Remembering Tan Chin Nam

This story appeared in the Star2 section of The Star newspaper on 30 Oct 2018 (but not online). Below is the original unedited version with additional pictures taken of Dato Tan through the years. [UPDATE: The online version of this story has now appeared in The Star here.]

The text message came in at 6.14pm. Sent by See Swee Sie, President of the Penang Chess Association (PCA), it read: "It is with great sadness that I inform you, though you most probably already know.  Dato Tan has passed away." Barely five minutes later, my good friend in Kuala Lumpur, Hamid Majid, texted me: "It is with sadness, that I announce the passing away of Honorary Life President Dato Tan Chin Nam at 4:30 today, Sunday, 21 Oct 2018."

Photo credit: Khong Wai Cheong

I felt devastated. I had dreaded the day when he would pass away and with each passing year of the Malaysia Chess Festival, I became more certain that the moment would happen soon, if not later. After all, he was already 92 years old this year. Yet, when it happened on 21 Oct 2018 at 4.30pm, the news floored me.

I made a few telephone calls to Hamid and Swee Sie but there was not much of additional information from them. Hamid said the family was making final arrangements soon. Nothing more I could do but wait. That night even as I went for the Old Frees Association annual dinner in Kuala Lumpur, my thoughts were far away.

Caught smiling after winning the Melbourne Cup in 2008

I first met him in 1974. At that time, he was just plain Tan Chin Nam but already a well-respected property developer. Of course, being a mere 20-year-old at that time, I didn't know much of this man. Who was he, I had asked silently at that time, that wanted to start the new Malaysian Chess Federation to take over from the defunct Chess Association of Malaysia? Anyway, I was down in Kuala Lumpur with the then first PCA president, Fang Ewe Churh, to attend that inaugural meeting of the Federation, and got to know him.

It has been 44 years. That's a very long time. If ever I was in Kuala Lumpur for a stretch of several days, I would try to fit in a visit to him at his office or his former home at Desa Kudalari. Initially built to look over the Selangor Turf Club – horse racing was one of his other great passions in life – his condominium unit later commanded a grand view of the KLCC Twin Towers.

Once, he invited me to his home for "some games of chess" but before we even played a single game he excused himself first because he needed his afternoon nap. So there I was, enjoying the grand view from his balcony while he slept in his reclining chair in the living room.

While he was still able to travel around for corporate meetings in Penang in the 1990s and 2000s, I would meet him with my chess board. In between chess games, he would ask me about the progress of chess in Penang. He really took a very keen interest in the affairs of the association. If we needed any money for chess activities in Penang, we looked no further than his company on the island. He would ask me to go see his niece and present my proposal to her. And occasionally, I'd buy some local street food to share with him. Once I brought some Penang chee cheong fun which he attacked with gusto.

Photo credit: Khong Wai Cheong

Tan celebrated his 80th birthday in March 2006. It was a grand affair at the Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Each of his guests was presented with a copy of his memoirs, Never Say I Assume! They were all pre-signed copies as it would have been impossible for him to sign them all on the spot. He called me over. "Seng Sun, give me your book," he told me and I duly handed it over. Then in his shaky handwriting – he was already suffering from Parkinson's – he added the words, "Dear Seng Sun my good friend of 32 years."

In the last few years of his life, he had been sickly. About five years ago, he suffered a fall which restricted his movements. For several years, he gamely tried to continue walking but later gave it up and remained largely confined to a wheelchair. He had his good days and bad days, according to his personal secretary. When I visited him at his house last year, I was forewarned that he might not be awake. True enough, he never stirred from his bed the whole time I was there.

This year, I was lucky. Tan was lucid enough to turn up at the closing ceremony of the Malaysia Chess Festival. But I could see the fatigue in his eyes. Like always, everyone milled around him, everyone greeted him and he acknowledged them back with a stare, sometimes with a nod. But he never spoke. And that was the very last time I met him. Eight weeks later, Tan was gone from this earth.

On the morning of the 22nd of October, his obituary appeared in the newspapers. I told Swee Sie that I shall have to go to the funeral home to pay my last respects on Monday even though the obituary notice said that the wakes would be opened to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday.

So I turned up at the Xiao En Centre in Cheras on Monday afternoon. Of course, nobody was there yet. There were no guests, no family members, just two representatives from Xiao En. There were rows and rows of chairs and meanwhile, their staff was still preparing the ballroom. Tan's body was in the holding room, I was informed, while I talked to the Xiao En people. And then suddenly, one of them turned to me and made an incredible offer, "Come follow me. I can give you some private moments with Dato."

I duly followed her to the holding room and thus there I was, standing beside the Big House and looking down at the most serene Dato Tan Chin Nam, dressed in a light blue shirt with yellow tie and a dark jacket, and having his final rest. "Goodbye," I mouthed silently, "I'm going to miss you."

Realising objectives (part one)

I must say with some satisfaction that my objectives in visiting Kuala Lumpur earlier this week were all achieved, even with a last-minute change of plans included.

The main reason for my trip to Kuala Lumpur was to give support to my nephew, Adrian Khaw, who would be at his convocation ceremony in the University of Malaya on Monday. He had graduated with a First Class degree in Accountancy and his mother, my wife's younger sister, had invited us to follow her down.

That was the reason why I had to give the annual dedication service to Robert Sparke Hutchings and the Penang Free School Speech Day a miss on the 21st of October, not to mention too The Old Frees' Association dinner in Penang in the evening. I would be driving down to Kuala Lumpur and I needed a clear head in order to do so. Especially after having attended a long wedding dinner, followed by a long drive home, the night before.

But there was a snag. My nephew informed us several weeks ago that he was unable to get me a ticket into the Dewan Tunku Chancellor. The University allowed only two guests per graduand into the hall and we were more than two. No problem, I told him. I can stay away and let his mum and aunt (my wife) attend. I can make some alternate plans to keep myself occupied.

So on the 21st morning, we set off from Bukit Mertajam. Did a detour into Ipoh for lunch at the popular Thean Chun coffee shop in the middle of town where we discovered a satay stall offering the meanest selection of skewered delectables.

Yummy! The skewered pieces of pork liver were truly out of this world. In fact, I haven't encountered any other satay stall that offered this. Even their skewered pieces of pig intestines were fantabulous. Truly memorable! We also ordered the coffee shop's special egg custard but despite all the raves which other people had given it, I would say that it was nothing rather special. Smooth though it was, it was also too sweet for my liking. Of course, this wasn't the first time that I had stopped at Thean Chun. In my previous visit, I had tried the curry mee there as well as the Ipoh koay teow soup. But like the egg custard, nothing really special. Only the satay was nice enough for me.

On the 21st night at 7.30pm, I turned up at the Pullman Bangsar where I had received an invitation to the Old Frees Association Kuala Lumpur & Selangor annual dinner. As this was the first time I was attending their dinner, I did not quite know what to expect except that it was going to start late. But never mind, I was prepared to be there at 7.30pm and see who I could recognise there. Surely, among the OFA KLS crowd, there would be someone that I knew.

And true enough, I bumped into Azril Aziz whom I've known since the Bicentenary two years ago (he came out with the postcards), Kok Ghee and Rohayah who were my former colleagues from JobStreet (Rohayah was the sister of the organising chairman for this dinner BUT was from St George's Girls' School) ... and surprise of surprise, Anuar (Mat Hitam) and Idris Mohd Kassim from my Ban Hin Lee Bank days.

I could remember Anuar instantly when we met but it took a while of talking and probing before Idris and I realised that we both had come from similar backgrounds! After that, we were new-found fast friends. It was in the late 70s that he worked in Ban Hin Lee Bank's Bayan Baru Branch.

But did I meet any of my schoolmates there? Yes, I did. There were only three of them while I had expected more to turn up. But very, very sad to say,0 these three might as well be strangers to me. We hardly clicked. Though I was a guest from Penang, they hardly talked to me. Real disappointment but not something for me to dwell on for long. Frankly, I wasn't bothered much by the aloofness. There were far more friendlier people in the hall than the three of them. People like Shun Ming who, though not an Old Free was an invited guest to the function. People like Ivan Ooi from the OFA KLS management committee who was surprised but glad to see me at their dinner in Kuala Lumpur. And people like Hafiz Hashim who had invited me to join him at his table. Thank you, Hafiz.

The dinner started way after nine o'clock, no thanks to the presence of royalty. The Raja of Perlis is, of course, a distinguished Old Free and as the Guest of Honour, his presence perked up the evening. But by and large, everybody were immersed in their own world and revelry, chattering with their own schoolmates, to care much anything else. The dinner also included a book launch of Hafiz's book by the Raja of Perlis, and the screening of a 10-minute documentary trailer about Penang Free School. 

TO BE CONTINUED......

NEVER a Missionary school

The above news story appeared in The Star newspaper on 22 Oct 2018.

I can't speak about the other legacy schools in the country but the one unique feature of Penang Free School is that the tomb of the school's founder can be located in the city of its establishment. In the case of the Free School, the heritage Protestant Cemetery in Northam Road (Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah) is the resting place of Revd Robert Sparke Hutchings. He died of malaria in 1827. His whole family was then staying at his acquired home in Mt Elvira, Penang Hill, which he had named after his wife.

The present unbroken tradition of holding a memorial service at Hutchings' tomb began in 1948 after the Second World War. It was an initiative of the then Headmaster, Dennis Roper.

There is a bit more to add to the story this year. Yesterday afternoon, I was contacted by The Star to get background information on the visit to Hutchings' tomb. They wanted to know whether Penang Free School and by extension, Hutchings (Secondary) School, were missionary schools.

Of course, I told them an emphatic NO. Told them that just because Hutchings was a clergyman, it did not mean that he founded a missionary school in Penang Free School. The School Charter, also known as Hutchings' Original Plan, must be studied closely to ascertain the truth. And the truth is, the Free School has never been a missionary school right from Day One.

I take great pains to point out to people that the ninth point of the Original Plan had spelt out clearly "that great care be taken that the prejudices of Parents averse to the Christian Religion, be not by any means violated." That is to say, religion must not be rammed down the throats of the boys of the Free School.

Except for Hutchings, the Committee that was appointed by the Governor in Council to study the Original Plan consisted of Robert Ibbetson, Capt John Monckton Coombs, Capt John MacInnes, James Carnegy, David Brown and Richard Caunter, who were all prominent members of the European community in the Prince of Wales' Island at that time, and none among them holding ecclesiastical or theological office in any of the Catholic, Methodist or Anglican churches on the island. In fact, the first Anglican Church anywhere in the peninsula, the Church of St George the Martyr (or more popularly known as the St George's Church in Farquhar Street) was only established three years later in 1819. This church will be celebrating their own Bicentenary next year.

From Day One too when the Prince of Wales' Island Free School opened its doors to 25 boys on 21 Oct 1816, none of the school's succession of early Superintendents - William Cox, David Churcher, George Porter, William Anchant, John Colson Smith, Bruton and Fitzgerald - or later known as Headmasters, from John Clark and George Griffin onwards, were clergymen either.

So, NO, the Free School was never a missionary school and it will never be. It will remain a FREE school...free of race and religious prejudices. As for Hutchings School, suffice for me to mention that NO, it is not a missionary school either. But the explanation will have to wait till another time.

Note: All these facts can be checked easily from the book, Let the Aisles Proclaim, which was published by the Yayasan Penang Free School in conjunction with the School's Bicentenary celebrations in 2016. The book costs RM100 and is available from the Penang House of Music on Level Four of the KOMTAR Podium in Penang, Areca Books in Acheen Street (Lebuh Aceh), Gerak Budaya in Pitt Street (Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling) or by mail order.

Dato' Tan Chin Nam, b 1926, d 2018

PFS Co-curricular day

I'll be missing this year's Penang Free School's Speech Day and the annual dinner of The Old Frees' Association as I shall be in Kuala Lumpur for the convocation ceremony of my nephew. Which would be considered a more important occasion: the annual Speech Day and OFA Dinner, or my nephew's once-in-a-lifetime convocation? It goes without saying which is more important to me. Hence, my absence this Sunday.

But by a quirk of luck this year, I managed to find time to attend the School's Co-curricular Day on 18 Oct 2018. My first time attending this event, although I've been invited to it for the past seven years. But you must come this year, insisted the Headmaster, Omar b Abdul Rashid. So I went. With my camera. Despite the heavy rain in the morning. Soggy grounds, due to the rain but the show must go on. So we waited until the heavens eased up on the precipitation.

Hari Kokurikulum, as they would call it officially. This is the day when the School's uniform bodies put out a display for all to see. A march past of the 1st Georgetown (South) Scouts, 7th Georgetown (South) Scouts, 8yj Georgetown (South) Scouts, 4th Ranger Units, Boys' Brigade, Civil Defence Cadet Corps, Youth Cadet Corps, Police Cadet and Red Crescent (Unit 25), led by the School Band. Also displays by the Karate and Taekwon-do Clubs. Both Taekwon-do clubs, the GTF and the WTF.





Then back we trooped to the Pinhorn Hall. There was a small exhibition by the clubs and societies to showcase their achievements at state, national and international levels. I met several of our Leadership workshop participants. Of course, it was a thrill to meet him. A greater thrill when they recognised you and greeted you. Getting closer to the School definitely makes you feel younger again, well, at least emotionally.

Syed Mohamad Aidid was in his element, speaking off the cuff and extolling the School to say "I love you." Next came the cultural displays on the stage by members of the Chinese Cultural Society (Chinese drums), Indian Cultural Society (Indian dance) and the Malay Cultural Society (Boria), followed by a drumline demostration and a rendition of four popular songs by the School Band. Then finally, the most boring part of any programme but a necessity, the presentation of awards to the various co-curricular activity achievers. That brought the curtain down on a wet but largely interesting morning.

The original Green House

The Green House, reachable from the Middle Station of Penang Hill, used to be the hillside retreat of a well-known Penang businessman, Ong Keng Swee. The place had been more or less abandoned for decades until its recent attempt at rehabilitation into a meditation centre. Due to its present condition, much has still to be done before the Green House, otherwise now known as the Passadhi Meditation Centre, can be fully restored. Below are several pictures taken during my recent trip there.

The Middle Station of the Penang Hill Railway. Trains will stop there either on the half hour or the hour.

The only access to the Green House is along this track...

...passing by this building.

And here we see the Lower Bungalow, part of the Green House estate

It is quite obvious that the wooden platform is near collapse and unsafe to walk on

Another view of the wooden platform

Going further up the steps will take you to the Upper Bungalow, still within the Green House estate

Breath-taking view of George Town below

This space above the Upper Bungalow used to be a basketball court until Mother Nature took over

The steps that connect the Upper and Lower Bungalows

And these are the steps that separate the Green House estate from the neighbours

Looking out towards the Penang Bridge and beyond to Province Wellesley

Grafftti in the Lower Bungalow, left behind by the Penang Free School Class of 1985 (Form Five) when they camped here in the 80s 

Patricia Goh and Leong Guan Gin, whoever you are, please come back to clean up your grafitti

This guy too, whoever you are!

Heritage tiles in the Lower Bungalow

The steps behind the Lower Bungalow

The roof of the Upper Bungalow desperately needs an immediate repair job

Quah Beng Kee

The New Straits Times of 24 Sep 2018 carried an interesting article about Penang's ferry services and the part played by an entrepreneur, Quah Beng Kee (b 1872, d 1952), in its early years.

But who was Quah Beng Kee? In the book, Biographical Dictionary of the Chinese in Malaysia and Biographical Dictionary of Mercantile Personalities of Penang, it was written that he was born in Penang in 1872 and his ancestors came from Ding Wei Hou Ke She Zhuang Jiang Village in Tung-an district, Fujien province of China.

Quah Beng Kee, OBE, JP

On leaving the Free School in 1891, he worked two years in Behn Meyer & Co and then with his four brothers, established Beng Brothers, a shipping and commission agency. When the firm dissolved in 1903, he started the first ferry service between the island and the mainland. He next founded Guan Lee Hin Steamship Company with his brothers which turned into a joint stock company in 1908 and became known as Eastern Shipping Company. Its ships carried the coastal trade along Burma, Siam, Sumatra and Singapore. 

Beng Kee became Managing Director of Eastern Shipping Company Ltd which was capitalised at $1.4 million, employed 1,500 men and owned 40 small steamers. The most important were the SS Alma (1,500 tons), Rotorua (950 tons) and Pin Sing (700 tons). The company operated its own shipbuilding and repair yards equipped with modern machinery in an 18-acre site. He also had interests in various European and Asian companies including Teik Lee Guan & Co with Khaw Joo Tok and Tan Soon Ee as partners. 

He had considerable private interests in rubber, coconut and tin mining. He owned the Penang Meiha Rubber Plantations and Otaheite Estate in the Sungai Nibong area. He was a lessee of Brown's coconut estate and proprietor of Pinang Foundry that produced equipment for tin mining. He was also the managing agent of the Government liner which ran requisitioned steamers in 1918-1919, rice distributing agent of the Food Control Department in 1919-1921, director of Government rice mills at Bagan Serai and Kuala Kurau, Penang agent of the Federated Malay States Government Rice Mill, director of Amalgamated Amusements Ltd and Criterion Press, chairman of Straits Echo and adviser of Great Eastern Assurance Company of Singapore. 

As his abilities were acceptable to the colonial state, he was often called upon to serve in various capacities. Thus, in public life, he was Municipal Commissioner of George Town (1902 to 1918), Straits Settlements Legislative Councillor (1926 to 1929), made Justice of the Peace in 1910 and conferred the OBE on 1 Jan 1923 for services in connection with the shipping industry of the port.  He was a member of Penang Harbour Board (first General Manager), Licensing Board, Chinese Advisory Board, Volunteer Advisory Board, District Hospital Committee, Po Leong Kok Committee and Town Band Committee. He was co-founder, vice-president (1907 to 1912) and president (1912 to 1916) and trustee (1920 to 1952) of Penang Chinese Town Hall, trustee of Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Po Leong Kok Committee, Penang United Hokkien Chinese Cemeteries, Lam Wah Ee Hospital and Chinese Quarantine Camp, president and trustee of Swee Cheok Tong (Seh Quah Kongsi) (pre-1928 to 1952), president of Straits Chinese British Association (1925 to 1927). 

He was also a patron of Chinese education. He was a trustee of Chung Hwa High School, Hu Yew Seah Girls' School, Hu Yew Seah Literary Association and Chinese Mandarin School. He was vice-president of The Old Frees' Association and Fellow of the Royal Society of Art and the Royal Meteorological Society.

The New Straits Times story filled in the information about Beng Kee's involvement in the ferry service, which I'd like to extract and reproduce here below:

BIRTH OF THE FERRY SERVICE
Everyone on board seems to be having a whale of a time as there’s practically nothing to dislike about this iconic ferry service that first started to take root in its most basic form sometime between 1893 and 1894. The inaugural regular service was initiated by a local entrepreneur, Quah Beng Kee who, together with his four brothers, worked under the collective name, Beng Brothers.

The siblings descended from a well-established Straits Chinese family headed by their China-born father, Quah Joo Moey who immigrated to Penang in the middle of the 19th century. Beng Kee, born in 1872, was educated in Penang Free School and Roberts’ College in Calcutta, India. He married the daughter of Chew Choo Im, the Chinese Kapitan of Deli in Dutch-ruled Sumatra and had five sons and two daughters.

The Beng Brothers’ service operated between Kedah Pier on the island and Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier in Butterworth. Apart from this main route, they also provided transportation services to other nearby areas like Teluk Ayer Tawar, Bagan Ajam, Bagan Luar, Simpang Empat, Bukit Tambun and Kuala Kurau. As motorised vehicles were yet to make their appearance at that time, the fleet only consisted of three large steamers and seven smaller steam launches.

BUSINESS EXPANSION
A few years later, in 1897, Beng Kee bought out his siblings’ shares in Beng Brothers and began operating the ferry service under his own company, Guan Lee Hin Steamship Company. When his business prospered in tandem with growing passenger and cargo demand, Beng Kee made the decision to convert his concern into a limited company and named it the Eastern Shipping Company Limited.

Besides maintaining its lucrative local ferry service, the Eastern Shipping Company Limited extended its activities by running ships regularly between Penang and ports in other parts of Malaya, Sumatra, Siam (today Thailand) and Burma (now Myanmar).

While keeping a close watch on his expanding shipping venture, Beng Kee also made his fortune by exporting copra from his Penang estates in Glugor and Sungai Nibong. He also dabbled in iron works and owned the Penang Foundry.

The onset of the First World War in 1914 witnessed the Straits Settlements Government requisitioning all local steamers including those belonging to the Eastern Shipping Company Limited. Thanks to the limited effects of the war on Malaya, the authorities released the vessels back to their owners by the end of that same year.

It was business as usual for Beng Kee until 1922 when he accepted a lucrative offer from Singapore’s Straits Steamship Company Limited to take over the ferry service between Kedah Pier and Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier. The new owners’ tenure, however, proved to be short-lived as the venture changed hands once again when the Penang Harbour Board gained control on Dec 1, 1924.