Question: The National Museum has decided to erect a statue in front of its entrance. They have to choose between Stamford Raffles and Tan Tock Seng. If you were working for the museum, who would you choose and why?
My answer: If I am working for the museum, I would choose Tan Tock Seng to be erected in front of the museum's entrance. The main reason for this is because he did more helpful work compared to Stamford Raffles. Although Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore before Tan Tock Seng, he left Singapore after he signed the treaty with Sultan Hussein and the Temenggong and left Farquhar with difficult jobs. Tan Tock Seng also contributed more compared to Raffles. Tan Tock Seng was one of the richest merchants in Singapore. Although he is rich, he was not selfish and did not keep the money to himself. In fact, he donated liberally to the charity. He also help the Chinese paupers. Whenever there is Chinese paupers who died in the streets and verandahs, he would make it a point to help bury them as he had a passion for the sick and poor at his own expense. He also paid for the funernal expenses of people who couldn't afford one. As a Taoist, he believed that a decent funeral should be conducted for the dead. He also founded a pauper hospital to allow immigrants to seek medical help for low cost or free. Hence, I can conclude that Tan Tock Seng deserves to be erected in front of the museum's entrance.
