Tang Choon Keng

Tang Choon Keng
Tang Choon Keng
Born	September 12, 1900; Shantou, Qing dynasty
Died	September 3, 2000 (aged 99); Singapore
Other names	CK Tang
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	Founder of Tangs department store

Tang Choon Keng (Chinese: 董俊竞; pinyin: Dǒng Jùnjìng; 12 September 1901 – 3 September 2000), colloquially known as CK Tang, was a Singaporean entrepreneur, who founded the Tangs department store in Singapore. Tang established Orchard Road as a premier retail district in Singapore.

Early life

A

British colony of Singapore in 1923.^{[citation needed}

]

In Singapore, Tang peddled hand-made Swatow lace, embroidery and linen products. With a rented rickshaw, Tang carried his goods in a pair of tin trunks, which he kept long afterwards. Tang later became known as the "Tin Trunk Man" and the "Curio King" for his rags to riches story.^{[citation needed]}

Establishment of Tangs

In 1932, Tang was able to embark on a larger venture. He established a department store in 1932 with an initial

River Valley Road, selling craft

products from China.

Subsequently, in 1940, Tang financed the construction of a new building at the corner of

edifice

Gainurn Building, a variation of his father's name Tang Gan Urn. By the 1950s, CK Tang had opened several more branches.

In 1958, Tang bought a 1,351-square metre piece of land at the corner of Orchard Road and

Singapore Government

designated and developed Orchard Road as a prime shopping and tourist district, the price of land soared from S$3 per m² to S$6,000 per m².

With the acquired land plot, Tang constructed the landmark

Imperial Palace of the Forbidden City in Beijing. In 1960, Tang voluntarily closed the store due to problems with the trade unions, but Tangs was re-opened the following year. In 1975, Tang's company was publicly listed

.

In the late 1970s, Tang expanded his business again when he decided to develop the neighboring

demolished to make way for the new Tang complex, comprising the 33-story deluxe Dynasty Hotel (now the Singapore Marriott Hotel) and the Tangs shopping complex (now Tang Plaza). The shopping complex consists of five floors of retail space covering more than 15,000 m², marketed under the slogan

"All The Best Under One Roof".

In 1991, Tangs opened its first overseas branch in

Dairy Farm International Holdings

in its retail business in Malaysia.

Until 1996, Tangs was the only major shopping centre in Singapore to not operate on Sundays, in deference to Tang's Christian faith. Tang instituted the policy so that his family and Christian staff could attend church on Sundays. As a staunch Christian, Tang spoke of honesty and hard work as his guiding principles.

Tang's distinctive management philosophy was the focus on people, both customers and staff. Emphasis was given to quality of the staff, reasonable

investing in his staff, as his frontline staff would be the ones who would be in direct contact with the customers and he believed that the image of the store depended on them. As a result, Tang reserved a substantial annual budget for staff training, which included tailored programs for sales staff, supervisors and management. Supervisors and managers

were expected to undergo a minimum 100 hours of training. Tang also made an effort to get in touch with his staff at all levels, in order understand his customers' expectations on product and service quality. Despite the company's poor financial results in certain years, Tangs retained its reputation for good service and reliability.

Tang retired in 1987, handing the reins of

accounts

and meeting suppliers.