Emergence of an Entrepreneur

THE forceful style and qualities of the T’ung An leadership, enshrined in the ‘T’ung An spirit’, could not have blossomed forth so brilliantly in Singapore without other factors being brought to play. These included the formidable economic base of Tan Kah-kee, his pre-eminent social status as a result of his promotion of community welfare among the Chinese, his crucial control of key institutional bases and his relatively cordial working relationship with the British authorities. Moreover, emergent Chinese nationalism in South-East Asia made the rise of stronger and more hardened leaders possible. Similarly, it can be argued that the ‘Ta-p’u spirit’¹ of Lee Kuan-yew (b.1923) in post-war Singapore could not have flowered so dramatically without a set of favourable conditions, peculiar to his times, being available. These consisted of Lee Kuan-yew’s professional and educational qualifications, his own charisma, his mass-oriented institutional and political bases, his growing political prestige and influence amidst rising Malayan nationalism and his acceptability as an outstanding political figure by the British authorities. In various ways, both leaders had something in common — their interest in power and leadership and their will to succeed. While Lee Kuan-yew was more obsessed with a political power which would allow him to modernize Singapore as a new nation with or without a merger with Malaysia, Tan Kah-kee was primarily more concerned with community power and leadership for promoting Chinese interests in South-East Asia and China. Because Lee Kuan-yew was a product of Malayan nationalism and Tan Kah-kee of Chinese nationalism, it is not surprising that they possessed different political and ideological orientations and emphases…