This seaman’s registration card belonged to Mr. Yap Soon Eng, a seaman who was then working as a tally clerk for the Ho Hong shipping company.The card was issued by the Seamen’s Registration Bureau, which was formed in April 1948 by the Singapore government to regulate the employment of seamen. Initially, the use of the bureau’s services was voluntary but it became compulsory from February 1949 onwards. Seamen who did not possess a registration card issued by the bureau were not allowed to sign on for jobs on ships. The new employment regulations were meant to put an end to the ‘ghaut serang’ system that was dominated by 12 labour contractors. The authorities believed that the old system exploited seamen as it required them to pay a portion of their income to labour contractors in order to find employment.The requirement that both the left and right thumbprints of the bearer had to be on the card was criticised by Assemblyman Lim Yew Hock for being too excessive. The Commissioner of Labour, R.P. Bingham, explained that this requirement was necessary to help ships’ captains who did not speak Mandarin identify their Chinese employees.
