The National Museum has decided to erect a statue in front of its entrance and they have to choose between Sir Stamford Raffles and Tan Tock Seng.

If you were working for the museum, who would you choose and why?

If I really were working for the museum, I would choose to erect Tan Tock Seng's statue in front of the musuem. I am aware that Raffles did contribute to alot of Singapore's history and also founded Singapore, but I will still choose to build Tan Tock Seng's statue because Raffles has more than one statue in Sinagpore, and one is outside the Victoria Memorial Hall.
Alot of people recognize Raffles as the founder of Singapore, thus think it is right to have his statue outside the museum. However, Tan Tock Seng, a Malaysian, came to Singapore in 1819, and contributed alot to the history of Singapore.

* Firstly, he founded a pauper hospital in Pearl's Hill, where the immigrants could go to seek medical help with a little money or even for free. This shows that Tan Tock Seng showered immigrants, probably people he did not even know, with his care. Though he had wealth those days, he did not choose to spend all on himself, probably buying medicine with the money. This shows he did not abandon the suffering and the plight of his fellowmen.
* Secondly, Tan Tock Seng gave alot to charity. He knew that the poor were suffering and thus, buried the unclaimed bodies or paid for the funeral expenses if their familes could not afford it. Being a Taoist believer, he believed that all dead should have a decent funeral conduted. He also took it upon himself to bury all Chinese paupers who were dead in the streets.
* Thirdly, he had alot of wisdom, being able to settle problems and disputes in the Chinese community.

Since he was caring, knowledgable and his contributions were important, I think his statue should be erected in front of the National Museum.