[We Like It Rare] The Garden Club and the Social Emancipation of Chinese Women in Singapore
What lies in the Rare Materials Collections of the National Library, Singapore? In this series, we explore the gems of this treasure trove to uncover their fascinating stories.
We may be excused for thinking that “The Garden Club” is a gathering or club for plant lovers. It was, in fact, a social club set up by a group of Chinese tycoons in the early 20th-century Singapore. With membership that included nearly every prominent member of the Chinese community, it was the most notable and influential Chinese club in Singapore at the time. Senior Librarian Ong Eng Chuan looks back at the club’s origins and its heyday.
Lee Kip Lee and Lee Kip Lin Family Archives: Garden Club Guest Book , 1917–1933. (Accession no.: PB34488218E)
The Garden Club was established in 1916. The decision to form the club was made during a luncheon party of about 30 leading members of the Chinese community including Dr Lim Boon Keng, Lim Peng Siang, Tan Boo Liat, Lee Chim Tuan, Lee Choon Guan, Song Ong Siang, S. Q. Wong and S. J. Chan.¹ The Chinese community in Singapore at that time was not a cohesive one. It was split into the English-educated Straits-born Chinese and the Chinese-educated China-born Chinese.² Dr Lim Boon Keng and the other members of the original luncheon party felt that there should be a meeting place where a better and closer relationship between the Straits-born and China-born Chinese could be forged. Dr Lim Boon Keng assisted in raising large sums of money for the club and enlisted many leading members of the Chinese community to the club. In turn, the members elected Dr Lim as the club’s first president and the club secured exemption from registration under the Societies Ordinance on 7 July 1916.³
Modelled after English social clubs, the Garden Club offered amenities for indoor and outdoor spots and the cultivation of interests such as music and horticulture. It also had a library with books about China and other parts of Asia. Membership fee was $50 and monthly subscription was $5.⁴ The high entrance fee meant that membership was beyond the reach of people with ordinary means.⁵
Club Rules
Clubs had been popular institutions in Singapore for many years and there were already a number of Chinese clubs in existence. But unlike these clubs, which were principally men’s clubs to which women were not admitted, the Garden Club was the only Chinese club in Singapore that had extended its amenities to the wives and children of its members.⁶ This was a bold step introduced by the Garden Club’s founders with the objective of promoting the social emancipation of Chinese women in Singapore.⁷ Back then, the Chinese in Singapore were still very conservative in their ideas on women’s place in society and social interaction between men and women. Most Chinese women in those days led a secluded life because, according to traditional Chinese values, women’s place was solely in the home. Women were confined to their abodes and social intercourse with men was frowned upon. The Garden Club’s founders hoped to change this mindset and encourage Chinese women to lead a more active social and outdoor life. It was hoped that the wives, daughters and other female relatives of the club’s members would avail themselves of the club’s facilities and participate in activities such as outdoor exercises, concerts and dinner parties.
The club had another interesting rule. At the time of its establishment, it was stated that no member was entitled to bring another Chinese male to the club as a guest. Members could only bring along as guests men and women of other nationalities, who were excluded as membership was limited to the Chinese only.⁸ The idea behind this rule was the hope that the club would become a place of meeting and interaction for people from different nationalities.
However, although only the Chinese could become club members, the club’s general committee may invite eminent persons of any nationality to be honorary members. The club’s honorary membership included eminent personalities such as Sir Laurence Guillemard (Governor of the Straits Settlements, 1920–1927), the Sultan of Johor and Georges Clemenceau (Prime Minister of France, 1906–1909, 1917–1920).⁹
The Club’s Heyday
The club was first situated at Cairnhill Road. As there was a nice garden attached to the premises, the club became known as the Garden Club.¹⁰ The club did not remain at Cairnhill Road for long.
The club acquired a large bungalow overlooking the sea at Tanah Merah Kechil which then served as its club house for many years. There, members played tennis and indoor games such as billiards and chess. Some of them even held wedding functions at the premises. On 22 September 1923, over 400 guests attended the wedding of Lim Chong Kuo (Lim Nee Soon’s elder son) and Tan Lai Ho (Tan Kah Kee’s daughter) held at the Garden Club. After a brief ceremony which was over in less than half an hour, the guests were treated to a reception which lasted the rest of the evening and were entertained by music from the Alhambra orchestra.¹¹
Tan Peng Tuan Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore
At the same time, it was felt that the club should also have a club house in the town area, where members can enjoy a good lunch and a respite during the office hour. Not long after the acquisition of the Tanah Merah site, the club secured a lease of the top floor of Raffles Chambers in Commercial Square (now Raffles Place) as the club’s town house.¹²
Lee Kip Lin Collection: Singapore postcards: Made in Japan Postkarte-Cartolina Postale, circa, 1900–1940. (Accession no.: B34489847C)
When it was first formed, the club had several hundred members. It was said that at that time, it was commonplace to meet well over a hundred members daily having tiffin in the town premises, and it became so profitable that a band was engaged to play during the tiffin hour.¹³ The club’s town premises was a popular venue for meetings and events. The Strait Chinese British Association (later renamed Singapore Chinese Peranakan Association and then the Peranakan Association) regularly held its meetings there. The Chinese community also frequently hosted dinners at the club for local guests and foreign dignitaries, such as the Prince of Jainad and Prince of Songkla.
Lee Kip Lee and Lee Kip Lin Family Archives: Invitations, Menus, and Other Miscellany, 1918–1991. (Accession no.: B32409583A)
Lee Kip Lee and Lee Kip Lin Family Archives: Invitations, Menus, and Other Miscellany, 1918–1991. (Accession no.: B32409583A)
Decline of the Club
The Garden Club was located at Raffles Chambers for 15 years until it moved to the third floor of the China Building in January 1932.¹⁵ The China Building housed the Chinese Commercial Bank and the Oversea-Chinese Bank (OCBC). It became the headquarters of OCBC when the two banks merged with Ho Hong Bank later that year to form OCBC.¹⁶ The Garden Club moved into the third floor of the China Building on 1 January 1932.
However, by that time, interest in the club had flagged. The club was also hit by the economic slump caused by the Great Depression. At the close of 1932, the club reported a big financial loss.¹⁷ It was forced to sell its Tanah Merah club house. Membership also dropped significantly. By then, there were usually not more than 30 members daily taking tiffin at the club’s town premises.¹⁸
Lee Kip Lin Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the club continued to be a popular gathering place for the who’s who of the Chinese business community. One member in particular, former OCBC chairman Lee Kong Chian, often hosted contemporaries to lunch at the Garden Club, discussing everything from business to politics.¹⁹
In 1970, when the China Building was demolished to make way for a new skyscraper to house OCBC’s headquarters, the Garden Club moved to the George Lee Building in Clemenceau Avenue. Later, when that building made way for the Singapore Shopping Centre, the club shifted back to OCBC’s new building before folding up in 1979.²⁰
Although the Garden Club was just a social club and membership was limited to a small number of Chinese elites, it nevertheless played an active role in public life, such as raising funds for public charities and upholding the interests of the Chinese community such as advocating for the entry of locals, including Chinese, into the then colonial Civil Service.²¹ Unfortunately, apart from newspaper reports, very few records of the club remain. The Garden Club guestbook, annual report and menus in the library’s collection are thus valuable records of this important and interesting club.
Ong Eng Chuan is a senior librarian whose interests lie in the study of the Rare Collection in the National Library. Find out more about the Rare Collection here.
[1] “Club Life,” Malaya Tribune, 20 July 1916, 6; “From a luncheon party into Garden Club,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), 12 October 1934, 11. (From NewspaperSG)
[2] “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[3] “Untitled,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 15 July 1916, 6; “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[4] “Club Life,” Malaya Tribune, 20 July 1916, 6. (From NewspaperSG)
[5] “From a luncheon party into Garden Club,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), 12 October 1934, 11. (From NewspaperSG)
[6] “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[7] “Club LIfe,” Malaya Tribune, 20 July 1916, 6; “Random Notes,” Straits Echo, 26 July 1916, 1281.
[8] “Club Life,” Malaya Tribune, 20 July 1916; “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[9] “From a luncheon party into Garden Club,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 12 October 1934, 11; Garden Club, Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, 1920. (Accession no.: B03079684D)
[10] “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[11] “Interesting Chinese wedding,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 25 September 1923, 7. (From NewspaperSG)
[12] “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[13] “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[14] “Dr. Tagore at Garden Club,” Straits Times, 22 July 1927, 10. (From NewspaperSG)
[15] “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[16] “The 85-year journey of a Singapore bank,” Straits Times, 12 November 2017.
[17] “Garden Club,” Straits Times, 14 November 1932, 12. (From NewspaperSG)
[18] “Chinese Garden Club,” Straits Times, 7 February 1932, 13. (From NewspaperSG)
[19] “The 85-year journey of a Singapore bank,” Straits Times, 12 November 2017.
[20] Jackie Sam, “When Felt Hats Made Headway,” Singapore Monitor, 13 May 1984, 25. (From NewspaperSG)
[21] “From a luncheon party into Garden Club,” Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 12 October 1934, 11. (From NewspaperSG)
