User:Sengkang/Sketchpad/Tan Teck Guan Building

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Coordinates: 1°16′50.0″N, 103°49′59.5″E

Tan Teck Guan Building
Information
Location	MacAlister Road, Bukit Merah, Singapore
Status	Occupied
Use	Government offices
Floor count	2
Companies
Owner	Ministry of Health
Management	Ministry of Health

Tan Teck Guan Building (simplified Chinese: 陈德源大楼; pinyin: Chén Déyuán dàlóu) is a historic building on MacAlister Road, within the compounds of Singapore General Hospital in Bukit Merah, Singapore. The building currently houses offices of the Ministry of Health.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Establishment of medical school 1.2 Preservation 1.3 National monument 2 Architecture 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links 6 Raw 6.1 1 6.2 2 6.3 3 6.4 4 6.5 5 6.6 6 6.7 7

[edit] History

[edit] Establishment of medical school

Tan Teck Guan Building, together with the adjacent College of Medicine Building, features significantly in the history of medical education in Singapore. It was the site of the first medical school to train local students in western medicine in Singapore.^[1][2]

In September 1904, Tan Jiak Kim led a group of representatives of the Chinese and other non-European communities, and petitioned the Governor of the Straits Settlements, John Anderson, to establish a medical school in Singapore. Tan, who was the first president of the Straits Chinese British Association, managed to raise $87,077, of which the largest amount of $12,000 came from himself. On 3 July 1905, the medical school was founded, and was known as the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School. The medical library was first housed in the students' reading room within the school, converted from the vacant old female lunatic asylum in Sepoy Lines.

In 1911, a new building, Tan Teck Guan Building, was added to the medical school. It was built by Tan Chay Yan, a successful rubber plantation merchant and philanthropist, who donated $15,000 towards its construction.^[3] Tan Chay Yan named the building in memory of his late father, Tan Teck Guan (also known as Tan Teck Gein), who was the son of entrepreneur and philanthropist Tan Tock Seng.^[4] This building served as the medical school's administrative block, containing the Principal's and clerk's offices. It also housed the new medical library, a reading room, a lecture room and a pathology museum.

In 1912, the medical school received a donation of $120,000 from the King Edward VII Memorial Fund, started by Dr Lim Boon Keng. Subsequently on 18 November 1913, the name of the school was changed to the King Edward VII Medical School. In 1921, it was again changed to the King Edward VII College of Medicine to reflect its academic status.

In 1920, approval was given to build a new building for the medical school. On 15 February 1926, the College of Medicine Building was officially opened by the Governor, Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard. With the completion of the College of Medicine Building, the medical school's Department of Anatomy occupied Tan Teck Guan Building. An extension of the building housed the dissection room.^[5]

In 1949, with the foundation of the University of Malaya, the King Edward VII College of Medicine became the Faculty of Medicine of the university.^[6]

[edit] Preservation

In May 1982, the Singapore Government decided to move the Faculty of Medicine and School of Postgraduate Studies to the Kent Ridge campus of the National University of Singapore, which was formed from the University of Malaya in 1962. In August 1985, the Preservation of Monuments Board recommended that Tan Teck Guan Building be preserved, following its decision not to demolish but conserve the College of Medicine Building in 1983.

In May 1984, the Ministry of Health (MOH) obtained approval from the government to restore and renovate both buildings. Renovation works began in November 1985, and were completed in April 1987 at a total cost of S$14.4 million for the two buildings. In July 1987, MOH moved into Tan Teck Guan Building and College of Medicine Building, together with the Singapore Academy of Medicine and the College of General Practitioners (now the College of Family Physicians).

[edit] National monument

In October 1988, the Ministry of Information and the Arts (now the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts) approved the gazetting of the Tan Teck Guan Building as a national monument. Tan Teck Guan Building became a national monument on 2 December 2002.^[7] In June 2003, the National Heritage Board installed a commemorative plaque near the main entrance of the building to mark Tan Teck Guan Building as a national monument.

[edit] Architecture

The Tan Teck Guan Building has a Georgian architectural façade with neo-classic details. Its main entrance is embellished with an ornate archway supported by Doric columns, with Ionic columns on the upper level.^[2] The work of Tan Jiak Kim for setting up Singapore's first medical school is remembered on two historical plaques on the side pillars of the main entrance to the building.

The original structure of Tan Teck Guan Building consisted mainly of timber trusses, floors and joists, sitting directly on brick. During the building's restoration from 1985 to 1987, the timber roof and second floor timber floor had to be replaced with steel structures as they were badly infested by termites. The timber window frames which were also termite-infested were replaced with new matching wooden frames. The roof tiles were replaced with matching new ones imported from France. The internal granite staircase and balustrade were retained, but two brick walls were removed to allow greater flexibility for office space usage.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• ES Teo (2005). The History of the College of Medicine and Tan Teck Guan Buildings (pdf). Singapore Academy of Medicine. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
• Milestones in the History of Medical Education in Singapore. Singapore General Hospital. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
• Wan Meng Hao (2005). Know Our Monuments (pdf). Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Singapore). Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
• Tan Teck Guan Building. Singapore Government. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.

[edit] External links

• Singapore Ministry of Health
• Media related to Tan Teck Guan Building from the Wikimedia Commons.

[edit] Raw

[edit] 1

http://www.sgh.com.sg/NR/rdonlyres/40E7E746-A682-48F1-8819-F510CA64EFD5/2741/CampusHeritageTrail.pdf

Tan Teck Guan Building was built in 1911 by Tan Chay Yan, a successful rubber planter, in memory of his late father, Tan Teck Guan. The building was the site of the first medical school, known then as the Straits and Federal Malay States Government Medical School. The school was later renamed the King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1920.

[edit] 2

http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/34VolNo6200506/V34N6p61C.pdf

“There are few buildings which feature as significantly in the history of medical education in Singapore as the Tan Teck Guan Building (1911) and the College of Medicine Building (1926),” – this was how Dr Kwa Soon Bee, the then Permanent Secretary for Health and Director of Medical Services, described the buildings in his foreword in the publication1 to commemorate their reopening in 1987.

For 60 years from 1926, the College of Medicine Building (COMB) was the centre of medical education in Singapore. The history of medical services and medical education is intimately intertwined with the history of the COMB and the Tan Teck Guan Building (TTGB).

---

In September 1904, a second and successful attempt was made. Representatives of the Chinese and other non-European communities, led by Mr Tan Jiak Kim, petitioned the Governor of the Straits Settlements (SS), Sir John Anderson, for the establishment of a medical school. Mr Tan Jiak Kim was the first president of the Straits Chinese British Association, which was formed on 17 August 1900, and was the forerunner of the Peranakan Association. Sufficient funds ($87,077.08) were raised, of which the largest amount of $12,000 came from Mr Tan.

The work of this group is remembered in 2 historical plaques on the side pillars of the main entrance to TTGB (Fig. 1). The medical school was founded on 3 July 1905 and was called the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School. The Medical Library was first housed in the students’ reading room within the Medical School, which was converted from the vacant old Female Lunatic Asylum in Sepoy Lines (at a cost of $1000; $10,000 of the funds were spent on equipment, and $60,000 went to scholarships for students).

---

In 1911, a new building – the TTGB – was added to the medical school. It was built from funds donated by a Chinese benefactor, Mr Tan Chay Yan, in memory of his father, Mr Tan Teck Guan (sometimes spelled as Tan Teck Gein). This building served as the administrative block, containing the Principal’s and clerk’s offices, the new Medical Library, reading room, a lecture room and a pathology museum. The TTGB building has a Georgian façade with neo-classic details. The main entrance is embellished with an ornate archway supported by Doric columns, with Ionic columns on the upper level (Fig. 2).

In 1912, the medical school received a large donation ($120,000) from the King Edward VII Memorial Fund started by Dr Lim Boon Keng. On 18 November 1913, the name of the school was changed to the King Edward VII Medical School in recognition of this, and the fact that the school was established during the reign of King Edward VII. In 1919, the GMC warned the College of possible derecognition if standards of teaching and examination were not maintained. The Government in Singapore contributed more resources and soon professors were appointed. In 1921, the name was again changed to the King Edward VII College of Medicine to reflect its academic status.

In 1920, approval was given to build a new College building, designed by Major PH Keys. The foundation stone was laid on 6 September 1923 (Fig. 3). The new building was officially opened on 15 February 1926 by the Governor of the SS, Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard. After the completion of the COMB in 1926, the TTGB was occupied by the Department of Anatomy, and an extension of the building housed the dissection room.

---

The Fate of the College of Medicine Building and Tan Teck Guan Building In May 1982, when it was decided that the Faculty of Medicine and School of Postgraduate Studies would move to the Kent Ridge Campus, the MOH was determined that the COMB should not be demolished and should continue to have an important place in medical history. In 1983, the Preservation of Monuments Board recommended that the COMB be preserved for posterity. In August 1985, the Preservation of Monuments Board recommended that the TTGB also be preserved.

In May 1984, the MOH obtained approval from the government to restore and renovate the COMB and TTGB. Indeco (Pte) Ltd was appointed project consultant. Renovation works began in November 1985. A grand staircase was added to the main lobby in the COMB (Fig. 6.) A staircase had been included in the original plans of the COMB, but had never been built. The beautifully coffered ceiling of the 300-seat Auditorium has been made in the mould of the original ceiling, which had previously been damaged by fire. The ceiling is enhanced by ornate ribs with classical motifs. A modern open office was created, together with meetings rooms and an exhibition hall (which now houses the Operations Group, formed after the SARS epidemic).

The original TTGB structure was constructed mainly of timber trusses, floors and joists, sitting directly on brick. The timber roof and second floor timber floor had to be replaced with steel structures as they were badly infested by termites. Timber window frames infested by termites were replaced with new matching wooden frames. The roof tiles were replaced with matching new ones imported from France. The internal granite staircase and balustrade were retained, but two brick walls were removed to allow greater flexibility for office installation. Renovations were completed in April 1987 at a cost of $14.4 million.13 The gross floor areas after renovation were 11,564 square metres for the COMB and 604 square metres for the TTGB.

The MOH moved into the COMB and the TTGB in July 1987, together with the Academy of Medicine and the College of General Practitioners (now the College of Family Physicians). Each of these organisations were allocated 460 square metres of space on the ground floor. The Academy and College had their Postgraduate Medical Library at the mezzanine level of the COMB, which had a floor space of 405 square metres.

---

In October 1988, the Minister of Information and the Arts (now the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts) approved the gazetting of the COMB and the TTGB as national monuments, which was published in the Government Gazette on 2 December 2002, as the Preservation Of Monuments Act Chapter 239 Order 2002 No S609, protecting the historic piece of land known as part Lot 369 Mukim 1.

In June 2003, the National Heritage Board installed the plaques marking these buildings as national monuments. The plaque outside the TTGB reads: “Gazetted as a National Monument on 2 December 2002. Philanthropist Tan Chay Yan funded the construction of this building in 1911 in memory of his father, Tan Teck Guan. It became part of the King Edward VII College of Medicine, which had its origins in the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School. The latter, founded in 1905, was the first tertiary institution to train local students in western medicine. The Georgian architecture of this building is enhanced by Doric columns and neo-classical accents.” (Fig. 8)

[edit] 3

1911: Tan Chay Yan donates S$15,000 to build TTGB.

Transforming Lives: NUS Celebrates 100 Years of University Education in Singapore By National University of Singapore

By National University of Singapore Contributor National University of Singapore Staff Published 2005 National University of Singapore Press 100 pages ISBN 9971693275

[edit] 4

History of Medical Library [1]

Lim-Yeo Pin Pin, LINUS Editor

The Medical Library is the earliest library to be established. It had its humble beginnings in 1905 when the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School was set up. The Medical Library was first housed in the students' reading room within the Medical School which was converted from the old Female Lunatic Asylum in Sepoy Lines.

In 1911, the Tan Teck Guan Building was built with an endowment from Mr Tan Cheng Yan, in memory of his father Mr Tan Teck Guan. The building housed the Principal's office, a lecture theatre, a pathology museum and a library with a reading room.

In 1923, the Library moved to the three-storey College of Medicine Building, two years after the school was renamed the King Edward VII College of Medicine. The Library was located in the centre of the second floor, in a room 80 feet by 26 feet.

[edit] 5

College of Medicine Building : A Source of Pride to Singapore by: Mr Dhoraisingam S. Samuel http://sd5.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/singapore/historical_sites/150/college_of_medicine_building__a_source_of_pride_to_singapore.php

In September 1904 a petition was addressed by leading Chinese and non European Committee to the Governor of the Straits Settlements, Sir John Anderson, requesting that a Medical School be established in Singapore. It suggested that graduates of this School could be recruited into government service of the Straits Settlement, the Federated and non Federated Malay States as Assistant Surgeon or as General Practitioners.

The idea was mooted by Tan Jiak Kim, other Chinese leaders and the Principal Civil Medical Officer, Dr Maximilian F. Simon.

The Governor accepted the proposal and the Straits Settlements Legislative Council approved the project in June 1905. The government raised $71,000 for the Medical School which was established the same year. It held its classes in the converted buildings of the old Female Lunatic Asylum at Sepoy Lines.

In 1911 a new building was added to the Medical School. It still known as Tan Teck Guan building, the cost of which was borne by Tan Chay Yan, a Chinese benefactor, in memory of his father.

Two years later the name of the School was change to King Edward VII Memorial Fund. In 1921 the School was renamed King Edward VII College of Medicine. It was officially opened in 1926.

The architect of King Edward VII College of Medicine was Major P.H. Keys who also designed Fullerton Building which housed the General Post Office as well as other government departments. The foundation stone of the College building was laid on 6 September 1923 and the new building was officially opened by the Governor, Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard on 15 February 1926.

The building is reminiscent of classical Greek monuments like the Acropolis; behind the columns are sculptured timber doors; over the central doorway is a bas relief of a Roman eagle and on either side are bas reliefs depicting the teaching and practice of medicine.

In the College is a plaque which pays tribute to 12 medical students who died as a result of Japanese artillery fire on 14 February 1942, one day before British forces surrendered to the invading Japanese Imperial Army. Eleven students went to bury the student who had died from shrapnel wounds. They managed to find a trench which some British soldiers had evacuated. While they were deepening the trench a shell exploded in their midst. A grave that was to house one dead housed eleven more. It was through the obligations of friendship that they met with the accident that caused their death. The plaque commemorates those glorious eleven who risked their lives among others to provide medical attention to the hundreds wounded in the final days before the fall of Singapore to the Japanese. Fate had decided that they were not to be rewarded. A bond of friendship which brought a multi-racial group of Singaporeans and Malayans together; 5 Chinese, 4 Indians, 1 Malay and 1 Eurasian, ended in a bond of death. It speaks of the heroism and fortitude of most Singaporeans who survived the days of heavy artillery and air bombardment from the Japanese forces. During the month of February 1942 about 2000 refuges took shelter in the hall of the College.

In 1949 the College of Medicine and Raffles College in Bukit Timah became formally the University of Malaya. The Faculty of Medicine now functions in Kent Ridge as part of the National University of Singapore.

Renovated between November 1985 and June 1987 at a cost of $10 million, the College of Medicine houses today the Ministry of Health Headquarters, the Academy of Medicine, the Council of General Practitioners, a Library and an Exhibition Hall.

Governor Guillemard said when he opened the College in 1926:

'This building will be a source of pride not only to the architect and the College but to Singapore.'

Today this holds true.

[edit] 6

The Straits Times (Singapore)

Three historic buildings picked for preservation; Old Admiralty House plus the Tan Teck Guan and College of Medicine buildings now national monuments

December 6, 2002 Friday

Genette Koh

THREE buildings were gazetted for preservation as national monuments by the Preservation of Monuments Board this week.

They are the Tan Teck Guan Building, the College of Medicine Building and Old Admiralty House.

With the addition of these three, the Board has gazetted 47 buildings as national monuments in the past 31 years.

All gazetted monuments are fitted with plaques highlighting their historical significance.

Any changes made to such buildings must be approved by the Preservation of Monuments Board. And the owner of the property is responsible for the maintenance of the building.

The Tan Teck Guan Building and the College of Medicine Building stand out as buildings significant in the history of medical education in Singapore.

Designed by architectural firm Keys and Dowdeswell, the College of Medicine Building was the centre of medical education here from 1926 to 1986.

The Tan Teck Guan Building, which has a Georgian facade with neo-classical details, was added to the medical school as an administrative block in 1911.

These two buildings now house the Ministry of Health headquarters, Singapore Medical Council, Singapore Nursing Board and Singapore Dental Council.

The College of Medicine Building also used to house the Faculty of Medicine and School of Postgraduate Studies until May 1982.

Old Admiralty House used to be the residence of the British fleet commander-in-chief and is now a hotel and restaurant owned and managed by Karimun Admiralty Country Club, a subsidiary of Grassroots Investment Holdings.

Said Mr Daniel Ng, the country club's managing director: 'We really appreciate the Government preserving this place. We cannot only continue with our business, but we can also help to promote the colonial history of the building.'

Mr Lim Kee Ming, chairman of the Preservation of Monuments Board, said: 'The preservation of national monuments is an integral part of urban planning and the development of Singapore. The aim of preservation is to safeguard monuments as enduring historic landmarks, as a vital link to the past.'

College of Medicine Building

16 College Road, Singapore 169854

The College of Medicine Building was the centre of medical education in Singapore from 1926 to 1986.

The foundation stone of the three-storey building was laid on Sept 6, 1923, and the new building was officially opened on Feb 15, 1926, by Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard, the Governor of the Straits Settlements.

Designed by Keys and Dowdeswell, the building is reminiscent of classical Greek monuments such as the Acropolis in Athens.

The allegorical bas-relief sculptures and moulding on both sides of the facade were conceived by Italian artist Cavaliere Rudolfo Nolli.

Tan Teck Guan Building

16A College Road, Singapore 169854

IN 1911, the Tan Teck Guan Building was added to the medical school, named the Straits and Federated Malay States Government Medical School from 1905 to 1911.

It was built with funds donated by a Chinese philanthropist based in Malacca, Mr Tan Chay Yan, in memory of his father, Mr Tan Teck Guan. Mr Tan Chay Yan was one of the earliest rubber planters in British Malaya.

The building served as an administrative block and housed facilities such as the principal's and the clerks' offices, library, reading room, a lecture room and a pathology museum.

The main entrance of this building is embellished with an ornate archway, supported by Doric columns. Ionic columns figure on the upper level.

Old Admiralty House

345 Old Nelson Road, Singapore 758692

OLD Admiralty House was built on 4 ha of land by His Majesty's Navy Works Department of the British Royal Navy, for the Commodore Superintendent of the Royal Navy Dockyard in Sembawang in 1939.

It was designed by well-known British architect Edwin Lutyens.

This building served as the residence of two commanders-in-chief of the British Pacific Fleet from 1945 to 1946; six commanders-in-chief of the Cannot distribute vertically Far East section from 1949 to 1960; and five commanders of the Far East Fleet from 1962 to 1971.

The main body of the building is two storeys and there is a one-storey wing on the north-west side. The roof is high-hipped and clad with terracotta tiles in a French pattern. The second storey is exposed fairface brickwork with white joints. The windows are casement, constructed of timber and painted blue.

NATIONAL PARKS (91%); HISTORIC DISTRICTS & STRUCTURES (90%); PHYSICIANS & SURGEONS (90%); EDUCATION (89%); MEDICAL EDUCATION (89%); HISTORIC SITES (78%); APPROVALS (73%); ARCHITECTURAL SERVICES (73%); DENTISTRY (69%); CITIES (65%); CITY GOVERNMENT (65%); CHARITIES (65%); FOUNDATIONS (65%); ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS (60%); ART & ARTISTS (60%); CITY LIFE (50%); 

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[edit] 7

The Straits Times

Tampoi lab may not be first in S-E Asia

October 22, 1993

Phan Ming Yen

THE secret laboratory found at Tampoi, Johor, for the development of biological warfare weapons by the Japanese Imperial Army may not be the first such facility to be found in South-east Asia.

A similar facility in Singapore was uncovered by The Straits Times in 1991.

According to Singapore Tourist Promotion Board board member Othman Wok, who worked in the facility as a laboratory assistant during World War II, the laboratory was at the Tan Teck Guan Building in the Singapore General Hospital.

The building is now occupied by the drug administration and compliance divisions of the Ministry of Health.

The laboratory where Mr Othman worked was known as the "anti-plague laboratory". Here, fleas picked from rats caught around Singapore were bred as carriers for plague germs.

Mr Othman's account was confirmed by Professor Takao Matsumura of Keio University in Japan who has done extensive research into biological warfare.

When asked for comments, Tokyo high school teacher Nobuyoshi Takashima, who confirmed the location of the facility near Johor Baru, said he was aware of the laboratory in Singapore and had seen the building.

But he added that he did not have any documents about the unit in Singapore.

Although in 1991, the Japanese government said it had no evidence of such a unit operating in Singapore, research into once-secret United States army records and interviews with another Singaporean and a former head of the unit showed that during World War II, Singapore was the site for one of the branches of Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army.

Unit 731 is estimated to have killed at least 3,000 prisoners-of-war and civilians there by exposing them to extremely low and high pressures, freezing them, injecting them with cholera and bubonic plague bacteria and subjecting them to other experiments.

According to the records, Japanese officers from the unit interrogated by American officers after the war mentioned a unit in Singapore.

Arvo Thompson, an American army officer who investigated Unit 731 after World War II, reported that members of the unit said branches of Unit 731 called Boeki Kyusui BU or Anti-Epidemic and Water Purification Department were set up in China in Harbin, Guangzhou, Beijing and Nanjing, as well as Singapore.

Another report, the 1945 Sanders Report, quotes a Japanese colonel as saying that he worked at the facility in Harbin on a secret project aimed at making a practical bacterial bomb.

CHEMICAL & BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS (90%); MILITARY WEAPONS (90%); WAR & CONFLICT (90%); WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION (90%); WEAPONS (90%); RESEARCH (89%); INVESTIGATIONS (88%); BACTERIA (74%); TOURISM (57%); TRAVEL LEISURE & HOSPITALITY (57%); 

SECTION: Life; Life at Large; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 734 words

LOAD-DATE: October 24, 1993

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GRAPHIC: Mr Othman Wok ... worked as laboratory assistant in a secret laboratory during World War II.