Public invited to look back on Tan’s life and times

KUALA LUMPUR: The public is welcome to attend the commemorative ceremony held by MCA to mark the 100th anniversary of its former pre­sident Tun Tan Siew Sin this Saturday.

The ceremony, starting from 1.30pm, would take place at Wisma MCA, said party vice-president Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung, adding that the event would be divided into two parts.

This, he said, included a one-week exhibition from Saturday to showcase the life and work of the country’s longest serving finance minister.

“Utar Centre for International Studies director Dr Leong Mun Yoon will be invited to reminisce about Tan’s life,” he said yesterday.

Following in the footsteps of his father Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tan had entered politics, becoming MCA’s third president in 1961.

At the age of 41, he was appointed to the newly independent Malayan Cabinet as trade and industry minister in 1957 and led Chinese businessmen to develop the nation’s economy through a turbulent period.

After two years, he became the finance minister and continued to serve for 15 years, during which he proposed the setting up of an institute of higher learning to enable Chinese youths to pursue higher education.

At the same time, Tan also successfully laid a sound financial system which saw the acceptance of the Malaysian ringgit by the International Monetary Fund, and its further strengthening to become one of the world’s most resilient currencies.