A bright Brit builds a booming free port
Singapore's star started to rise around the beginning of the 19th century and its history changed forever...
Trade ties between China and British India started to flourish towards the end of the 18th century and the Brits looked for a suitable spot around the Malay Archipelago, where they can establish a port to support their fleet.
Continue using the Dutch-controlled ports around the archipelago became impossible, mostly because of the exorbitant tariffs which the Dutch asked the British ships to pay. The Brits, therefore, desperately needed a strong base within the region in order not to be at the Dutch's mercies...
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A historical insight from 'Metropolasia-Man':
By the end of the 18th century, the Brits desperately needed to establish a strong trading port around the Malay Archipelago, as continue paying the exorbitant amounts that the Dutch asked for could have jeopardized Britain's increasing trade with China.
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Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles is the man to whom Singapore owes its success.
Raffles was a bright and talented administrator who worked for the British East India Company. In 1818, he was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of the British colony at Bencoolen (Sumatra, Indonesia). More than anything else, he was determined to establish a strong British port and base around the region, which will put an end to Dutch monopoly and will open the vitally important trade route between China and British India, which passed through the archipelago.
He, therefore, convinced Lord Hastings, the Governor-General of India and his superior at the British East India Company, to fund an expedition that will look for the right spot to build a new British base in the region.
Raffles landed on the island of Singapore on 29 January 1819 and soon realized that this small, swamps-covered island has a great potential.
Singapore's prime location at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula, near the Straits of Malacca, as well as its natural deep harbour, fresh water supplies, and abundance of timber for repairing ships did not leave any doubts in Raffles' mind and, in less than a month, he managed to sign an agreement with the local Sultan that granted Britain the right to establish a trading post in Singapore.
This agreement was ratified with a formal treaty signed on 6 February 1819, and modern Singapore was born.
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Establishing the city from scratch was not an easy task at all ... The local administration, which had to sustain the British regiment, as well as the workers, was actually underfunded and, moreover, it was forbidden from earning revenue by imposing port duties, as Raffles decided that Singapore would be a free port.
In spite of those difficulties, the new colony rapidly proved to be a spectacular success. As news of the free port spread across the archipelago, Bugis (from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi) and Peranakan Chinese (descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants who moved to the Malay peninsula and mixed with the locals), as well as Indian and Arab traders started to flock to the small island, seeking to circumvent the Dutch trading restrictions.
On 7th June 1823, Raffles signed a second treaty with the Sultan and the Temenggungs, which extended British possession to the entire island. The latter also gave up their rights to numerous functions on the island, including the collection of port taxes, in return for lifelong monthly payments of $1500 and $800 respectively.
At this point, when the island was completley under British law, Raffles laid the foundations of modern Singapore and arranged to organise the city into functional and ethnic subdivisions under the Jackson Plan. (Today, the remnants of this organisation can still be found in the ethnic neighbourhoods, such as: Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam, Katong and Geylang).
Raffles left for Britain in October 1823. He never returned to Singapore and died only three years later, in 1826, at the age of 44.
By 1825, less than six years after its establishment commenced, Singapore's population was more than ten thousand and its trade volume surpassed that of some well-established ports within the region.
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Did you know ?
In a remarkably short period of less than five years, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles has managed to take Singapore "From Zero to Hero": Turning it from a small fisherman's village to a booming free port...
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In 1826, Singapore, Penang and Malacca were grouped together into a single administrative unit, called the Straits Settlements, under the British East India Company.
Singapore continued to go from strength to strength and attracted a huge number of immigrants and merchants from all over Asia. Several events during this period contributed to its success:
- British Malaya became an increasingly important producer of rubber and tin, much of which was shipped out through Singapore.
- The entrance of ocean-going steamships to service reduced transportation costs and led to a boom in trade.
- The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 dramatically reduced the travel time from Europe to East Asia, again providing a boost for trade.
The massive increase in the city's population was not handled properly by the authorities in British India and Singapore's civil services were on the verge of collapse. If that was not enough, immense bureaucracy and red tape made it very difficult to pass new laws.
Singapore's merchants community began agitating against British Indian rule, in favor of establishing Singapore as a separate colony of Britain. The British government finally agreed to make the Straits Settlements a Crown Colony on 1st April 1867, receiving orders directly from the Colonial Office rather than from India.
As a Crown Colony, the Straits Settlements was ruled by a governor, based in Singapore, with the assistance of executive and legislative councils. Although the councils were not elected, more representatives for the local population were gradually included over the years.
During this period, the Chinese became the largest ethnic group in Singapore and this situation has not changed until today.
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Beginning of the 20th century and World War II
