Do you all know this Hokkien philanthropist Tan Lark Sye - who personally donated $5m in 1953 to set up Nantah - was stripped of his Spore citizenship and stepped down from the university's leadership and remained stateless until his death in 1972?
http://ifonlysingaporeans.blogspot.my/2012/10/the-nantah-legacy-that-tan-lark-sye.html?m=1
The Nantah legacy that Tan Lark Sye left behind
By Leong Weng Kam, The Straits Times, 28 Oct 2012
The late rubber tycoon Tan Lark Sye, better known as the founder of the former Nanyang University (Nantah), was arguably Singapore's most prominent Chinese community leader in the last century.
That, despite being stripped of Singapore citizenship by the Government soon after the 1963 elections for allegedly playing "stooge to the communists and (attempting to) jeopardise the peace and prosperity of Singapore" by backing about a dozen Nantah graduates who stood as left-wing Barisan Sosialis candidates against the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).
The long-time president of the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan, who gave generously to charitable and educational causes throughout his life, then stepped down from the university's leadership and remained stateless until his death in 1972, aged 75.
The Chinese-medium university's enrolment declined, due largely to changes in language and education policies from the 1960s. It merged with the University of Singapore to become the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1980.
A year later, a new English-medium Nanyang Technological Institute opened on Nantah's sprawling campus in Jurong. It became the Nanyang Technological University in 1991.
Today, 40 years after Tan Lark Sye's passing, he is still remembered for his leading role in promoting higher Chinese education and the founding of Nantah in 1953 with the support of the Chinese community, from poor trishaw riders to wealthy businessmen.
Nantah was then the only Chinese-medium university in South- east Asia. It gave Chinese middle school students in Singapore and the region a shot at higher education as they could not go to communist China.
Today, Tan Lark Sye will be remembered at an event combining a public lecture in Chinese, a seminar and the launch of five new Chinese books - three of them on the history of Nantah.
Held at News Centre in Toa Payoh North, the event marks the 40th anniversary of his death and is organised jointly by NTU's Centre for Chinese Language and Culture and the Association of Nanyang University Graduates.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam is guest of honour and Harvard's Professor David Wang Der-Wei will deliver the keynote lecture.
NTU Centre for Chinese Language and Culture director Lee Guan Kin, 64, herself a Nantah graduate, said the event comes 14 years after the Tan Lark Sye Professorship in Chinese language and culture was set up by NTU in 1998.
That was seen as public recognition of the man's contributions to the university. The professorship drew donations of nearly $2 million from Chinese community groups and Nantah alumni, enabling the NTU centre to invite up to two Chinese scholars from overseas each year to give lectures and do research with the university staff. The latest recipient is Harvard's Prof Wang.
Dr Lee said of the events to honour Tan Lark Sye: "The man and his contributions to Singapore's education in the past and even to NTU today should be remembered."
Tan Lark Sye's harshest critic was first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who said in his book, My Lifelong Challenge - Singapore's Bilingual Journey, launched last November, that Nantah was doomed to fail from the start as the tide of history was against it.
He said Tan Lark Sye was ignorant of the domestic politics in South-east Asia at the time and allowed himself to be used by the communists, which led Nantah to become a hotbed of communist activities in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Mr Lee also implied that Tan Lark Sye was a hypocrite for sending most of his 11 children to English-medium schools while presenting himself as a fervent advocate of Chinese language and culture and higher Chinese education.
Many Nantah graduates could not agree with Mr Lee's views and said the personal attacks were uncalled for. They felt Tan Lark Sye should be judged on his contributions to the community.
Retired mathematician Teh Hoon Heng, 77, who graduated from Nantah in 1960 and lives in Vancouver, Canada, said in an interview with the Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao earlier this year that he disagreed with Mr Lee because "we look at the issue from different viewpoints".
Professor Teh, who published his memories of Nantah last year, said that politically speaking, Nantah might have been born at the wrong time and so was doomed to fail, but that from the education or academic viewpoint, it was a success.
NTU's Dr Lee pointed out that the great number of Nantah graduates in different fields today - from the arts and education to government and politics - attests to the university's success and their contributions to Singapore over the years.
Association of Nantah Graduates president Chia Ban Seng, 73, said: "Everyone is entitled to his or her views. As a Nantah graduate, I respect Tan Lark Sye because without him there would be no Nantah and I would never have had a university education. Let the historians and academics do their research on him. History is the best judge."
