KUALA LUMPUR: The late Tun Tan Cheng Lock’s (pic) Peranakan heritage and mastery of English had helped him overcome his inability to speak any Chinese dialect, allowing him to become a leading figure in the Malaysian Chinese community, says his granddaughter Datin Paduka Tan Siok Choo.
She said her grandfather worked alongside with Tunku Abdul Rahman in the peaceful struggle for independence and was a central figure in the nation’s founding, and best known as the founder and first president of MCA.
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Her family had lived in Melaka for five generations, beginning with Tan Hay Kwan, who left Fujian province in 1771. Early Chinese migrants often married local women due to restrictions on women leaving China, giving rise to the Peranakan, or Baba-Nyonya, community.
Speaking at the “Asean-China Dynamics in Building a Shared Future” yesterday, Siok Choo said: “Academic K.G. Tregonning noted that my grandfather raised the concerns of Malay farmers, Portuguese fishermen and Indian moneylenders.”
Siok Choo added that Cheng Lock’s success in rubber planting and banking, along with his knowledge of Chinese history through English translations, strengthened his influence.
His role as trustee of Malacca’s historic Cheng Hoon Teng temple, the oldest in the country, further bolstered his standing, securing legal protection for it.
Tan shared her grandfather’s letters predicting the defeat of Soviet communism, France losing Vietnam, and China’s rise as a global power.
“My grandfather would be pleased to know his predictions have proved correct,” said the United Malacca Bhd chairperson.
