The Yeo Hiap Seng story
An enduring faith in the Lord
The Soy Sauce Towkay
Authors: Lee Tee Jong, F. T. Liu
Published by Campus Crusade Asia Limited
172 pages, $18
Available at all major bookstores
MENTION “YEO HIAP SENG”
to people in Singapore, and most would rightly associate it with soy
sauce, beverages and canned curry chicken. But little is known about the
person who built up one of Singapore’s most well-known brands – Mr Yeo
Thian In, a first-generation Chinese immigrant from Fujian Province,
China who arrived on our shores in 1938 with his wife and young sons in
tow.
More
significantly, through the hardships he endured – the gruelling
challenges of the world war, personal tragedies, political and business
cycles – Yeo Thian In’s story is one of a deep abiding faith in the Lord
and inspiring Christian witness.
It is now told for the first time in a recently published book, The Soy Sauce Towkay, commissioned by his youngest son, the Rev Alfred Yeo, to mark the 25th
anniversary of Yeo Thian In’s death in 1985. The book testifies to
God’s hand of protection, grace and mercy right through Thian In’s life
and legacy.
Bishop
Dr Robert Solomon credited the book as “an inspiring story of a man and
his family … set amid significant historical events, this story is a
great example of God’s grace in human lives”.
Yeo Thian In grew up as the eldest son in a Christian household in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, China. His name, 天恩 means
“heavenly grace”. His father, Yeo Keng Lian, was a Presbyterian
business entrepreneur, and had first set up the “Hiap Seng Sauce
Factory” in 1901, later re-naming it “Yeo Hiap Seng Sauce Factory”.
Before
setting up the business, Yeo Keng Lian and his partner were short of
funds. Keng Lian then had a dream where a man threw a metal plank for
him to bridge a raging sea.
The
next morning, Keng Lian went to see his church pastor who lent him the
money to make up the shortfall. The lighthouse in the Yeo’s logo was to
symbolise his desire for his business to be a shining witness for Jesus
Christ.
The “Hiap Seng” in the brand name – 杨 協成
– signifies unity, harmony and success. The old-style Chinese character
for “hiap” signifies the unity of Christ – there is a cross, together
with “strength” repeated three times. This was the cornerstone of the
business – that great success can only be achieved with God’s blessing
through unity and harmony in the family.
As
the Japanese invasion swept across China in the 1930s, Thian In’s
family business was at risk of being seized or destroyed by the
advancing Japanese army.
Thian
In’s mother – a God-fearing and virtuous woman, Xu Gang Nian – urged
him to seek greener pastures abroad. Initially, Thian In refused to
leave his ailing mother, but after her death in November 1937, he heeded
his mother’s wish, and proceeded to make the gruelling journey by ship
with his family to Singapore. On arrival in Singapore, he and his family
went to give thanks for their safe passage at Telok Ayer Methodist
Church.
Thian
In, together with his brothers, Thian Kiew and Thian Seng, worked in
close harmony to build up the sauce business in Singapore. One day in
January 1942, Alfred Yeo, who was seven years old then, recalls: “I was
returning from kindergarten near Outram Road, where my father’s factory
was … as usual, I walked back to the factory, where we lived on the
second storey … the factory had been reduced to rubble.
Hundreds
of soy sauce jars were smashed to smithereens, and there was broken
porcelain, glass and twisted metal everywhere. I ran to my mother,
crying.”
Japanese
planes had dropped a 10-kg bomb on the factory. The bombing turned out
to be a blessing in disguise. The jars with processed soy sauce and raw
materials of beans, salt and sugar that had been stored at the back of
the factory, were intact.
When
other soy factories were taken over by the Japanese to be converted
into ammunition depots, the Yeo Hiap Seng Sauce factory was left alone
as it was such an unsightly mess. Hence, the Yeo factory was the only
one that could continue operations and soon, the demand for their soy
sauce exceeded supply.
Rosie,
the Rev Alfred Yeo’s wife, recalled her mother-in-law telling her about
the morning before the factory was bombed: “My mother-in-law, Tai Tin
Khim, was a pastor’s daughter and grew up under the tutelage of Western
missionaries in Fujian Province. She was a very godly woman and the
spiritual pillar of the Yeo household.
On
the morning before the bombing, she had a vision – through the planks
of the home where Thian In and the family lived (above the factory) –
she saw the sky opening up and angels descending from the sky. Soon
after, the factory was bombed.
Miraculously,
there was no loss of life among the family or the workers. My
mother-in-law believed that this was God’s way of reassuring them of His
protection.” It is noteworthy that Tin Khim or Mrs Yeo Thian In was a
faithful steward of the LCEC of Telok Ayer Methodist Church.
Thian
In’s faith in the Lord was tested once again on Feb 24, 1945, just
before the end of the Japanese Occupation. The Rev Alfred Yeo recalls:
“My two brothers – Chee Yeow Alan and Chee Kian – and I were playing on
the veranda in the rented flat we lived in Tiong Bahru.
We
were looking at the planes through a pair of binoculars. Chee Yeow Alan
and I then decided to go back into the house, while Chee Kian remained
on the veranda. Just at that moment, a bunch of small fire bombs hit our
veranda. Chee Kian died instantly. I remember my father running in to
carry Chee Kian’s burnt body out of the mess. He was devastated. Chee
Kian was only 13 then. Despite all this, Thian In continued to hold on
to his faith in God.
The
book is written in simple and succinct language. It has provided
valuable insights into integrating business with our faith. At the same
time, it serves as a testimony to God’s grace and mercy in the life of
an early Chinese migrant who left behind a legacy that is a household
name today.
QUOTE:
“This
book serves as a testimony to God’s grace and mercy in the life of an
early Chinese migrant who left behind a legacy that is a household name
today.”
"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."
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