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The Soy Sauce Towkay
The Story of Yeo Thian In, founder of Yeo Hiap Seng Sauce Factory in Singapore. The inspiring story behind the transformation of a small soy sauce factory to a well-loved global food and beverage powerhouse.
172 pages
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 10, 2018
Interesting background narrative on YHS and the influence of Christianity on their conduct of business, though not much insight shared on thoughts behind their major business decisions and the eventual sale to Ng Teng Fong.
January 23, 2016
This is a mini biography of Yeo Thian In, the founder of Yeo Hiap Seng. Although the book was interesting in its own right, I found the overly Christian emphasis sprinkled throughout the book to be a huge turn off for me personally. This is because this book is published to promote Christianity.
When writing a typical biography, an author would not project his religious beliefs into the thinking of the subject, even if both the subject and the author share the same religion. However, because this is a Christian pamphlet, the authors frequently projected their Christian faith into the writing. For example, in the final paragraph of chapter 21, the final passage reads:
"During the 1920s God raised up an evangelist whom He used greatly to lead hundreds of thousands of Chinese to Jesus Christ over a span of almost two decades. This person was Dr John Sung. His ministry motivated many to witness for Christ."
This is typical of the writing throughout much of this book. It is not wrong per se, as one of the book's aim was to promote Christianity. But being a non-Christian, I didn't find this kind of writing particularly amiable.
Personally, too many interesting background stories are simply written off as rewards from god for Yeo Thian In's faith. As I read the book, I thought to myself, Yeo Thian In's success are the rewards from hard work and good business acumen. How else do you describe a person's whose work ethic gets him to spend 6 days a week working in his own factory, constantly thinking of how to improve his business? Yet, the book constantly ascribes the success of YHS to god - specifically the Christian god. This was a big minus for me.
One thing Christian writers fail to recognise is that if you keep attributing a person's success to his belief in god, that would imply that the person's competitors who failed must also be attributable to the same god! So why did god make those competitors fail? What if the competitors were also Christians? Does that mean that god favours one Christian and not another? What then is the criteria for winning god's favour if both competitors are Christians? And the pat answer "God works in mysterious ways" just does not cut it.
However, if you are a staunch Christian, and are curious about the founder of Yeo Hiap Seng, you will probably like this book. It is short, and can be finished in less than 2 hours. However, if you are like me, a person who is more interested in the history of ideas and the people behind them, then you would think the subject of this book can be quickly covered in half a chapter in a book about famous companies of Singapore. Yeo Thian In may have left a legacy in the Yeo Hiap Seng company, but it was a legacy for his company and his direct family descendants. Ultimately, Yeo Thian In was a business man, and he left a legacy of a successful family business that culminates from Singapore. However, other than that, his legacy doesn't seem to have impacted the lives of ordinary Singaporeans, or transforming them.
When writing a typical biography, an author would not project his religious beliefs into the thinking of the subject, even if both the subject and the author share the same religion. However, because this is a Christian pamphlet, the authors frequently projected their Christian faith into the writing. For example, in the final paragraph of chapter 21, the final passage reads:
"During the 1920s God raised up an evangelist whom He used greatly to lead hundreds of thousands of Chinese to Jesus Christ over a span of almost two decades. This person was Dr John Sung. His ministry motivated many to witness for Christ."
This is typical of the writing throughout much of this book. It is not wrong per se, as one of the book's aim was to promote Christianity. But being a non-Christian, I didn't find this kind of writing particularly amiable.
Personally, too many interesting background stories are simply written off as rewards from god for Yeo Thian In's faith. As I read the book, I thought to myself, Yeo Thian In's success are the rewards from hard work and good business acumen. How else do you describe a person's whose work ethic gets him to spend 6 days a week working in his own factory, constantly thinking of how to improve his business? Yet, the book constantly ascribes the success of YHS to god - specifically the Christian god. This was a big minus for me.
One thing Christian writers fail to recognise is that if you keep attributing a person's success to his belief in god, that would imply that the person's competitors who failed must also be attributable to the same god! So why did god make those competitors fail? What if the competitors were also Christians? Does that mean that god favours one Christian and not another? What then is the criteria for winning god's favour if both competitors are Christians? And the pat answer "God works in mysterious ways" just does not cut it.
However, if you are a staunch Christian, and are curious about the founder of Yeo Hiap Seng, you will probably like this book. It is short, and can be finished in less than 2 hours. However, if you are like me, a person who is more interested in the history of ideas and the people behind them, then you would think the subject of this book can be quickly covered in half a chapter in a book about famous companies of Singapore. Yeo Thian In may have left a legacy in the Yeo Hiap Seng company, but it was a legacy for his company and his direct family descendants. Ultimately, Yeo Thian In was a business man, and he left a legacy of a successful family business that culminates from Singapore. However, other than that, his legacy doesn't seem to have impacted the lives of ordinary Singaporeans, or transforming them.
February 2, 2017
My mom passed me this book quite some time ago, but I didn't get around to reading it till now. It's a biography of Yeo Thian In, and by extension Yeo Hiap Seng, the company that he founded.
The Soy Sauce Towkay focuses on Yeo Thian In (the "towkay" in question) and his Christian faith. And the fact that my Church is mentioned probably explains why my mom knew about this book. And if you're not Singaporean or Malaysian, "towkay" means "boss" in English.
The book is divided into four parts: the background, as in what happened before the company was founded, the founding of the company and how it grew (I didn't know that Yeos started out with Soy Sauce! I only know it for the drink), the Yeo family, and more background, this time on Christianity in China, Chinese business practices, etc. The appendix is a discussion on what makes a business Christian.
And I think in the second part, on the business, they have a chapter about how soy sauce is made, so there's more background there.
I don't know if it's because the book is fairly short, but Yeo Thian In remained a distant historical figure throughout. Unlike some biographies which can resemble novels in style, this read more like a history book.
In addition, I wish that the book went into more detail. For example, it was mentioned that the Yeo family didn't join the Hokkien Association because of religious beliefs, but I would have liked a lot more detail on how that might make doing business more difficult (or not, but it seems like a disadvantage).
That being said, I'm still glad that I read the book because it's a part of Singapore history that I didn't know, and that I think it's worth knowing. We tend to focus on the same few individuals (like Tan Tock Seng) in our history classes and museums, so it's nice to read about someone else.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
The Soy Sauce Towkay focuses on Yeo Thian In (the "towkay" in question) and his Christian faith. And the fact that my Church is mentioned probably explains why my mom knew about this book. And if you're not Singaporean or Malaysian, "towkay" means "boss" in English.
The book is divided into four parts: the background, as in what happened before the company was founded, the founding of the company and how it grew (I didn't know that Yeos started out with Soy Sauce! I only know it for the drink), the Yeo family, and more background, this time on Christianity in China, Chinese business practices, etc. The appendix is a discussion on what makes a business Christian.
And I think in the second part, on the business, they have a chapter about how soy sauce is made, so there's more background there.
I don't know if it's because the book is fairly short, but Yeo Thian In remained a distant historical figure throughout. Unlike some biographies which can resemble novels in style, this read more like a history book.
In addition, I wish that the book went into more detail. For example, it was mentioned that the Yeo family didn't join the Hokkien Association because of religious beliefs, but I would have liked a lot more detail on how that might make doing business more difficult (or not, but it seems like a disadvantage).
That being said, I'm still glad that I read the book because it's a part of Singapore history that I didn't know, and that I think it's worth knowing. We tend to focus on the same few individuals (like Tan Tock Seng) in our history classes and museums, so it's nice to read about someone else.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
January 30, 2014
There is a story. Truly much to learn from the integrity, diligence, and reliance on God as demonstrated by Snr Yeo at the workplace; and the humility, leading by example father figure and spouse at home. It's wonderful to read about someone who possessed biblical qualities of a godly employer, a husband, and a father, who above profits and self gains put God first
It's a refreshing read.
It's written in simple English, which at times makes it feel like reading something written for children.
It's a refreshing read.
It's written in simple English, which at times makes it feel like reading something written for children.
June 25, 2017
Written in bite size chapters, ironically well suited to today's (2017) social media bite size reading style.
Broadly covers how the company was formed and grew through the years. Some part of the company's and family history, were not mentioned.
Broadly covers how the company was formed and grew through the years. Some part of the company's and family history, were not mentioned.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews