An exceptionally giving man with a smiling face

An exceptionally giving man with a smiling face

SINGAPORE - It is 100 years today since he was born, and 19 years since his death, but Ee Peng Liang is still a name veterans of Singapore's social service sector remember well.

He was called the Father of Charity in Singapore, and on why he was exceptional, social work veteran Ann Wee, 87, says: "He was an ideas man as well as a giving man, to an unusual extent. He had great faith in the idea of a Community Chest, when many people felt it could not work in our culture."

Dr Ee, who died at the age of 81 in 1994 at his Katong home, founded the national fund-raising institution and helped set up the Singapore Council of Social Service, of which he was president for more than 28 years.

A businessman with his own accountancy firm and a philanthropist, he held office in more than 50 organisations, including welfare agencies, schools, charities and hospitals.

Younger generations recognise his legacy in his son Gerard Ee, 63, a champion of social service issues. One of five Ee siblings, he recalled that his father's charitable nature made an impact on him as a child, and also on others.

"In the early 60s my father decided that for Christmas we would give the kids in our neighbourhood a simple present. We bought various toys from Chinatown and packed them and then on Christmas Day invited the kids from our neighbourhood to walk through the house and collect a gift. This was a yearly affair," he said.

"A few months ago I bumped into a lady who was one of those kids. The experience touched her life and today she is an active volunteer."

Born in Singapore on Nov 24, 1913, Dr Ee's life-long devotion to social work was forged from his near-death experiences during the Japanese Occupation.

He was detained at age 28. On one occasion, a Japanese officer unsheathed his sword and called for volunteers to be executed. As the most senior man in the group, the young Dr Ee felt it was his duty to step forward. Instead of being beheaded, he was commended by the Japanese and set free.

He once told the Oral History Unit of the National Archives that being spared death on three occasions during the war fortified his belief that his life was meant for some purpose.

"You have been spared for something," he says on a preserved tape recording. Such thoughts triggered his involvement in charity work.

"There was a lot of work and a lot of money spent but somehow or other you are blessed. The more you give, the more you get."

Starting with a Catholic group after the war, Dr Ee went on to head the Singapore Council of Social Service as president after it was set up in 1958 as an umbrella body for all groups and individuals with an interest in community service. It was restructured into the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) in 1992.

He received 16 awards, including the Public Service Star, the Meritorious Service medal, the Order of Sang Nila Utama and the Distinguished Service Order. He was also made a Justice of the Peace.

On his death, then President Wee Kim Wee said: "There are many warm public-spirited Singaporeans, but Dr Ee stood head and shoulders above them because he believed that the spirit of charity lives in every man, and it was up to him to touch them with his mission."

So what was it that made him stand out?

Former NCSS president Robert Loh, 89, said: "You could see that he was sincere and when he takes up something he will do it. He had a friendly ear, was generous of heart and time.

"He was also generous of his money - he was not a rich man but gave whatever he could. It was his generous general character and his smiling face that led you to say this man is a good man who helped others."

Another social work pioneer, Mr K. V. Veloo, 79, a retired chief probation and aftercare officer, said: "Dr Ee gave the same care and attention to one who donated $10 and one who gave hundreds of dollars. He would collect the $10 personally. That makes a difference. He was friendly, made time to talk and took an interest in all donors."

Mr M. Nathan, a member of the Board of Visiting Justices for prisons, has this memory: "When I was appointed to the board more than 25 years ago, Dr Ee, who was the chairman, shook my hands in welcome and said 'I am a jaga pintu (Malay for "watchman"), now you are also a jaga pintu'! I admired his humour and humility."

Mrs Wee, the former head of the National University of Singapore's social work department, praised his attitude to donors, saying: "I recall his great respect for small-scale giving, and he spoke of the importance of this attitude in encouraging wider participation in the act of giving."

Son Gerard - who has an elder brother, Lawrence, and sisters, Theresa, Cecilia and Agnes - recalls a frugal upbringing. Clothes, especially pyjamas, were home-sewn and often patched to stretch their use.

"We had new clothes only for Christmas and Chinese New Year," he told The Sunday Times.

"I still remember using a Hero fountain pen bought from the neighbourhood store, while other kids had Sheaffer or Parker fountain pens. Yes, we were not short of the basics, but we did avoid extravagance."

One example of his father's caring spirit remains vivid: "In the late 50s when there was a huge fire in, I think, Geylang Serai, many people were made homeless and were sheltered at the old Kallang Airport. Cash was raised through (radio station) Rediffusion with daily song requests and donations. With the money raised, ang pows were distributed to the homeless. The whole Ee family sat round a long table and spent the night making the ang pows."

Today, the Ee family will visit his columbarium niche at St Teresa's Church in Kampong Bahru. In keeping with the nature of the man, it will be a modest observance.

Mr Ee said: "My dad did not like any fuss and actually forbade us to mourn beyond seven days of his death."

vijayan@sph.com.sg


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