The Mystery and Mastery of Tan Yeok Nee (Part 10)
Final Years and Legacy In the last post we considered the scope of Tan’s relationship with the Qing court in China. At its most basic, Tan’s relationship with the Qing court could have been based on some kind of recognition provided in return for Tan’s donation to help the starving victims of the North China Famine in the 1870s. However, there are tantalising snippets of information that suggest there may have been more to it. Chinese sources suggest that Tan was acting as Sultan Abu Bakar’s de facto ambassador to the Qing court. The idea warrants further investigation but additional facts remain elusive for now. Likewise, the details of the interplay going on in Tan’s mind concerning loyal service to the Sultan, the management of his own personal and business affairs, and the siren song that beckoned him to his home town may never be fully understood. This final post in the series about the life and times of Tan Yeok Nee, while also covering Tan’s final years, looks at some of these