Tan Kim Ching (; 1829 – 27 February 1892), also known as Tan Kim Cheng, was a Chinese politician and businessman. He was the eldest of the three sons of Tan Tock Seng, the founder and financier of Tan Tock Seng Hospital.Buckley, Charles Burton. An Anecdotal History of Old times in Singapore. Kuala Lumpur: U of Malaya, 1965. Print. 411, 412, 620 He was consul for Japan, Thailand and Russia, and was a member of the Royal Court of Siam. He was one of Singapore's leading Chinese merchants and was one of its richest men in Singapore at that time. He was also the first Asian member of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.Sheppard, Tan Sri Dato Mubin. "The Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society - Its History, Publications and Distribution in Ancient and Modern Times." Academic Publishing in ASEAN: Problems and Prospects: Proceedings of the Seminar on Academic Publishing in the ASEAN Region Held in Singapore from 9-11 September 1985. Ed. Saravanan Gopinathan. Singapore: Festival of Singapore, 1986. 169-74. Print. Song, Ong Siang. One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore; Being a Chronological Record of the Contribution by the Chinese Community to the Development, Progress and Prosperity of Singapore; of Events and Incidents concerning the Whole or Sections of That Community; and of the Lives, Pursuits and Public Service of Individual Members Thereof from the Foundation of Singapore on 6th February 1819 to Its Centenary on 6th February 1919. London: J. Murray, 1923. Print. xiv, xv, xix, 40, 63, 92, 193Dhoraisingam, Kamala Devi, and Dhoraisingam S. Samuel. Tan Tock Seng, Pioneer: His Life, Times, Contributions, and Legacy. Kota Kinabalu: Natural History Publications (Borneo), 2003. Print. 79Lee, Poh-Ping. Chinese Society in Nineteenth Century Singapore. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford UP, 1978. Print. 54 After his father's death, he became the Kapitan Cina of the Straits Chinese community.Liu, Gretchen. Singapore: A Pictorial History, 1819-2000. United Kingdom: Routledge, 2001. Print. 88, 169, 398 He is believed to have been the head of the Triad in Malaya.Bolton, Kingsley, and Christopher Hutton. Triad Societies: Western Accounts of the History, Sociology, and Linguistics of Chinese Secret Societies. London: Routledge, 2000. Print. 275
Business career Tan was one of Singapore's leading Chinese merchants, one of the richest men in Singapore and had sizable business interests in Singapore, Siam, Vietnam and Malaya. His business boomed with rice mills he owned in Bangkok and Saigon.Brown, Rajeswary Ampalavanar. Capital and Entrepreneurship in South-East Asia. New York: St. Martin's, 1994. Print. 128
He helped to manage his father's firm, "Tan Tock Seng", which is named after his father. After his father's death, the firm was renamed as "Tan Kim Ching" after him. The business was carried on at "River-Side" (now known as Boat Quay) from 1851 to 1859 with him as the sole owner. In 1860, Tan admitted his brother Tan Swee Lim as a partner, the firm was renamed as "Tan Kim Ching & Brother". Tan Swee Lim left the firm after a few months. The firm was finally renamed as "Kim Ching & Co.". With considerable success at the firm, Tan subsequently bought rice mills at Saigon, Siam, and elsewhere which supplied him with his milled rice. In 1888, the company opened a branch in Hong Kong.
Tan also had mining concessions and had tin mining operations in the Kra Isthmus, Patani,Nartsupha, Chatthip, Suthy Prasartset, and Montri Chenvidyakarn. The Political Economy of Siam, 1910-1932. Bangkok, Thailand: Social Science Association of Thailand, 1981. Print. 127, 131Sitsayamkan. The Greek Favourite of the King of Siam. Singapore: Donald Moore, 1967. Print. xiv Mount Ophir, Kampong Rusa, and various other places.
He was also one of the earliest merchants to import silk from China.
In 1863, Tan paid $120,000 to set up the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company and purchased two steamships, Siam and Singapore.Turnbull, Constance Mary. A History of Singapore, 1819-1988. Singapore: Oxford UP, 1989. Print. 92, 93, 99Mulliner, K., and Lian The-Mulliner. Historical Dictionary of Singapore. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1991. Print. 63, 146, 148Haviland, Edward K. "Early Steam Navigation in China : Overseas Services to 1861." The American Neptune 26.2 (1966): 113. Print. Peabody Museum of SalemSandhu, Kernial Singh., Paul Wheatley, and Hussein Alatas. Management of Success: The Moulding of Modern Singapore. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1989. Print. 12Tanjong Pagar: A Pictorial Journey (1819-1989). Singapore: Tanjong Pagar Citizens' Consultative Committee, 1989. Print. 182. Tan-jung Pa-ko Tʻu Pʻien Chi.Wong, Wee Hon. "An Ode To Friendship: Celebrating Singapore-Thailand Relations." Heritage 05 (April June) Newsletter. National Heritage Board, Singapore, n.d. Web. <>.
In 1866, Tan, along with William Henry Macleod Read (Chairman of the Straits Chamber of Commerce), secured the lease for Klang from Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, the administrator of Klang. Among the benefits of this lease arrangement was being able to collect taxes. Their attempts to collect taxes from Raja Mahdi whose father Raja Sulaiman was Klang's headman, however, sparked off a civil war that became known as The Klang War or The Selangor Civil War.British Trade and Expansion in Southeast Asia, 1830-1914 By D. R. Sardesai Contributor D. R. Sardesai Published by South Asia Books, 1977; p. 151
Some historians have said that the history of Kra Buri began with its governor, Tan Kim Ching.
Diplomacy Tan played a significant role in fostering relationships between Singapore and the colonial government on the one hand, and Siam and its ruler King Mongkut (Rama IV) on the other.
When the Hokkien-Teochew Riots which broke out on 5 May 1854 over 400 people were killed during 10 days of violence. In a meeting with British authorities, Tan represented the Hokkiens and with his assurance and that of Seah Eu Chin of the Teochews, the situation was brought to an end.
Tan helped the new Governor of the Straits Settlements, Harry Ord, secured a new treaty with Kedah in 1867, and played an integral role in ending the Larut wars by getting Raja Muda Abdullah of Perak to seek British intervention, which led to the signing of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874.McIntyre, W. David. The Imperial Frontier in the Tropics, 1865-75: A Study of British Colonial Policy in West Africa, Malaya and the South Pacific in the Age of Gladstone and Disraeli. London: Macmillan, 1967. Print. 165, 292
In March 1878 The Straits Asiatic Society (formed on 4 November 1877) was renamed The Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and Tan was one of its founding members.One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore By Ong Siang Song Published by Oxford University Press, 1985; , ; p. 193
Tan had a very close relationship with the royal family of Siam and often served as their go-between. In recognising the importance of his role, he was appointed ‘the first Siamese Consul in Singapore’ by King Mongkut in 1863 and in 1885, King Chulalongkorn elevated his title to that of consul-general. He was bestowed the royal title Phraya Astongt Disrarak Siamprajanukulkij. He was also Special Commissioner for Siam in the Straits Settlements.Cowan, Charles Donald. Nineteenth-century Malaya; The Origins of British Political Control. London: Oxford UP, 1961. Print. 56, 57, 285Bolton, Kingsley, and Christopher Hutton. Triad Societies: Western Accounts of the History, Sociology, and Linguistics of Chinese Secret Societies. London: Routledge, 2000. Print. 75 etc.The Colonial Office List for ... By Great Britain Colonial Office Published by Harrison, 1916 Item notes: v.1889; p. 232
He introduced his business partner in Singapore, Read, to the Siamese king in the late-1850s when the king desired to get out of a disadvantageous treaty with France.Reid, Anthony. An Indonesian Frontier: Acehnese and Other Histories of Sumatra. Singapore: Singapore UP, 2005. Print. 254
He had great influence on the Chinese outside the colony, especially in the northern Malay States bordering Siam, Kelantan and Patani (originally all the Malay states were vassals of Siam but British intervention brought them under the control of the British Empire as "independent states". Eventually Patani was reannexed in 1909 as part of the Kingdom of Siam). Exercising this influence, during the time of Sir Andrew Clarke, Tan Kim Ching was instrumental in settling a difficulty that arose between the Siamese and Perak governments.
King Mongkut of Siam (also known as King Rama IV) wanted someone to educate his immediate family without the person attempting to convert them to Christianity while educating them. He turned to Tan for a recommendation. On a suggestion from William AdamsonLonghurst, Henry. The Borneo Story; the History of the First 100 Years of Trading in the Far East by the Borneo Company Limited. London: Newman Neame, 1956. Print. 34, 36, 48Foreman-Peck, James. Historical Foundations of Globalization. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 1998. Print. 427Makepeace, Walter, Gilbert E. Brooke, and Roland St. John Braddell. One Hundred Years of Singapore, Being Some Account of the Capital of the Straits Settlements from Its Foundation by Sir Stamford Raffles on the 6th February 1819 to the 6th February 1919. London: J. Murray, 1921. Print. 185Mongkut, Seni Pramoj, and Kukrit Pramoj. A King of Siam Speaks. Bangkok: Siam Society, 1987. Print. 216Dow, Leslie Smith. Anna Leonowens: A Life beyond the King and I. Lawrencetown Beach, N.S.: Pottersfield, 1991. Print. 11Far Eastern Economic Review By Far Eastern Economic Review Ltd, ProQuest, Bell & Howell Information and Learning Published by [Review Pub. Co. Ltd., etc.], 1946; p. 397 of The Borneo Company, Tan recommended Anna Leonowens, a teacher in Singapore who is looking for work to support herself and her two children.James Brooke of Sarawak: A Biography of Sir James Brooke By Emily Hahn Published by A. Barker, 1953; p. 251Cavenagh Private Letterbooks Volume XI Oct 1865 To Oct 1868 and Volume VII 10 Jul 1863 To 27 Dec 1863, University of Victoria, British Columbia, CanadaThe English Governess at the Siamese Court -- Being Recollections of Six Years in the Royal Palace at Bangkok by Anna Hariette Leonowens, 26 July 1870The Borneo Story: The History of the First 100 Years of Trading in the Far East by the Borneo Company Limited By Henry Longhurst Published by Newman Neame, 1956; pp. 51, 52Anna and the King of Siam By Margaret Landon, Margaret Ayer, Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection (Library of Congress) Illustrated by Margaret Ayer Contributor Edith Goodkind Rosenwald Published by The John Day company, 1944; pp. 21, 74Thailand: An Introduction to Modern Siam By Noel Fairchild Busch Published by Van Nostrand, 1959; pp. 63, 64Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan By Asiatic Society of Japan Published by The Society, 1993; Item notes: ser.4 v.8-10 (1993-95); p. 75
When the King and Queen of Siam landed in Singapore in 1890 they stayed at Tan's home, "Siam House", in North Bridge Road. It was reported that the king, who was expected to arrive in Singapore at Tanjong Pagar Wharf on board the royal vessel Ubon Burratit on 30 May 1890, had landed at Johnston's Pier instead. Due to the late arrival, only Tan was at the pier to receive him.
When the king wished to acquire property in Singapore, he turned to Tan for recommendations which resulted in the acquisition of "Hurricane House" in the vicinity of Orchard Road.The Straits Settlements, 1826-67: Indian Presidency to Crown Colony By Constance Mary Turnbull Published by Athlone Press, 1972; 32, 125, 296Family and State: The Formation of a Sino-Thai Tin-mining Dynasty, 1797-1932 By Jennifer Wayne Cushman, Craig J. Reynolds Contributor Craig J. Reynolds Published by Oxford University Press, 1991; , ; pp. 31, 32, 33
The Larut Wars and Pangkor Treaty