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Singapore’s Chinese evening papers, also known as tabloids, generally refer to newspapers that are compact in size and content. They are either not published daily, or are printed later in the day, usually in the afternoon or evening. Some might be published every two or three days, or even weekly.
These newspapers differ significantly from morning dailies in terms of readership and content. They target the general public with articles that are entertaining and easy to read. This would often include news on entertainment, bread-and-butter issues, strange happenings, crime and court, accidents, and calamities. Being smaller in size, they typically focus on short articles and commentaries that catch readers’ attention.
Before the advent of mobile phones and digital media, evening papers enjoyed wide popularity in Singapore. They were quick to publish winning 4-D lottery numbers and horse-racing results, and often featured expert analyses on horse races — which was why these tabloids were also commonly called maa biu bou (“lottery newspaper” in Cantonese).
In the 1950s, tabloids were discontinued in Singapore, and the island did not see another evening paper until Min Pao was published in the 1960s. The two most notable ones that followed were Shin Min Daily News and Lianhe Wanbao.
Min Pao, the first tabloid to be launched after the People’s Action Party (PAP) came into power, was published on 19 March 1960. It was founded by Lai Kok Wah (1916–2017), Ong Chu Meng, Huang Quanhe (c. 1908–1970), and Huang Kemei (1915–1961). Lai was president, while Huang Kemei served as editor-in-chief. When it was launched, the paper only consisted of a single page and was delivered every three days. A half or full page was later added after the paper gained popularity and came to be issued every other day.
Min Pao was published by Singapore Publishing Co. Ltd., a company that was established shortly after the PAP came to power in 1959. Its editorial office was in 158 Cecil Street, the former site of Sin Pao, the newspaper founded by Fu Wu Mun (1892–1965).
Huang Kemei, the editor-in-chief of Min Pao, was a talented Teochew man and had previously been the editor of both Sin Pao and Petir Weekly. He joined Min Pao in 1960 as its chief editor, but died the following year. The position remained vacant for a long time until Tay Bon Hoi took over in May 1964. Even though Min Pao then only published every two days, its content was similar to that of a major daily paper. Its editorials declared that it “spoke from the nation’s standpoint and took the nation’s interests to be its own”. The paper’s supplements, Wen Yi (Arts and Literature) and Min Feng (Folkways), mainly featured literary and other general works. To attract more readers, it also published serialised novels such as Jin Yong’s The Return of the Condor Heroes and Liang Yusheng’s Sanhua Nüxia.
As sales continued to climb, Lai Kok Wah decided to publish Min Pao daily. After much preparation, the paper transited to a daily newspaper on 19 March 1966 — its sixth anniversary. A printing press in Kuala Lumpur was also set up to print Min Pao for daily distribution.
In 1971, Min Pao acquired a rotary printing press to cope with its growth in business. On 27 December 1979, publication was suspended by the Ministry of Culture for publishing articles that sensationalised sex. After submitting a proposal to the ministry outlining how it planned to reform its content, the paper was allowed to resume distribution on 9 January 1980. Min Pao continued to be published until 5 August 1984, when it ceased operations due to poor management. By then, the newspaper had been in circulation for a total of 24 years between 1960 and 1984.
Shin Min Daily News (or simply known as Shin Min) was founded on 18 March 1967 as a joint venture between Jin Yong (Louis Cha Leung-yung, 1924–2018), who wrote Chinese martial arts novels and was the president of Hong Kong’s Ming Pao; and Leung Yun Chee (1897–1971), the Singapore merchant whose company produced Axe Brand medicated oil. They each held a 50% stake in the newspaper, with Jin Yong helming the editorial board.
The newspaper’s office was in 7 Davidson Road. This was the site that New Life Daily News (1961–1966), also founded by Leung Yun Chee, had rented from a dairy factory after it relocated from Johor Baru to Singapore in 1962. Leung was very experienced in running newspapers: he had run Kuai Huo Bao between 1953 and September 1955, followed by Gong Shang Bao in June 1956. Both of those papers were published every three days.
At the time of its founding, Shin Min’s board of directors was chaired by Leung Yun Chee, while Jin Yong was president. The editor-in-chief was Poon Kit Foo (birth and death years unknown), the director of finance was Leong Heng Keng (1929–2018), and the general manager was Lu Shangxing (c. 1910s–1972). Jin Yong had also brought two staff with him from Hong Kong: Poon Yuet-sang, the former chief editor of Ming Pao, who took charge of the editorial department as executive editor-in-chief; and Zhu Zhiqing, who served as the paper’s manager.
The inaugural issue of Shin Min consisted of six broadsheets. More than 10,000 copies were printed and distributed for free to newspaper vendors who then sold them to readers. The papers were sold out in just a few hours. In a congratulatory message on the front page, Othman Wok (1924–2017), Singapore’s then-Minister for Social Affairs, said: “One of the essential conditions for the operation of a democratic society like Singapore is that the public must have access to correct information. Our republic is by nature multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural; there is ample room for more newspapers, periodicals, and other publications that are able to convey various news and opinions among our people.”1 He also noted that all newspapers must uphold national interests and help their readers understand the country’s issues and problems.
Jin Yong had said in an interview that Shin Min was a privately-owned commercial newspaper with no political background or party affiliations. It took an independent stance, and had national interests in mind as its reporting fostered understanding and cooperation among the various ethnic groups in Singapore. And since it was a newspaper’s duty to promote culture, enlighten the general public, instil civic knowledge, encourage freedom and democracy, and advocate social welfare, it was only natural that Shin Min would adhere to these principles.
As his martial arts novels were highly sought after by readers in Singapore and Malaysia at the time, Jin Yong also wrote The Smiling, Proud Wanderer for Shin Min’s exclusive serialisation in its launch to attract readers. This proved to be immensely popular and came to be one of the newspaper’s selling points. As outlined by Jin Yong himself, the five distinguishing characteristics of Shin Min were: a supplement that featured many famous writers and included Jin Yong’s novels not seen elsewhere, an entertainment section filled with exclusive news, an extensive global network, rich coverage of world affairs, and horse-racing analyses by well-known experts. The newspaper was initially published both in the morning and afternoon, but in the 1990s it gradually transitioned into an evening paper delivered late in the afternoon.
In the middle of 1968, Poon Yuet-sang returned to Hong Kong, and it was not until 1 April 1969 that Chung Wen Ling (birth and death years unknown) took over as editor-in-chief. The latter also brought with him Chua Hong Seng (1921–2001) and Wong Tuck Wing, both of whom had previously worked with him at Nanyang Siang Pau before the three of them went into television; as well as writer Yao Zi (Zheng Mengzhou, 1920–1982). Chua Hong Seng served as Shin Min’s editorial director, Wong Tuck Wing as news editor, and Yao Zi edited the supplement Xin Feng (New Winds). The style of the newspaper began to shift as its tone became more serious.
In September 1971, Shin Min co-founder Leung Yun Chee died. Leong Heng Keng, the director of finance, took over as chairman of the board of directors. On 9 November 1972, Shin Min relocated from Davidson Road to Yun Chee Building in 577 MacPherson Road. The team moved again on 5 February 1989 to Singapore Press Holdings’ News Centre, where it shared darkroom facilities and a resource library with Lianhe Zaobao and Lianhe Wanbao.2
In 1975, the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act was implemented, and Shin Min underwent restructuring and distribution of management equity in 1977. Chung Wen Ling left the newspaper to become editor-in-chief of Nanyang Siang Pau in February 1978. Chua Hong Seng then served as acting editor-in-chief for six months before Wong Tuck Wing was promoted to editor-in-chief, with Teh Kuan San as deputy editor-in-chief. During this period, Shin Min’s tone grew less serious and became prone to sensationalising light-hearted news, leading to its suspension by the Ministry of Culture on 7 December 1979. In an appeal, the newspaper submitted a proposal to revise its editorial policies and was allowed to resume publication on 9 January 1980.
Beginning in 1979, Shin Min gradually adopted simplified Chinese characters, starting with its supplements before moving on to the news sections and eventually becoming fully printed in simplified Chinese. In the same year, the newspaper also switched to a horizontal text layout in a bid to keep up with developing trends in the industry. Vertical formatting was now a thing of the past.3
In August 1982, the Straits Times Press (1975) Ltd bought 45% of Shin Min’s shares for about $1.12 million. An additional 14% was acquired in December that same year, making the newspaper a subsidiary of Straits Times Press. As a result, the company became one of two major publishing houses in Singapore — the other being Singapore News and Publications Limited, the holding company of Sin Chew Jit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pau.4
On 1 January 1983, The Straits Times appointed three representatives — Denis Tay, Cheong Yip Seng, and Pang Loo Kien — to join the board of Shin Min. Frank Wong (1929–2024), the former managing director and editor-in-chief of Sin Chew Jit Poh, was assigned at the same time as Shin Min’s editorial advisor. In the middle of the year, Leslie Fong Yin Leong, a senior deputy editor-in-chief of The Straits Times who had returned from his studies in London, was selected as chairman of Shin Min’s editorial committee. On 2 January 1984, Goh Nguen Wah, editor of The Straits Times’s bilingual edition, was transferred to Shin Min as a senior editor. Placed in charge of the commentary pages, he established a new Opinion section which further enhanced the newspaper’s image.
Goh Nguen Wah took over as editor in 1986 and later became the deputy editor of Lianhe Zaobao in 1990. Seng Han Thong replaced him as Shin Min’s editor and was succeeded by Toh Lam Huat a year and a half later. The latter went on to become supervising editor in 2007, when Koh Lin Hoe took on the role of editor from 2007 to 2011. The next successor was Pan Cheng Lui, editor from 2011 to 2017, followed by Choo Chee Wee who took on the role from 2017.
On 16 March 1983, Sin Chew Jit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pau, the two major Chinese newspapers in Singapore, merged to form Nanyang Sinchew Lianhe Zaobao (Lianhe Zaobao) and Nanyang Sinchew Lianhe Wanbao (Lianhe Wanbao).
Although both newspapers were launched on the same day, Lianhe Zaobao traces its history back to 1923 as it belonged to the category of morning dailies along with Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh. Being an evening paper, Lianhe Wanbao did not follow suit and instead adopted 16 March 1983 as its founding date.5
The inaugural issue of Lianhe Wanbao had a letter to readers on the cover page which mentioned that the newspaper’s mission was to spread modern knowledge and promote traditional culture. It promised to report on domestic and international news in simple and concise language, ensuring that readers would be promptly and accurately informed of world affairs. A series of in-depth stories Datexie became a notable feature of the paper. It was published five days a week and took up a full page each time, with many of its reports later compiled into books over the years.
In 2011, Lianhe Wanbao expanded online by creating a Facebook page, amassing over 210,000 followers by 2018. To mark its 30th anniversary, the newspaper launched an official website and mobile app on 9 September 2013. This allowed readers to access its content anytime via smartphones, tablets, and web browsers.
At the end of 2017, the Chinese Media Group (CMG) under Singapore Press Holdings consolidated the resources of Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, and CMG Digital to set up a single NewsHub serving all three platforms. This shared mode of operation came to an end only after the closure of Lianhe Wanbao in 2021.
Faced with the impact of the digital age and the limited pool of talent for local Chinese media, the 38-year-old Lianhe Wanbao was discontinued on 24 December 2021, after merging with Shin Min Daily News.
Lianhe Wanbao had a total of six editors over its 38 years, namely Chen Cheng from 1983 to 1998, Koh Lin Hoe from 1998 to 2007, Peter Ong from 2007 to 2009, Chua Chim Kang from 2009 to 2014, Lee Huay Leng from 2014 to 2016, Chua Chim Kang from December 2016 to November 2017, and Goh Sin Teck from December 2017 to December 2021.
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What do historians mean when they talk about Chinese education in Singapore and Malaysia? They mean an education system — based in Chinese schools — where all subjects were taught and examined in Chinese dialects and standard Mandarin. In the early years, most of the teachers in Chinese schools came from various dialect regions in Southern China. As a result, dialects such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and Hainanese were most commonly used in classrooms, while standard Chinese, or Mandarin was introduced later on.
During this period, the mission of Chinese schools was to not only teach contemporary academic subjects, but also impart knowledge of Chinese language, culture, and history, as well as instil Chinese ideologies and values. “Chinese education” and “Chinese schools” are important educational concepts in the region.
Before the Republican era (1911–1949), Chinese schools — including traditional private schools — had mainly been using traditional teaching materials such as the San Zi Jing (Three Character Classic or Trimetric Classic), Bai Jia Xing (Hundred Family Surnames or Century of Surnames), Qian Zi Wen (Thousand Character Classic or Millenary Classic), and the zhusuan (knowledge and practice of performing arithmetic calculations using an abacus). In the late Qing, new types of schools emerged, and it became clear that a fundamental shift from traditional to modern educational content had occurred.
The earliest Chinese schools in British Malaya (Singapore and the Peninsular Malaysia) emerged between 1904 and 1908. Yin Sin School was founded in May 1905 by the Hakka community, Guang Zhao School was founded in April 1906 by the Cantonese, Tuan Mong School was founded in September 1906 by the Teochews, and Tao Nan School was founded in the same year by the Hokkiens.
These schools were the forerunners of later Chinese schools. The fact that they had all been established within a few years after the 30th year of the Guangxu reign (1904) had to do with the influence of reformist movements of the Qing dynasty. By around 1903, advocates of the New Policies of the late Qing dynasty were aware of the importance of setting up modern schools across the country to teach Western practical knowledge and skills, although implementation was constrained by limited state funds. As a result, they turned to local communities and encouraged ground-up efforts to help build more schools and widen access to education. This was why all the earliest Chinese schools in Singapore were funded by clan associations.
Between 1905 and 1911, the Qing government intervened in the development of Chinese education in Singapore and Malaya. It stationed local consuls and frequently dispatched officials to the Nanyang region to inspect the state of affairs, encourage overseas Chinese people to start schools, and reward those who had made meritorious contributions to Chinese education. Around the same time, in 1907 and 1908, forces from Sun Yat-sen’s (1866–1925) Republic Revolution and Kang Youwei’s (1858–1927) Constitutional Monarchy factions had begun to spread their political ideologies in the region — indirectly spurring the development of Chinese education there. These circumstances further popularised Chinese schools, but also inadvertently caused Singapore’s Chinese education to become entwined with China’s social and political disputes and complications from the very beginning.
In 1913, after the two major military and political groups separately controlled by Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) and Sun Yat-sen had broken up, about 200 comrades from Sun’s camp were forced to flee in the wake of failed anti-Yuan and anti-government operations under the Chinese Revolutionary Party. Many of them were relocated to Singapore to work as teachers in Chinese schools. 1These politically ambitious individuals actively cultivated nationalistic sentiments among their students, and even mobilised them to take part in local social movements and protests.
This drew the attention of the British colonial government, which began to seek control over Chinese schools through legal and constitutional means. This led to the enactment of the Registration of Schools Ordinance 1920 in both the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements and the Legislative Council of the Federated Malay States. Although the ordinance stirred up a storm during its conception, visionaries from the Chinese communities in Singapore and Malaya resolved to protect Chinese schools from excessive interference by local government, external forces, and radical forces within the Chinese community — thus allowing the development of Chinese education to remain stable.
Up until the start of the Japanese occupation in 1942, Singapore had more than 300 Chinese schools of varying sizes, with about a third in the city area, and the rest scattered in villages (kampungs) across the island.2
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The British were granted the right to set up a trading post in Singapore on 6 Feb 1819, before eventually gaining full control over Singapore and the surrounding islands through subsequent agreements with the Sultan of Johor and Temenggong. For the next 130 years, there was no large-scale provision of education opportunities for local children. The Chinese-language education system in Singapore rapidly developed in the first half of the 20th century, largely pushed by uneven education policies of the colonial government during that period.
By 1941, the island’s population had reached 769,216 people, of whom 599,659 were Chinese.1 Even so, the colonial government had not established a single Chinese-language school in the region — the Chinese schools that existed had been set up by clan associations and members of the community.
By 1949, apart from Malay-language schools, there were 16 purely government-run schools, which taught in English, and 19 non-government English-language schools that received government subsidies. These 35 schools supported by government funding provided educational opportunities to around 32,000 children. However, there were more than 100,000 school-aged children in Singapore at the time. Many children who could not get a place in government schools or government-aided schools could possibly be deprived of education.
For the above reasons, in 1949, 71,000 school-aged children of Chinese descent had to enrol in one of the 319 community-run Chinese schools in order to receive an education.2
Since their inception, Chinese schools in Singapore have been established and funded by the Chinese community. Some of the schools were established by clans and locality or dialect organisations such as guilds and associations, some were founded by respected individuals and local figures, and others were run by religious groups such as churches. Most Chinese schools were predominantly non-profit organisations, and their operations were often managed by a board of council members.
Chinese schools, which had low fees, enabled all children to receive an education regardless of their social status. Additionally, because these schools were widespread in Singapore, children of labourers living in busy urban areas, as well as children of farmers living in the impoverished countryside, could attend a Chinese-language school nearby that was accessible and affordable. There, they received a relatively standardised education, a stepping stone that enabled them to shape their own destinies. Chinese schools filled the gaps left by government policies.
After the 1955 Singapore Legislative Assembly Election, an elected government was established. In February the following year, the newly appointed Labour Front government produced the Report of the All-Party Committee of the Singapore Legislative Assembly on Chinese Education, stating the views of the different political parties on Chinese-language education. In March, they produced an Education Policy White Paper, stating that from then on, the Chinese, English, Tamil and Malay language streams would all be treated equally. In 1956, the government began to establish government-funded Chinese-language primary and secondary schools. By 1957, this policy had been implemented, with all language-stream schools fully subsidised by the government.
During that period, almost all of Singapore’s Chinese-language community-run schools expressed acceptance of this policy, and started receiving comprehensive funding from the government. As a result, these community-run Chinese-language schools became known as government-aided schools. By 1961, there were 228 Chinese-language primary schools and 28 Chinese-language secondary schools.3This network of 256 institutions, comprising government-aided schools and government-run schools, formed the foundation of the Chinese-language education system. They provided complete primary and secondary education to around 150,000 Chinese-stream students, who accounted for approximately 40% of the student population in Singapore.4 The early 1960s would be a period when Chinese-language education bloomed and flourished.
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The development of the Chinese orchestral music in Singapore began in the 1950s, mostly encompassing folk music of the various dialect groups (Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien, etc). Back then, it was not called huayue (literally Chinese music) yet, but rather minyue (folk music) or guoyue (national music).
In the early 1960s, Chinese orchestral music was almost invariably promoted and led by musical groups with leftist leanings, such as the folk musical ensembles of Kangle Music Society, Ai Tong/Chongfu Schools Alumni, and the Equator Arts Society. Some exceptions included the Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association, Tseng Tseng Musical Association, and local music groups in clan associations and Chinese schools like The Chinese High School and Chung Cheng High School. Thau Yong Amateur Musical Association, formed in 1959, was Singapore’s first full-fledged Chinese orchestra at that time, comprising four sections: wind, plucked strings, bowed strings, and percussion.
What distinguishes Chinese orchestral music in Singapore from other regions in Asia is mainly its name. It is referred to as minyue (folk music) in China, zhongyue (China music) in Hong Kong, and guoyue (national music) in Taiwan.
As with traditional folk music, local Chinese orchestral music in its early stages was mainly performed by a band playing in unison. It was not until the end of the 1950s and early 1960s that performances were gradually done in an ensemble setting (with harmonies, countermelodies, and other composition techniques), influenced by the practice of China and the availability of musical scores. However, compared to the present-day ensemble, it was simpler in terms of form, harmony, and texture. Compositions were generally not lengthy and often featured short ensembles such as light musical or dance pieces, for example:
In the early 1960s, performances of major compositions for a fuller ensemble were scarce, especially with restrictions on the import of musical scores. The more frequently performed repertoire included:
Notably, the 1963 premiere performance of “Fishermen’s Song of the Eastern Sea” by the combined ensemble of Aitong-Chongfu Alumni in Singapore, was its first performance outside of China, three years after its premiere there.
During the Cultural Revolution in China in the mid- and late-1960s, records and music scores from China were not allowed to be brought into Singapore, which made it even more difficult for local Chinese orchestra groups which were already facing a shortage of such resources.
The problem was not just a lack of music scores, but teaching expertise as well. Apart from the traditional folk music circle, which was taught by seasoned masters, most other Chinese orchestra musicians learnt to perform by listening to records and imitating them. With sheer enthusiasm and tenacity, they opened up a new horizon for professional Chinese orchestral music, building a sound foundation for its future development.
It is also worth noting that the soundtracks of wuxia (martial arts hero) movies from Hong Kong had a subtle influence on the many self-taught local musicians, igniting their interest in Chinese orchestral music. In fact, the main solution to overcoming the shortage of music scores was to slowly transcribe music by ear while listening to records or watching films in the cinema – note by note, phrase by phrase. Those who had the ability would attempt to create their own compositions and arrangements. This situation persisted till the end of the 1970s and the early 1980s, before it saw a gradual improvement.
The year 1968 marked a significant milestone for Chinese orchestral music in Singapore, where a National Theatre Company comprising the Singapore National Orchestra, Chinese Orchestra, Choir and Dance Company was established. Amongst them, the Chinese Orchestra was the first Chinese orchestra group in Singapore to pay its members an allowance. In 1969, the National Theatre Chinese Orchestra, under the baton of Cheng Ssu-sen (1943–1986), recorded Singapore’s first Chinese orchestral music album on a vinyl record. It was titled Guyue yingchun (Springtime Melodies), and comprised five pieces: Fengshou ge (Harvest Song), Guoqing (National Day) (also known as Sheqing [Community Celebrations]), Wushu (Martial Arts), Chungeng qu (Song of Spring Cultivation), and a guzheng solo Nao yuanxiao (Celebrating Yuanxiao).
The first-ever music competition in Singapore to include Chinese orchestral music was the RTS Talentime held by the local television station from 1968 to 1969. It sparked widespread interest in Chinese orchestral music. It was only later, in the 1970s, that Chinese orchestral music was featured in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Arts Presentation organised by the Ministry of Education.
The first time a local Chinese orchestra group went to Europe to perform was in 1970, where a youth orchestra formed by the Ministry of Education was invited to perform at the International Festival of Youth Orchestra held in Switzerland. Its members consisted of outstanding students selected from the Chinese orchestra groups of various secondary schools, and was conducted by Cheng Ssu-sen and Lee Suat Lien (1939–1989). The overseas trip was significant for multiple reasons — it not only broadened the young musicians’ outlook, but also inspired many of them to pick up western instruments and eventually pursue music as a career. Many of these musicians would go on to join professional orchestras like the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra (now known as the Singapore Chinese Orchestra) and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
On top of this landmark performance, the 1970s also witnessed two of the biggest events in the local Chinese orchestra scene. One, the establishment of the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra in 1974, and two, its being invited to perform at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1977. This performance is believed to have been the catalyst to the formation of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 1978. Between 1976 and 1977, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra, under the baton of Ng Tai Kong (1943–2001), recorded two vinyl albums: Yelin wuqu (Dance of the Coconut Grove) and Nishang yuyi qu (Yueh-er Kao).
Following the formation of the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra, many organisations like schools, community centres, clan associations, and radio stations started to form their own Chinese orchestra groups in the 1980s. Though a consensus on the contribution to Chinese orchestral music education has yet to be reached, it is undeniable that the SYF’s music competitions started since the 1970s have had a positive effect on the development and standards of Chinese orchestral music in Singapore.
As the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra gradually professionalised in the 1980s, so did the standards and repertoire of local Chinese orchestra groups, which began to catch up to those of their counterparts in Hong Kong and China. During this period, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra also collaborated with dance and theatre companies in their productions, giving birth to novel styles of music in compositions like Nüwa (Nü Wa), Xi Fangping (Xi Fangping), and Tang huang (Don Juan).
As the Ministry of Education began to pay more attention to the scene from the 1990s, Chinese orchestras in primary and secondary schools developed rapidly, with some capable of sophisticated performances on quality instruments (especially during the SYF) that rivalled those of professional orchestras.
In 1996, the People’s Association Chinese Orchestra went through restructuring to establish itself as a professional national orchestra. Renamed the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, it has since made a name for itself in the global music scene.
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During the colonial era, Chinese schools in Singapore held dual roles as community-run institutions and schools affiliated with overseas Chinese communities. The latter implied a strong connection between these schools and China, raising important questions about the national identity and affiliation of its students. As Singapore moved towards self-governance and independence, it was inevitable that the identity of Chinese schools would go through a major transformation.
In January 1949, Chang San Sheh (1898–1969) — a veteran in the Chinese cultural and educational community — published a series of articles in the newspapers urging local Chinese schools to maintain their identity as schools for overseas Chinese. Given that the majority of Singapore’s Chinese population still held Chinese citizenship at the time, Chang believed the objective of Chinese schools, “mostly founded by overseas Chinese associations”, was to “educate the children of overseas Chinese so that they might grow up to be good members of the local community and useful citizens of China upon their return home”.
He felt it was “necessary for the overseas Chinese to set up their own schools to educate their children abroad”, because “Chinese culture has a long history, and Chinese education is an independent and complete system in itself”. He also noted that “as of now, Chinese who plan to stay in (British) Malaya have either been there for generations, or have well-established careers. The rest are only here for the time being, and will return home once the circumstances allow for it. But even the former desires to send their children to Chinese schools, not to mention the latter”.
As such, Chang argued that it was necessary for Chinese schools to maintain their affiliation with overseas Chinese because the local government should respect the “independence and freedom of Chinese education” and “a people’s rights to choose their educational path”.1
A survey by Nan Chiau Jit Pao from March to June 1947 showed that Chang’s opinions were representative of the public sentiment. Of the more than 24,000 respondents polled on the “Future Political System of Malaya”, 95.6% were willing to become Malayan citizens “without giving up Chinese citizenship”. Only 3.1% were willing to do so if it meant renouncing their Chinese citizenship.2
This situation went through significant changes from the 1950s onwards. Apart from the state of international affairs, it was crucial that a growing sense of local identity had been developing as Singapore progressed towards self-governance and Malaya moved towards independence. In this context, the insistence on maintaining the affiliation between Chinese schools and overseas Chinese was increasingly losing its relevance, whereas the decision to develop Chinese schools into institutions that catered to the cultural and linguistic needs of Singapore Chinese had become imperative. It was time to abandon old concepts and beliefs to make way for the arrival of a new world.
These organisations also made the public aware of a new reality. With Singapore an autonomous state — where Chinese schools were a component of the state’s education system — the mission of those schools could no longer be to maintain the Chinese identity of the overseas Chinese. Rather, they should transform into Chinese schools that would “groom good citizens” for the new society, and provide “education in the mother tongue” of the local Chinese community.3
These appeals from mainstream forces within the Chinese education community played a definitive role in how Chinese schools adapted to the changing times, and ensured the smooth transformation of Chinese education in Singapore.
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In 1959, Singapore broke away from British colonial rule and became a self-governing state. The ruling People’s Action Party government wanted to treat all language streams equally, so it continued the existing policy of providing funding for schools of the various ethnic groups — as enacted by the previous Labour Front government.
In this way, Chinese education was able to enjoy a steady development. From 1957 to 1967, as many as 30% to 40% of Chinese parents across the country chose to enrol their children in Chinese schools.1
Singapore’s Chinese education was rooted in schools providing basic education. Before the Pacific War (1941–1945) broke out, there were already four Chinese secondary schools in Singapore. A few years after the war, another five were built. The foundation of the Chinese basic education system was thus complete.
But another problem appeared. There were not enough local higher-education institutions. Countless families did not know where to send their secondary school graduates for a university education.
Nanyang University was founded in 1955, and officially started classes in March 1956. Located in the western part of Singapore, it was touted as the only Chinese higher-education institution outside China. With the establishment of this new university, Singapore’s Chinese education system was complete. Alongside the English, Malay and Tamil-language schools, that collectively nurtured talents for the nation.
From the 1970s, enrolment in Chinese schools gradually declined each year. In 1967, Primary 1 enrolment in Chinese primary schools made up 33% of the Primary 1 cohort nationwide. By 1977, the number had dropped to 13.75%,2 and by 1983, had plummeted to less than 1%.3 This decline in student enrolment was also seen in the Malay and Tamil-stream schools.
On 10 February 1979, the Singapore government issued the Report on the Ministry of Education 1978 (also known as the “Goh Report”, after then-Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee who led the study). The immediate, direct goal of the report was to improve and enhance the bilingual teaching standards in Singapore’s schools. It also laid out a development plan for Singapore’s future education system. This plan introduced the New Education System which would replace the existing scenario where Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil language streams coexisted. The plan was far-reaching. It aimed to integrate the entire education landscape by setting up a unified model for all schools in Singapore. This advocated an education system which had English as a first language and mother tongues as a second language.
Under this new system, all students were required to achieve proficiency in English as a first language, which also served as the primary medium of instruction. At the same time, the system mandated that students of all ethnicities must study their respective mother tongues as a second language, but at a second-language proficiency level. This meant that Chinese students would study Chinese as a second language, Malay students would study Malay as a second language, and Indian students would study Tamil as a second language.
This important educational reform led to the discontinuation of ethnic language schools using their respective languages as the medium of instruction. Chinese-language schools, Malay-language schools, and Tamil-language schools ceased to exist in the form in which they had been known before. The language and cultural education that had been passed down in these schools, at a level equivalent to that of a first language, underwent a shift. It survived in the form of mother tongue courses taught as a separate subject — as a second language — as part of a unified educational model dominated by English. “Chinese education” thus evolved into “teaching the Chinese language”.
The final batch of students graduated from the Chinese-language-stream schools in 1986, marking the end of “Chinese education” in Singapore. While Chinese-language schools that used Chinese as the primary medium of instruction ceased to exist, the work of teaching students about Chinese language, culture, historical knowledge, and instilling Chinese thought and values did not stop. The task of transmitting Chinese culture was then taken on by Chinese language teaching in Singapore schools. Today, subjects such as Chinese Language, Higher Chinese and Primary Schools’ Civic Education continue to use Mandarin as the medium of instruction.
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Chinese education — by which we mean education in schools where Standard Chinese or Chinese dialects were the medium of instruction — existed in Singapore for nearly a century. It played an important role in improving the education levels, cultural development, and quality of life of the Chinese.
According to the Census of Population in 1920, for every 1,000 Chinese males in Singapore, Malacca, and Penang combined, only 59 were attending school. This meant that less than 6% of Chinese males at the time had the opportunity to receive an education. The proportion of educated females, as one might expect, was lower.1 This was the situation in the relatively developed areas of the Straits Settlements — education levels in other parts of British Malaya could possibly be much lower.
Fast forward to 1949, and approximately 70% of the more than 100,000 school-aged children in Singapore were enrolled in 319 Chinese-language schools. These schools were run by civilian organisations without any funding from the colonial government.
The hundreds of Chinese-language schools established all over the island offered general education to the masses before the authorities started to provide free primary education in the 1950s. They gave children from average and low-income households the opportunity to receive basic education. In the long interval in history before the government provided compulsory education, these schools took on the social responsibility of educating children.
The general education provided by Chinese-language schools opened up the minds of the local Chinese community, transforming their overall mindset and outlook on life.
In China at the beginning of the 20th century, the confluence of the Vernacular Language Movement (Baihuawen yundong) and the National Language Movement (Guoyu yundong) had an epochal impact. The former was advocating a new, unified written language, while the latter called for a common spoken language. The confluence of the two movements gave rise to the modern language of “I write what I speak”. It became a powerful education and communication tool that children and adults alike could easily master with reasonable effort in learning. The key role modern language played was enabling education for the masses. Widespread education provided everyone with the opportunity to acquire knowledge and immerse themselves in culture, which promoted class mobility and transformed society. Education was no longer limited to the rich and powerful.
Mandarin was the medium of instruction in local Chinese schools. Although the language originated from the northern part of China — and initially had little relation to the vast majority of Chinese in Singapore who were of southern China origin — education in Chinese schools allowed them to master this language, which was rapidly developing into the lingua franca of the Chinese community. Mandarin soon became the language used in the newspapers, magazines and books of the Chinese world to spread ideas and promote learning. Singapore’s local Chinese, who had mastered the language in Chinese schools, were able to absorb knowledge from those publications without difficulty. They could broaden their horizons and develop an understanding of the world — which promoted social mobility and transformed the community.
Moreover, Chinese education reinforced the collective identity of the Chinese community. In Singapore, the Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hainanese and Hakka immigrants formed communities so they might look out for their own — people with whom they shared geographical and blood ties. The colonial authorities’ strategy of “divide and rule” strengthened the clan structures in the Chinese community. However, Chinese schools standardised the medium of instruction, and Mandarin was able to transcend dialectal differences and clannishness to unify the Chinese community. Chinese education, as well as the mode of Chinese language education that followed, allowed the Chinese in Singapore to form a collective unit in society through a common mother tongue. They worked together with the Malays, Indians and Eurasians to make a new country home.
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As a part of Singapore’s Chinese cultural heritage, textbooks of Chinese-medium schools formed a significant aspect of the collective memory of Chinese who grew up during the colonial era and Singapore’s early nation-building years. Those who attended traditional private schools or new types of schools (also known as modern schools, xinshi xuetang) continue to hold deep memories of the early learning or modernised textbooks they studied.
Before new types of schools were founded, Singapore’s Chinese community was primarily educated through various forms of private schools. Located in homes, shops, temples, clan associations, or other rudimentary buildings, these schools did not have a fixed curriculum or clearly defined objectives. They also did not use standardised textbooks, but relied on teachers to decide what to teach. Common teaching content included traditional children’s texts like the Trimetric Classic, A Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic, along with arithmetic and calligraphy classes. More advanced students had the opportunity to study classics like the Four Books and Five Classics.
The first modern school in Singapore, founded in 1899, was the Singapore Chinese Girls’ School.1 Established by social elites such as Khoo Seok Wan (1874–1941) and Lim Boon Keng (1869–1957), it later evolved into an English-medium educational institution offering a curriculum that included Romanised Malay, Chinese, English, mathematics, history, geography, music, and sewing, and other modern subjects. From the early 20th century, Chinese-medium schools like Yeung Ching School (now Chongzheng Primary School), Kwong Chow School (now Yangzheng Primary School), Yin Sin School, Tuan Mong School, Tao Nan School, and Khee Fatt School (now Qifa Primary School) were established as part of an education system outside of China.2 The curriculum and textbooks used in these modern schools followed the goals and outlines stipulated in the school charter of the Qing government.
These textbooks were mainly produced by The Commercial Press and included texts like the Moral Education and the Chinese Language, along with books on abacus calculation, written calculation, history, geography, ethics, science, arts and crafts, music, and physical education. These textbooks aimed to inculcate various life values in students — such as respect for Confucian values, loyalty to the emperor, and public morality — that aligned with the political requirements of the late Qing government.
In 1912, the Republic of China was established by a Republican government. From the first year of the Republic of China to 1941, China faced both internal and external challenges, resulting in a highly unstable political environment. Major events during this period included the May Fourth Movement, the rebellion of the Northern Warlords, the Chinese Civil War between the Nationalists (Kuomintang) and the Communists, and the Japanese invasion, which impacted the educational policies and content of Chinese textbooks.
During this period, Singapore’s Chinese-medium schools primarily adopted textbooks by publishing companies in China that were designed for overseas Chinese-medium schools in Nanyang. As a result, the content of these textbooks was naturally influenced by political events in China and exhibited characteristics unique to their times. Some of the textbooks adopted by Chinese-medium schools were scrutinised and banned by the colonial government for containing anti-Japanese and anti-British content. For example, the British colonial government banned a number of anti-British textbooks in 1928. During the governorship of Cecil Clementi (1875–1947) from 1930 to 1934, the colonial government was even more strict in reviewing and banning textbooks of Chinese-medium schools. Between 1930 and 1935, it announced a list of banned textbooks almost every year. In 1935 alone, the colonial government banned 84 textbooks and teaching reference books from 16 publishers.3
The majority of textbooks used in Chinese-medium schools in Singapore and throughout Southeast Asia before World War II were imported from China. These textbooks were primarily written by Chinese intellectuals and educators and published by Chinese publishing houses in Shanghai, such as The Commercial Press, Chung Hwa Book Company, and World Book Company. The textbooks they compiled covered various subjects at the primary, middle, and senior-middle school levels, including Chinese language, moral education, history, geography, general knowledge, civics, health, arithmetic, physics, chemistry, and biology.4 These books were popular throughout Southeast Asia. Books such as the eight-volume Selected Chinese Texts, edited by Song Wenhan (1894–1971) from the Chung Hwa Book Company, and High School Chinese by Song and Zhang Wenzhi (1898–1956) were widely adopted by local Chinese-medium schools and made a significant impact on education here. These textbooks aimed to impart new knowledge in various disciplines and cultivate the character of Chinese nationals, and catered to Chinese students in China. As for Chinese-medium schools outside of China, especially in Southeast Asia, textbooks known as “textbooks suitable for use by overseas Chinese in Nanyang” were mostly modified from those by Shanghai-based publishers, namely the Chung Hwa edition of New Curriculum Standard Textbook and The Commercial Press edition of Reviving Educational Textbook series. The adapted textbooks were similar in content to those used in China.
China’s monopoly on textbooks continued until 1936, when several major bookstores established by local Chinese businessmen, including Nanyang book Company, Chung Hing Publishing Company, Shanghai Book Company, and the World Book Company, began publishing a series of localised textbooks.
In the early post-war period, Chinese-medium schools in Singapore experienced a rapid resurgence, but faced a shortage of textbooks. Civil war and social instability in China from 1946 to 1949 had greatly affected the supply of Chinese-medium books and textbooks to Southeast Asia. To address the shortage,5 Shanghai Book Company in Singapore gathered a group of scholars and educators — who had taken refuge in Southeast Asia during the war and were familiar with the local situation – to compile a series of Nanyang-based Shanghai Modern Series textbooks. The World Book Company also published the World Book Series Nanyang textbooks, while Nanyang Bookstore released Nanyang Series textbooks. With their strong local flavour and rich Southeast Asian content, these textbooks were not only adopted by local schools, but also gained popularity in other regional cities. The books came to be known generally as the Singapore imprints of “Nanyang textbooks”.
The World Book Company and Nanyang Bookstore in Singapore also embarked on the editing and publication of Nanyang textbooks. One notable feature of these textbooks was their stronger emphasis on local content and issues compared with “textbooks suitable for use by overseas Chinese in Nanyang” series.
The political landscape in Singapore and Malaya underwent significant changes in the early post-war years. British Malaya saw developments such as political demands from the Malayan Communist Party, the spread of Malay nationalism, and the formation of the Federation of Malaya. As the focus on politics grew, so did nationalist movements. Beyond the region, the Communist Party of China had come into power, and the ideological Cold War between Eastern and Western political blocs was building up. Consequently, the educational content and textbooks for Chinese-medium schools shifted from ethnic education to local politics, giving rise to a push for the “Malayanisation” of textbooks.
The movement referred to a new education system established by the British colonial government and the transitional autonomous governments to rein in the development of vernacular schools (mainly Chinese-medium schools) and promote English education. This was done through the revision of textbooks for Chinese-medium schools, by reducing or eliminating Chinese nationalist content in pre-war textbooks, and introducing localised content to instil in students a sense of loyalty to their place of residence. In essence, the Malayanisation of textbooks was to exert governmental control over textbook content through a committee responsible for setting subject curriculum standards and overseeing textbook compilation, approval, publication, and adoption.6
In 1951, the Federation of Malaya government invited two educationists, William P. Fenn (1903–1993), an expert in higher education in China, and United Nations official, Wu Teh Yao (1915–1994), to conduct a survey of Chinese education in Malaya. They published a report known as the Fenn-Wu Report on Chinese schools and the education of Chinese Malayans, which initiated the Malayanisation of textbooks.
In 1953, the first set of Malayanised textbooks, the United Publishing House’s Chinese Language (Guoyu), was introduced. Subsequently, until 1956, other versions of Malayanised textbooks appeared on the market, including Shanghai Book Company’s Modern Series, the World Book Company’s World Series, The Commercial Press and Chung Hwa Book Company’s Chung Hwa–Commercial Series, Nanyang Bookstore’s Nanyang Series, and the United Publishing House Series. These textbooks covered various subjects, including language, mathematics, and science, and they were based on the curriculum standards developed by the education ministries of Singapore and Malaya. Their content focused on the fusion of Chinese and Malayan cultures and aimed to foster loyalty to the local political system.
During Singapore’s early independent years, approximately 170,000 students attended Chinese-medium schools. Apart from learning English as a second language, all the other subjects were taught in Chinese. The market for textbooks in Chinese attracted not only the five major publishing houses but also other publishers, resulting in a diverse array of publications. After 1979, when schools from the four language streams were integrated into one unified model with English as the medium of instruction, textbooks in Chinese were reduced to only one: the subject-based Chinese Language (huawen) textbooks. Textbooks, along with the decline of Chinese-medium education, eventually became a part of history.
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In the 19th century, the Chinese in Singapore mainly sent their children to private or free public schools, where they were taught subjects such as the Chinese script, the Four Books and Five Classics, zhusuan (knowledge and practice of performing arithmetic calculations using an abacus) and ethics. Such education aimed to develop their language, communication, life, and business skills, as well as impart and preserve traditional Chinese culture.
In the early 20th century, China experienced massive political changes. After the Republic of China was established, the new government was committed to promoting education and imparting knowledge to the masses. It imported modern educational systems from the West and encouraged intellectuals to compile modern textbooks for various subjects. Publishing houses like The Commercial Press, Chung Hwa Book Company, World Book Company, and Kai Ming Book Company began investing resources and introducing an eclectic variety of new textbooks for various subjects. They provided textbooks for use in secondary and primary schools, both within China and to overseas Chinese-medium schools (qiaoxiao). These textbooks covered a range of subjects, including Chinese language and literature, self-cultivation, history, geography, general knowledge, civics, health, arithmetic, physics, chemistry, and biology.1
In Singapore and Malaysia, seven major libraries have a collection of textbooks adopted by Chinese-medium schools in this region before World War II. These textbooks were compiled in compliance with the course outline and educational purpose issued by China’s Ministry of Education during different periods. They were titled under different series names, such as Republican Textbooks, New System Chinese Textbooks, Newly Edited Chinese Textbooks, New Curriculum Standard Textbooks, and Reviving Textbooks.2 The material selection and teaching objectives of these textbooks under different series were closely linked to the social conditions of different periods in China, and bore the imprint of the times.
From 1912 to 1928, the publication of textbooks in Republican China flourished. Countless members of the Chinese elite and experts devoted themselves to the work of compiling textbooks. Working under the banner of publishing houses like The Commercial Press and Chung Hwa Book Company, they translated or compiled a variety of modern textbooks to promulgate modern knowledge (i.e. science), new ideologies (i.e. freedom, democracy, and human rights), and perspectives on life and the world to students in China and overseas Chinese-medium schools. These textbooks had a profound influence on the students. The May Fourth Movement, an anti-imperialist political movement which swept across China and Southeast Asia in 1919, arose as a direct result of these early learning textbooks.
One of the significant effects of the May Fourth Movement was the adoption of vernacular Chinese (baihuawen) and the inclusion of children’s literature in textbooks from Republican China. One characteristic of the textbooks in the 1920s and 1930s was the use of simple children’s literature as the norm in primary school Chinese textbooks. For example, in the 1930s textbook Primary School Chinese Language Reader, many lesson texts were written in the form of catchy nursery rhymes, fables, jokes, and stories. Not only were they easy to read and remember, they were also full of wit and humour, and were hence deeply imprinted in the minds of students. The following piece titled “Starry Sky”, exemplifies the type of wholesome and engaging content that was included in those textbooks:
Like copper nails on bluestone slabs
Countless they are
Stars in the sky, sparkling bright
Like many fairies blinking
Twinkling until the dawn breaks3
Before World War II, the Chinese community in Singapore and Malaya were deeply influenced by the textbooks they read, which shaped their perspectives on life, worldview, and values. They were taught to be upright individuals who were patriotic towards China and the Chinese people. These textbooks also nurtured a passionate group of young people with strong anti-colonial and anti-imperial sentiments. By the early 1930s, some Chinese textbooks imported from China had already introduced specialised “textbooks suitable for use by overseas Chinese in Nanyang” intended for use in overseas Chinese-medium schools in Southeast Asia, a prelude to the localisation of textbooks.
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Chinese community organisations in Singapore have endured for over 200 years. Over the course of their rich and complex history, they have often been successful at adapting to the times.
The first Chinese junk that came to Singapore directly from Xiamen set sail on 18 February 1821, marking the beginning of mass migration of Chinese from the coastal regions of China to Southeast Asia. From the 1820s, two major groups of Chinese immigrants could be found in Singapore. The group that travelled to Singapore on Chinese junks originated from the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong. Most of them were labourers or skilled workers such as carpenters. The better-educated ones worked as letter writers, clerks, or taught in private schools. The other group of Chinese immigrants was made up of merchants from Malacca who had ancestral roots in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian. They were mostly already well-connected internationally, and had solid economic foundations, giving them an advantage over other scattered immigrants who had come from various places. By the mid-19th century, Singapore’s Chinese community had taken shape with the two waves of immigrants who would eventually influence its development in a profound way.
Since immigrants who had newly arrived were unfamiliar with the island and had no network of their own, they had to rely on fellow clansmen for livelihood-related matters. This led to the formation of clan associations, as it was necessary for people to band together to support each other in order to survive. According to inscriptions on the monument erected for the reconstruction of Ying Fo Kun in 1844, mutual assistance was a priority for those who travelled to a distant country. Having a place to live in was most important when it came to settling down in foreign lands.
However, very few of these immigrants succeeded in making a fortune, and many lived in abject poverty and died in foreign lands. According to the Heng San Teng Tablet of 1830, in order to provide a resting place for those overseas Chinese who had died in a foreign land, See Hoot Kee (1793–1847), a leading figure in the Hokkien community at that time, founded the Heng San Teng, which was mainly responsible for handling the funerals and sacrifices of these overseas Chinese from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, and for managing the cemeteries of the Hokkien community. Heng San Teng not only served the function of a burial ground, but also served other social functions, where formal gatherings and deliberations of the clan were held. It was the most prominent institution of the Hokkien community in the early years of modern Singapore. See Hoot Kee went on to formalise and institutionalise the management of cemeteries, and the rules and regulations created in 1836 during his tenure as chief director had set a precedent for the management of Chinese temples.
Other dialect communities established their own cemeteries too. For example, the Cantonese and Hakka communities founded Cheng San Teng and Loke Yah Teng, while the Teochew community had Tai Shan Ting. During the colonial period when welfare systems were not well-established, the traditional concept of “honouring one’s ancestors” had held the Chinese community together, which shouldered the responsibility of taking care of the disadvantaged members of the community of each dialect group through the management of such communal cemeteries.
As society progressed, Heng San Teng could no longer meet the needs of the times. When Thian Hock Keng Temple was completed in 1842, it replaced Heng San Teng as the leading institution of the Chinese community in Singapore. See Hoot Kee’s role as leader of the Singapore Chinese society was then transferred, without any conflict, to Tan Tock Seng (1798–1850), then-chief director of Thian Hock Keng Temple. Tan, who served the Hokkien community through the temple, was best known for donating 7,000 dollars of his own money for the establishment of Tan Tock Seng Hospital in 1844. The hospital provided medical services to the general public, regardless of race or ethnicity, thus benefiting the entire Singapore society.
Clan associations were established to meet people’s basic material and cultural needs, serve as centres for communication, and unite their clansmen. Other than addressing issues related to employment and accommodation, the associations were involved in caring for the sick, conducting marriage and funeral ceremonies, resolving disputes, maintaining discipline and order, running hospitals and schools, and initiating charitable projects. With the changing of times, these clan associations have developed a high degree of social role, which was reflected more prominently in the played as bastions of culture.
The Chinese community was clearly enthusiastic about education in those early years. Clan associations set up a slew of schools, including Chongwen Ge and Chui Eng Si E (also known as Chui Eng Free School), the first private Chinese schools in Singapore, which were founded by Tan Kim Seng (1805–1864) in 1849 and 1854 respectively; Ying Xin School, by Hakka clan association Ying Fo Fui Kun in 1905; Yock Eng High School, by Kiung Chow Hwee Kuan in 1910; Yeung Ching School (now Yangzheng Primary School), by the Cantonese community in 1905; and Tuan Mong School, by Ngee Ann Kongsi in 1906.
In 1919, members of several communities came together to set up the first Chinese secondary school in Singapore, The Chinese High School. While Chinese education had had a century-long history in Singapore by then, the education system was still incomplete as it comprised only primary and secondary schools, and the wish for access to higher education and deeper culture had yet to be realised. The Chinese in Singapore and Malaya were determined to start a university with Chinese language as the main medium of instruction. In 1955, the Nanyang University was established as Southeast Asia’s first Chinese institution of higher education, after Tan Lark Sye (1897–1972), then-chairman of Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, had mooted the idea. The founding of the university marked the pinnacle of Chinese community-run education institutions in Singapore.
The purchase and construction of property has been a common practice throughout the development of Chinese community organisations, laying the economic foundation for their long-term survival.
The Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan in Telok Ayer Street is one example. In the 1950s, then- chairman Tan Lark Sye and businessman Lee Kong Chian (1893–1967) each donated 200,000 dollars to build a six-storey building for the association on the land opposite Thian Hock Keng Temple. In 2003, this six-storey property was rebuilt as an eight-storey commercial building, which was then extensively upgraded in 2021 before being opened for leasing.
Another example is the Ee Hoe Hean Club, a heritage building that is strategically located in Chinatown, reflecting the foresight of the pioneers who bought the property.
Over the years, leaders of the Chinese community in Singapore have invested in real estate to finance their community organisations — supporting the development of these associations, and ensuring that they continue to flourish.
The key to the survival of Chinese community organisations over the years is their ability to adapt to the times, making changes to their organisational structures and roles to remain relevant. A seminar on the Chinese clan associations on 2 December 1984, as well as the establishment of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations (SFCCA) in the mid-1980s broke the silence that had characterised the clan associations for many years. Today’s Chinese community organisations continue to evolve with the times, transforming themselves into bastions of culture with the mission of preserving Chinese culture.
Under the leadership of SFCCA, Chinese community organisations have kept pace with the times in recent decades, establishing the Chinese Heritage Centre, jointly starting the Chinese Language and Culture Fund, producing television programmes, and creating a comprehensive digital mobile app “SFCCA IMMP”. These initiatives promote Chinese culture, and also help new immigrants to integrate into Singapore society.
Chinese community organisations are a significant social force, and the clan associations that have been revitalised from the transformation will continue to shoulder their historical tasks and become the mainstay of the Singapore Chinese community by adapting to the needs of the times in their future development.