Lee Choon Seng was a Chinese community leader and philanthropist during the pre-independence era of Singapore. He was known for his various initiatives in helping the Chinese community and Sun Yat-Sen's revolutionary cause in China. He was one of the early Buddhist pioneers responsible in promoting the growth of Buddhism in Singapore for setting up or supporting various Buddhist institutions such as the Singapore Buddhist Federation, Singapore Buddhist Lodge and Poh Ern Shih Temple. In 2008, Lee's life and his numerous contributions to society, are being commemorated in a permanent memorial hall at the historic Ee Hoe Hean Club.
Lee was an ardent supporter of the Kuomintang in their struggle against the Japanese and later the Communists in China. He was involved in secret meetings with Dr Sun Yat-Sen in the early 1900s, the "Father of Modern China" in Wan Qing Yuan (now Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall) in Singapore and in the raising of funds in South East Asia amongst the Chinese diaspora to support Dr. Sun’s movement for the creation of a Chinese Republic in China.
In 1937, Lee, together with five other Chinese community leaders, Messrs Lee Kong Chian, Lee Chin Tian, Tan Ean Kiam, Chew Hean Swee and Yeo Kiat Tiow, bought the Wan Qing Yuan at Tai Gin Road (Dr. Sun had stayed at the villa on three occasions) and presented it to China's trade representative office in Singapore to be preserved as a historical site.
During the Japanese Occupation (February 1942 — September 1945), the villa was used as a communications centre by the Japanese army. After the war, it functioned briefly as a branch for the Kuomintang till 1951. After that, it was handed over to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry which renovated and turned it into a place of historical interest for the public in 1964
Since 1927, Lee was actively involved with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (now Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry) as General Secretary initially and progressed on to become their President in 1931. He continued to serve the Chamber of Commerce in various capacities till 1967 owing to poor health as one of their Honorary Presidents.
During the Japanese Occupation, the Overseas Chinese Association (OCA) was set up in March 1942 to act as a bridge between the Japanese military administration and the Chinese community to serve Japanese interests. Despite that, the OCA tried its best to alleviate the hardship of its community. The OCA was lead by Dr. Lim Boon Keng, with its headquarters at the old Chinese Chamber of Commerce at Hill Street. Lee was one of the six members representing the Hokkien group.
Venerable Hong Choon , the eminent abbot of Kong Meng San Temple acted as a spiritual mentor not only in developing Lee’s spiritual path resulting in his conversion to Buddhism from Taoism but also in his various Buddhism inspired projects locally and abroad.
Chwee Chian Hill and the surrounding area was the scene of the fiercely fought Battle of Pasir Panjang during World War II in Singapore. As such, many Japanese and British soldiers and innocent civilians died in the crossfire and bombings. On an advice from Venerable Hong Choon, Lee purchased Chwee Chian Hill from the British colonial government to build a Buddhist temple called Poh Ern Shih (“Temple of Thanksgiving” in the Hokkien dialect) that is dedicated to the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva with a noble aim of liberating the spirits of the people who were sacrificed during the Japanese invasion. Poh Ern Shih was incorporated by Lee in 1950 under the Singapore Companies Act as a limited Company without shares. The freehold land consisted of 46,938 square feet (4,360.7 m2) in area.
The Singapore Buddhist Lodge was officially set up on 30 June 1934 but had a fixed address only in September 1934 when Lee donated a double storey house at 26 Blair Road for its use. He also contributed an additional S$1,000 for furniture and other expenses, a considerable sum at that time. At the point of setting up, the Lodge had only a small membership of over hundred but most of the members were from the Chinese social elite.
But the membership gradually grew to over 2000. To meet the needs of the larger member base, Zhang Jia Mei and Zhong Tian Shui decided to rent bigger premises at 17 Kim Yam Road in 1946. In 1950, the 8th President of the Lodge, Zhang Shu Yuan and Lee donated S$10,000 and started a fund-raising drive to purchase the rented premises. Since then, the Lodge continued to increase its membership with spiritual guidance provided by Venerable Hong Choon.
After the war, the growth in the number of Buddhist temples and Buddhists doubled that of pre-war period. However, there was no single umbrella organisation that could claim to represent all Buddhist temples and monasteries. Each temple, headed by a chief monk or a management committee conducted its own affairs in its own way and relied on itself for financial support.
In the long run, such trend was not healthy as growth and resources are limited.
On 31 July 1949, Lee invited representatives from all Chinese temples to the Singapore Buddhist Lodge to discuss the formation of an umbrella organisation. On 30 October 1949, the Singapore Buddhist Federation was officially registered with 5 guiding principles as follow:
To promote world peace
To promote the Dharma
To expand Buddhist education
To carry welfare services
To raise the quality of the Sangha members
Its Management Committee consisted of 5 Sangha members and 5 lay members. Lee was elected as the chairman while Venerable Hong Choon was the vice-chairman. When Lee step down due to old age in 1964, Venerable Hong Choon succeeded him as Chairman. During its first 10 years of formation, some of SBF notable achievements are.
Success in having Vesak Day gazetted as a public holiday in 1955.
Between 1955 - 1956, it succeeded in getting government approvals to set up a Buddhist cemetery of about 110 acres (0.45 km2) at 16 milestone Chua Chu Kang Road.
Management and running of Maha Bodhi School and Mee Toh School in 1950 and 1953 respectively.
In early 1930s, Lee heard from Venerable Tao Chiai after the latter return from a pilgrimage to India, that he would like to restore a dilapidated Chinese temple in Sarnath that was built by a Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, in the 8th century AD. It is located beside the famous Deer Park where Sakyamuni Buddha gave his First Sermon after his Enlightenment. Unfortunately Venerable Tao Chiai died before he could accomplish this task. However, Lee offered to provide his personal funds to his chief disciple, Venerable Teh Yue to help him to continue the restoration project. He went on a pilgrimage to India with Venerable Teh Yue and brought along an English engineer, A. H. King to assess and assist in the restoration works. This Temple still stands today in Sarnath and it is called simply The Chinese Temple in Sarnath.
Lee was an ardent supporter of the Kuomintang in their struggle against the Japanese and later the Communists in China. He was involved in secret meetings with Dr Sun Yat-Sen in the early 1900s, the "Father of Modern China" in Wan Qing Yuan (now Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall) in Singapore and in the raising of funds in South East Asia amongst the Chinese diaspora to support Dr. Sun’s movement for the creation of a Chinese Republic in China.
In 1937, Lee, together with five other Chinese community leaders, Messrs Lee Kong Chian, Lee Chin Tian, Tan Ean Kiam, Chew Hean Swee and Yeo Kiat Tiow, bought the Wan Qing Yuan at Tai Gin Road (Dr. Sun had stayed at the villa on three occasions) and presented it to China's trade representative office in Singapore to be preserved as a historical site.
During the Japanese Occupation (February 1942 — September 1945), the villa was used as a communications centre by the Japanese army. After the war, it functioned briefly as a branch for the Kuomintang till 1951. After that, it was handed over to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry which renovated and turned it into a place of historical interest for the public in 1964
Since 1927, Lee was actively involved with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (now Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry) as General Secretary initially and progressed on to become their President in 1931. He continued to serve the Chamber of Commerce in various capacities till 1967 owing to poor health as one of their Honorary Presidents.
During the Japanese Occupation, the Overseas Chinese Association (OCA) was set up in March 1942 to act as a bridge between the Japanese military administration and the Chinese community to serve Japanese interests. Despite that, the OCA tried its best to alleviate the hardship of its community. The OCA was lead by Dr. Lim Boon Keng, with its headquarters at the old Chinese Chamber of Commerce at Hill Street. Lee was one of the six members representing the Hokkien group.
Venerable Hong Choon , the eminent abbot of Kong Meng San Temple acted as a spiritual mentor not only in developing Lee’s spiritual path resulting in his conversion to Buddhism from Taoism but also in his various Buddhism inspired projects locally and abroad.
Chwee Chian Hill and the surrounding area was the scene of the fiercely fought Battle of Pasir Panjang during World War II in Singapore. As such, many Japanese and British soldiers and innocent civilians died in the crossfire and bombings. On an advice from Venerable Hong Choon, Lee purchased Chwee Chian Hill from the British colonial government to build a Buddhist temple called Poh Ern Shih (“Temple of Thanksgiving” in the Hokkien dialect) that is dedicated to the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva with a noble aim of liberating the spirits of the people who were sacrificed during the Japanese invasion. Poh Ern Shih was incorporated by Lee in 1950 under the Singapore Companies Act as a limited Company without shares. The freehold land consisted of 46,938 square feet (4,360.7 m2) in area.
The Singapore Buddhist Lodge was officially set up on 30 June 1934 but had a fixed address only in September 1934 when Lee donated a double storey house at 26 Blair Road for its use. He also contributed an additional S$1,000 for furniture and other expenses, a considerable sum at that time. At the point of setting up, the Lodge had only a small membership of over hundred but most of the members were from the Chinese social elite.
But the membership gradually grew to over 2000. To meet the needs of the larger member base, Zhang Jia Mei and Zhong Tian Shui decided to rent bigger premises at 17 Kim Yam Road in 1946. In 1950, the 8th President of the Lodge, Zhang Shu Yuan and Lee donated S$10,000 and started a fund-raising drive to purchase the rented premises. Since then, the Lodge continued to increase its membership with spiritual guidance provided by Venerable Hong Choon.
After the war, the growth in the number of Buddhist temples and Buddhists doubled that of pre-war period. However, there was no single umbrella organisation that could claim to represent all Buddhist temples and monasteries. Each temple, headed by a chief monk or a management committee conducted its own affairs in its own way and relied on itself for financial support.
In the long run, such trend was not healthy as growth and resources are limited.
On 31 July 1949, Lee invited representatives from all Chinese temples to the Singapore Buddhist Lodge to discuss the formation of an umbrella organisation. On 30 October 1949, the Singapore Buddhist Federation was officially registered with 5 guiding principles as follow:
To promote world peace
To promote the Dharma
To expand Buddhist education
To carry welfare services
To raise the quality of the Sangha members
Its Management Committee consisted of 5 Sangha members and 5 lay members. Lee was elected as the chairman while Venerable Hong Choon was the vice-chairman. When Lee step down due to old age in 1964, Venerable Hong Choon succeeded him as Chairman. During its first 10 years of formation, some of SBF notable achievements are.
Success in having Vesak Day gazetted as a public holiday in 1955.
Between 1955 - 1956, it succeeded in getting government approvals to set up a Buddhist cemetery of about 110 acres (0.45 km2) at 16 milestone Chua Chu Kang Road.
Management and running of Maha Bodhi School and Mee Toh School in 1950 and 1953 respectively.
In early 1930s, Lee heard from Venerable Tao Chiai after the latter return from a pilgrimage to India, that he would like to restore a dilapidated Chinese temple in Sarnath that was built by a Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, in the 8th century AD. It is located beside the famous Deer Park where Sakyamuni Buddha gave his First Sermon after his Enlightenment. Unfortunately Venerable Tao Chiai died before he could accomplish this task. However, Lee offered to provide his personal funds to his chief disciple, Venerable Teh Yue to help him to continue the restoration project. He went on a pilgrimage to India with Venerable Teh Yue and brought along an English engineer, A. H. King to assess and assist in the restoration works. This Temple still stands today in Sarnath and it is called simply The Chinese Temple in Sarnath.
