How his contributions made an impact on Singapore

Mr Tan's contributions included donating generously to charity, providing burial costs for the Chinese poor and donation of Spanish $7,000 to the building of the Chinese Pauper's Hospital.

Let me elaborate on the donation of Spanish $7,000 to the Chinese Pauper's Hospital. The health conditions in the 19th century was deplorable with the poor and sick given little outlet to seek medical treatment. With so many ill people, traders might not intend to come and trade at Singapore. This will affect Singapore's growth as traders think that Singapore was a country with a disease outbreak causing them to trade somewhere else.

However, Mr Tan Tock Seng, donated money to build the Chinese Pauper's Hospital. The purpose was to allow the poor and ill to seek proper treatment at this hospital. The sick got proper treatment and was healthy again. Therefore, the trades increased as traders traded at Singapore without worries.


Source:
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_70_2004-12-24.html
http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_118_2005-01-22.html