C. K. TANG (SINCE 1958)
Founder Tang Choon Keng, nicknamed “Tin-trunk Man”, arrived in Singapore in 1923 from Swatow, China. Then in his early 20s, he went door-to-door carrying his trunk to sell handmade lace and embroidery. In 1958, he bought a plot of land in Orchard Road,
despite it facing a cemetery, because the location was good. That plot of land at the junction of Scotts and Orchard roads is still the location of its flagship store.
TODAY, the family business has had its fair share of ups and downs, yet it has stayed relevant. The Chairman of TANGS,
Tang Wee Sung made the news in the media when he got the kidney from hanged man.
Singapore tycoon gets kidney from hanged man
The newspaper said Tang Wee Sung, of the landmark C.K. Tang department store on the city state’s swish Orchard Road, was given a kidney donated by gangster Tan Jor Chin, who was hanged at Changi Prison on Friday morning. He was also jailed briefly for trying to buy a kidney has received one in a transplant from a hanged murderer, the Straits Times newspaper reported it.
The transplant took place later that day. Tan, known as “
One-Eyed Dragon,” because he was blind in his right eye, was found guilty in 2007 of shooting a business associate. The newspaper quoted Tan’s mistress as saying the gangster had wanted to donate his organs after his death. Tang, was jailed for a day and fined S$17,000 (about 7,800 pounds) for trying to buy a kidney from an Indonesian man last year. Organ trading is illegal in Singapore. The Straits Times said Tang suffers from several ailments including asthma, diabetes and heart problems and had triple bypass surgery as well.
