Thong Chai Medical Institution is the best known Chinese charity medical centre in Singapore. The name Thong Chai means "benefitting all". The Thong Chai Medical Institution was founded in 1867, at that time, known as Tong Chay Ee Say, meaning Thong Chai Medical Society, and was then located in a small rented shophouse in Pickering Street. There, several Chinese physicians offered free medical treatment.
Thong Chai Medical Institution, Singapore Copyright .
The present site was bought in 1892, made possible by a large endowment of Malacca-born philanthropist, Gan Eng Seng. Along with the move to this more spacious quarters, the Thong Chai Medical Society also changed its name to Thong Chai Medical Institution. On its Board of Directors are prominent pillars of the Chinese merchant society, people such as Choo Yao Lan, Choo Kwong Lan, Loh Kei Sang, Loh Chee Sang, Kwong Hang, Thong Tuck, and Choo Foo Lan.
Since its establishment, Thong Chai has faithfully provided free medical consultation, treatment and herbal medicine to the public regardless race or religion.
In recognition of its rich historical significance and excellent architecture, the Thong Chai building was gazetted as a National Monument of Singapore on 6 July 1973.
Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.