Singapore Historical Setting
Statue of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore
FAVORABLY LOCATED AT the southern end of the Strait of
Malacca,
the shortest sea route between China and India, the island
of
Singapore was known to mariners as early as the third
century A.D.
By the seventh century, the Srivijaya Empire, the first in
a
succession of maritime states to arise in the region of
the Malay
Archipelago, linked numerous ports and cities along the
coasts of
Sumatra, Java, and the Malay Peninsula. Singapore probably
was one
of many outposts of Srivijaya, serving as an entrepôt and
supply
point for Chinese, Thai, Javanese, Malay, Indian, and Arab
traders.
An early chronicle refers to the island as Temasek and
recounts the
founding there, in 1299, of the city of Singapura ("lion
city"). In
the following three centuries, Singapura came under the
sway of
successive Southeast Asian powers, including the empires
of
Srivijaya, Majapahit, and Ayutthaya and the Malacca and
Johore
sultanates. In 1613 the Portuguese, the newest power in
the region,
burned down a trading post at the mouth of the Singapore
River, and
the curtain came down on the tiny island for two
centuries.
In 1818 Singapore was settled by a Malay official of
the Johore
Sultanate and his followers, who shared the island with
several
hundred indigenous tribespeople and some Chinese planters.
The
following year, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, an official
of the
British East India Company, arrived in Singapore and
secured
permission from its Malay rulers to establish a trading
post on the
island. Named by Raffles for its ancient predecessor,
Singapore
quickly became a successful port open to free trade and
free
immigration. Before the trading post's founding, the Dutch
had a
monopoly on the lucrative three-way trade among China,
India, and
the East Indies. Now Indian, Arab, European, Chinese,
Thai,
Javanese, and Bugis traders alike stopped in their passage
through
the Strait of Malacca to anchor in the excellent harbor
and
exchange their wares. Malays, Chinese, Indians, Arabs, and
Europeans flocked to the growing settlement to make their
fortunes
servicing the needs of the sea traders.
The next half century brought increased prosperity,
along with
the growing pains of a rapidly expanding seaport with a
widely
diverse population. During this period Singapore, Penang,
and
Malacca were ruled together as the
Straits Settlements (see Glossary)
from the British East India Company headquarters
in
India. In 1867, when Singapore was a bustling seaport of
85,000
people, the Straits Settlements was made a crown colony
ruled
directly from London. Singapore continued to grow and
prosper as a
crown colony. The opening of the Suez Canal, the advent of
steamships, the expansion of colonialism in Southeast
Asia, and the
continuing spread of British influence in Malaya combined
to
establish Singapore's position as an important trade and
manufacturing center in the late nineteenth century.
In the early twentieth century, financial institutions,
transportation, communications, and government
infrastructure
expanded rapidly to support the booming trade and
industry. Social
and educational services lagged far behind, however, and a
large
gulf separated the upper classes from the lower classes,
whose
lives were characterized by poverty, overcrowding,
malnutrition,
disease, and opium addiction. Singapore was largely
unaffected by
World War I. Following the war, the colony experienced
both boom
and depression, but on the whole, expanded and prospered.
During the period between the world wars, Singapore's
Chinese
took increasing interest in events in China, and many
supported
either the Chinese Communist Party or the Guomindang
(Kuomintang--
Chinese Nationalist Party). The Malayan Communist Party
(
MCP--see Glossary)
was organized in 1930 and competed with the
local branch
of the Guomindang. Beginning in the early 1930s, both
groups
strongly supported China against the rising tide of
Japanese
aggression. Japan's lightning attack on Malaya in December
1941
took the British by surprise, and by mid-February the
Japanese were
in control of both Malaya and Singapore. Renamed Syonan
("Light of
the South"), Singapore suffered greatly during the
Japanese
occupation.
Although Singaporeans tumultuously welcomed the return
of the
British in 1945, their view of the colonial relationship
had
changed forever. Strikes and student demonstrations
organized by
the MCP increased throughout the 1950s. The yearning for
independence was beginning to be felt in Singapore and
Malaya as it
was all over the colonial world. In 1953 a British
commission
recommended partial internal self-government for
Singapore, which
had been governed as a separate crown colony following the
formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948. Political
parties
began to form. In 1954 a group of anticolonialists led by
David
Marshall formed the Labour Front, a political party that
campaigned
for immediate independence within a merged Singapore and
Malaya.
That same year saw the formation of the People's Action
Party
(
PAP--see Glossary)
under Lee Kuan Yew, which also campaigned
for an end
to colonialism and union with Malaya. The Labour Front
formed a
coalition government with David Marshall as chief minister
following elections in 1955 for the newly established
Legislative
Assembly. In 1956-58, Merdeka (freedom in Malay) talks
were held in
London to discuss the political future of Singapore, As a
result of
the discussions, Singapore was granted internal
self-government,
whereas defense and foreign affairs were left in the hands
of the
British.
In the May 1959 election, the PAP swept the polls, and
Lee
became prime minister. Singapore's foreign and local
business
communities were greatly alarmed by the turn of events,
fearing
that the communist wing of the PAP would soon seize
control of the
government. The PAP moderates under Lee, however, favored
independence through merger with Malaya. Singaporean
voters
approved the PAP merger plan in September 1962, and on
September
16, 1963, Singapore joined Malaya and the former British
Borneo
territories of Sabah and Sarawak to form an independent
Malaysia.
After two years of communal strife, pressure from
neighboring
Indonesia, and political wrangling between Singapore and
Kuala
Lumpur, however, Singapore was forced to separate from
Malaysia and
became an independent nation on August 9, 1965.
Singaporeans and their leaders immediately accepted the
challenge of forging a viable nation on a tiny island with
few
resources other than the determination and talent of its
people.
The leaders sought to establish a unique "Singaporean
identity" and
to strengthen economic and political ties with Malaysia,
Indonesia,
and the other countries of the region. The government also
began to
reorient the economy toward more high-technology
industries that
would enhance the skills of the labor force and attract
increased
foreign investment. By the 1970s, Singapore was among the
world
leaders in shipping, air transport, and oil refining. By
the mid1980s , the first generation of leaders under Lee Kuan Yew
had
successfully guided the nation for more than two decades,
and a new
generation was beginning to take charge.
Data as of December 1989
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