Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall - History

History

The villa is believed to have been built in 1880 by a businessman called Boey Chuan Poh to house his mistress Bin Chan, from whom came the building's original name, 'Bin Chan House'. The building was constructed in a classical colonial style and featured ornate arched windows and doors, eaves decorated with floral patterns, and movable louvred windows.

In 1905, the villa was bought by the rubber magnate Teo Eng Hock — great-granduncle of Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean — from a timber merchant for his mother, Tan Poh Neo, as a place of retirement. In July 1905, Sun Yat-sen met Teo Eng Hock, Tan Chor Lam and Lim Nee Soon through his close friend, Yau Lit, when he was on his way to Europe from Japan. In 1906, when Sun returned to Singapore, Teo offered Wan Qing Yuan for use as the Tongmenghui's headquarters in Southeast Asia. Wan Qing Yuan became the centre for the planning of numerous uprisings and fundraising activities leading to the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. Three uprisings - Chaozhou Uprising (May 1907), Zhennanguan Uprising (December 1907) and Hekou Uprising (April 1908) - were planned at Wan Qing Yuan. According to the former Singaporean Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Yeo, the flag of the Republic of China was sewn in the Sun Yat Sen Villa by Teo and his wife, Tan Sok Jee.

Teo Eng Hock sold Wan Qing Yuan in August 1910 and the villa changed ownership many times until it was bought in 1937 by a group of six leading Chinese businessmen in Singapore, namely Lee Kong Chian, Tan Ean Kiam, Lee Chin Tian, Chew Hean Swee, Lee Chor Seng and Yeo Kiat Tiow. In the following year, they donated the villa to the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (now the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, SCCCI).

After the establishment of the Republic of China, the Chinese Nationalist Government funded the refurbishment of Wan Qing Yuan and turned it into a Memorial Hall in 1940. At the same time, they gathered information and artefacts related to Sun Yat-sen from overseas Chinese communities and opened the hall to the public in 1940.

During the Japanese occupation of Singapore (1942-1945), the Japanese military used Wan Qing Yuan as a communication base and many of the original artefacts and furniture of the hall were destroyed. After the war, the Nationalist Government funded the restoration of Wan Qing Yuan and set up the Kuomintang's Singapore branch in the villa. However, following the establishment of the People's Republic of China in October 1949, the British colonial government in Singapore prohibited the establishment of an overseas Kuomintang branch, so in 1951, the villa was handed back to the SCCCI and became known as the "Sun Yat Sen Villa" after renovations in 1964.

Wan Qing Yuan was gazetted as a National Monument on 28 October 1994 by the Singapore government. Two years later, the SCCCI renamed Wan Qing Yuan to 'Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall' and announced its plans to expand the place, so the villa was closed in November 1997 for a restoration at a cost of S$7.5 million. It was opened as a museum in November 2001. In 2009, the SCCCI appointed the National Heritage Board to manage the museum, and redevelopment works took place in October 2010. One year later, Wan Qing Yuan was reopened to the public on 8 October 2011 to commemorate the centenary of the Xinhai Revolution.