Unravelling the definition of unique : a study of the unique Chinese tea business cultures of the Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese tea merchants in Singapore

Abstract

This paper is a study of the unique business cultural history of the Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese tea merchants in Singapore from the 1910s to 1990s. In other words, it studies the Chinese tea business cultures after the second wave of the Chinese merchant migration to Singapore, until the gradual decline in the popularity of the traditional Chinese tea culture. Overall, it focuses on resolving the following research question: “How did the Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese tea merchants contribute to the formation of unique Chinese tea business cultures in Singapore?” I argue that the unique Chinese tea business cultures in Singapore are an amalgamation of the tea firms’ reliance on values to survive in the pre-war period, and the incorporation of modernity within the traditional Chinese tea business cultures in the post-war period. Hence, by delving into a comparative study involving the Hokkien, Teochew, and Cantonese tea firms, the paper aims to reveal new concepts, trends, and interpretations of the unique Chinese tea business cultures in Singapore. At the same time, this discussion will minimise the ambiguity surrounding the research on other dialect-owned tea businesses beyond the Hokkiens, a dialect group that were known to dominate the tea industry. Finally, based on the following research and findings, the paper will propose suggestions for future works on the study of the Chinese tea business cultures in Singapore as well.