Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan Clan association. The Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan’s beginnings are linked to the Ngee Ann Kongsi, which was founded in 1845 by prominent Teochews from 12 clans, with members who originated from the districts of Chenghai and Chao’an, under the leadership of merchant Seah Eu Chin, who came from Ngee Ann county in Guangdong, China.
The initial focus of the Ngee Ann Kongsi was the religious and funerary needs of the Teochew community. It founded the Wak Hai Cheng Bio temple on Philip Street in 1826, and also provided funerals and burials for Teochew families with the establishment of cemeteries at several locations around the island. These included Guang Shou Shan at Clementi (site of the present- day Ngee Ann Polytechnic) and Tai Shan Ting on Orchard Road.
In 1927, a group which included businessman Lim Nee Soon expressed their unhappiness with the dominance exerted by the Seah family and members of the 12 clans who had set up the Kongsi. After a meeting with the Teochew community in 1928, the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan was established. Since 1934, the Ngee Ann Kongsi has provided funding for the Huay Kuan. The formation of the Singapore Kwangtung Hui Kuan was an inititiave of the Kongsi in 1936.
As the Teochew community grew, the Ngee Ann Kongsi’s functions expanded to include educational and cultural activities. One of Singapore’s earliest Teochew schools was the Tuan Mong School, which was founded in 1906 as a primary school and operated out of premises on Tank Road. The Ngee Ann Kongsi assumed management of this school in 1953. Other schools established by the Ngee Ann Kongsi were the Ngee Ann Girls’ School, founded in 1940 as Singapore’s first Chinese school for girls, but which was later converted into the co- educational Ngee Ann Primary School; Ngee Ann Secondary School, founded in 1994; and Ngee Ann Polytechnic, founded in 1963 as Ngee Ann College at a site on Tank Road.
The Huay Kuan and Kongsi provide scholarships and student bursaries, and seek to promote Chinese and Teochew culture in the form of activities featuring Teochew opera (see Chinese opera), calligraphy, dance, music and drama. The organizations’ activities are funded by revenue from business ventures and the rental of Ngee Ann Kongsi’s properties, the largest of which is Ngee Ann City on Orchard Road. It also owns a number of shophouses along Balestier Road and residential properties along Grange Road. The Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan is the parent association of 64 Teochew corporate members with individual membership of about 8,000. As of 2006, it was Singapore’s largest Chinese clan association.