Tan Hong Tek

God Moves in a Mysterious Way: The Life of Tan Hong Tek 

Tan Hong Tek , pic from Indian Daily Mail 4 Sep 1952, pg 16

陳鴻德 · 海澄鼎尾西園

Some men in old Singapore and Malaya built fortunes. Tan Hong Tek built one too — but his story is as much about loss and faith as it is about success.

He did not begin with much. His parents had settled in Taiping, Malaya, and he was born there, but he lost them while still young. Growing up in Kuala Kangsar in poverty, he worked and studied at the same time just to get by. At sixteen he gave up his schooling, moved to Singapore, and took a job as an English clerk for a merchant firm. Those lean years seem to have shaped him — by the time opportunity came, he knew how to work for it.

The Advertising Pioneer

In 1924 he joined the New Citizen Daily (新國民日報) as a liaison officer in its advertising department. Within a few years he struck out on his own, raising capital and building a firm that grew well beyond local Chinese merchants to handle British, American, French and Dutch accounts. He ran the successful Tan Publicity Bureau Ltd, also known as 陳氏廣告社, Tan's Advertising Agency.

“New Advertising Guide To Malaya” — The Straits Times, 21 April 1939, p.13

H.T. Tan Publicity Bureau Ltd
The Malayan Salesman
The Straits Times Annual, 1 January 1940, pp.88–89

He even produced Identiication Discs just bvefore the start of World War 2 in Singapore
The Straits Times, 30 January 1942, p.2

Older Singaporeans and Malaysians may still remember Lifeguard Milk, among the brands his agency promoted. He moved easily between worlds: a Hokkien from Haicheng who courted European firms, a man described in the Nanyang Personality Archives as open-handed and generous — the sort who would spend a hundred gold pieces on a banquet without a second thought, and go through fire and water for a friend in need.

A Lifeguard Milk advertisement — Singapore Standard, 24 August 1956, p.10

LifeGuard Milk Condensed Milk (many of the older generation grow up with this)

Their office occupied the same building (Medeiros Building in Cecil St) as Tan Hong Tek & Co in the past  

Marriage, and a Young Wife Lost

Tan married more than once. His first marriage, in 1923, was to Ng Oon Jiew, daughter of Ng Hoon Seck — recorded as a domestic occurrence in the Malaya Tribune, which noted he was the eldest son of Tan Cheow Chow.

Marriage notice — Malaya Tribune, 8 December 1923, p.6

His second wife, Quah Cheng Lian, died on 8 April 1927 at just eighteen years old, and was buried at Bukit Brown (Blk 2A, plot 118, behind the tomb of Wee Ann Lock). He later married Oh Kim Eng (胡金英), mother of his children Kiat Swee (吉瑞), Kiat Hin (吉興) and Suxin (素心).

Death notice for Quah Cheng Lian — The Straits Times, 11 April 1927, p.8

A Stone of Two Worlds

It is Quah Cheng Lian's tombstone that has kept his memory alive. Above her resting place, in English, he had inscribed a line from William Cowper's 1773 hymn:

“God moves in a mysterious way”

Below it runs a classical Chinese elegiac verse (挽詞):

體自歸奠
氣發昭明
奠茲佳兆
永妥幽靈

The pairing is striking — a line of Christian resignation from an English hymn sitting above a traditional funerary couplet wishing the soul eternal peace. Flanking the grave is a further couplet, 既固既安 / 其長其久 (“settled and secure, lasting and enduring”). Two faiths, two languages, one stone — a quiet portrait of the dual cultural identity so many Nanyang Chinese carried in that era.

奉祀子 陳錦瑞
Deeply mourned by son Tan Ghim Swee

鼎尾西園 — the family’s ancestral home, inscribed on the grave

A Son Sails for Britain

Tan's family rose with him. His second son, Tan Kiat Hin — also known as Kenny K. H. Tan — sailed for Britain at the age of twenty to join a British university, and later returned to join his father's advertising business.

Indian Daily Mail, 26 February 1952, p.4

Tan Hong Kiat (Kenny H K Tan)

The Vow to Build a Church

Tan's faith was not only carved into a tombstone — it was built into brick and mortar. During the Japanese Occupation he made a vow to build a church. After the war, he kept it, paying for the cost of the Methodist Church at Bedok.

The promise mattered enough that the Straits Times, reporting his death, headlined it plainly: “Kept vow to build church.”

“Kept vow to build church” — The Straits Times, 1 September 1952, p.5

He had shown a civic streak earlier too. He joined the Kuomintang and contributed funds to relief during the Jinan Incident of 1928, for which the Chinese central government awarded him a certificate of merit.

A Life Completed

Tan Hong Tek died on Sunday, 31 August 1952 at his residence, 12 Emerald Hill Road. The obituaries followed across the Singapore press over the next days — English and Chinese alike marking the passing of the advertising magnate.

Death notice — The Straits Times, 1 September 1952, p.6

“Mr. H. T. Tan Passes Away” — Indian Daily Mail, 2 September 1952, p.8

The Chinese press carried the news prominently — 廣告業鉅子陳鴻德逝世 (“Advertising magnate Tan Hong Tek passes away”):

Bedok Church dedicated, Singapore Standard, 12 Jan 1953

For six years, fourteen Chinese Methodists  held Sunday services in one of their homes in Bedok Village , as they have no church in the area. The congregation grew. The need of a church became almost an obsession with them. THey consulted the ministers on the feasbility of building a church. Later a peice of land was acquired in Bedok by the Mission. The youths of the church raise $1000 amon them. Other Methodist churches in Singapore helped and the late Tan Hong Tek also made donations. 
Yesterday morning was the first service held in the new church attended by about 300 Bedok residents. Bishop Raymond L Archer, head of the Methodist Mission , dedicated the new Church to the worship of God.

Bedok Methodist Church 

Part of the land for the church was donated by Tan Hong Tek (pic from Bedok Methodist Church Facebook page)

pic from Bedok Methodist Church Facebook page

陳鴻德廣告公司創辦人逝世 — 星洲日報 (Sin Chew Jit Poh), 1 September 1952, p.5

Indian Daily Mail, 4 September 1952, p.16

At his funeral, a choir sang at the graveside — a Christian send-off for a man who had spent his life moving between two worlds.

“Choir sings at graveside” — The Straits Times, 2 September 1952, p.7

南洋商報, 4 September 1952, p.8

A memorial notice appeared on the fourth anniversary of his passing:

In Sacred Memory of Tan Hong Tek — The Straits Times, 31 August 1956, p.8

Identifying the Man Behind the Stone

The grave records only the sons' surnames in a form (Ghim Swee, Ghim Hin) that differs slightly from his known sons Kiat Swee and Kiat Hin. But the identification rests on a convergence of evidence: the Chinese elegiac verse paired with a Christian inscription, the line “God moves in a mysterious way,” the matching name in both Chinese and English, and an ancestral village recorded in the Chinese archives down to the village level — 海澄鼎尾西園. Taken together, the husband who built this tomb for his young wife is, with strong confidence, the Tan Hong Tek who vowed to build a church during the Occupation, kept that vow at Bedok Methodist Church, and was himself finally buried at Bidadari.

南洋名人集傳 — biography of 陳鴻德 (Tan Hong Tek)

南洋名人集傳
陳鴻德

陳鴻德先生，亦一闊達人也。交友如雲，每宴客，一席常費百金而不惜。昔子路公願車馬輕裘與友共，敝之而無憾，先生殆類是也。不惟此也，友或有急難，無爲經濟，爲何項需要，赴湯蹈火所不惜，斯尤爲人情所難也。

閩海澄鼎美西園人，因父母居馬來亞太平坡，先生故誕毓于是。但幼喪父母，少攻英文，時居江沙，以貧故，一面爲工，一面讀書。至十六歲乃輟而移居星洲，任某商號英文書記。民國十三年，入新國民日報，任廣告部交際員。才數年，出組廣告公司，該公司初具範型，遂益募股，股本既齊，內容外表，張皇特甚。現以陳氏廣告社爲號，所工作，除華商外，英美法荷等商，皆有之。

曾入中國國民黨，輸資於黨國，每盡所能。前年濟南慘案，此次日寇來侵，復出錢出力，人稱愛國。春秋四十四。父昭梭翁，母氏丘太夫人。娶胡女士爲妻，生子吉瑞、吉興，女素心。兄弟三人，先生爲長。當捐資于濟案時，我中央政府曾給與獎狀。

Biographies of Nanyang (Southeast Asia) Celebrities:
Tan Hong Tek

Mr. Tan Hong Tek is a magnanimous and open-minded man. He has friends as numerous as clouds. Whenever he hosts a banquet, he often spends a hundred gold pieces without hesitation. In the past, Zilu (a disciple of Confucius) expressed his wish to share his carriage, horses, and light fur robes with his friends, and to use them until they were worn out without regret. Mr. Chen is almost exactly like this. Not only that, if a friend is in urgent difficulty or financial need, whatever the requirement, he spares no effort, even willing to go through fire and water. This is especially difficult for ordinary human feelings to achieve.

He is a native of Xiyuan Village, Dingmei Town, Haicheng County, Fujian Province. Because his parents lived in Taiping, Malaya (now Malaysia), he was born there. However, he lost his parents at a young age. In his youth, he studied English. At that time, he lived in Kuala Kangsar (Jiangsha). Due to poverty, he worked and studied simultaneously. At the age of sixteen, he stopped his studies there and moved to Singapore (Xingzhou), serving as an English clerk for a certain merchant firm.

In the 13th Year of the Republic (1924), he joined the New Citizen Daily (Xin Guomin Ribao) as a liaison officer in the Advertising Department. After a few years, he went out to form an advertising company. The company initially took shape, and then he raised more shares. Once the capital was fully gathered, its content and appearance were particularly grand and impressive. It is now named "Chen's Advertising Agency" (Chen Shi Guanggao She). His clients include not only Chinese merchants but also British, American, French, and Dutch merchants.

He once joined the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party), contributing funds to the Party and the Country, always doing his best. During the Jinan Incident (1928) the year before last, and the current invasion by Japanese forces (referring to the 1937 invasion), he again contributed money and effort. People call him a patriot.

He is 44 years old (at the time of writing). His father was the honorable elder Zhao Suo, and his mother was the Lady Qiu. He married Ms. Hu. They have sons named Jirui and Jixing, and a daughter named Suxin. There are three brothers in total, and Mr. Chen is the eldest. When he donated funds for the Jinan Incident relief, the Central Government awarded him a Certificate of Merit.

Walk through Bukit Brown today, and his wife's stone still says it plainly, in Cowper's words: God moves in a mysterious way.

Previous Link
https://tombs.bukitbrown.org/2019/07/mrs-tan-hong-tek-nee-quah-cheng-lian.html

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Sources: Tombstone inscription, Bukit Brown (Blk 2A 118, behind tomb of Wee Ann Lock); Malaya Tribune, 8 Dec 1923; Straits Times, 11 Apr 1927, 21 Apr 1939, 30 Jan 1942, 1 & 2 Sep 1952, 31 Aug 1956; Straits Times Annual, 1 Jan 1940; Indian Daily Mail, 26 Feb, 2 & 4 Sep 1952; 南洋商報 (Nanyang Siang Pau), 1 & 4 Sep 1952; 星洲日報 (Sin Chew Jit Poh), 1 Sep 1952; Singapore Standard, 24 Aug 1956; 南洋名人集傳 (Biographies of Nanyang Personalities). Research by the Goh Brothers.