A summary of the History of Nantah

A summary for the history of the old "Nantah" in English and Chinese

1. Background:
After World War II, the Chinese found it difficult to attend higher education in the Nanyang area thus a Chinese language institution was needed badly.

2. Progress:
1953
Mr Tan Lark Sye proposed the founding of a Chinese language university, which gained a wide support
He himself donated 5 million and lead the Hokkien Huay Kuan to donate more than 500 acres of land ('Yunnan Garden').
Generous donations in cash and kind came from Chinese and others like Malays and Indian, from all walks of life.
The idea was not at all supported by the government at that time, thus Nantah registered as a private company at first.
(The British government at that time only allowed one university in the Nanyang area, and they thought the existing university Malaya University was enough)

1958
The construction of the 'Old Nantah' was completed.

1980
Nantah was merged into NUS and a about at the same time NTI was found in Yunnan Garden.

1991
NTI was renamed into NTU and NIE was established as an institute of NTU.

3. Social influence:
Though with a life span of only 25 years, Nantah is recognized by its contribution to the Chinese culture and education in the Southeast Asia.
In 1990, it was said that the number of the Nantah graduates either as professors or teaching assistance in each university are: NUS-100, Malaya University-13, Malaysia Technological University-13 and also some others in Canada, Hongkong, America, Australia and etc.

4. Something about Mr Tan Lark Sye:
Though only with a primary education level, he spent most of his treasure and efforts on education.
When talking about his contribution to education, he said: "Money comes and goes like tide; If used to irrigate the crops when rising tide, the crops can grow even better. Otherwise, what is the meaning of the tiding of money to me?"

南大历史摘要

1.成立背景:
二战后，华校生到中国深造困难 当地唯一的马来亚大学只招收英校生 一所华文大学急需建立。

2.过程:
1953年
陈六使倡议创办一所华文大学 并带头捐献500万 后又代表福建会馆捐赠'云南园'一地500多亩 供作校址。
他的倡议受到社会各界热烈响应。筹募基金运动获得各阶层的积极支持，掀起一股"义捐"的热潮。
因为受到英国当局的反对和阻扰，大学最终只能先以公司方式注册。
(因英国当局坚持一个地区只应有一所大学的原则 坚持只要有马来亚大学就已足够)

1958年
旧南大建设完成 在云南园举行落成典礼。

1980年
旧南大并入新加坡国立大学。同年，在云南园兴起另一座学校南洋理工学院(NTI)。

1991年
南洋理工学院正式将国立教育学院(NIE)纳入旗下 更名为南洋理工大学(NTU)。

3.社会影响:
旧南大虽只存在25年，但它为东南亚华文文化和教育做出了杰出的贡献。
据1190年非正式统计，在国内外大专院校担任教授和讲师的南大校友, 新加坡国立大学有100位 马来亚大学13位 马来西亚理工大学13位, 另外还分布于加拿大 香港 美国 澳大利亚等世界各地。

4.陈六使简介:
尽管只有小学教育水平， 陈六使却一直致力于教育事业。
他把大部分的财产都捐作教育事业的用途。
当谈到他对于教育的义举时，陈六使曾作了这样一个比喻: "金钱的得失就像潮水的涨退一样，潮涨时如利用潮水来浇灌作物，会使作物生长更加旺盛，不然，它的涨退对于我又有什么意义?"

A more detailed history of Nantah can be found here.