The Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, also known as Wan Qing Yuan, and formerly as the Sun Yat Sen Villa, is a two-story colonial style villa in

Balestier Balestier () is a sub zone located in the planning area of Novena in the Central Region of Singapore. The main road, Balestier Road, links Thomson Road to Serangoon Road and the road continues on as Lavender Street. The area is home to rows ...

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, bor ...

. The villa is now a museum commemorating

Sun Yat Sen The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrare ...

(1866–1925), the founding father of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

who visited Singapore nine times between 1900 and 1911. Located at 12 Tai Gin Road off Ah Hood Road in Balestier, the villa occupies an area of approximately and played a crucial role in the 1911

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of ...

by serving as the

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

's base in

Nanyang Nanyang is the romanization of two common Chinese place names. It may refer to: Written as 南洋 (Southern Ocean) * Nanyang (region), a Chinese term denoting the Southeast Asian lands surrounding the South China Sea ;China * Nanyang Fleet, Qing ...

(Southeast Asia) in the early 20th century.

History

The villa was designed in 1900 and built in 1901 by Boey Chuan Poh (梅春輔; 1874-1926), a businessman who owned the newspaper ''Union Times''. The villa was rumoured to be a home for his mistress Bin Chan, hence it was called "Bin Chan House". In 1902, Boey sold the villa for $10,800 to Lim Ah Siang (林亞相; 1866-1925), the ''towkay'' of a timber business in

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares mariti ...

and Singapore and the leader of the Teochew

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ...

Ngee Heng Kongsi. The building was constructed in a classical colonial style, featuring ornate arched windows and doors, eaves decorated with floral patterns, and movable louvred windows. In 1905, rubber magnate Teo Eng Hock (張永福; 1872–1957) bought the villa for his mother, Tan Poh Neo, as a place of retirement and renamed it "Wan Qing Yuan". In July 1905, Sun Yat Sen met Teo, Tan Chor Lam (陳楚南; 1884–1971) and

Lim Nee Soon Lim Nee Soon (; 12 November 1879 – 20 March 1936) was a Singaporean banker and businessman who promoted social and community matters, and was a respected community leader in Singapore. Lim was of Peranakan descent, with ancestry from Chenghai D ...

in Singapore through his close friend,

Yau Lit Yau Lit (; 1864 – 12 December 1936), born Yau Kwai-bok (尢季博), courtesy name Tui-hau (推孝) or Ling-kwai (令季), or Euclid Yau, was a Chinese revolutionary from Shuntak, Kwangtung. He is one of the Four Bandits, together with Sun Yat- ...

, while en route to Europe from Japan. In April 1906, when Sun visited Singapore again, Teo offered his villa for use as the

's headquarters in Southeast Asia. At the villa, the Tongmenghui planned numerous uprisings and fundraising activities leading to the 1911

, which ended imperial rule in China under the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. Three uprisings of the Xinhai Revolution – Chaozhou Uprising (May 1907), Zhennanguan Uprising (December 1907), and Hekou Uprising (April 1908) – were planned in the villa. Teo and his wife, Tan Sok Jee, sewed the

flag of the Republic of China A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

in the villa. After Teo sold the villa in 1912, the villa changed ownership multiple times until it was purchased in 1937 by six Chinese leading businessmen in Singapore:

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 ...

(李光前; 1893–1967), Tan Ean Kiam (陳延謙; 1881–1943), Lee Chin Tian (李振殿), Chew Hean Swee (周獻瑞; 1884–1960),

Lee Choon Seng Lee Choon Seng (; 1888—5 June 1966) was a businessman and philanthropist in pre-independence Singapore. He founded several companies, cultivated rubber plantations in Malaya and started Chinese banks in the region. Lee held leadership roles ...

(李俊承; 1888—1966) and Yeo Kiat Tiow (楊吉兆). In the following year, they donated the villa to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SCCCI). After the establishment of the

, the Nationalist government funded the refurbishment of the villa and converted it into a memorial hall in 1940. At the same time, they gathered information and artefacts related to Sun Yat Sen from overseas Chinese communities and opened the hall to the public. During the

Japanese occupation of Singapore , officially , was the name for Singapore when it was occupied and ruled by the Empire of Japan, following the fall and surrender of British military forces on 15 February 1942 during World War II. Japanese military forces occupied it afte ...

(1942–1945), the Japanese military used the villa as a communication base and

Kempeitai The , also known as Kempeitai, was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945 that also served as a secret police force. In addition, in Japanese-occupied territories, the Kenpeitai arrested or killed those suspecte ...

branch office. Many of the original artefacts and furniture of the hall were destroyed. After the war, the Nationalist government funded the restoration of the villa and set up the Singapore branch of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...

there. However, following the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

victory in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

and founding of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in October 1949, the British colonial proscription of the KMT as an unlawful organisation, and a lack of foreign exchange sufficient to maintain the centre, the house closed down as a political office. In 1951, the SCCCI regained ownership of the villa and renamed it the "Sun Yat Sen Villa" after renovations in 1964. On 28 October 1994, the

Singapore government The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercise ...

gazetted the villa 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 spe ...

. Two years later, the SCCCI renamed the villa to "Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall" and announced its plans to expand the place. The villa closed in November 1997 for restoration works at a cost of S$7.5 million. It was reopened to the public as a museum on 12 November 2001. In 2009, the SCCCI appointed the National Heritage Board (NHB) to manage the museum, and redevelopment works took place in October 2010. One year later, the villa was reopened to the public on 8 October 2011 to commemorate the centenary of the Xinhai Revolution. Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall

Current status

Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall 13, Aug 06

The villa currently houses a collection of nearly 400 artefacts, including calligraphy works, photographs, old books, paintings and sculptures, spread throughout the five galleries in two levels. The villa is redecorated in the style of an old

Peranakan The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...

house and has 180 new artefacts added. The

Lee Foundation Lee Foundation is Singapore's largest private charitable foundation. It was founded in 1952 by philanthropist and businessman Lee Kong Chian, and has since supported various educational causes, healthcare and medical endowments as well as disaster ...

paid for most of the paintings, the bronze wall mural, and bronze statues and busts, which were worth over S$1.5 million in total. Just alongside the villa is Zhongshan Park, also named after Sun Yat Sen, an integrated hotel, commercial and retail development completed in 2013. Connecting the development to the villa is a similarly named public park.

Highlights

* A two-metre tall bronze wall mural which spans 60 metres to the back of the building and depicts Singapore's history from the 1840s to the 1940s. It was sculpted by artists from China between 1999 and early 2005 at a cost of around S$1 million. It depicts scenes of Singapore as a fishing village in the 1840s and the Sook Ching massacre in 1942. * Bronze statues scattered around the garden, including those of persons who helped Sun Yat Sen in the Xinhai Revolution. There is a one-metre tall sculpture of Sun Yat Sen seated on a chair, which was presented by the Chinese government in 1937. More bronze sculptures of Sun Yat Sen line the hallway leading to the museum's entrance. * Oil and watercolour paintings and calligraphy works by Singaporean and Chinese artists, such as painter

Liu Kang Liu Kang is a fictional character in the ''Mortal Kombat'' fighting game series by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Depicted as Earthrealm's greatest warrior and champion, he is generally the main hero of the series. He debuted in the ori ...

, Buddhist monk and renowned calligrapher, Venerable Song Nian (松年法師), and

Cultural Medallion The Cultural Medallion is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film. It is widely recognized as Singapore's pinnacle arts award. Histo ...

-winning artists

Ong Kim Seng Ong Kim Seng (), was born in Singapore and has been a full-time artist since 1985. He has participated in group and solo exhibitions at Singapore and in the United States, China, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Belgium, Federal Republic of Ger ...

and

Tan Swie Hian Tan Swie Hian () is a Singaporean multidisciplinary artist known for his contemporary Chinese calligraphy, Chinese poetry and contemporary art sculptures found in Singapore and many parts of the world. Early life Born in Indonesia, Tan migra ...

. These are found in the galleries on the second level. * Photograph of Sun Yat Sen and members of the

's Singapore branch, taken at Wan Qing Yuan around 1906. * ''Nanyang and the Founding of the Republic, the Memoir of Teo Eng Hock'', a book by Teo Eng Hock, providing a detailed record of the Tongmenghui's activities in Southeast Asia. * ''Wan Qing Yuan and the Chinese Revolution, a recollection by Tan Chor Lam'', a book printed in the 1940s, containing records of the Tongmenghui's activities in Singapore. * A work of Chinese calligraphy, bearing the Chinese characters ''bo ai'' (博愛; "universal love"), presented by Sun Yat Sen to Teo Eng Hock's nephew, Teo Beng Wan. * Seal belonging to Tan Chor Lam, engraved with the Chinese characters ''jie ai guo yuan'' (結愛國緣; "love for country and fellow countrymen").

References

*''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

'', "House of history", 29 December 2005

External links

Official website of the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
{{Authority control Biographical museums in Singapore Houses completed in 1880 National monuments of Singapore Novena, Singapore Sun Yat-sen

History

Current status

Highlights

See also

References

External links