Sean Tang of Tangs Department Store

In 2017, the then 33-year-old Sean Tang has been appointed as the CEO of Tangs Department Store which is one of Singapore’s oldest household names in Orchard Road. Also known as CK Tang, Sean is the eldest son of Executive Chairman Tang Wee Kit and also a 3^rd generation successor of the business empire. In addition, he sits on the board of Tang Holdings which owned 98.3% shares of the department store.

Sean Tang, CEO of Tang Holdings

CK Tang was once listed on the stock exchange back in 1975 and was a public company for more than 3 decades. In 2009, it offered 83 cents per share to get existing shareholders to acquire the company shares. At the time of delisting from Singapore Exchange(SGX) in May 2009, a share of CK Tang was worth 68 cents.

The iconic shopping mall in Orchard Road

CK Tang has been in existence for nearly 90 years founded by the late Tang Choon Keng. The senior Mr Tang has 8 children with 3 sons and 5 daughters. The eldest son Wee Cheng sold his shares to his 2 younger brothers over differences in opinions in managing the family business. He passed away in his sleep during a holiday trip to Japan with his family in 2009 at the age of 75. According to news reports, the 2^nd second son Wee Sung is single while the youngest son Wee Kit has 4 children which includes Sean. In 2008, Wee Sung was jailed for a day and fined $17000 for organ trading as his kidneys were failing. The following year, he recovered after receiving a kidney from executed prisoner “One-eyed dragon” Tan Chor Jin. He then resumed his duties as Chairman of CK Tang in September 2013 before retiring in May 2016. Wee Sung then stated that the business has already reached an appropriate opportunity to complete the final step of the succession plan sold his 30% shareholdings to Wee Kit, who is currently at the helm of CK Tang.

Tang Wee Kit, Executive Chairman

Back in 1922, 21-year-old Tang Choon Keng came to Singapore from Swatow in a pair of tin trunks which contained hand-made Swatow lace, embroidery and linen products to be sold from door-to-door and hence earned his nickname of “Curio King” and “Tin trunk man”. After peddling his goods for a decade, he knew the common way of operating a business and rented a shop space in River Valley Road at $25 a month and that was the beginning of his business journey.

The late Tang Choon Keng(1901-2000), founder of Tangs aka Tin Trunk Man or Curio King

As the senior Mr Tang’s business grew, he first bought a nearby shophouse for more than $10000 in 1940 and used the name CK Tang which was the initials of his name. He later relocated the department store to Orchard Road in the late 1950s as he felt that the area had commercial value since the British housewives living in the Tanglin area could stop by and shop on their way to the city when at that point of time many businessmen advised against buying the land there as it was facing a Teochew cemetery then.

CK Tang at its first Orchard Road premises in 1958

CK Tang expanded once more in 1982 when the late Mr Tang developed the neighboring land lots that he purchased years earlier and built the current Tangs Plaza which included the Marriott Hotel. By then, Orchard Road has already been designated as a prime shopping district and the price of land soared a thousand times over from $3 per square metre back in the 1950s. As a staunch Presbyterian, he strongly advocated honesty and hard work as his leadership philosophy and before 1996, the store used to be closed on Sundays so that the employees could attend the weekly Church service. He passed away in his St Thomas Walk residence on 3 September 2000 at the age of 98 and was subsequently buried at Choa Chu Kang Christian cemetery. The house was sold to a developer for a price $210 million in 2005 which made headlines news as one of the most expensive property sales. As of 2020, the Tang family was ranked 24^th under Forbes Billionaires  with a net worth of USD$1.4 billion.