Tan Si Chong Su

s are decorated with ornate ceramic phoenixes, flowers and dragons. The first president of the temple was Tan Kim Tian. An indenture dated 28 July 1880 gave the names of the temple trustees as Tan Cheng Kiat, Tan Chew Cha, Tan Siak Kiew, Tan Mah Arang, Tan Hai Tiew and Tan Sim Boh. It was gazetted as a national monument on 19 November 1974. ==Function==

The temple was built as the ancestral temple of Tan clan. The Chinese believed that people with the same surname share a common ancestry. An ancestral temple like Tan Si Chong Su provides their clan members a place to honour and respect their ancestors. It is here where the spirit tablets of deceased clan members are enshrined and venerated. The complex consists of an entrance hall, a main hall where the Deities are enshrined, and a rear hall where the ancestral tablets of illustrious Tans are kept. The halls are separated by open courtyards. The temple also served as the assembly hall for the Tan clan whose members extended beyond Singapore to Malaysia. Among some famous Tans associated with the temple was the former Finance Minister of Malaysia, Tun Tan Siew Sin, and his father, Tun Dato' Sir Tan Cheng Lock, founder and first president of the Malaysian Chinese Association, an important political party in Malaysia. Tan Cheng Lock and Tan Siew Sin were from Malacca as were the fathers of the temple's original founders. The temple's founders, Tan Kim Ching and Tan Beng Swee, were also associated with Malacca Peranakan clans. Another famous Tan is Tan Chin Tuan, a retired banker and noted philanthropist and one of the temple's trustees. ==Architecture==

The temple tackles issues of geomancy, axiality and orientation in relationship with its surrounding buildings, roads and circulation. For example, geomancy was said that a Chinese temple is not favorable to be allocated at the end of a narrow and tight street due to bad luck and to avoid holy mess. , male and female, in granite guard the entrance. ==References==

• {{cite news ==External links==