Borneo Company McEwen and Co., the successor of Paterson and Co., registered the Borneo Company Limited in London in 1856. In 1857, an office was set up in Singapore with wharf operations in Telok Blangah. Its activities in the latter half of the century included the exporting of pepper and rice, rice- milling, saw- milling, steam- towing, passenger vessels, insurance agency and banking representation. It was also engaged in gambier, pepper, timber and rubber plantations. The company’s administrative headquarters was in Singapore although it quickly extended its operations into Sarawak, Batavia (Jakarta), Calcutta, Hong Kong and Thailand.

Before World War I, the company’s most significant operations were centred in Sarawak and Thailand. Gold prospecting was the main activity in Sarawak between 1897 and 1923. In 1856, the company entered Thailand and opened up the export trade in rice. It also started to represent British banking and insurance companies. From the 1880s to the turn of the 20th century, the company was one of Thailand’s largest teak firms.

The company took up brick- making in Singapore in 1899 and in 1928 established the Alexandra Brickworks Company. The 1920s were the company’s most prosperous years. In 1925 it floated off Borneo Motors Limited which held franchises in Southeast Asia from the leading manufacturers (see Borneo Motors). In 1967, the Borneo Company became a wholly owned Inchcape subsidiary. In 1975, Borneo Co Sdn Bhd was formed to take over business activities in Peninsular Malaysia. The company then became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kumpulan Inchcape Sdn Bhd. In 1993, the name of the company was changed to Inchcape Technical (M) Sdn Bhd and subsequently became a subsidiary of Inchcape Holdings Sdn Bhd. In 1999, Inchcape Technical (renamed Borneo Technical) was acquired by Li & Fung Distribution.

Photo credit: New Straits Times Annals