Tan Boo Liat

Son of Tan Soon Toh, grandson of Tan Kim Ching and great grandson of Tan Tock Seng. Head of the Hockien "pang" in Singapore. Strong supporter of Dr. Sun Yat Sen and member of the Singapore T'ung Meng Hui along with Lim Boon Keng and Dr. S. C. Yin and a president of the Singapore Kuomintang. He headed the Fukien Protection Fund together with Tan Kah Kee collecting $130,000 during a nine-month campaign. [The Kuomintang Movement in British Malaya, 1912-1949 By Ching Fatt Yong, R. B. McKenna Published by NUS Press, 1990; ISBN 997169137X, 9789971691370; pp. 12, 23, 28, 259, 260, 287]

Straits-born Chinaman. Well-known on the turf. In 1898 his famous horse, Vanitas won the Viceroy's cup in India, the first time that a horse from the Straits Settlements or the Federated Malay States won this trophy. He had a stable of a dozen racehorses. He was educated locally. He was a member of the Singapore Volunteer Infantry. He was among the contingent present at King Edward's coronation. [Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya: its history, people, commerce, industries, and resources by Arnold Wright 1908; p. 574]

He owned Golden Bell Mansion (built 1901) on Pender Road at the Mount Washington side of Mount Faber, Singapore. Dr. Sun Yat Sen stayed there on 15 December 1911 as did his wife and daughters (February 1912). After Tan Boo Liat's death in Shanghai in 1934 the house was sold. It is currently occupied by the Danish Seaman's Mission. [One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore By Ong Siang Song Published by Oxford University Press, 1985; ISBN 0195826035, 9780195826036] [ [http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_29_2005-01-25.html Mount Faber By Cornelius-Takahama, Vernon written on 1997-09-29, National Library Board Singapore] ]

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