THE Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan shares the same origins as the 170-year-old Thian Hock Keng Temple in Telok Ayer Street, where early settlers from Fujian province paid homage and gave thanks to Mazu, the goddess of the seas, after their journey from China.
Preserved as a national monument since 1973, the temple was the meeting place for new Hokkien immigrants or xinke, as they were known in the old days.
Right from the start, the temple elders operated a clan association of sorts, providing much welcome help to the community and giving medical help, food and shelter to the homeless. They were the de facto leaders of the Chinese community, serving beyond the needs of their clansmen and helping to settle disputes among the different dialect groups.
In fact, the commemorative stele on the walls of the temple marking its establishment in 1840 uses the term tang ren (Chinese people) instead of min ren (Hokkien people) and calls it a 'meeting place of Chinese clan associations'.
The clan association was formally named Thian Hock Keng Hokkien Huay Kuan in 1916.
In the early 20th century, it tracked events in China closely and actively supported the 1911 Revolution that overthrew 267 years of Manchu rule and led to the formation of the Chinese Republic.
The association was registered as Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, a non-profit organisation under the Companies Act, only in 1937 after community leader and philanthropist Tan Kah Kee became its president.
It took over all properties belonging to the temple, which included five primary schools, a secondary school and a vast expanse of cemetery land. Today, it has assets worth more than $300 million.
When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, the clan leaders, notably Mr Tan Kah Kee, helped to raise funds to fight against the aggressors together with other Chinese community organisations here.
The Hokkien Huay Kuan made its mark in local history when its leader, Mr Tan Lark Sye, rallied the Chinese community here and elsewhere behind the building of Nanyang University.
Founded in 1953, it became the first and only Chinese-language university in South-east Asia. This allowed Chinese-medium students to pursue higher education after the communist takeover of China in 1949.
Under Mr Tan Lark Sye's leadership, the clan association donated 212ha of land in Jurong for the construction of the university. People from all walks of life - trishaw riders and dance hostesses to tycoons and shopkeepers - filled the coffers.
In later years, Nantah, as it is known, suffered falling enrolment as a result of changes in government education policies, which did away with Chinese-medium schools and made English the main language of instruction.
In 1980, the university merged with the then-University of Singapore to become the National University of Singapore.
'Mr Tan Lark Sye was one of our most dedicated leaders who gave himself for the cause of the Chinese community,' says Mr Chua Thian Poh, the new Hokkien Huay Kuan's president.
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/Insight/Story/STIStory_563104.html
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