Founding father Tan Cheng Lock’s pantun diplomacy won hearts

 The national figure's strong Peranakan roots and ability to recite pantun made him popular with the Malays too, says his granddaughter Tan Siok Choo.

Tan Siok Choo said the Chinese community connected with her grandfather Tan Cheng Lock’s strong Confucian beliefs, reflected in the woodwork and paintings in his ancestral home.

PETALING JAYA:

MCA founder Tan Cheng Lock did not only unite the country’s pre-independence Chinese community but also managed to build bridges with the Malays through his ability to recite pantun, says his granddaughter.

Tan Siok Choo, 73, said notwithstanding Cheng Lock’s gift for oratory, the man widely recognised as one of the founding fathers of Malaysia also cemented his standing as a local leader through his strong Melaka Peranakan roots.

She said he established himself as a captain of industry who championed the community’s needs.

“He did not start a populist mass movement or anything like that. But he was well known, particularly in Melaka and Singapore.

“He was a very good public speaker, very good at communicating, issuing statements and so forth. I think what helped was the fact that he was a sixth-generation Peranakan living in Melaka,” she told FMT in a recent interview.

Siok Choo was speaking to FMT after the recent launch of the biography “One Country, One People: The Life and Legacy of Tun Tan Cheng Lock”, which she edited with academic Heng Pek Koon.

She noted that her grandfather was a pioneer in the rubber business, having founded United Malacca Bhd in 1910, which is one of the country’s oldest rubber plantation companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.

While Cheng Lock built a reputation as an industrialist, his later involvement in banking, including as a founding director of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in 1932, made him even better known in the community.

“He was on the board of the bank for 30 years. I think that gave him visibility, as people know you always go to a bank for help. People started getting to know him as someone who could help,” she said.

Siok Choo said the Chinese community also identified with Cheng Lock’s strong Confucian beliefs, exemplified by the woodwork and paintings in his ancestral home.

She pointed out that in front of the house’s hall of filial remembrance, where the family’s ancestors are venerated, there are carvings depicting stories from the Three Kingdoms and paintings of figures from Confucian teachings.

“Those who are familiar with Chinese culture can relate to it. It is an ancestral home thoroughly infused with Confucian ideals and philosophy.

“You can relate to the fact that this house belonged to a guy who couldn’t read (Chinese), but surrounded himself with Chinese literature and philosophy,” she said.

Cheng Lock was not only held in high esteem among the Chinese but he also had no difficulty building bridges with the Malays, mainly because of his Peranakan roots.

“One of his habits that endeared him to the Malays was that he loved reciting Malay pantun at the drop of a hat. And he was actually quite good at the language because he would adapt pantun for particular purposes,” said Siok Choo.

The biography notes the first meeting between Cheng Lock and Umno founder Onn Jaafar in Johor Bahru on Dec 29, 1948, during which a Malay leader praised Cheng Lock for his ability to recite pantun.

Cheng Lock was also described by former prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman as “one of Malaya’s illustrious sons”, prompted by his repeated calls for all who considered the country their home to regard themselves as Malayans first, regardless of race. - FMT