These materials highlight how community leaders representing different ethnic groups not only spoke out on public issues, but also sought to represent a wider section of community by being inclusive in their agendas.
Tan Cheng Lock, rubber estate and landed proprietor, Chairman of Directors and Managing Director of Malaka Pinda Rubber Estates, Ltd., […] So begins the profile, written in 1947, of one of Malaya’s best-known leaders of the Chinese community.
The ISEAS Library is home to several private papers of prominent personalities and one of them is Tun Sir Henry H.S. Lee (Lee Hau Shik), who was a politician and a banker.
Tan Chin Tuan’s banking activities and his philanthropy are captured in his private papers which are deposited at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. The collection, known as the Tan Chin Tuan Private papers, is a sizeable one with nearly 54,000 pages of documents in 727 folios.
In April 2021, ISEAS Library received a set of materials from Dr Sara Marshall, daughter of the late David Marshall, to add to the David Marshall Private Papers. Among the materials was a set of 54 letters addressed to his brother, Meyer, written by David Marshall while visiting China in 1956.
Wong Ah Fook, full name Wong Fook Kee [黄福基] (12 March 1837 – 12 September 1918) was a well-known builder, businessman and philanthropist in Singapore and Johor Bahru, Malaya, in the late 19th and early 20th century.