Seah Eu Chin - Community Leadership

Community Leadership

In 1830, he and representatives of twelve Teochew clans set up the Ngee Ann Kun which later became the Ngee Ann Kongsi in 1845. He was the chairman of the Kongsi until his death whereupon power passed to his sons Seah Cheo Seah and Seah Liang Seah, followed by his grandson Seah Eng Tong, resulting in a Seah monopoly on power in the Kongsi until 1928. Resentment against them caused the formation of another Teochew clan association, the Teo Chew Poit Ip Huay Kuan.

Seah Eu Chin helped run Tan Tock Seng Hospital when it was first set up, being a member, and in some years treasurer, of its management committee.

Just as the European merchant community used Chinese middlemen in conducting their business, the Straits government relied on prominent Chinese businessmen to act as go-betweens with the Chinese community. Seah Eu Chin was the go-between with the Teochew community, which originated from the Chao-zhou province of Southern China. He rendered service in helping to quell several disturbances in the community, most notably the 1854 Hokkien-Teochew Riots which broke out on 5 May 1854. The incident ostensibly began because of a dispute over the price of rice, between a Hokkien and a Teochew, but that dispute probably was only a trigger for the release of long-held resentment and animosity between the Hokkien (from Fujian province in China) and Teochew (from Chaozhou province) communities. In all over 400 people were killed over 10 days of violence. The British authorities on Singapore island met with Chinese leaders, including Seah Eu Chin representing Teochews and Tan Kim Ching representing the Hokkiens, and with their assistance helped to bring the situation to a close.

He was an early member of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce, established in 1837, and was made a Justice of the Peace in 1867. He had also been a member of the Grand Jury since 1851, and also had cases involving Chinese referred to him by the court. In 1872, he was made an honorary police magistrate, along with four other Chinese including his brother-in-law Tan Seng Poh.