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Born in the Golden age of the 1920s, Mr. Kok Siew Choon travelled to Singapore from Canton, China at the young age of 13. Without a penny in his pocket, he took on a variety of jobs, including being a shoemaker, grocery shop runner and finally an assistant manager in a finance company. It wasn’t long before he managed to buy his own taxi, thereafter he would come to own an entire fleet. Business flourished.
This marked the beginning of an exquisite private Chinese art, porcelain and antiques collection. By the 1970s, as Mr. Kok’s fortunes and wealth grew so did his collection. The Family’s Residences would be filled with Chinese porcelain figurines, vases, paintings, Chinese silk embroidery and all manner of antiques.
Mr. Kok never forgot his humble origins in Canton, never failing to remind his children of their origin. He was always very proud of his Chinese heritage and culture.
This marked the beginning of an exquisite private Chinese art, porcelain and antiques collection. By the 1970s, as Mr. Kok’s fortunes and wealth grew so did his collection. The Family’s Residences would be filled with Chinese porcelain figurines, vases, paintings, Chinese silk embroidery and all manner of antiques.
Mr. Kok never forgot his humble origins in Canton, never failing to remind his children of their origin. He was always very proud of his Chinese heritage and culture.
In the late 1970s, Mr. Kok Siew Choon’s passion for Chinese artifacts brought him to Hong Kong, where he encountered true Chinese antiques and porcelain. So enchanted by the Chinese art, he subsequently travelled to Canton, Shanghai and Beijing, in search for more pieces.
As the one of the leading collectors in Singapore, he is not unfamiliar to the antique collectors and dealers. Only the finest of chinaware and grandest of Asian artworks would be procured; filling up an already vast and ever-growing private collection encompassing all aspects of Chinese culture and history. It is without a doubt; the collection would be the finest of its generation.
This great passion soon turned into business with his first antique exhibition and auction event held in 1980 at the York Hotel, Singapore. For the first time in decades giving an opportunity to fellow collections and to showcase the collection.
As the one of the leading collectors in Singapore, he is not unfamiliar to the antique collectors and dealers. Only the finest of chinaware and grandest of Asian artworks would be procured; filling up an already vast and ever-growing private collection encompassing all aspects of Chinese culture and history. It is without a doubt; the collection would be the finest of its generation.
This great passion soon turned into business with his first antique exhibition and auction event held in 1980 at the York Hotel, Singapore. For the first time in decades giving an opportunity to fellow collections and to showcase the collection.
Subsequent events were held at the various hotels yearly. Thus establishing a KKC as one of the leading antique collection houses in the region. With increasing age and ill heath later in the decade, he would organize private invite-only events rather than large exhibitions.
His reputation as an antique collector had spread throughout most of Southeast Asia and in recent decades, buyers from throughout South East Asia and from places as far out as the US has been streaming in to view his illustrious collection.
Mr. Kok Siew Choon’s life, dedication and his private collection were nothing short of extraordinary. It is, till this day a full decade after his passing, a monumental and eminent Private Collection of Chinese porcelain, art pieces and antiques.
His reputation as an antique collector had spread throughout most of Southeast Asia and in recent decades, buyers from throughout South East Asia and from places as far out as the US has been streaming in to view his illustrious collection.
Mr. Kok Siew Choon’s life, dedication and his private collection were nothing short of extraordinary. It is, till this day a full decade after his passing, a monumental and eminent Private Collection of Chinese porcelain, art pieces and antiques.
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