Richard Eu Yee Ming[1] was born in 1947, to a wealthy ethnic Chinese household of Cantonese ancestry.
He then later moved to England, where he attended Kent College, Canterbury as well as the University of London, where he obtained a degree in law (LLB).
[2] Following his return to Singapore, Eu worked for Slater Walker, a British merchant bank which had acquired control of Haw Par Brothers International (now known as Haw Par Corporation Ltd), a publicly listed company which owned Tiger Balm and other assets.
In 1976, he ventured with his uncle, Andrew Eu in Hong Kong by joining a stockbroking business firm and later becoming one of the shareholders of Hong Kong Television Broadcasts Ltd. After his uncle died, Eu returned to Singapore and joined a stockbroking firm known as J Ballas & Co in 1978.
Eu is married to Mary (née Chow; born 1955), with whom he has four children – three sons and one daughter.