Lee Kong ChianPMNSPMJSJMK (Chinese: 李光前; pinyin: Lǐ Guāngqián; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí Kong-chiân; 18 October 1893 – 2 June 1967), also known by his alias Lee Geok Kun (Chinese: 李玉昆; pinyin: Lǐ Yùkūn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lí Gio̍k-kun), was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist based in Malaya and Singapore between the 1930s and the 1960s. He was the founder of the Lee Foundation and one of the richest men in Southeast Asia in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also a son-in-law of Tan Kah Kee, another well-known Chinese businessman and philanthropist based in Southeast Asia. He is affectionately known today as the "founding father" of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation.[1]
Lee received his early education in private schools in his hometown. In 1903, at the age of 10, he came to Singapore, then a British colony, to join his father. He studied at the defunct Anglo-Tamil School, and Chung Cheng High School.
Upon returning to Singapore, Lee worked as a teacher at Tao Nan School and as a translator at a Chinese-language newspaper company. He also worked as an assistant field surveyor with the Public Works Department.[3] In 1915, Lee joined the China Guohua Company owned by Tan Kah Kee, and became Tan's protégé. He was promoted to the manager of the Tan Kah Kee Rubber Company in 1917. Three years later, he married Tan's daughter, Tan Ai Leh (simplified Chinese: 陈爱礼; traditional Chinese: 陳愛禮; pinyin: Chén Àilǐ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Ài-lé).
Business career
Seven years later, Lee set up his own rubber smoking house in Muar, Johor, Malaya, which became the Nam Aik Rubber Company in 1928.[4] 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 multimillion-dollar business which he started in 1931. His brother George Lee joined him at the company.[5] Besides establishing himself as a rubber tycoon, Lee diversified his business interests to include sawmills and the trading of pineapple, coconut oil, biscuits and raw material. He also set up Lee Pineapple, Lee Produce, Lee Sawmills, Lee Printing and Lee Biscuits.[6]
Lee also went into banking. He was vice-chairman of Chinese Commercial Bank (CCB) and played a central role in facilitating the merger of the Oversea-Chinese Bank, the Ho Hong Bank and the CCB to form the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) in 1932, becoming the largest bank in Singapore. Lee served OCBC as vice-chairman from 1932, and assumed chairmanship of OCBC in 1938, holding this post until his death in 1967.[1][6]
Philanthropy
Like Tan Kah Kee, Lee poured his wealth into education and other philanthropic efforts.[7] He set up the Lee Foundation in Singapore and Malaya in 1952 and 1960 respectively. In 1965, the Lee Foundation Limited was established in Hong Kong.
Lee also spearheaded free public library services for Singapore when he donated S$375,000 through the Lee Foundation to allow the Singapore Government to build the Old National Library building at Stamford Road. The old building was eventually demolished and replaced by a much larger new building, a project that also received substantial financial backing from the foundation. The reference library that occupies the 7th to 13th floors of the new building was named in his honour.[8]
In 1934, Lee became the chairman of the Board of Directors of The Chinese High School (now Hwa Chong Institution), a post he held until 1957. In 1939, Lee founded Guozhuan Primary School in his hometown, Furong Village. In 1941, Lee donated his properties in River Valley, Singapore for the establishment of Nan Chiau Teachers' Training College (now Nan Chiau High School). He gave lectures in Columbia University during the Second World War while he was stranded in the United States. Lee became the vice-chancellor of the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) and donated S$1 million for the development of a medical college on the college's grounds.
Later life
Statue of Lee Kong Chian in front of Kong Chian Administration Centre, Hwa Chong Institution.
Heritage Centre, Hwa Chong Institution (High School Section), previously known as Kuo Chuan Art Centre
Lee Kuo Chuan Stadium, Anglican High School
Lee Kuo Chuan Hall, Church of the Ascension Singapore
SRJK (C) Kuo Kuang (国光国民型华文小学) No. 1 and SRJK (C) Kuo Kuang No. 2 - Two Chinese medium primary school in Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, named after the combination of middle names of Lee 'Kuo' Chuan and Lee 'Kong' (Kuang) Chian.
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