Tan Hoo Chwee - founder of Kian Seng Huat (Kopi Sua)

Today was an interesting day as i was fortunate to join Raymond Goh as he brought the granddaughter of Tan Hoo Chwee to help her find her grandfather's tomb. Elsie Tan use to visit in the past together with her father, Tan Tee Seng and later on her relatives to visit the tomb of her grandfather. We were joined by 3 students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) were also present as they were doing a documentary project as part of their degree and i must say the topic is very interesting and challenging at the same time focusing on Elsie Tan and her links to the tomb mason business in Kheam Hock Road and more specifically on Kian Seng Huat whose founder's tomb - Tan Hoo Chwee we were trying to find at Kopi Sua (Whitley Road Hokkien Cemetery).

Finding Tan Hoo Chwee's tomb

Back to the story at hand, Elsie Tan remembered parking at Onraet Road (nearer to Whitley Detention Centre) and after a brief walk along the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) arrived at the tomb of her grandfather, Tan Hoo Chwee which was not far from the PIE. An important landmark she mentioned several times was coconut trees ! Ok, this were the clues we had to work on ! We started from Onraet Road (but on the side of Mount Pleasant Road, knowing that Whitley Road Detention Centre was still an active police site and parking there is strictly prohibited). It was a long walk before we saw PIE and after looking around indeed we did encounter a cluster of about 3 coconut trees ! Next was of course trying to find the tomb in the forest. What i must say is indeed with God's blessing, it was found within half and hour of searching. What made it "easier" was the unique tombstone of Mr. Tan Hoo Chwee whose tomb adopted what i coined as a neoclassical hokkien design,using Greek style columns on its headstone as aesthetics. Soh Ah Beng spotted the tomb first after moving up and downhill in a zig-zag manner and shouted, Found it ! and the long story short, the reconnection was made.

Tan Hoo Chwee

Elsie Tan holding the photo of her father, Tan Tee Seng at the tomb of her grandfather, Tan Hoo Chwee

Tan Tee Seng with his late father, Tan Hoo Chwee
(photo courtesy of Elsie Tan)

Tan Hoo Chwee passed away at the age of 64 on 4 June 1947.

Tan Hoo Chwee passed away on 4 June 1947. He was 64 years old.

Tan Choon Huat - a bonus find !

Another bonus find was that just beside the tomb of Tan Hoo Chwee is the tomb of Tan Choon Huat (the eldest son of Tan Hoo Chwee). He was killed by the Japanese occupiers on 16 February 1942, just after the fall of Singapore. This was shared in an oral account by Elsie and also documented in Raymond's blog post. Tan Choon Huat leaves behind a biological daughter. From his headstone, he "adopted" 2 sons - a common tradition of adding "sons" to the tomb. The modest headstone was covered with vines and fortunately uncovered by Ah Beng and Raymond manage to identify that the tomb belong to no other than Tan Choon Huat !

Tan Choon Huat (eldest son of Tan Hoo Chwee) uncovered

Kian Seng Huat Stone Works Construction

Kian Seng Huat Stone Works Construction was situated on 123 Kheam Hock Road. Tan Hoo Chwee, came from Hui Ann County in Quanzhou, Fujian. This area was well known for the quality "greenstones" seen in some of the tombstones in Bukit Brown and its surrounding areas. Tan Hoo Chwee and his family settled down in Kheam Road Village and eventually went into the masonry business. When he passed away, his business was passed on to this second son, Tan Seng Huat. Do read Raymond's blog post on more details about the family.