Mohammad Tahir Tan Tong Hye

Tan Sri Mohammed Tahir Tan Tong Hye, also known as T. H. Tan (陈东海) (born 31 October 1914 - 3 November 1985), was a Singapore-born journalist and politician who became the Secretary of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and the first honorary Secretary-General of the Alliance Party in Malaya. He is mainly remembered for being among the three men (the others being Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak) who took part in the UMNO-MCA Alliance delegation to London in 1954 to demand for an effective elected majority in the Federal Legislative Council of Malaya.

Born in Singapore, Tan attended St. Joseph's Institution and Raffles Institution. At Raffles Institution he was a contributor to the school newspaper, The Rafflesian, which would set him on the path to journalism.

After his Senior Cambridge Examination, he became a cub reporter with the Malaya Tribune. He became acquainted with the then chairman of the newspaper, Tan Cheng Lock, who would become his friend, mentor and later colleague in the pursuit of Malayas independence. Tan rose quickly in the ranks, soon becoming a sub-editor and editor of the Sunday Tribune. He later joined the Straits Times group and became one of the leading writers of the Singapore Free Press and night editor of the Sunday Times.

During the Japanese Occupation, Tan and his colleagues organized a news service for Commonwealth prisoners of war at Sime Road camp and Changi Prison. After the war, the English-only policy for top positions at the Straits Times led Tan to join the Singapore edition of the Tiger Standard, the paper established by Aw Boon Haw. In 1950, a Standard-owned DC-3 airplane crash-landed in Thailand, paper's substantial profits, but Aw refused on account that his son was also a victim. As a result of this difference in opinion, Tan resigned from the paper.

...
Wikipedia