All About Tan Chong Tee The War Hero

TAN CHONG TEE THE WAR HERO!

"Heroes didn't leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand; they didn't wear boots and capes. They bled, and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening, or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else's. And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back." 
— Jodi Picoult (Second Glance)

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer." 
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tan Chong Tee(Left)

Tan Chong Tee,born on 15 October 1916,he was a member of the World War II underground resistance movement known as Force 136. He was born into a Chinese family with ancestry from Fujian,China,at his family residence along Shrewsbury Road which is now known as Novena in British colonial Singapore.

EARLY LIFE OF HIS FAMILY AND HIM:

Tan Chong Tee's  father, Tan Kah Tek, worked in a carriage shop at Orchard Road while his mother, Lim Peng Tuan, owned a floral nursery.He left for further studies in China  in 1930 and returned to Singapore in 1933. After his return, he helped his mother to run Kheng Cheng School, which she had established in 1927.

CAREER:
 Tan CHong Tee was a talented badminton player in his youth and represented the well-known Mayflower and Marigold Badminton Parties at various local tournaments. In 1935, while representing the Marigold Badminton Party at the Singapore Grade A Senior Tournament, he defeated the reigning champion to rise to prominence in the local badminton circuit. Tan was subsequently the champion of various tournaments from 1936 to 1940.He married Lee Shao Meng, also a Marigold player, with whom he teamed up for various mixed doubles events and won the mixed doubles title in the 1940 Singapore Badminton Championships. A contemporary of the badminton great Wong Peng Soon, He was one of the few players to have defeated Wong in competition.

WORLD WAR II:

He joined the anti-Japanese movement where he participated in various anti-Japanese activities and became a member of St John Ambulance. On 31 January 1941, he left for Chungking, China to join the Chinese armed forces. Upon arriving in Chungking, however, he was deemed too young to join the army and was instead advised to stay in Chungking to pursue his studies.In 1942 ,he entered the National Arts School after graduating from the pre-university class of Si Nan Lian Da,he applied to be a pilot where he would be trained in the United States for three years. He was one of the three shortlisted candidates, but was later found to be ineligible for the programme as he was over the age limit. But, he continued to contribute to China’s war efforts, and organised an art exhibition to raise funds for the overseas Chinese refugees in Chungking. It was through this exhibition that he was recruited by Tan Chong Chew to join a special training camp and participate in the British counter-offensive programme that would eventually become known as Force 136.

WHAT IS FORCE 136:

Force 136 was the general cover name for a branch of the British World War II organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The organisation was established to encourage and supply resistance movements in enemy-occupied territory, and occasionally mount clandestine sabotage operations. Force 136 operated in the regions of the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II which were occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945.

HOW HE JOIN FORCE 136?


 He was later appointed the deputy leader of Gustavus II, the second group of a pioneer commando team that was sent to infiltrate Malaya. The team travelled to Malaya via submarine, and by 2 August 1943, the submarine had infiltrated Malayan waters at Pangkor Island, off the coast of Perak. The party made a secret landing at Tanjong Hantu before meeting with a group of guerrillas from the Malayan Peoples’ Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA).

Tan was then assigned to infiltration and intelligence duties where he assumed the cover of Tan Tien Soong, a rich businessman. This cover allowed him to set up and operate spy networks in Lumut and Ipoh, with the aim of stirring up anti-Japanese sentiment via economic sabotage

Tan was then assigned to infiltration and intelligence duties where he assumed the cover of Tan Tien Soong, a rich businessman. This cover allowed him to set up and operate spy networks in Lumut and Ipoh, with the aim of stirring up anti-Japanese sentiment via economic sabotage.

WHAT HAPPENED?

With his identity revealed, Tan was eventually arrested at Tong Ah Hotel in Ipoh on 26 March 1944. He was later interrogated and tortured for information about Force 136 and his associates, but he refused to betray the organisation. On 24 April, Tan and Lim Bo Seng were transferred to Batu Gajah Prison, where prisoners of war were ill-treated and given very little food. During the internment, Tan, Lim and a fellow agent came down with dysentery, but they were not given any treatment or proper food until Lim’s death. On 18 August, Tan and his fellow POWs were transferred to a police lockup in Tapah.
In February 1945, as the Japanese Occupation neared its end, Tan and his comrades planned a jailbreak that did not materialise because of the announcement on 14 August that Japan had surrendered. However, their escape plans were discovered, allowing the Japanese to threaten them into accepting a pardon that would require them to leave and never return to Malaya, change their names and be officially declared dead by execution. Tan and his comrades decided to agree to the terms and to attempt escape as soon as they were out of prison. They managed to escape and Tan made his way to Penang before returning to Singapore.ONLY NINE SURVIVING MEMBERS OF FORCE 136!On 19 September 1995, Tan and eight other surviving members of Force 136 were each presented with a commemorative silver ingot to honour them for their resistance efforts. In 2001, Tan was also part of a group selected to recite the national pledge during the National Day Parade of that year.

FINALLY!!! 

After the war, Tan participated in badminton tournaments again and eventually became a businessman. He retired in 1985. In 1994, he wrote a Chinese-language memoir about his experiences with Force 136 that was translated to English a year later. In 2002, Tan published a book about the history of badminton in Singapore.

                                                                 Force 136 gallery in the Imperial War Museum London.

TAN CHONG TEE'S FUNERAL(24November20120

Credit/Webpage:

• http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1796_2011-06-30.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Chong_Tee
• www.wikipedia/google.com
• http://www.goodreads.com/search?q=hero&search%5Bsource%5D=goodreads&search_type=quotes&tab=quotes