Tan Kia Gan
Tan Kia Gan | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board | |||||||||
| In office 1 January 1966 – 3 November 1966 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | K. M. Byrne | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | P. H. Meadows | ||||||||
| Chairman of the Housing and Development Board | |||||||||
| In office 19 October 1963 – 10 January 1966 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Lim Kim San | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Howe Yoon Chong | ||||||||
| Minister for National Development | |||||||||
| In office 25 August 1960 – 18 October 1963 | |||||||||
| Prime Minister | Lee Kuan Yew | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Toh Chin Chye (acting) | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lim Kim San | ||||||||
| Member of the Legislative Assembly for Paya Lebar | |||||||||
| In office 1 July 1959 – 3 September 1963 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Lim Koon Teck | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Kow Kee Seng | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | c. 1921 Singapore, Straits Settlements | ||||||||
| Spouse | Tan Sock Hoon (m. 1949) | ||||||||
| Children | 6 | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 陳家彥 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈家彦 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Tan Kia Gan (born c. 1921) is a Singaporean former politician and aircraft engineer, who served as chairman of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board in 1966, before being removed due to corruption allegations. Tan also served as the chairman of the Housing and Development Board from 1963 to 1966.
Early life and education
[edit]In 1921, Tan was born in Singapore. He received his early education in Penang, and graduated from the Penang Free School in 1940 with a School Certificate.[1][2]
Career
[edit]Early career
[edit]Upon graduation, Tan qualified as an aircraft engineer with Malayan Airways. In October 1955, as the elected president of the Malayan Airways Local Employees' Union, Tan, together with the union's legal adviser Lee Kuan Yew, negotiated with the airline's management to increase the basic wage of local licensed engineers to match the expatriate staff.[3][4]
In December 1956, Tan led a strike of 600 local employees after the airline did not issue any bonuses to them before. The employees hoped to get a $1 million goodwill bonus from the airline.[5][6] Under the advise of Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock, Tan agreed to reduce their demand to show that the union was "a reasonable union".[7] On 15 January 1957, after 22 days of strike, Lim said that he would set up a court of inquiry to look into the cause of the strike and recommendations, and the employees agreed to end the strike and return to work.[8][9]
Political career
[edit]In the 1959 Singaporean general election, Tan stood as a candidate for the People's Action Party (PAP) in the Paya Lebar Single Member Constituency. His opponent was Ong Chye Hock, an independent candidate.[10][11] Tan garnered 60.81% of the votes, and was elected into the 2nd Legislative Assembly.[12] Tan was appointed as a parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs Ong Pang Boon.[13][14] On 25 August 1960, after Minister for National Development Ong Eng Guan was fired and expelled from PAP, Tan took over as the Minister for National Development.[15]
In December 1960, Tan announced a plan to build 53,000 Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats at a total cost of $230 million over the next five years.[16] In March 1961, Tan also announced a plan to build about 3,000 HDB flats at a total cost of $6.2 million. The $20 one-room flats were meant to cater to lower-income individuals, and the flats were built in areas such as Kampong Tiong Bahru, Alexandra and MacPherson.[17]
On 31 May 1961, Tan led a debate in the Legislative Assembly on the Bukit Ho Swee fire, and he said that the conflagration was the "worst fire in state since the war" and left 16,000 people homeless.[18] Replacement flats, and a three-month rent subsidy were offered to the victims.[19][20]
On 31 January 1963, Tan flew to Kuala Lumpur to persuade the federal government to allow imports of Singapore chicken, eggs, and pigs across the causeway. This was the fourth attempt, after three failed attempts by himself, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Finance Minister Goh Keng Swee.[21][22]
In the 1963 Singaporean general election, Tan stood for re-election in Paya Lebar. His opponents were Kow Kee Seng from Barisan Sosialis, Lau Tok Keong from the United People's Party, and Goh Yeow Dek from the Singapore Alliance Party.[23] Tan secured 42.1% of the votes, and lost to Kow by 750 votes.[24][25] As such, on 19 October 1963, Tan took over as the chairman of HDB from Lim Kim San.[26]
Later career
[edit]On 1 January 1966, Tan was appointed as chairman of the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, succeeding K. M. Bryne. As such, Tan resigned as chairman of the Housing and Development Board on 10 January 1966.[27][28]
On 3 November 1966, Tan was stripped of all public appointments by the government.[29][30][31] Tan was being investigated for attempting to assist businessman Lim Tjin Hauw and his son William Lim in securing the sale of a Boeing aircraft to Malaysian Airways. Tan also acted as an intermediary for his brother-in-law in the sale of a tin mine to Lim. In exchange, Tan received 70,000 shares valued at $1 each. As the witnesses did not want to implicate Tan, he was removed from his public appointments instead.[32] However, during an anti-corruption conference in 2009, Law Minister K. Shanmugam revealed that Tan was eventually charged and convicted.[33][34]
Personal life
[edit]In 1949, Tan married Tan Sock Hoon, a teacher, and they have six children. In August 1954, both of them drew up and executed a deed of separation in Penang. In November 1957, a maintenance order was filed by his wife on Tan, and in February 1958, the Penang Sessions Court ordered him to pay $135 a month for maintenance. In August 1958, Tan's lawyer, Lee Kuan Yew, challenged the jurisdiction of the Penang Sessions Court and requested for the maintenance order to be quashed. The appeal judge agreed with Lee and repealed the maintenance order.[35][36][37]
After being removed from his public appointments, Tan went into poverty and lived in a one-room Housing and Development Board flat in Bukit Merah.[38]
References
[edit]- ^ "Fair Results In Cambridge Examinations". Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle. 1 April 1940. p. 7. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "MINISTER NAMED TO TAKE OVER ONG'S PORTFOLIO". The Straits Times. 25 August 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "NEW WAGE SCALE FOR ENGINEERS". Singapore Tiger Standard. 17 October 1955. p. 2. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "Airways union officials". The Straits Times. 9 July 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "Strike – but 11 flights will carry on today". The Straits Times. 23 December 1956. p. 1. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "Bid to settle air strike". The Straits Times. 28 December 1956. p. 1. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "BONUS STRIKE: UNION CLIMBS DOWN". The Straits Times. 2 January 1957. p. 7. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "Air strike over". The Straits Times. 13 January 1957. p. 1. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "AIRWAYS STRIKERS RETURN TO WORK". Singapore Tiger Standard. 14 January 1957. p. 3. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
- ^ "PAP MAN IN STRAIGHT FIGHT". The Straits Times. 27 May 1959. p. 4. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "PILEHAN RAYA S'PURA HARI INI: NAMA CHALUN2 YG BERTANDING" [SINGAPORE'S GENERAL ELECTION TODAY: NAMES OF THE COMPETING CHALLENGES]. Berita Harian (in Malay). 30 May 1959. p. 7. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "WANT TO KNOW". The Straits Times. 31 May 1959. p. 5. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Nine Parliamentary Secretaries appointed for S'pore Ministers". Singapore Tiger Standard. 11 June 1959. p. 5. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Talks on matters 'of common interest'". The Straits Times. 17 June 1959. p. 14. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "MINISTER NAMED TO TAKE OVER ONG'S PORTFOLIO". The Straits Times. 25 August 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "MINISTER TAN OPENS $230 mil. HOUSING PROJECT EXHIBITION". The Straits Times. 11 December 1960. p. 11. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "$20 ONE-ROOM FLATS TO HOUSE 20,000 PEOPLE". The Straits Times. 25 March 1961. p. 4. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ Wei Kai, Ng (24 May 2021). "Blaze, relief efforts captured by papers". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
- ^ "Tan: Worst fire in state since the war has hit 15,694 people". The Straits Times. 1 June 1961. p. 6. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "FLATS FOR FIRE VICTIMS, 3-MONTH RENT SUBSIDY". The Straits Times. 1 June 1961. p. 16. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Eggs ban: Fourth bid to get it lifted". The Straits Times. 1 February 1963. p. 11. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "TALKS TO SOLVE AN EGG PROBLEM". The Straits Times. 31 December 1962. p. 9. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Singapore polls nominations". The Straits Times. 13 September 1963. p. 5. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "THIS IS THE WAY THE VOTING WENT". The Straits Times. 22 September 1963. p. 2. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "The Missing Faces". The Straits Times. 23 September 1963. p. 10. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "MUCH HARDER JOB AHEAD FOR LIM". The Straits Times. 18 October 1963. p. 1. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "New tourist chief". The Straits Times. 11 January 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "KIA GAN IS NEW TOURIST HEAD". The Straits Times. 12 January 1966. p. 6. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Ex-Minister fired". The Straits Times. 4 November 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Bekas Menteri S'pura di-luchuti dari semua jawatan-nya" [Former Singaporean Minister stripped of all his positions]. Berita Harian (in Malay). 4 November 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ Loke, Peter (4 November 1966). "KIA GAN OUT". Eastern Sun. p. 1. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "Honesty 'almost an obsession with Govt'". The Straits Times. 5 July 1990. p. 16. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
- ^ Sufiyan Samsuri (18 January 2024). "Iswaran charged: A look at some past corruption cases involving high-ranking government officials". CNA. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam (29 September 2009). "Speech by Law Minister K Shanmugam at SIIA Conference on Governance and Anti-corruption". Ministry of Law. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ "PENANG COURT HAD NO JURISDICTION IN THIS MAINTENANCE CASE: JUDGE". The Straits Times. 26 August 1958. p. 7. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
- ^ "ENGINEER WILL HAVE TO PAY THAT $135..." The Straits Times. 9 August 1958. p. 18. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
- ^ "MAINTENANCE ORDER QUASHED". Singapore Tiger Standard. 9 August 1958. p. 6. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
- ^ 陈, 丽芬; 杨, 恺莉 (10 December 2007). "当年涉贪污被开除 前部长现住 红山一房组屋" [The former minister, who was fired for corruption, now lives in a one-room flat in Redhill]. Shin Min Daily News (in Chinese). p. 5. Retrieved 18 May 2025.