Mohammad Tahir Tan Tong Hye
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Tan Sri Mohammed Tahir Tan Tong Hye, also known as T. H. Tan () (31 October 1914 – 3 November 1985), was a Singapore-born journalist and politician who became the Secretary of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and the first honorary Secretary-General of the Alliance Party in Malaya. He is mainly remembered for being among the three men (the others being Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak) who took part in the UMNO-MCA Alliance delegation to London in 1954 to demand for an effective elected majority in the Federal Legislative Council of Malaya.


Early life

Born in Singapore, Tan attended St. Joseph's Institution and Raffles Institution. At Raffles Institution he was a contributor to the school newspaper, The Rafflesian, which would set him on the path to journalism.


Career

After his Senior Cambridge Examination, he became a cub reporter with the Malaya Tribune. He became acquainted with the then chairman of the newspaper, Tan Cheng Lock, who would become his friend, mentor and later colleague in the pursuit of Malayas independence. Tan rose quickly in the ranks, soon becoming a sub-editor and editor of the
Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tab ...
. He later joined the Straits Times group and became one of the leading writers of the
Singapore Free Press ''The Singapore Free Press'' was an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore. History The paper was founded as Singapore's second English-language newspaper by William Napier, Edward Boustead, Walter Scott Lorrain and Geo ...
and night editor of the
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
. During the Japanese Occupation, Tan and his colleagues organized a news service for
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
prisoners of war at Sime Road camp and Changi Prison. After the war, the English-only policy for top positions at the Straits Times led Tan to join the Singapore edition of the Tiger Standard, the paper established by Aw Boon Haw. In 1950, a Standard-owned DC-3 airplane crash-landed in Thailand, paper's substantial profits, but Aw refused on account that his son was also a victim. As a result of this difference in opinion, Tan resigned from the paper. Upon resignation, Tan joined the MCA in 1953 as Chief Executive Secretary, a position that he retained for nearly three years. In May 1954, an UMNO-MCA Alliance delegation composed of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak and Tan arrived in London to demand for an effective elected majority in the new Federal Legislative Council. The MCA president, Tan Cheng Lock, was not asked to attend. He authorized Tan Tong Hye to represent him in the talks as proposed by Razak and Tengku, for the trip. Tan was instructed by MCA to hand a memorandum issued by the MCA and Chinese educational bodies opposing colonial education policy and Chinese demands over to the British Undersecretary of State for Colonies,
Oliver Lyttelton Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos, (15 March 1893 – 21 January 1972) was a British businessman from the Lyttelton family who was brought into government during the Second World War, holding a number of ministerial posts. Background, ed ...
. But Tan did not hand over the memorandum as Razak felt that the delegation should speak in one voice to the British colonials. However, the mission failed, leading the Alliance leaders to push for a boycott of the Federal Legislative Council and other bodies to put further pressure on the British government to heed Alliance terms for independence. The boycott lasted three weeks and ended when the High Commissioner agreed to consult the leader of the majority party on the filling of five of the seven nominated seats in the Federal Legislative Council. Shortly after, the Alliance registered as a political party – the Alliance Party. Tan served as the Secretary General of the Alliance Party until May 1971. He retired from politics in 1975 after a series of heart attacks. Other than in the field of politics, Tan also had substantial accomplishments in business and industry, as a prime mover in the establishment of Malaya's first integrated multimillion-dollar steel mill (Malayawata) and as the leader of the Selangor and All-Malaya Chinese Chambers of Commerce. He organized the first Sino-Malay Economic Co-operation Council in Malaysia. He was also chairman and member of the board of directors in many Malaysian companies, including Southern Bank Bhd. In charity work, he was President of the Malaysian Leprosy Relief Association. While a Buddhist by birth and he was decorated by the King of Malaysia for his service in the propagation of Buddhism in 1964, he was converted to
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
by Tun Abdul Razak. This is rather surprising as he had been decorated by the King. And the fact he converted when he was in power within the Alliance and Government. Razak was then the Deputy Prime Minister and came into power in 1968 after the serious 13 May incident which Tengku was blamed for.


Honours


Honours of Malaysia

* : ** Companion of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (JMN) (1958) * : ** Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (PMN) - Tan Sri (1964)


References


Mention of the "late" Mohammad Tahir Tan Tong Hye
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammad Tahir Tan Tong Hye People from Singapore Year of death missing 1914 births Converts to Islam from Buddhism Malaysian Muslims Malaysian people of Chinese descent Singaporean people of Chinese descent Malaysian Chinese Association politicians Members of the Dewan Negara Malaysian journalists Malaysian writers Malaysian editors Saint Joseph's Institution, Singapore alumni Raffles Institution alumni Malaysian chairpersons of corporations Malaysian corporate directors Malaysian philanthropists Commanders of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Companions of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Singaporean emigrants to Malaysia People who lost Singaporean citizenship Naturalised citizens of Malaysia