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Looking Back at 700Years Of BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2019 VOL. 14 ISSUE 04 FEATURE rambutans and all kinds of fruit… powers and political entities well beyond At the end of the 13th century, the Tuan Raffles went into the centre its immediate borders. aforementioned Palembang prince Sri Tri of the house. About 4 o’clock in the Yet, it is undeniable that Raffles and Buana was on an expedition in Bentan afternoon, they came out and went his deputy William Farquhar, along with the (Bintan) when he spotted the white sandy Looking Back at on board again.”2 machinery of the colonial administration, coast of Temasek from a distance. He played an instrumental role in furthering decided to relocate here and rename the But the story of Singapore goes Singapore’s rise into a bustling port-city, island Singapura.5 We know something of back much further. The island as it was and by extension, the global city we know Temasek’s life, trade, people and culture 700 years ago in fact shares a number today. The year 1819, therefore, marks the from sources such as the 14th-century of similarities with today’s cosmopolitan beginning of a journey that resulted in the Daoyi Zhilue (岛夷志略; A Description of city-state. In the 14th century, Singa- eventual blossoming of a cosmopolitan the Barbarians of the Isles), a collection Years of pore was already a centre for a vast and independent republic. of accounts from Yuan dynasty Chi- trading network and actively engaged Two hundred years after that fate- nese traveller and trader Wang Dayuan in commerce with neighbouring ports ful day, we can reflect on our history (汪大渊), and Sejarah Melayu (Malay 700 and regions. Commodities such as and heritage and the elements that Annals), a 17th-century Jawi work that hornbill casques and lakawood (a type contributed to the Singaporean iden- traces the history and genealogy of the of aromatic wood used as incense) were tity and spirit as we know it today. A Malay kings of the Malacca Sultanate.6 exported from Singapore, or Temasek, series of setbacks that threatened to Interestingly, almost everything we as it was known then. pronounce the demise of the island at know of Singapore from this period of its Archaeological finds provide evi- various stages of its post-1819 history, history comes from textual sources beyond Singapore dence that early Singapore imported such as the devastation of World War its shores – all of which point to early ceramic wares from China, along with II, the exit of the British, the merger Singapore as being part of a much wider other products from around the region. with the Federation of Malaya and then sphere and sustained by trade. Singapore’s history didn’t begin in 1819 when Stamford Singapore also traces a royal lineage separation from Malaysia, have become Similarly, the establishment of mod- Raffles made footfall on the island. Tan Tai Yong makes that has its roots in the 13th century, inextricably woven into a narrative that ern Singapore in the early 19th century sense of our 700-year history in this wide-ranging essay. beginning with a prince from Palembang, speaks of ever-resolute tenacity. had very much to do with its position as Sri Tri Buana (also known as Sang Nila a strategic location for trade. Lying at an Utama), and ending when the last king, Linkages and Connectivity important crossroad along the East-West Iskandar Shah, fled to Malacca, following A confluence of regional and international trade route between the South China Sea a scandal involving the daughter of a royal factors contributed to the rise of Temasek and the Indian Ocean, the Malacca Strait minister and an invasion by Majapahit as a port in the 14th century. Under was the key passageway through which On 28 January 1819, Stamford Raffles son of the late sultan of the Johor-Riau- man in his 80s, he shared his recollection forces from Java.3 the Song dynasty, Chinese trade with the markets of the Indian subcontinent, and his entourage landed on an island that Lingga empire – who was later installed of what transpired on that day: All this is proof that Singapore was Southeast Asia grew between the 12th and the Middle East and beyond gained was home to some 1,000 Chinese, Malay by the British as Singapore’s first sultan, already a city of considerable stature and 13th centuries. The new trade access to China, Southeast Asia and and orang laut (“sea people” in Malay). Hussein Mohamed Shah. “I remembered the boat landing in centuries even before Raffles set foot policies reduced reliance on a single main Australasia.7 Soon after their arrival, they met Temeng- Along with a formal ceremony and the morning. There were two white o here. Hundreds of years before modern entrepôt – Srivijaya in Palembang – in the As the Dutch held sway over much of gong Abdul Rahman, the local chief in banquet, a treaty was signed on 6 Febru- men and a Sepoy on it. When they Singapore came to be, the island was Malacca Strait and encouraged the rise of Southeast Asia at the time and controlled Singapore, and Tengku Long – eldest ary 1819 allowing the British East India landed, they went straight to the already firmly embedded in a wider numerous autonomous port-polities in the the seaways through which EIC ships had Company (EIC) to set up a trading post Temenggong’s house. Tuan Raffles regional web and frequently engaged with region that engaged directly with China.4 to pass, Raffles saw the need for the on the island.1 Conventional narrative was there, he was a short man… Professor Tan Tai Yong is the second President looks back to this day as the beginning Tuan Farquhar was there; he was and Professor of Humanities (History) at Yale- of modern Singapore. taller than Tuan Raffles and he View of Singapore from Government Hill (present-day Fort Canning Hill), based on a painting by government surveyor J.T. Thomson, 1846. It illustrates NUS College. He is also Honorary Chairman the ceremony during which Governor of the Straits Settlements William J. Butterworth (shown in the foreground with his family) presented a state sword of the National Museum of Singapore and a Wa Hakim, then 15 years old, was wore a helmet. The Sepoy carried one of the orang laut who was present on a musket. They were entertained by to Temenggong of Johor Daing Ibrahim on 31 August 1846 to acknowledge his role in helping to curb piracy in the area. Courtesy of National Museum of member of the Board of Trustees of ISEAS-Yusof Singapore, National Heritage Board. Ishak Institute, among other appointments. the day the British arrived. Already an old the Temenggong and he gave them 10 11 BIBLIOASIA JAN - MAR 2019 VOL. 14 ISSUE 04 FEATURE as Munshi Abdullah who published his schools, as well as ethnic communities of diverse peoples. The dialogue was to autobiography, Hikayat Abdullah (Stories taking greater ownership in providing continue for decades afterwards. of Abdullah), in 1849 – Malacca fell into vernacular education.17 With the devastation of World War II a “drought” while Singapore experienced New Chinese, Tamil and Muslim- in Singapore – and the failure of the British “the rain of plenty”.13 In his book, Munshi Malay schools were established, teach- Empire in protecting Singapore – came Abdullah describes the rapid transforma- ing a more updated curriculum in their further questions about nationalism and tions that took place in the first few years respective ethnic languages. However, independence.21 Britain surrendered and of the settlement: the better jobs still went to English-edu- the locals were left to face the brutality cated locals. Still, Asians of any calibre of the Japanese. Literature that hinted of “I am astonished to see how invariably faced a ceiling when it came the suffering of war, anti-Japanese senti- markedly our world is changing. A to their career advancement: in 1912, ments and expressions about nationalism new world is being created, the old the British Empire officially barred non- appeared in newspapers, such as the world destroyed. The very jungle Europeans from assuming senior roles poems of the local Malay poet Masuri S. N. becomes a settled district while in public administration.18 Anti-Japanese resistance move- elsewhere a settlement reverts to As these issues of discrimination ments also took root, the chief example jungle. These things show us how brewed, locals began to ponder over the being the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese the world and its pleasures are idea of nationalism, and what it meant for Army (MPAJA) created by the Malayan but transitory experiences, like Singapore, whose population comprised Communist Party.22 In the wake of the something borrowed which has to mainly migrants who hailed from differ- failure of the colonial government to The heavy reliance on trade, how- be returned whenever the owner ent countries. Eunos Abdullah, the first protect Singapore, people had no choice ever, meant that the fortunes of Singapore comes to demand it.”14 Malay Legislative Councillor, spoke up but to hold their ground alone. were inevitably susceptible to larger eco- against a colonial administrative system The Japanese surrendered in 1945 nomic developments beyond its shores. At The men who came with Farquhar that favoured foreigners over locals, and and the British returned. They were in the turn of the 20th century, the adverse were determined to carve out a better life argued for greater education and career for a rude shock; instead of the warm impact on the local economy caused by for themselves, seizing the opportunity opportunities for “sons of the soil”, a term reception they were expecting, what volatile commodity prices, notably rubber, to start afresh under the British.
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