Yeo Hiap Seng Limited (YHS) is known as a food and beverage manufacturer and distributor. Listed on the Singapore Exchange since 1969, it has grown from being a family-owned and -controlled business to one with an international reach. Its products are distributed ...

Bata Shoe (Singapore) Pte Ltd is a member of the worldwide organisation, Bata International. One of the earliest modern shoe sellers in Singapore, Bata opened its first store, Bata Shoe Store, at the Capitol Building in 1931. Today, Bata Shoe (Singapore) Pte Ltd ...

Polar Puffs & Cakes is a food manufacturer and operator of a confectionary chain best known for its curry puffs. Originally known as Polar Café, Hong Kong immigrant Chan Hinky began running the business from 1926. The first Polar Café, a landmark on High Street, ...

The Borneo Co. Ltd. (BCL) was formed in 1856 to exploit business opportunities in Borneo (Sarawak). It was also active in other parts of Asia. Drawing on its knowledge of the Southeast Asian markets, the company entered the automobile industry in the 1920s, importing ...

Mohamed Mustafa and Samsuddin Co Pte Ltd (MMSC), established in 1971 and located in Little India, is one of Singapore’s local retail giants. Hard work, honesty, humility, and the importance of listening to customers’ needs are the guiding principles behind its ...

Echigoya was a Japanese fabric store established around 1907 on Middle Road. It was famous for its fine fabrics and garments, and tailoring of Japanese fashionwear. Echigoya closed down following the Japanese surrender in 1945 during World War II. It resumed business ...

Mustaq Ahmad (b. 8 June 1951, Uttar Pradesh, India–) is the co-founder and managing director of Mustafa Centre, a popular 24-hour shopping centre in Little India frequented by many Singaporeans and tourists. The success of Mustafa Centre has earned Mustaq Ahmad ...

Royal Sporting House is one of the largest sports goods distributors and retailer of well-known fashion labels in Singapore. It was first established in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1935, and incorporated in Singapore in 1977 as Royal Sporting House (RSH) Ltd. Over the ...

The Straits Trading Company Limited (STC) was incorporated as a tin-smelting company on 8 November 1887. Its smelter on Pulau Brani was famed for its production of “Straits Tin”, which by the 1900s had become internationally recognised as the purest quality of ...

Southeast Asia’s trade with China had taken place long before the Portuguese captured Melaka in 1511, paving the way for Western imperialism in the Malay archipelago. Trade with China was known as “Nanhai trade”, with nanhai referring to “southern seas”, an area ...

Boustead and Co., which was set up by Edward Boustead, one of Singapore’s earliest merchants, is almost as old as modern Singapore itself. Established as a small trading house less than 10 years after the founding of Singapore by Stamford Raffles, the company expanded ...

Sandilands Buttery and Co. Ltd. was one of the earliest British trading firms established in Malaya. Established in Penang in 1854–55, it was founded by Scottish merchant adventurers George MacFarlane Sandilands and Francis Currie Lorrain, and originally named ...

Pawnbroking in Singapore started in the 19th century. In the past, pawnbrokers were regarded as the “poor man’s bankers”. Now their customers include white-collar workers, gamblers and businessmen, and an increasing number of younger customers.

Lim Boon Keng (Dr) (林文庆; Lin Wenqing) (b. 18 October 1869, Singapore–d. 1 January 1957, Singapore) was an eminent figure of the Straits Chinese community. Trained as a medical doctor, Lim was also a public intellectual and writer who championed Confucianism and ...

Ong Beng Seng (b. 1946, Teluk Anson, Malaysia) is a Malaysian hotel and property tycoon based in Singapore. Ong and his Singaporean wife, Christina Ong, were ranked seventh on Forbes magazine’s 2011 list of Singapore’s richest people with an estimated net worth ...

Loh Wai Kiew, Isabella (b. 1961, Malaysia–), is the chairman of the Singapore Environment Council and former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of SembCorp Environmental Management (SembEnviro) Pte. Ltd. She is also a prominent female entrepreneur. Loh ...

Tan Lark Sye (陈六使) (b. 1897, Tong An County, Fujian, China–d. 1972, Singapore) was the founder of Aik Hoe Rubber Company, a rubber exporting firm. He was also chairman of the Hokkien Huay Kuan and the founder of the former Nanyang University (Nantah).

Tan Che Sang (b.1763, Fujian, China–d. 2 April 1835, Singapore) was one of the earliest merchants from Malacca to come to Singapore when Stamford Raffles set up a British settlement in Singapore in 1819. A tycoon known for his addiction to gambling, Tan’s prominence ...

Tan Tock Seng (b. 1798, Malacca, Malaysia–d. 24 February 1850, Singapore) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist of Hokkien descent. Tan started out as a humble vegetable seller and rose to become one of Singapore’s most eminent philanthropists and a leader of ...

Jose d’Almeida Carvalho E. Silva (Dr) (b. 27 November 1784, St Pedro do Sul, Portugal–d. 17 October 1850, Singapore) was a former Portuguese naval surgeon who came to Singapore to set up a dispensary, and later became one of Singapore’s leading merchants.