 At a time when development in Singapore was in its infancy, Ying Fo Fui Kun's clan house was amongst the first buildings in Telok Ayer, where the island's earliest Chinese settlements were located.Ying Fo Fui Kun began life as a temple, serving the needs of Hakka immigrants from Jia Ying prefecture in Canton.Its founder, Liu Runde (), envisaged Ying Fo Fui Kun as a public institution that would not only provide welfare services — the conventional role of a clan association — but also act as a kinship bridge between the Hakka community in Singapore and China.