HISTORY UNIT ONE OVERVIEW

HOW CONNECTED WAS EARLY SINGAPORE TO

THE REGION AND THE WORLD
Singapore has been Independent seen 1965 and is a trading
centre for the region and the world. Singapore Is diverse so
there are people of different races, different cultures and
different religions who work in the country. In 1856, John
Crawford (British official) wrote that there was no record
that Singapore was being occupied and it was occasionally
used as a hideout for pirates before the British arrived.

BRITISH INVOLVEMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA IN

THE 19TH CENTURY
The British East India Company (EIC) 1600-1874 was a
privately owned company which was established to create
trade with other countries in the region granted by Queen
Elizabeth, Singapore became one of them most powerful
mercantile organisations by maintaining the Importance of
exotic goods from India and Britain. It however had a
limited presence In Southeast Asia, but the presence grew
mid 18th century. Due to the need to protect the Interest
and India China trade.

WHY DID THE BRITSH BECOME MORE INVOLVED

Much of India was under the control of the Indi china trade
and there were Increased trade between India and china.
The British bought tea, silk, porcelain and sold cotton and
opium from India to the Chinese. The British had to find a
way to break the Dutch monopoly of trade in the SEA.

INTEREST IN HE SPICE TRADE

From the 1400 onwards, spices such as cinnamon, pepper
and nutmeg from parts of Asia was as valuable as gold In
Europe and were used for cooking, medicinal purposes and
preserving food. They were highly demanded and
extremely profitable, so the EIC wanted
a share of this spice trade.
The Europeans started
competing for control
over the spice trade.
A few of the problems that the British EIC faces In SEA
were that the Dutch had a monopoly trae In cloves, mace
and nutmeg. they traded using one of the key trading ports.

WHY DID THE BRITISH ESTABLISH A TRADING

POST IN SINGAPORE??
Problem: Singapore was under the Indirect control of the
Dutch. It was a vassal state of the dutch as a result of the
treaties of 1784 and 1818.
Singapore had a good geographical location as It lies off the
southern tip of the Malay peninsula and along Melaka. Ship
from China to India would pass through Singapore, making
It the quickest route to reach their destination. However,
they needed supplies like food or water and they needed a
place to stop and rest, replenishing their supplies and that
was Singapore. The reasons why Singapore made such a
good trading port was because.
- The great geographical location where Singapore Is
located
- The fact that Singapore had a natural sheltered harbour
- Singapore has access to fresh water as it was an Island.

Singapore had a great geographical location as Singapore

was benefitted from the monsoon winds so the ships that
were heading towards Singapore would be Able to be there
smoothly as the wind would carry them. Singapore was also
safe from tsunamis or earthquakes to tornados basically
safe from natural disasters as it was sheltered by other
countries. Singapore was surrounded by water as it was an
Island by Itself so there was access to fresh water and It
was easy access for ships to enter Singapore as a port for
trading. Singapore’s location was directly places In
between china and India, which was a very big trade called
the India China trade (ICT) Archeology Is the study
of the physical remains of
part human societies.
Archeologist have found
uncovered artefacts since
1920 around Fort
Canning and around
Singapore River too.

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WHAT DID THE BRITISH DO TO DEVELOP
SINGAPORE SETTLEMENT BETWEEN 1819 AND
1826
The British set up defence positions at the Singapore River
(present day Fort Canning) to protect against possible
Dutch attacks. They also place a British official on St John
Island to Inform passing ships about Singapore. By 1823,
they Invited many traders and labourers from Melaka o
singapore. Traders brought food for the growing population
of Singapore. They also sold licenses for gambling and sale
of opium and liquor. The money from this was used to set
up better police forces.
They also shut down the availability of opium as they were
harmful to the population of Singapore.

CONCLUSION
The signing of the Anglo- Dutch treaty allowed the British
to focus on developing Singapore as a trading port.
Singapores trade start grain after a long time
In 1826, the EIC grouped Singapore together with Penang
and Melaka to form the straits settlement.

CHAPTER ONE INFERENCE QUESTION

Question one : Study source A. What does source A tell

you about trading.

You must start with I can Infer from source A that trade In
Singapore……
As shown In the source A, …….
This shows that ……(conclusion)
HOW DID BRITISH
RULE AND EXTERNAL
DEVELOPMENTS
AFFECT SINGAPORE’S
GROWTH AS A PORT
CITY FROM 1819 TO
1942?

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The British helped Singapore In many different ways like
- Education
- Healthcare
- Facilities
- Free port status
- Administrative changes
- Law and order
EDUCATION
Education (from 1819-1867) was not a top priority for the
British government. Education was not cared at all except
for a few. The government did not control the english
education and very few government schools were
established. Most of the school were established by
Christian missionary group and European traders.

However, from 1867 onwards, Education took a turn for the

better as educational activities In Singapore grew. This was
only to meet the needs of the British colonial administration
and there was a need for English speaking clerks In the
government and companies. The British government took
deliberate steps to promote english as the medium of
Instruction, providing government grants to schools that
taught English to students whose first language wasn’t
English.

The sad thing was school that were not directly supporting
trade and government administrative were left to non-
governmental agencies. This led to the growth of Chinese
school and these school did not tolerate government
Interference. Christian mission schools had a freehand In
how they run the school.

Healthcare was not

HEALTHCARE widely accepted during
the first few decades of
Singapore’s founding.
(Sadly) Only the
Europeans and rich asians
had access to the few
Europeans doctors who
were here. The European
doctors were like the only

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good doctors that could actually treat people, but they were
very expensive. Death rates among the Asian population
was high as they suffered from malnutrition, overcrowding
and poor sanitation. (This Is outright racism man)
Luckily, things start Improving after Singapore became a
crown colony in 1867. (thankfully)

In 1887, the government set up public health departments to

tackle health Issues In the town area. Mainly cos so many
people were dying. Anyways, they set up the malaria
committee to tackle mosquito borne disease. Attempts were
also made to Improve the housing conditions as they
wanted to reduce overcrowding.
A quarantine law passed In 1886 allowed for arriving
passenger with to be checked for Infectious diseases and
Isolated to prevent a spread. However, even with all this
measures, the death rate was still higher than the birth rate,
causing the population to decrease.

What can you conclude about the living conditions of the

Immigrants during the colonial times?
I can Infer that living conditions were unhygienic,
unsanitary, dirty, cramped and poor. The evidence Is the
photograph that showed many Immigrants lying on the
plank and they belongings were on their bed. The shows
that their lived were harsh and they are maybe susceptible
or prone to diseases.

The reason for the Increasing high death rates were because
of
- overcrowding and unhygienic living conditions.
- Poor understanding of why diseases came about
- Lack of money and mistrust of western medicine meant
the asians did not seek treatment when needed.
Healthcare after 1867
By the beginning of the
1940, public health had
generally Improved cos
economic growth which
generated greater
government spending on
healthcare Increased

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awareness for the need to Improve healthcare. People saw
the need to call the government to tackle the spread of
diseases.

FACILITIES
The old harbour at Singapore river became overcrowded by
the 1850s. There was Insufficient space alone the
riverbanks to build more warehouses and in 1852, the new
harbour (renames Keppel Harbour In 1900) was built. It
had deep waters which allowed steamships and sailing
ships to sail right up to It. It was sheltered from strong
winds by Palau brain and Palau Blakang Mati.
Port facilities continues expanding in the late 19th and 20th
centuries. The Singapore harbour board set up in 1913 and
new wharves, docks, storehouses and docks were built. A
railway system linking the port to parts of Malaya was also
set up. In 1924, the Causeway between Singapore and
Malaya was opened.
WHAT IMPACT DID EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
HAVE ON SINGAPORE’S GROWTH AS A PORT
CITY??

1. Opening of the Suez Canal

2. Expansion of the Tin Industry
3. Expansion of the rubber Industry
4. The Great Depression

SUEZ CANAL
In 1869, a French engineer (Ferdinand de Lesseps)
shortened the route between Europe and Asia by
constructing the Suez Canal which linked the
Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. This shortened the
journey from Europe to Asia and Singapore to 50 miles.
Singapore. This also
The opening of Suez Canal shortened the time needed for Increased the volume of
people, mainland cargo to travel from Europe to ships passing through the
straits of Melaka. (SOM)
SOM overtook the Sunda
straits as the main route
form Europe to the Far
East. This Increased the
use of ships as sailing
ships could not use the

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Suez Canal throughout the year.This enhanced Singapore’s
role as a coaling station where steamships stopped to refuel.

EXPANSION OF TIN AND RUBBER INDUSTRY

For most of the 19th century, Singapore attracted traders
because it was an entrepôt. (a regional centre for the
collection and distribution of goods.) Its winter lands. (An
Inland area that supplies goods to the port) meant that
traders could have access to special products that were In
demand like agar-agar, beeswax, opium and tobacco. By
the end of the century, SIngapore became the port from
which Malayan commodities such as tin and rubber were
processed and exported to the rest of the world.

TIN
Peaceful conditions under the British after 1874 facilitated
the development of the tin mining and the tin trade. Tin
produced In Malaya Increased rapidly to the new
machinery and new methods of mining. In that exact year,
Malaya was the fourth largest tin producer In the world.

From 1890, a huge amount of unpurified tin which was

called tin ore was brought to Singapore. A tin smelting
factory smelted and made into locks of almost 100 % pure
tin. The tin smelling and tin trade Increased the prosperity
of Singapore.

RUBBER
Early 20th century saw Singapore exporting large quantities
of rubber. This was due to the development of the motor
Industry. John Dunlop’s Invention of the pneumatic type
(hollow tyres filled with air). Millions of cars were made in
the US. Supplies from Brazil and
Africa was Insufficient
and Malayan planters
started planting rubber to
fill the demand and profit.

Money from European

and Chinese traders
started to pour into the
plantations and even

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Several large European companies In Singapore formed
rubber companies in companies In England. In 1911, the
SIngapore chamber of commerce established a rubber
association — made Singapore an international rubber
market. Malaya soon overtook Brazil as the world's biggest
producer in rubber.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

Singapore exported a large quantity of tin and rubber to
the U.S. Before the Great Depression, as tin and rubber
were highly demanded, their prices Increased and were
high. They were produced in large quantities.
Prices fell due to the Great Depression with the closing of
many companies In the US. Companies In Singapore lost
their business and had to retrench their workers. Many lost
their wealth and livelihood.
This cost the loss of jobs and the return of migrants to
their homeland. From 1928, the government stepped in
with laws to reduce the number of migrants entering
Singapore, especially unskilled Chinese labourers. The
government Also arranged or large number of unemployed
Chinese and Indians to return to their homeland.

Luckily by 1942, Singapore had grown into a bust port

city. Sound British policies and external developments
facilitated the growth. This would also not have been
possible without the migrants who provided trading
expertise and the required labour.

WHAT ROLE DID PEOPLE IN SINGAPORE PLAY IN

ITS DEVELOPMENT AS A PORT CITY?? CHAPTER
FOUR
WHO WERE THE
MIGRANTS?
Migration Is the
movement of persons
away from their place of
usual residence, either
form across an
international border or
within a state.

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WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
MIGRANTS AND IMMIGRANTS?
Migrants are people who move from place to place. ( within
his or her country or across the border, usually to stay
temporarily. Immigrants re people ho move to another
country, usually with the Intention of permanent residency.
WHO WERE THE MIGRANTS THAT FLOCKED TO
SINGAPORE IN 1824 TO 1901?
The Hokkiens from fujian
The Cantonese, Teochews, Hakkas
The Hainanese
The Malay peninsular
Sumatra
The Bugis
The Javanese from Java
The punjabis and Sikhs from Punjab
The bengalis from Bengal
The Gujaratis from Gujarat

The migrants came to Singapore after 1819 because of

favourable conditions that attracted or Drew people towards
new places. However, some did not want to migrate as
unfavourable circumstances that forced or drove people
away from their homeland.

OVERPOPULATION
During the long period of peace from the late 17th century
until the end of the 18th century, the population of china
more than doubled, growing from 150 mil to over 300 mil.
There was an enormous staring on resources and there were
few regions left In china which could take In the excess
population. The reason why people wanted to leave china Instance where they had
was because of the one no food to eat so they had
to strip of the bark of
trees and eat them. They
had to catch rats or spread
their nets for birds, or
kneaded the dry grass
cakes. This was when a
disastrous famine hit
china between 1876 to

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1897. It was a three-year drought which withered crops
between 1873 to 1876.

Some pull factors were the trade and business opportunities

they would get overseas or in a different state. They could
also have better job prospects, allowing them to make more
money to provide for their family or food for themselves.

Singapore had an excellent geographical location as it also

served as an Important meeting point for traders from many
parts of the world stopping to replenish their fuel and food
supplies. This attracted many traders as they could find
diverse goods In Singapore, and they would be able to
obtain what they needed.
Traders also did not need to pay taxes when visiting
Singapore, enabling them to make larger profits In
Singapore than in the other ports in the region.
Singapore also allowed migrants to come and go as they
pleased. They were not required to pay for Immigrant
passes and papers or apply for permission to enter and leave
Singapore. This made It easier for people from china and
India and the surrounded regions to come to Singapore.
Traders could also come and go as they pleased.

The British needed to develop roads, bridges and other

Infrastructure to support to Increase In port activities and
provide for the expanding population. Hence, the job
prospects In Singapore made It attractive or migrants to
come where they took on jobs to refuel and restock their
food and water supplies for the trip.
Another attractive option for the poorer migrants was that
they could receive a higher wage than what was received
back in their homeland. Since they could come and go as
they likes, many did not see Singapore as a permanent
home and planned to return to their homelands after earning
enough.

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