The brainchild of Dutchman Theodore Cornelius Bogaardt, the Straits Steamship Company was established in 1890 as a European-Chinese joint venture between the British firm, Mansfield & Company, and wealthy Straits Chinese merchants, Tan Jiak Kim, Tan Keong Saik and Lee Cheng Yan. In its formative years, the shipping company specialised in the transportation of tin ore and cash crops along the west coast of the Malay Peninsula as well as the provision of passage for migrant labourers from China to the region. In 1937, the firm ventured into the airline business when it became a shareholder in the newly-formed Malayan Airways (predecessor of Singapore International Airlines). The company further diversified its business interests by venturing into the property, leisure, warehousing and distribution sectors in the 1970s. Since it was acquired by Keppel Corporation in 1983, the company has undergone several organisational restructurings and is now part of the Keppel group of subsidiary firms.
