The Tanglin Club
The Tanglin Club is one of the most prominent and prestigious social clubs in Singapore. As of end 2009 the club had an active membership of 7,810, comprising approximately 70 different nationalities. Its clubhouse is located off Stevens Road, near the centre of town in Singapore. The club's facilities include four restaurants, five bars, several function rooms, a cinema/theatrette, two libraries, and extensive sports and recreation facilities including two swimming pools, a gymnasium, a four-table billiards room, four outdoor and two indoor tennis courts, six single and two jumbo double squash courts and a large roof-top lawn bowls green. The Club's sports sections offer external activities such as scuba diving and golf, and a new sports complex was completed in 2008.
The Tanglin Club was founded in 1865. Its founding President was Singapore's first Police Commissioner, Thomas Dunman.
History
- The Founding Years
The Tanglin Club, one of Singapore's most prestigious and prominent social clubs, was founded in 1865 to cater to the social and recreational needs of locally based British officials and expatriates. That year, an interim committee was formed, and it comprised Thomas Dunman (President), Herbert Buchanan (Vice-President), Lancelot C. Masfen, Jos. M. Webster, William Mulholland, Walter Oldham, Edwin A. G. C. Cooke and John R. Forrester. Although race was not stipulated as a criterion for membership, only Europeans were admitted. Club members however, were mainly British. While the exact foundation date of The Tanglin Club is uncertain, it is suspected that the date which had been determined by The Tanglin Club Centenary Celebrations Committee in 1865 was the most convenient day to hold the celebrations. Two letters, which appeared in the Singapore Daily Times on 11 and 13 November 1865, allude to the formation of the club, and that in October 1865, legal documents show without doubt this club to be The Tanglin Club.
On 26 June 1866, a property was purchased in the District of Claymore from Arthur Hughes de Wind for 600 dollars. In December 1866, the trustees of the club borrowed 5,000 Spanish dollars to build a clubhouse with bowling alleys, billiards rooms and stables.
- Tanglin
It is quite a mystery to why the club was named ‘Tanglin’, as there is no authority defining the origin or meaning of ‘Tanglin’. There exists, however, an asok or asoka tree related to the saraca tree which is recorded In Malay, although, the Malays generally refer to this native species as gapis, talan, tengalan or tanglin. Sacred among the Hindus and particularly sacred to the Buddhists as being the tree under which the Buddha was born, this beautiful flowering tree with golden-orange flowers and deep purple pods up to twelve inches long is not common in present-day Singapore.
Another derivative for Tanglin may be a corruption of the Chinese words tang ling – tang meaning ‘eastern side’, and ling ‘a small hill’. In the 1860s, there were plenty of hills in the districts of Tanglin and Claymore – Nassim Hill, Mount Elizabeth, Cairnhill, Claymore Hill and Goodwood Hill.
While it may never be known how the name ‘Tanglin’ originated, but as there are many places in Malaysia named after trees, it is possible that the club was named after the tree of the same name – perhaps one was growing on the very spot where the clubhouse stood.
- A Tumultuous Start
About two years after its founding, the club’s management committee was unable to repay the first instalment of 2,000 Spanish dollars, which was due on 30 November 1868. The costs of construction of the clubhouse and the provision of amenities combined with the expenses involved in running the club must have placed a tremendous burden on its financial resources. The financial strain was made worse when the second instalment of the principal mortgage sum was due on 30 November 1871; the club was again unable to pay both that and the sum of 2,000 dollars.
Ten years after the loan of 5,000 dollars was drawn, the club could not afford to repay any of the principal sum borrowed. Even the staff’s wages were left unpaid.
An extraordinary general meeting of the club was then called on 20 June 1876 to resolve the club’s indebtedness. The meeting passed four resolutions, including appointing a committee to enquire and report to an adjournment of this meeting whether any person will advance 5,000 dollars on a mortgage of the club, and that a Member be appointed to purchase the property and re-mortgage the whole property to the new mortgage. No records of subsequent meetings are available but it is evident that The Tanglin Club literally went under the hammer.
Nevertheless, the club continued to function notwithstanding the charge and conveyance of its property, but likely only so because of the somewhat complex financial arrangement that had been devised to permit the continued use of the club and its facilities by its members. The saga of the original loan of 5,000 dollars continued until nearly the turn of the last century when the club’s membership numbered around two hundred. In 1899, the club’s indebtedness arising from this loan was finally totally discharged.
- World Wars of the 20th Century
By the 1890s, the Claymore district had evolved into a prestigious district occupied by many prominent European residents. During the construction of the German Teutonia Club (present-day Goodwood Park Hotel), The Tanglin Club accommodated the Teutonia members. When the palatial Teutonia Club was completed in 1900, it quickly overshadowed the old and dismal looking The Tanglin Club. The Tanglin Club's German membership had dwindled from a strong number of 236 a decade ago to 181 in 1911. When World War I broke out in 1914, Teutonia Club was declared an enemy property.
Several years after the end of the First World War in the early 1920s, The Tanglin Club purchased additional blocks of land. However, the good fortune of the Club was short-lived towards the end of the 1920s. The Great Depression had begun, and the finances of the club were severely strained.
During the Japanese occupation, The Tanglin Club was used by the Japanese army as a club for their officers. The club was also used as a base for their propaganda unit as well as their storage area for rations and weapons. After the Japanese surrender, The Tanglin Club came under the management of the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) until March 1946. It was not until 1 September 1946 that the club was informally reopened.
- The Post-War Period
The men who gathered in the dining room of the Singapore Club on 21 May 1946 faced a daunting task – to reinstate The Tanglin Club, an institution founded seventy-five years earlier as a premier establishment – like the ‘forty good men and true’ who had met in 1865. The dedication of the post-war committee paid off; despite the difficulties faced, the club reopened informally on 1 September 1946, with 182 Ordinary Members, including 127 pre-war registered members, 23 lady members and provision for up to 300 service members.
During the 1950s, the club consolidated its finances and continued to build up its membership. By September 1950, the membership stood at 1,309 – including 13 life and honorary members – and the waiting list was temporarily closed for the first time after the war.
The last significant event in the years leading to the centenary of The Tanglin Club in 1965 concerned the opening of membership. Although the rules of the club did not specifically deny membership on the grounds of race, but in practice, the club was British. In 1959, the elected government decided to eliminate the advantage enjoyed by citizens of the United Kingdom and British colonies in their eligibility for Singapore citizenship. An amended citizenship bill passed in May 1960 disallowed dual nationality and made the period of residence to qualify for Singapore citizenship eight years for all applicants, including British subjects.
- Change in Membership Rules
In 1962, the government appealed to clubs in Singapore to have at least 50% Singaporean membership. After an extraordinary general meeting, the club's membership rule was amended to admit all races. The first Singaporeans to join the club included Shaw Vee Meng, Dr Yeo Chee Peng, Tan Eng Han, Koh Eng Yam, U. S. Chan and C. K. Sng.
In 1971, the completion of the pull out of the British forces stationed in Singapore signalled the end of a tradition in membership and association extended by The Tanglin Club from its founding. At a special meeting of Members on 3 May 1973, the category of Service membership was deleted from the club rules. By October 1978, the membership stood at 2,561 with 498 on the waiting list.
Traditionally, women paid lower membership fees but were not given voting rights. It was only in April 1995 that women who were full members were accorded equal voting privileges in the club. Due to the club's constitution that capped Singaporean membership to 51%, the waiting time for Singaporeans has been known to be as long as 25 years.
- New Clubhouse
The construction of a new four-storey clubhouse was carried out in phases since September 1977 and was completed in March 1981. On 14 March 1981, members bade farewell to the original clubhouse at a closing ceremony. Before the old clubhouse was demolished, memorabilia from the old building were auctioned off in support of the Children's Charity Association of Singapore. More than a month later, on 25 April 1998, the present clubhouse was officially opened by the then Minister for Law E. W. Barker. Over the years, the clubhouse had been upgraded to cater to members' needs. In 2005, the club embarked on a $21 million upgrading plan that included the construction of a new sports complex. The upgrading project is scheduled for completion in October 2007. In 2006, the club membership was 5,800, and it comprised 70 nationalities.
- Interment of the Time Capsule
During the 125th Anniversary celebrations of 1990, the then general committee carried out the interment of a time capsule. Containing various items of historical interest for future historians, the time capsule has rested undisturbed and shall not be opened till the 200th anniversary of the club in October 2065.
- 150th Anniversary
To commemorate the Big 150, events and promotions in celebration of this momentous milestone were featured throughout the year.
On 9 October 2015, Children’s Day, the club hosted a poolside carnival for approximately 150 disadvantaged children. To make this event more special, Members kindly volunteered to lend a helping hand during the carnival. On the same day, the club held a specially commissioned 150th celebratory musical, ‘The Tanglin Tree’, composed by John Sharpley, with lyrics by Tanglin Club member Robert Yeo. Over forty artists joined hands to create this unique Tanglin production. In honour of the club’s official colour, a Club-wide celebration ‘Hallow’green’ on 31 October 2015 was thrown.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary, the then general committee members gathered for the planting of a tanglin tree at the poolside area on 14 December 2015.
The biggest milestone of the 150th Anniversary was the Charity Drive which raised a total of nearly $450,000, from members who generously contributed to this initiative. During the club’s Charity Black Tie Gala Dinner in November 2015, a cheque of $195,975 was presented to Singapore President Tony Tan for the President’s Challenge. By December 2015, the final donation to the President’s Challenge amounted to $220,625. $73,550 was donated to Food from the Heart; $73,550 was donated to the Kidney Dialysis Foundation; a donation of $73,525 was channelled to Focus on the Family Singapore. Aside from the Charity Drive, $5,762 was donated to the club’s adopted charity for 2015, Dover Park Hospice.
To thank the Tanglin Club members for their generosity during this Charity Drive, Singapore President Tony Tan presented a token of appreciation to Club President Robert Wiener during the Appreciation Night ‘Stories of Hope’ at the Istana on 27 January 2016. Club Vice-President Eugene Lim was also pleased to represent members to attend this joyous event.
- The Tanglin Club Today
Today, The Tanglin Club stands proud as one of Singapore's oldest and prominent social clubs. Exclusively available to its members, the club is an inviting oasis for relaxation and rejuvenation as its ambience still evokes the grace and charm of the past while reflecting its mission of being a "home away from home". Even more so today, The Tanglin Club with its strategic location, cosmopolitan membership and modern facilities, caters to the wants and desires of contemporary men and women.