• Message by Mr Tan Toh San, Chairman,
  Tan Kah Kee Foundation
• Message by Prof Wang Gungwu, Chairman,
  Tan Kah Kee International Society

Message by Mr Tan Toh San

The Tan Kah Kee Foundation, formerly known as the Tan Kah Kee Scholarship Trust Fund, was established in memory of Southeast Asia's famous philanthropist and educationist Mr Tan Kah Kee for his invaluable contributions towards promoting education.

I was elected as Chairman of the Foundation when it was granted "Institution of Public Character" status in 1982. The public spirit of late Mr Tan Kah Kee has driven me to render my service until today. I am grateful to all the committee members for their invaluable assistance throughout the years, and to the organizations, and individuals from all walks of life, for their support of the Foundation's activities.

The main annual activities of the Foundation are the awards of the Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship and the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors' Award Competition. The Tan Kah Kee Postgraduate Scholarship has over the years awarded more than 170 scholarships to Singaporeans of all races pursuing their Master's or PhD degrees. Many of our scholars have returned from abroad and are currently actively contributing to the development of Singapore.

The aim of offering the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors' Award is to stimulate creative thinking among our young people and to promote scientific and technological research in our country. I am glad to see that the Award has gained much momentum with the increasing number of projects submitted each year, many of them of a high standard.

Other activities of the Foundation include the Tan Kah Kee Forum, the Tan Kah Kee Professorship at the Nanyang Technological University, and providing sponsorships, grants or fellowships to individuals, schools and charitable organizations on a case-by-case basis. All these are done in line with the spirit of Mr Tan Kah Kee in promoting education and culture for the advancement of mankind.

Message by Prof Wang Gungwu

The Tan Kah Kee International Society was founded in 1992 in Hong Kong, and registered in Singapore in 1996. The main objective of the Society is to propagate the philosophy and spirit of the late Mr Tan Kah Kee in promoting education and culture for the advancement of mankind. Apart from promoting educational and cultural activities, the Society also promotes research and development in all academic disciplines, assisting in the establishment of an international network in educational and economic cooperation.

Since its foundation in 1992, the Society has launched several main events having a considerable impact both in Singapore and overseas, such as, the establishment of the School of Business Administration at Jimei University in collaboration with the Xiamen Municipal Government in 1996; the building of the Tan Kah Kee Hall on the campus of University of California at Berkeley of the United States in 1997 (this is the first building in the history of American higher learning institutions to bear a Chinese name); the public lecure organized by the Society in 1999 given by Prof. Lee Yuan-Tseh, 1986 Nobel laureate in Chemistry; the International Conference on Immigrant Societies and Modern Education, jointly organized with the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, National University of Singapore (the Conference attracted 200 participants from 25 countries). Through these activities, Singaporeans have come to know more about the Society, and its name has become better known around the region.