Tan Kah Kee (1874-1961), a Singapore businessman, was one of Southeast Asia’s most outstanding industrialists, philanthropists, and political leaders. He founded a number of schools in Singapore and southern China.
Tan Kah Kee was born on Oct. 21, 1874, in Jimei, Fujian, southern China, and arrived in Singapore in 1890. In 1904, he began canning pineapples. In 1906, he added rubber planting and rice milling to his business activities. Tan Kah Kee became known as the “Henry Ford of Malaya” for the business empire that he created. He helped raise large amounts of money to assist China after various natural disasters. In 1921, he founded a university in Amoy (now called Xiamen), China, and financed it for more than 10 years. Tan Kah Kee also gave money to assist the Chinese in their war against the Japanese during the 1930’s and 1940’s. He died on Aug. 12, 1961.
