| Lee Kong Chian | |
|---|---|
Lee Kong Chian (Chinese: 李光前; pinyin: Lǐ Guāngqián; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí Kong-tsiân) |
|
| Born | October 18, 1893 Nan'an, Fujian |
| Died | June 2, 1967 Singapore |
| Other names | Geok Kun |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | Philanthropic work, founder of Lee Foundation |
| Spouse | Tan Ai Leh |
| Children | Sons: Lee Seng Gee Lee Seng Tee Lee Seng Wee Daughters: Lee Seok Kheng Lee Seok Tin Lee Seok Chee |
| Parents | Lee Kuo Chuan (father) |
| Relatives | Tan Kah Kee (father-in-law) |
Lee Kong Chian (Chinese: 李光前; pinyin: Lǐ Guāngqián; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí Kong-tsiân), was a prominent businessman and philanthropist and the founder of The Lee Foundation in Singapore. He was one of Southeast Asia's richest men in the 1950s and 1960s. He was the son-in-law of philanthropist Tan Kah Kee.
Contents |
Lee was born in the village of Furong of Nan'an City in Fujian province. He received his early education in privately-run schools in his hometown. In 1903, he came to Singapore to join his father at the age of 10. Lee studied at two defunct schools, namely the Anglo-Indian School and Chongzheng School.
He returned to China in 1909 to complete his education under a scholarship, but it had to end with emergence of the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. In China, Lee studied at Chi Nan College in Nanjing and later the Railway and Mining College in Tangshan which was then one of the top colleges in China.
Returning to Singapore, he worked as a teacher at Tao Nan School and as a translator at a Chinese newspaper. He joined the China Guohua Company, owned by Tan Kah Kee in 1915, and became Tan's protege.
In 1917, Lee was promoted to manager of the Tan Kah Kee Rubber Company. Lee married Tan's daughter Tan Ai Leh in 1920.
Seven years later, Lee set up his own rubber smoking house in Muar, which became the Nam Aik Rubber Company in 1928. His enterprises of rubber planting and manufacture, pineapple planting and canning soon expanded to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Singapore-Malaya, North Borneo, Indonesia and Thailand. He was known as Southeast Asia's Rubber and Pineapple King. He became one of the richest men in the region, with the Lee Rubber Company becoming a multi-million dollar business which he started in 1931.
Lee also went into banking. He became general manager and vice-chairman of Huayi Bank. He was appointed vice-chairman of the corporation when the three Chinese banks merged to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) in 1933.
In 1934, Lee became the chairperson of The Chinese High School, a post he held until 1957. In 1939, Lee founded a school in his homeland known as Guozhuan Primary School in his hometown of Furong and in 1943, he set up the Guoguang Primary School. Lee also donated his rubber factory to become a Chinese school in Kuala Lumpur which later named as SJK(C) Lee Rubber in Jalan Gombak. He gave lectures in Columbia University during World War II while stranded in the United States. Lee became Vice-Chancellor of the then University of Singapore and donated S$1 million for the development of a medical college on the college's grounds. Other institutions received financial support from the Lee Foundation, including the National University of Singapore, Anglo-Chinese School, St. Margaret's Secondary School, Methodist Girls' School, Singapore Chinese Girls' School, Tao Nan School, Anglican High School and The Chinese High School. The Lee Kong Chian School of Business of the Singapore Management University was named in his honor.
Like Tan Kah Kee, he poured his wealth into education and other philanthropic work. He set up the Lee Foundation in Singapore in 1952 and in the Malaya in 1960. In 1965, the Lee Foundation Limited was established in Hong Kong. Lee spearheaded free public library services for the nation when he donated $375,000 through the Lee Foundation to allow the government to build the Old National Library building at Stamford Road.
When charity depended on the rise and fall of fortunes, the Lee Foundation was set up in Singapore in 1952 and in Malaya in 1960. In 1965 the Lee Foundation Ltd. was established in Hong Kong. Between 1952 and 1993 the Foundation donated sums amounting to $300 million to various causes, regardless of race, language, religion, nationality, geographical location, and with no conditions attached.
Lee's work and generous contributions to education and society were recognised, and duly conferred with an honorary degree in law by the University of Malaya in 1958, the title PMN (Panglima Mangku Negara) by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia in 1964. Before that he had been made Dato' by the Sultans of Johore and Kelantan. He became the chairman of OCBC Bank in 1965 and remained in that position until his death in 1967 at age of 74.
Lee's legacy of philanthropy continues to live in his family, survived by three sons Lee Seng Gee (Chairman of Lee Foundation), Lee Seng Tee, Lee Seng Wee (director of OCBC) and three daughters Seok Keng (deceased, Dec 2011), Seok Tin and Seok Chee.