TAN KA KEE (陈嘉庚), MERCHANT AND IDEALIST

The most characteristic thing about Tan Ka Kee is his courage. He made his fortune, because he would never say die; and now that he has lost it, these are still his watch words. Four years ago, he was one of the richest Chinese in the South Seas; but today, he is in such reduced circumstances that he has to live on his monthly salary. However, even now he is not down-hearted and crest-fallen. He is still looking forward to the time when his fortune may be completely recouped. In his autobiographical sketch written for The Eastern Miscellany, he chose as his title: "Fear of Failure Is Shameful!" (畏惧失败才是可耻)

Tan Ka Kee's rise to fame and success has been a rapid one. He was born in a well-to-do but by no means wealthy family in a village near Amoy. In his early teens, he went to Singapore and joined the business of his father. Later on, however, he established himself first as a rice merchant and then as a planter of rubber. The rubber business grew steadily as the years went by, so that by the time when he was forty, he was already a multi-millionaire. Then the great war came, and it almost threw him out of business. But somehow he managed to pull through and at the end of the war, he was actually richer than he had been before. He bought more rubber plantations and also established many agencies both in China and abroad for the sale of his manufactured products. He conceived the idea of founding a university in Amoy in his forty-seventh year. He extended at first the invitation to Mr. Wang Ching-wei who was at that time in the south to become the president of the university, but the latter declined and Dr. Lim Boon Keng was appointed in his stead in 1921, when the university was formally declared open.

In 1925, the slump in the rubber market began to be felt, and Mr. Tan was forced to cancel his plan of donating three libraries in Amoy, Foochow and Shanghai respectively. This he still regrets and it is considered by him in his autobiographical sketch as the greatest disappointment in his life. When the Tsinan Incident occurred in the spring of 1928, Mr. Tan became one of the leading spirits in the South Seas of the boycott movement. This aroused the ire of the Japanese who began to push with added force their dumping policy of rubber goods in the South Seas. Mr. Tan's business thus suffered and four years later, he was forced to sell out all of his properties and estates.

According to his own calculation, nearly half of his fortune was spent for educational purposes. To the Amoy University alone, he gave nearly five million dollars. Besides that, he is also the founder and chief benefactor of a primary school and a middle school in his native village. Mr. Tan is a firm believer in education. In spite of the fact that he is practically bankrupt now, he is still doing his best to help Amoy University raise funds among the oversea merchants. Mr. Tan realises the truth that man does not live by bread alone. Money to him is only means to an end, namely that service to one's fellow men. He is a merchant, to be sure, but he is by no means mercenary. On the contrary, he is an idealist—an idealist who is undaunted by unfavourable circumstances. At present he may be down, but he certainly is not out!

[No. 16; Apr. 19, 1934]

陈嘉庚¹，有理想的商人

陈嘉庚最鲜明的个性特征，就是他非常勇敢。他当初之所以能致富，就是因为他永不言败；如今他丧失了家产，在这一点上他依旧不变。四年前，他是南洋最富有的华人之一；如今已拮据到不得不依靠月薪维持生活。然而，即使时至今日，他也没有垂头丧气。他依旧期待着他的财产失而复得的那一天。他为《东方杂志》写过一篇自传性文章，就选择了这样一个题目：“畏惧失败才是可耻”。²

陈嘉庚的功成名就，只经历了一个快速的过程。他出生在厦门附近乡村一户算不得富有的小康人家，十几岁便到新加坡跟随他父亲学做买卖去了。但是他自立门户，却是从经营米业开始的，之后成了一名成功的橡胶种植商。橡胶业一年年地发达起来，到了40岁，他就已经身价数百万了。这时，（第一次）世界大战爆发了，战争几乎使他脱离了他的产业和营生。但他总算是渡过了难关，到了战争结束时，他实际上比战前更加富有了。他收购了更多的橡胶种植园，还在中国国内和国外开设了许多经销产品的销售机构。在47岁那一年，他想到要在厦门创办一所大学。起初，他曾邀请当时正在南方的汪精卫先生担任校长，但遭到了婉拒。1921年，厦门大学正式宣告成立时，便聘用了林文庆医生担任校长。

1925年，橡胶市场的萧条初露端倪，陈先生不得不取消了分别给厦门、福州和上海赠建一座图书馆的计划。他为此抱憾至今，在（《东方杂志》）那篇自述中他认为，这是生平最令他扫兴的一件事。1928年春，济南惨案³发生后，他成了南洋抵制运动中的领袖人物。这种表现激怒了日本人，他们开始在南洋更猖獗地推行橡胶产品的倾销政策。陈先生的生意受到重创，四年后他被迫卖掉了所有的动产和不动产。

据他自己估算，他将近一半的财产都花在了教育事业上。单是厦门大学，他就捐赠了将近五百万美元。而且，他还是家乡农村一所小学和一所中学的创办者和主要资助人。陈先生对教育的重要性坚信不疑。尽管如今的他几近破产，他却仍然尽其所能帮助厦门大学在海外侨商中筹集资金。陈先生懂得这样一条真理，人不能只靠面包生活。在他看来，钱只是一种达到目的的手段，那就是为同类服务。他确实是个商人，但是他绝不唯利是图。恰恰相反，他是个理想主义者——一个身处逆境却毫不气馁的理想主义者。目前，他可能不太顺利，但是绝没有出局！

［第16期，1934年4月19日］