C.K. Tang Limited is a story of how the vision, fortitude and integrity of a young Chinese immigrant helped create one of Singapore’s premier retail companies today.

From its humble beginnings, C.K.Tang Limited has established itself as a prominent leader in Singapore’s vibrant retail scene. Its continued existence can be attributed to its ability to adapt well to changing consumer trends by recognising the need for focused marketing and diversity in business.

Today, in addition to TANGS Orchard and TANGS VivoCity in Singapore and TANGS Malaysia, C.K. Tang Limited has a number of niche boutiques and specialty businesses both in Singapore and Malaysia, each with its own unique identity and customer base. Committed to continually set trends in retailing, C.K. Tang Limited is poised to take on new challenges with dynamism.

Tangs' founder, Tang Choon Keng, came to Singapore from Swatow, China in 1923. He started out as an itinerant hawker, peddling embroidered linens to Western expatriates living in Tanglin, Holland Road, Bukit Timah and Katong. Tang built his trade on the philosophy of honesty, integrity and value for money. On these principles, his business began to grow. With the increased sales, Tang could no longer go from house to house to sell his goods therefore, he rented a shop space at 231 River Valley Road and set up his first shop called the House of Tang. His range of merchandise expanded to include Chinese arts and crafts, ornaments and souvenirs. The shop prospered and had an expansion where it brought over the ground and second level as well as the two shop fronts beside it.

In 1940, the store moved across the street to a three-storey building that Tang had built on land acquired from six adjacent shops. The building is located at 241 River Valley Road and was named the C. K. Tang Building but was later renamed the Gainurn Building after Tang's father, Tang Gan Urn. During the Occupation years, the Japanese soldiers had wanted to use the store as their dormitory but the idea was later abandoned when they found quarters elsewhere. Hence the shop came out of the episode relatively unscathed.

Tang Choon Keng (b. 12 September 1901, Swatow, China- d. 3 September 2000, Singapore), a Teochew, established the landmark departmental store C.K. Tang in Singapore. He is known as C. K. Tang for short, a.k.a. Tang Un Tien and nicknamed the "Tin Trunk Man" or the "Curio King".

Born in Swatow, China at the turn of the 20th century to a Presbyterian pastor, Tang Choon Keng first arrived in Singapore in 1923. He made a living peddling hand-made Swatow lace and embroidery door-to-door. He carried his goods in a tin trunk which remained in his possession as a reminder of his humble beginnings.

Tang's first wife, with whom he had eight children, passed away in 1981. He subsequently remarried. Once kidnapped by four armed thugs in 1960, Tang was freed unharmed within 84 hours after the family reportedly paid $150,000 in ransom. Tang was a staunch Christian who spoke of honesty and hard work as his guiding principles. He instituted the policy of not opening the departmental store on Sunday so his family and Christian staff could go to church.

Tang philosophy is "Honesty is my foundation"

Tang's hard work gave him enough funds to begin a larger venture. He established a departmental store in 1932 with an initial sum of $3,000 with his first shop set up on the first floor of a building in River Valley Road. Subsequently, he built an impressive building at the corner of Jalan Mohamad Sultan and River Valley Road. His vision of expanding the business was further realised when he bought a 1,351 sq m piece of land at the corner of Orchard and Scotts roads in 1958. Although the site faced the Tai San Ting Cemetery, which usually known as “bad luck” but he discover the deeper reason and felt it had commercial value as many British housewives in the Tanglin area passed it by on their way to the city. The green-tiled roof and facade was modelled after the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City in Beijing but was demolished in 1982 to make way for the new Tang complex. The shop was voluntarily closed in 1960 by Tang due to problems with the trade unions, but was re-opened the following year.

Tangs vision did not stop him there, he was ready to expand his business. This came to fruition in 1982 when the Tang complex, a 33-storey deluxe Dynasty hotel and the Tangs shopping complex were built at the same site.

In 1991, Tangs expand its business overseas. It opened the first overseas branch in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tang also collaborated with Malaysia's Mayang Sari Bhd to develop real estate, hotels, hotels and commercial properties in Kuala Lumpur. He also assisted the Dairy Farm International Holdings in its retail business in Malaysia.