Life After: Oral Histories of the May 13 Incident ed. by Tham Seen Hau et al (review)

Abstract

eminent philanthropists and a leader of the Chinese community’.6 Kua writes that ‘the common notion of Tan Tock Seng is that he rose from rages to riches’ and convincingly argues that ‘this is inaccurate’ (p. 5). With the extensive use of archival records, newspaper articles and oral history interviews, the book gives very detailed information about the role Tan Tock Seng and Tan Kim Ching played as traders and philanthropists in colonial Singapore. Sections 4.1 and 4.3 in Chapter 4 are particularly illuminating as the section authors reveal Tan Kim Ching’s connections with the Siamese court. The book examines Tan Tock Seng, Tan Kim Ching and Tan Boo Liat’s rise and decline as merchants vis-à-vis the economic progress of colonial Singapore. With complexities present as in any family history, it would have been better if the editors could place the Tan family tree at the beginning of the book rather than at p. 335. By focusing on Tan Tock Seng and several descendants, the book has focused on the ‘great men’ in colonial Singapore. For example, Tan Kim Ching’s son Tan Soon Toh is mentioned only once on p. 93. This unfortunately reflects the lack of archival records about Tan Soon Toh and other lesser-known members of the family. This book is highly recommended for readers who want to know what it was like to found and run a business in colonial Singapore, the history of buildings and institutions in colonial Singapore, and the experiences of a Singapore trader working as a consul for Siam which will be a very different social and political track from those appointed as consuls for the Qing Empire.