Page 4 - Singapore Destination Guide - Alluring Asia

trading monopoly, argued strongly for an increased was a broken man, but the sight of his thriving colony British influence in the Straits of Malacca. revived his spirits. Raffles delayed his return to England and set about running Singapore. After petitioning the governor-general of India, Raffles set forth to establish a settlement in Ria with Colonel He moved the commercial district across the river to its William Farquhar, the former resident of Malacca. present site and leveled a hill to form Raffles Place. Farquhar had married a Malay woman and was well The government area was allocated around Forbidden versed in local politics. Hill (now Fort Canning Hill) and the east bank of the river. Chinatown was divided among the various On 29 January 1819, Raffles landed on the island of Chinese groups, and Raffles himself moved to Singapore. He reached agreement to found a Forbidden Hill. settlement with local ruler, the Temenggong, and with Sultan Hussein, a contender to the fragmented Malay By the time Raffles left in 1823, he had laid the court. Raffles promptly left Singapore to return to foundations of the city, but more importantly he had Bencoolen, leaving Farquhar a resident. firmly established Singapore as a free port - something that Singapore traders have vehemently fought for The Dutch were furious at this incursion into their ever since. territory and the fledging colony lived under constant fear of attack, but the Dutch did not intervene. By 1824, the Temenggong and Sultan Hussein were Farquhar quickly set about establishing a trading post. living beyond their stipends and agreed to be bought The port was declared free of tariffs and Farquhar used in one payment. Singapore and the surrounding his influence to attract Malaccan traders. islands were seceded to the British. Raffles briefly visited Singapore in May 1819 to find a THE EARLY YEARS thriving town and by 1821; Singapore's population had In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits grown to 5000 including 1000 Chinese. The Settlements with Penang and Malacca, which had been Temenggong established his settlement on the swapped with the Dutch for Bencoolen. The Straits Singapore River, while Sultan Hussein built his palace Settlements came under the authority of Calcutta, at Kampong Glam. which allocated few funds to running these areas. While commerce boomed, the judiciary and Raffles, who had little direct involvement in bureaucracy were hopelessly under-funded and social Singapore's early development, returned in 1822. After services were nonexistent. illness and the death of three of his children, Raffles By all accounts, Singapore was a fetid, unpleasant, disease-ridden colony. Piracy remained a problem and was not eliminated until the 1870s. While merchants petitioned Calcutta for more services, at the same time they recoiled at any suggestion of increased taxes. Singapore's revenue was derived mostly from gambling, opium and arak (the local firewater). Despite Singapore's problems, migrants came in their thousands. Singapore became the major port in the region, and its population - Bugis, Javanese, Arab, Indian and Chinese - reflected its trade. The Chinese, who were soon the largest group, were mostly immigrants from the southern provinces - Hokkien Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka.