Tiong Seng was founded in 1959 from a partnership between Mr Pek Ah Tuan from Peck Tiong Choon, and Mr Lee Tuan Chay from Song Hup Seng. Prior to the establishment, both Pek Ah Tuan and Lee Tuan Chay already had established close business ties with one another.

​

In the early years, Tiong Seng was involved in earthworks and excavation work. Projects undertaken by the organisation in its early days included those from the public sector, which were instrumental in developing modern Singapore today.

​

In the 1970s, the organisation expanded into civil engineering. Tiong Seng contributed to Singapore’s infrastructural development, building roads and bridges, and laying sewage pipes. The organisation was involved in the building of Singapore’s first highways and expressways. In the 1980s, Tiong Seng grew to take on larger projects  It built Gate 2, the largest and most advanced of the four new gates commissioned by the then Port of Singapore Authority, for its Tanjong Pagar Terminal. It was also in the 1980s that the organisation undertook government building projects such as schools and HDB flats, morphing from a sub-contractor into a provider of design and turnkey construction.

​