Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

Acknowledgements

vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The฀year฀2011฀marks฀the฀100th฀anniversary฀of฀the฀1911฀Chinese฀Revolution฀ which฀began฀with฀the฀Wuchang฀Uprising฀on฀10฀October฀1911฀and฀concluded฀ with฀the฀collapse฀of฀dynastic฀rule฀in฀China฀that฀stretched฀back฀more฀than฀ 2,000฀years฀and฀the฀establishment฀of฀the฀Republic฀of฀China,฀Asia’s฀first฀ republic.฀The฀1911฀Revolution฀was฀led฀by฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀and฀the฀Zhongguo฀ Tongmenghui,฀which฀was฀first฀established฀in฀Tokyo฀in฀1905฀and฀followed฀by฀ the฀formation฀of฀a฀Singapore฀branch฀and฀other฀branches฀in฀Southeast฀Asia.฀ The฀Zhongguo฀Tongmenghui฀movement฀received฀massive฀support฀from฀ the฀Overseas฀Chinese฀communities฀especially฀from฀the฀Nanyang.฀The฀latter฀ contributed฀both฀manpower฀and฀funding฀to฀the฀1911฀Revolution฀and฀in฀that฀ way฀played฀a฀role฀in฀the฀establishment฀of฀modern฀China. In฀view฀of฀the฀100th฀anniversary฀of฀the฀1911฀Revolution฀and฀Sun฀ Yat-sen’s฀close฀relations฀with฀the฀Nanyang฀communities,฀the฀Institute฀of฀ Southeast฀Asian฀Studies฀and฀the฀Chinese฀Heritage฀Centre,฀Singapore฀came฀ together฀to฀host฀a฀two-day฀bilingual฀conference฀on฀the฀three-way฀relationships฀ between฀Sun฀Yat-sen,฀Nanyang฀and฀the฀1911฀Revolution฀in฀October฀2010฀ in฀Singapore.฀Previously฀in฀2006฀in฀connection฀with฀the฀100th฀Anniversary฀ of฀the฀Singapore฀chapter฀of฀Tongmenghui,฀the฀Chinese฀Heritage฀Centre฀had฀ collaborated฀with฀the฀Sun฀Yat฀Sen฀Nanyang฀Memorial฀Hall฀to฀organize฀a฀ workshop฀entitled฀“Tongmenghui,฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀and฀the฀Chinese฀in฀Southeast฀ Asia:฀A฀Revisit”.฀Professor฀Leo฀Suryadinata,฀Director฀of฀the฀Chinese฀Heritage฀ Centre,฀ kindly฀ help฀ to฀ draft฀ the฀ concept฀ paper฀ for฀ this฀ international฀ conference.฀The฀conference฀was฀jointly฀coordinated฀and฀convened฀by฀Professor฀ Suryadinata,฀Lee฀Lai฀To฀and฀Lee฀Hock฀Guan.฀ We฀would฀like฀to฀thank฀the฀conference฀participants฀for฀devoting฀time฀ and฀energy฀to฀prepare฀the฀papers฀for฀the฀conference.฀The฀two-day฀event฀ went฀smoothly฀with฀constructive฀discussions฀all฀round.฀We฀were฀fortunate฀ 00a฀SunYatSenAck.indd฀฀฀7 9/20/11฀฀฀10:11:17฀AM viii Acknowledgements to฀have฀Professor฀Wang฀Gungwu฀who฀agreed฀to฀deliver฀the฀keynote฀speech฀ which,฀as฀usual,฀provided฀the฀conference฀with฀issues฀to฀discuss฀during฀the฀ rest฀of฀the฀proceedings.฀At฀the฀end฀of฀the฀conference,฀we฀were฀privileged฀to฀ have฀Professor฀Prasenjit฀Duara฀provide฀some฀concluding฀remarks฀to฀round฀ up฀the฀conference. We฀would฀like฀to฀thank฀the฀Sun฀Yat฀Sen฀Nanyang฀Memorial฀Hall฀ (SYSNMH)฀and฀the฀Singapore฀Chinese฀Chamber฀of฀Commerce฀and฀Industry฀ (SCCCI)฀for฀their฀generous฀financial฀support฀for฀the฀conference.฀In฀particular,฀ special฀thanks฀to฀Mr฀Alvin฀Tan,฀Director฀of฀Heritage฀Institution,฀National฀ Heritage฀Board,฀Mr฀Wan฀Shung฀Ming฀and฀Mr฀Lee฀Peng฀Shu,฀Board฀Directors฀ of฀SYSNMH,฀and฀Ms฀Angela฀Ye,฀Manager฀of฀SYSNMH. Finally,฀we฀would฀like฀to฀thank฀Ambassador฀K.฀Kesavapany,฀Director฀of฀ the฀Institute฀of฀Southeast฀Asian฀Studies,฀for฀his฀support฀for฀the฀conference฀ and฀Professor฀Leo฀Suryadinata,฀Director฀of฀the฀Chinese฀Heritage฀Centre,฀ for฀generously฀helping฀to฀conceptualize฀the฀project฀as฀well฀as฀convening฀the฀ conference.฀Needless฀to฀say,฀the฀views฀expressed฀in฀the฀various฀chapters฀are฀the฀ responsibility฀of฀the฀paper-writers฀alone.฀In฀that฀regard,฀for฀the฀documentation฀ and฀transliteration฀of฀Chinese฀names฀and฀places,฀we฀have฀decided฀to฀respect฀ the฀system฀adopted฀by฀the฀individual฀authors. Lee฀Lai฀To Lee฀Hock฀Guan 00a฀SunYatSenAck.indd฀฀฀8 9/20/11฀฀฀10:11:17฀AM ...