Chinese Entrepreneurs in Singapore: Paths to Success

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Chinese Entrepreneurs in Singapore: Paths to Success

        Due to the economic hardships and threat of Japanese invasion in China in the first half of the 20th century, many men left their homeland in search of success and opportunities abroad.  One of the places that many of them migrated to was Singapore.  This new and foreign place was fraught with obstacles; however, some of these Chinese men eventually achieved great success.  The success of these Chinese entrepreneurs in Singapore was not only due to their personal determination, but it was also contingent upon their social ties, and the economic and political conditions.  In the following essay, the experiences of Ng Teow Yhee and Chew Choo Keng will be referred to extensively to illustrate the various combinations of complex factors that lead to their success.  Firstly, I will begin with a discussion on the motivations and reasons why the men chose to depart from their families in China.  Secondly, the necessity of initial social ties in Singapore will be discussed as well as their first work experiences, which helped to shape their perspectives and goals.  Thirdly, the effects of the Japanese invasion on the development and viability of Chinese businesses in Singapore will be examined.  Fourthly, the great business developments made by the Chinese, post-Japanese occupation, will be discussed.  Lastly, I will compare Ng Teow Yhee’s and Chew Choo Keng’s management styles, strategies and beliefs in order to illustrate how their personal characteristics contributed to their achievement of success.

        The early 20th century was a period when China was wrought with wars and economic uncertainty.  As a result, migrants were forced to uproot from their homeland to seek fortunes abroad.  Thus, their motivation was fundamentally an economic one—that is, to earn money to survive and remit to their poor families in China as support.  In other words, “the motivation for emigration seemed to arisen more from the push factors caused by China’s poverty and absence of opportunity than from the pull factors then existent in Nanyang….” (Chan & Chiang, 40)  Two prime examples of men who sought their livelihoods in Singapore due to their dreadful village conditions were: Ng Teow Yhee and Chew Choo Keng.  Ng was forced to leave his home in 1938, at the age of 15, due to the impending Japanese invasion.  During this time, the Chinese government was forcibly taking young adults away to fight the war against the Japanese.  Fearing for his life, Ng went abroad with the goal in mind of obtaining a stable job that would allow him to afford three meals a day and earn enough money to send home to his parents so that they would not have to suffer so much.  Initially, he did not plan on going to Singapore because of the negative impressions he had about it; however, since he was unable to obtain a permit in the Philippines, he was forced to go to Singapore anyways. (Chan & Chiang, 51)  Similarly, Chew had no intention of going abroad but was forced to because of the war.  However, his situation was a bit different—in 1934, he actually voluntarily registered for conscription. (Chan & Chiang, 89)  His parents disapproved and sent him abroad to earn a living.  Thus, he arrived in Singapore in 1936.  By that time, he had made up his mind only to succeed and earn money to send back to his parents in order to make them happy. (Chan & Chiang, 90-91)  This shows that from the beginning, both these men had the determination to improve their own, as well as their families’ financial situations and well-being.  They had the initial drive towards economic innovation and risk-taking, which eventually allowed them to achieve great success.  However, their hardworking disposition was not the only precondition necessary to facilitate successful entrepreneurship and thus should not be considered to be only factor that lead to their success, since in many cases, others with the same drive had failed.  (Chan & Chiang, 34)  As such, leaving their homeland to work and seek opportunities in Singapore was just a “baby-step” to achieving success in both Ng Teow Yhee’s and Chew Choo Keng’s lives, as well as in the lives of the other Chinese coolies.

          The initial work experiences of the young Chinese coolies were the beginning of their evolving learning process, which lead them to become more opportunistic.  Upon arrival in Singapore, having the right social ties was extremely important in order for these immigrants to attain their first jobs.  In fact, “wages varied according to the degress of closeness between employers and workers.”(Chan & Chiang, 93)  During this period under British rule, Singapore’s economy was relatively stable and was prospering.  Most of the Chinese population had moved to the urban areas by this time due to the decline in pepper and gambier trading in the latter half of the 19th century and early years of the twentieth century.(Chan & Chiang, 32)  With the opening of the Suez canal in 1869, there was a substantial increase in Singapore’s trade due to it becoming the natural port-of-call because of its natural harbour and geographic location.  This resulted in many new opportunities being created and thus demand for coolie labourers increased.  The types of jobs these men were able to obtain upon arrival to Singapore were “concentrated in subcontracting and trading, which reflected partly their commercial background, and partly the then prevailing colonial economic structure.” (Chan & Chiang, 42)  In job seeking, workers were usually recommended by their relatives to employers, and wages varied according to the closeness between employers and workers. As such, family connections were an important factor for obtaining employment opportunities. (Chan & Chiang, 93)  When Ng first arrived in Singapore, he was not received by a relative or passage broker.  However, like most immigrants, he did have a contact established beforehand that he contacted for help in his job search.  His friend referred him to work as a labourer in a pineapple factory.  One week later, he began work in a brick-making factory for which he remained for 5 years earning about twenty to thirty dollars a month.  Work conditions and living conditions was harsh for the coolies, however, Ng persevered because he considered this life to be better than his old one in China.  Having no work was his biggest worry—to him, to live was to work. (Chan & Chiang, 52)  When Chew first arrived, his life was just as difficult.  However, his childhood experiences allowed him to combat poverty by simply adapting and working hard.  Like Ng, he also had a contact in Singapore that helped him secure his first job.  His Uncle, Teo Thian Siew, helped him get his first job at the Tan Kah Kee’s biscuit factory, which played a significant part in his future success as an entrepreneur.  He knew early on that this was the type of business that he wanted to enter into.  In his words, “I wanted to learn the biscuit business so that I could do it on my own”. (Chan & Chiang, 94)  Due to his hard work, he was eventually promoted to an assistant foreman, then to an assistant in the Chemistry laboratory.  Later, he did a nine-month apprenticeship with the biscuit factory.  From his experiences in leadership, biscuit making, and managing the company’s cash accounts, his perspective on life changed and he “was confident that his future would no longer be hopeless.” (Chan & Chiang, 98)  Although his initial experiences were significantly different from Ng Teow Yhee’s, it can be attributed to the fact that he came from a craft and artisan family (boat-builders) which is much more entrepreneurial in nature, in contrast to Ng Teow Yhee who cam from a farming family. (Chan & Chiang, 43)  As well, he had a lot more business experience as a child in contrast to Ng.  Nevertheless, both their initial experiences helped to shape their future.  They learnt the need for perseverance and the necessity of hard work in order to get them where they wanted to be.  This came sooner for Chew than Ng, as he was able to establish his own biscuit business in Malaya in 1940, called the Khong Leng Biscuit Factory. (Chan & Chiang, 99) Chew had the right social contacts to obtain start-up capital needed.  Namely, they were Chan Beng Tee, Chew Peng Theng and Chew Boon San. (Chan & Chiang, 100)  Because of the prospering economy of the time there was high demand for their biscuits, as such, they were selling more than they could produce. (Chan & Chiang, 100)  Also from his initial experience he learnt the value of teamwork, customer focus, and developing interpersonal relationships.  These transferable skills helped his biscuit business to succeed in the pre-occupation years in Malaya.  In short, it can be seen that Ng Teow Yhee’s and Chew Choo Keng’s initial experiences help to shape their very similar code of ethics, work attitudes, and the ways of seeing and arranging the world around them. (Chan & Chiang, 46) Also, it can be seen that having the right social ties ultimately affects your position in society, and thus the level of success you are able to attain.  For example, because Ng did not have as many ties as Chew, Chew began to succeed much earlier on than Ng did.  Correspondingly, Chew was able to attain the required start-up capital and had the necessary capabilities gained from the right work experiences to pursue his dream.

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        When the Japanese bombed Singapore on December 8, 1941, and started occupation in February 1942, Singapore’s economy became inactive and stagnant.  Many pioneers had either lost their money or gone into petty trading in order to survive. (Chan & Chiang, 34)   The years of occupation were from 1942 to 1945, and were known as the Syonan Years.  Not only was there economic decline and spiraling inflation, but there was political instability and social unrest as well.  According to Eunice Thio, there was chaos and confusion. The Japanese terrorized people and displayed decapitated heads in public places. (Chew & Lee, ...

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