A Brief History of Singapore Han Clan Association

Since the founding of Singapore in 1819, a steady stream of immigrants from the island of Hainan flocked to the South East Asia in increasing numbers. Around 1842, there were already more Hainanese immigrating to Singapore than anywhere else and the majority of these immigrants were from the Clan of Han.

For our ancestors who had to endure hardship and discomfort of being in a strange country, they could not find a good place to stay in nor get a decent job to live by. So, in 1899, a few leaders amongst them met up, made some sound judgement, and mitigated a consensus for the first “Singapore Han Clan Association”. The charter that they set out was for the protection of the Clan of Han, to enable everyone in the Clan to find easier accommodation through the Association and to survive better through mitigated cooperation amongst all.

In 1900, the Association got a permanent premise at Thomson Lane through the hard work of the management. The membership grew with each passing year until in 1907 the building could no longer hold more people. The Association moved first to a row of shophouses along the same Thomson Lane, and then in 1916 moved again to the junction of Bencoolen Street and Middle Road.

With all these moves, the management was concerned for the welfare of the Clan, especially its future in such unsettling times and impermanent status. They felt the Clan would be stifled by the unnecessary payment of rented properties and frequent shuttling between places. So they got together again and started a donation drive till in 1925, they raised enough fund to purchase a private property at 21 Halloway Lane and built a 2-storey complex for the Clan’s operation. In that building, at the centre of the Hallway there were erected statues of Wang Chi Gong, etc for the veneration of our ancestors’ lineage and tradition.

All in all, the Association stayed in Halloway Lane for nearly half a century (1925 – 1975). Under Singapore’s Urban Renewal Scheme, the Association’s premise of operation was once again relocated to 2 Derbyshire Road, with a gross floor area of 7379 m². Hence to commemorate this significant turn of event, the anniversary of the Clan Association was put at 15 February 1976, on a Sunday.

All this while, the Association had a base of operation but lacked the necessary funds to run plausible activities for the Clan. The focus by the management then was to invest in properties and could not run a variety of programmes. It was also an unanimous decision by all members to use the funds to further invest in properties. So in 2008, the management completed the transaction for 23 Tessensohn Road as the latest premise for the Association with the balance used for purchase of other freehold estates. In this way, returns from the investment can be used for activity funds and help the Association to continuously grow.

Besides giving back to the members, the Association hopes to attract more young and capable Han newbies to the Clan to help build up the ‘family’. In this way, it is hoped that the Singapore Han Clan Association can shine forth like the light of a beacon to show the way forward to future generations.