The Old Tao Nan School () is a historic building in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, located along Armenian Street in the

Museum Planning Area The Museum Planning Area is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area located in the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. The area plays a "bridging role" between the Orchard Road ...

, within the Central Area. The building was originally built for the

Tao Nan School Tao Nan School (abbreviation: TNS; Chinese: ), is a co-educational primary school in Singapore. One of the six Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan schools, along with Ai Tong School, Chongfu Primary School, Kong Hwa School, Nan Chiau Primary School and ...

to serve the local

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

community, but the school has since been relocated to its current location in

Marine Parade Marine Parade is a planning area and residential estate located in the Central Region of Singapore. Straddling the tip of the southeastern coast of Pulau Ujong, Marine Parade serves as a buffer between the Central and East regions of the c ...

. The building was then used as a wing of the

Asian Civilisations Museum The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) is an institution which forms a part of the four museums in Singapore, the other three being the Peranakan Museum at Old Tao Nan School, the National Museum of Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum. It is ...

, and now houses the

Peranakan Museum ms, Muzium Peranakan ta, பெரனாகன் அருங்காட்சியகம் , logo = peranmuseumlogo.jpg , logo_upright = 1 , logo_size = 300px , image = Peranakan Museum.jpg , image_size = 300px , ca ...

. It was gazetted as a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spec ...

on 27 February 1998.

History LA

was set up by the Singapore Hokkien Association (Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan) on 18 November 1906 to provide modern education for Hokkien Chinese children. It was the first Chinese school in Singapore to adopt modern subjects in its syllabus such as such as geography, history and physical education, in addition to traditional Chinese subjects such as Confucian classics that would help promote and preserve

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

and values. Although it was originally set up to serve the Hokkien community, it began to accept speakers of other Chinese languages in 1909, the first Chinese school to operate such inclusive policy. Lessons were initially conducted in

with some Mandarin classes, but English lessons were also introduced in 1914. In 1916, the school became the first Chinese school in Singapore switched its medium of

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

from

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. The idea for the school was first mooted by

Tan Boo Liat Tan Boo Liat (, 1875–1934) was a wealthy Singapore philanthropist. He was the son of Tan Soon Toh (), grandson of Tan Kim Ching and great-grandson of Tan Tock Seng. Educated locally, he was a member of the Singapore Volunteer Infantry and was a ...

, and it gained the support of the Hokkien community. Funds for the school were raised, and the Siam House on

North Bridge Road North Bridge Road () is a one-way road in Singapore, running north of the Singapore River. It starts at the junction with Crawford Street in Kallang, on the western bank of the Rochor River, and continues in a southwest direction before ending at ...

was chosen as the premise for the school. The Singapore Hokkien Association also provided an annual subsidy for the school. The school was initially named Tao Nan Study Hall (道南學堂, ''Daonan Xuetang''), the name Tao Nan being short for ''wu dao qi nan'' (吾道其南), meaning 'My code of behaviour is promulgated in Southeast Asia'. It had 90 students in its first year. As the number of pupils grew,

Tan Kah Kee Tan Kah Kee (; 21 October 1874 – 12 August 1961) was a Chinese businessman, investor, and philanthropist active in Singapore and the Chinese cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Guangzhou. A prominent figure in the overseas Chinese c ...

proposed that a new building be constructed, and $40,000 was raised by the Hokkien community for the building fund, to which Tan contributed $2,000. The sugar tycoon ''Majoor'' Oei Tiong Ham also gave $10,000 for the purchase of the land on Armenian Street on which Tao Nan School was built. Construction began 1910, and the school relocated to the new school building when it was completed in 1912. The school was then renamed Tao Nan School (Daonan Xuexiao). Tan Kah Kee served for 12 years as the school's president. When the school switched to Mandarin as the medium of instruction, the Mandarin syllabus was implemented by its first non-Hokkien principal, Xiong Shangfu, a native of Hunan province. The school was closed during the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945 when the Japanese took over the school and said to have used it as a military headquarters. After the war, the student population increased rapidly and classes were held in two separate sessions. In 1958, the school then became a government-aided school and also began to emphasize Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English languages in its syllabus in the 1950s and 60s. However, the school's population had declined by the mid-1970s as families moved out of the

city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

to the newly established

housing estates A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

in the suburbs, and in 1976, it was decided that the school should be re-located to

to cater for the suburban population there. In 1982, Tao Nan School moved to its new campus in Marine Parade, where it remains today. Also in 1982, English became its main medium of instruction. Throughout its history, the school has produced many prominent Chinese leaders among its alumni, among them

Lee Kong Chian Lee Kong Chian (; 18 October 1893 – 2 June 1967), also known by his alias Lee Geok Kun (), was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist based in Malaya and Singapore between the 1930s and the 1960s. He was the founder of the Lee ...

. The school was refurbished and became a wing of the

in 1994, and was officially opened on 21 April 1997. The Old Tao Nan School building was

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...

d as a

on 27 February 1998. When the Asian Civilisations Museum was established in

Empress Place Building The Empress Place Building is a historic building in Singapore, located on the north bank of the Singapore River in the Downtown Core, within the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. The building is currently the second wing ...

in 2006 after its renovation, the Old Tao Nan School was repurposed as the Peranakan Museum which opened on 25 April 2008.

Architecture

The Old Tao Nan School building was designed by the Municipal Engineer's Office of Singapore in an

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

with elements of the

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

. The front facade features

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

fluted pilasters, with large wide

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''veran ...

s designed to accommodate the

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...

of Singapore. It also has large windows and high

ceiling A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that covers the upper limits of a room. It is not generally considered a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the roof structure or the floor of a story above. Ceilings ...

s for better

ventilation Ventilation may refer to: * Ventilation (physiology), the movement of air between the environment and the lungs via inhalation and exhalation ** Mechanical ventilation, in medicine, using artificial methods to assist breathing *** Ventilator, a m ...

in a hot climate. A pair of black cast-iron eagles, said to ward off evil, guard the entrance to the school. The building is three-storey high, with a square central

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

topped with a

skylight A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

. The classrooms, now converted into galleries, were located on all three floors, and can be accessed via

symmetrical Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definiti ...

staircases on either side of the atrium leading up to the corridors on the upper floors.

Peranakan Museum

Today, the Old Tao Nan School building houses the

which was opened in April 2008 by Singapore's Prime Minister

Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (; born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former brigadier-general who has been serving as Prime Minister of Singapore and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party since 2004. He has been the Member of Par ...

. The Museum explores the main themes of Peranakan life in ten permanent galleries. Displays include the twelve-day Peranakan wedding and the role of the Nyonyas (female Peranakans).

References

*Norman Edwards, Peter Keys (1996), ''Singapore – A Guide to Buildings, Streets, Places'', Times Books International,

External links

* for Peranakan Museum
Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan
{{Authority control Asian Civilisations Museum Tourist attractions in Singapore Landmarks in Singapore National monuments of Singapore School buildings completed in 1912 Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan schools 1912 establishments in British Malaya