Lim Boon Keng initiated the setting up of Chung Cheng High School (Main) in 1938. Apart from practising medicine, Lim was also committed to education and social reforms. At that time, he hired Dr Chuang Chu Lin (1900–1973), a professor at China’s Sun Yat-Sen University, as the founding principal of Chung Cheng High School (Main). Dr Chuang, who graduated from Fukien Christian University and obtained his doctorate degree from the University of Michigan, helmed Chung Cheng High School for 18 years (1939–1957).

In 1906, leaders of the Cantonese community such as Ho Siak Kuan (1866–1947) and Look Yan Kit (1849–1933) bought 11 shophouses and founded the Kwong Wai Shiu Yeung Ching School (predecessor of Yangzheng Primary School), which cost $30,000 to build. In 1918, the school hired Lin Yaoxiang (1888–1983), a graduate of China’s Lingnan University, as its principal. In 1919, Sinn Sing Hoi (1905–1945) was transferred as a student from an English-medium school to Kwong Wai Shiu Yeung Ching School. During this period, music teacher Ou Jianfu (birth and death years unknown) noticed Sinn’s musical talent, and made him the band leader and conductor. When Lin returned to Guangzhou in 1921 to serve as principal of Overseas Chinese High School set up by Lingnan University, he took along 20 students from Kwong Wai Shiu Yeung Ching School for further studies in Guangzhou, including Sinn. Sinn later became a renowned composer in China. It can be said that efforts by Lin and Ou to nurture Sinn changed his life. In 1937, the board of directors again hired Lin as the school’s principal, and he served for 24 years until 1959.

Philanthropist Neo Ao Tiew also donated land in Lim Chu Kang to build Key Wah School in 1938, to allow children of 800 employees to receive education. During its heyday in the 1960s, Key Wah School had two branches in addition to the main school. One of them conducted classes using the opera stage of Ama Keng, a Mazu temple on Lim Chu Kang Road.

Girls’ education in Singapore

Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) travelled around the world to raise funds to support uprisings against the Qing government. In 1906, when he returned to Japan from Europe and passed through Singapore, he set up the first overseas branch of the Tongmenghui, with Tan Chor Lam (1884–1971) as its chairman and Teo Eng Hock (1872–1959) as its deputy chairman.

Sun understood that without education, women could not play an active role socially, politically, and economically. In 1911, with Sun’s encouragement, Tan and Teo actively planned for the establishment of Nanyang Girls’ School. However, the plan was delayed as Tan was helping Sun with his revolutionary cause. In 1917, Yu Pei Gao (1888–1934) from Tongmenghui, a strong advocate for girls’ education and women’s rights, came to Singapore from Borneo. Through her efforts, Nanyang Girls’ School (later renamed Nanyang Girls’ High School) finally opened for student enrolment, with Yu—who was a strong advocate for “improving women’s education and revitalizing women’s rights”—serving as its first principal and Tan Chor Lam as chairman of the board of directors. From 1927 to 1966, Liew Yuen Sien (1901–1975) was the principal of Nanyang Girls’ School. She helmed the school for almost 40 years and under her charge, it thrived and became the top girls’ school in the region.

However, the first girls’ school before Singapore’s independence was not Nanyang Girls’ School but Chung Hwa Girls’ School (later renamed Chung Hwa Girls’ High School, the predecessor of Zhonghua Secondary School). It was founded in 1911 by Rev. Tay Sek Tin (1872–1944) and Chinese community leaders who were passionate about education. In 1940, the school started classes to train teachers, and most of the graduates remained in their alma mater to teach. In 1921, Rev. Tay helped the Presbyterian Church in Singapore to set up Singapore’s first kindergarten, the Chinese Kindergarten (which later added a primary school section), and this kickstarted the country’s early childhood education.