Original title: the first overseas Chinese face appeared on the Singapore banknote
On the 5th local time, Singapore President Halima announced on the opening day of Eid al Fitr at the presidential palace that the monetary authority of Singapore will launch a new 20 yuan bill next Monday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the opening of Singapore. Once the "true face" of the banknote was announced, it was found that among the eight pioneer figures printed on the back of the banknote, one was Chen Jiageng, a famous patriotic overseas Chinese leader familiar to the Chinese, which was also the first overseas Chinese face to appear on the Singapore banknote.
Judging from the officially released samples, the front of the new $20 note to be issued is Singapore's first President Yusuf & middot; Isak's portrait, as well as the then Supreme Court and city hall (now the National Art Museum of Singapore), is printed on the back with eight pioneers who came to Singapore in the early 19th century. Each of the eight pioneers has a great background, and the Singapore government has also made a special list to introduce them.
They are Chen Jiageng, a pioneer in overseas Chinese education, Teresa Hsu Chih, known as Mother Teresa of Singapore, Wang Huiqing, an outstanding female educator, Munshi Abdullah, the father of modern Malay Literature, and Henry & middot, the first director of the botanical garden; Henry Nicholas Ridley, Indian philanthropist P. govindasamy Pillai, outstanding female sportswoman Alice & middot; Alice pennefather and Adnan saidI, the Malay Anti Japanese hero. Among them, the most well-known is the famous overseas Chinese leader Chen Jiageng. With multiple identities, he has made outstanding contributions to the development of China's education.
Chen Jiageng is a native of Jimei society in Tongan County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province (now Jimei District, Xiamen, Fujian Province). In his early years, he went abroad to start a business in Southeast Asia and became a generation of "rubber king". At the peak, Chen Jiageng's direct agents spread all over five continents and formed an international sales and trade network. His representative alerted the registered trademark of revitalizing the industry and Commerce of the Chinese nation - China bell logo, It is also known by people all over the world with the circulation of goods.
In 1913, Chen Jiageng returned to his hometown to devote himself to the construction of China's education. Now the famous Xiamen University was founded by Chen Jiageng. After returning to his hometown Jimei, Chen Jiageng successively founded Jimei schools (the general name of many schools), including Jimei primary school, Jimei Middle School, normal school, fisheries, navigation, business, agriculture and forestry, and then founded Xiamen University. Since then, teachers and students of Xiamen University and Jimei school village have respected him as the 'school master'.
The printing of Tan Kah Kee as an overseas Chinese education pioneer on the new 20 yuan bill also confirms his outstanding contribution to the development of education in Singapore. In 1919, Chen Jiageng founded Singapore overseas Chinese middle school, which is the first school in Singapore with Chinese as the teaching medium. Now, overseas Chinese middle school has grown into one of the top five middle schools in Singapore. In 1941, Chen Jiageng established Nanqiao demonstration school (now Nanqiao middle school). Later, Tan Kah Kee also founded Nanyang University, the first overseas Chinese University in Singapore's history.
Tan Kah Kee's hard work in local education has accelerated the progress of education in Singapore, and printing his face on money is a kind of memory and respect for him.