Tan Chye Cheng (; 1911 – 6 March 1991), also known as C. C. Tan, was a

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 ...

an lawyer and politician.

Biography

Born in Singapore, Tan was the only child of Tan Guan Chua, a member of the Chinese Advisory Board and the

Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI; ) is a business chamber in Singapore. The chamber was originally created to protect and promote the commercial interest of the Chinese community in Singapore but it also played a r ...

committee.Portrait of Mr. C.C. Tan, Member of Singapore Legislative Council
BooksSGLeo Suryadinata (2012)
Southeast Asian Personalities of Chinese Descent: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume I & II
', Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, p1065 He was educated at the St. Joseph's Institution school, leaving in 1928. He won a scholarship to attend St Joseph's Academy in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he became friends with Ong Hock Thye. Tan was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1928, passing his final exam in 1931. He had to wait until turning 21 in 1932 before being called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

. He returned to Singapore and was called to the Bar in 1933. He initially worked at Aubrey Davies & Company, later moving to Rodyk & Davidson, where he remained until the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1939, Tan married Joyce Lim Chin Lien in Singapore. They moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

during World War II, returning to the island after the end of the war. His daughter,

Margaret Leng Tan Margaret Leng Tan () is a classical music artist known for her work as a professional toy pianist, performing in major cities around the world on her 51 cm-high toy pianos. She is also known to be a classical music performer using unconventio ...

, became a musician. After returning from India after World War II, Tan became involved in politics. He was appointed to the Advisory Council in 1946, serving until the following year, when he was amongst the founders of the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

in August 1947 and, despite not being a good public speaker, became its first president. In the first

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in 1948, Tan was elected in the Municipal South-West constituency with 42.3% of the vote, beating Nazir Ahmad Mallal by 69 votes. The elections saw the PP win three of the six elected seats. After his return, In the 1951 elections Tan ran in the Tanglin constituency, receiving 80% of the vote against his Labour Party rival. The PP won six of the nine elected seats. In 1954 he was part of the nine-man panel led by

George William Rendel Sir George William Rendel (23 February 1889 – 6 May 1979) was a British diplomat.Eid Al Yahya, ''Travellers in Arabia'', (Stacey International, 2006). Early years Rendel, the son of the engineer George Wightwick Rendel was educated at Downs ...

that reviewed the territory's constitution, leading to the promulgation of a new one. However, Tan lost his seat in the 1955 elections; he ran in the

Cairnhill constituency Cairnhill Single Member Constituency (SMC) was a former single member constituency in Singapore. It used to exist from 1955 to 1988 as Cairnhill Constituency and was renamed as Cairnhill Single Member Constituency (SMC) as part of Singapore's pol ...

against

Labour Front The Labour Front is a defunct political party in Singapore that operated from 1955 to 1960. History The Labour Front was founded to contest the 1955 legislative elections by David Saul Marshall, Singapore's first chief minister and Lim Yew Hoc ...

leader David Marshall, with Marshall receiving 48% of the vote to Tan's 36%. The PP won only four of the 25 seats, with the Labour Front winning 10. As a result, Marshall became the island's first

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

. Tan had been one of the founders of the Tan, Rajah & Cheah law firm in 1947, and later became president of the Bar Committee and first president of the

Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...

. He served as president of the Singapore Olympic Sports Council from 1951 until 1962, and as chairman of

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 established ...

press between 1974 and 1982.Justin Corfield (2010) ''Historical Dictionary of Singapore'', Scarecrow Press, p260 He died of heart failure at age 80 on 6 March 1991.

Legacy

In 2003 the Law Society created the C.C. Tan award, which is awarded to a member exemplifying the virtues of "honesty, fair play and personal integrity".

References

{{reflist 1911 births 20th-century Singaporean lawyers Progressive Party (Singapore) politicians Members of the Legislative Council of Singapore Singaporean people of Chinese descent Saint Joseph's Institution, Singapore alumni 1991 deaths