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Pull Factors - Coggle Diagram
Pull Factors
Better Trade and Business Opportunities
Many trading opportunities attracted traders from EU, India, China, Middle East & neighbouring islands to SG
Status as a free port
Enabled merchants to do business and make more profits in SG compared to other ports like Indonesia's ports where foreign traders had to pay heavy taxes to the Dutch
Traders and ships from different parts of the world did not have to pay tax to SG and were able to trade freely
Benefits:
Attracted many traders from the Riau Islands and other trade centres in Malay Archipelago & Middle East
Making SG port a thriving and profitable enterprise
Creation of more diverse jobs and businesses so more $$ can be made thus attracting more immigrants
Traders attracted to come to SG
The Bugis Traders
One of the earliest and most prominent groups
Had been trading in the region long before the Europeans arrived
The Dutch imposed taxes on traders when they took control of the East Indies and its trade routes
Affected the spice trade of the Bugis who traditionally used the trade route between Celebes and Java
SG's status as a free port attracted many Bugis ships to SG
[20th century]
Several hundred Bugis traders and their families moved to SG
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The Arab Traders
Originally from Hadhramaut in southern Arabia (south-eastern part of present-day Yemen)
Active traders in SEA since the 7th century
Syed Sharif Omar bin Ali Aljunied & his uncle Syed Mohammed bin Harun Aljunied were 2 wealthy Arab merchants among the 1st Arab traders to arrive in SG
Numerous others followed them to set sail from parts of Malaya, Sumatra & Java in their ships to escape heavy custom duties
[19th century]
Another wave of Arabs moved to SG with their travels made easier with steamship travel and the opening of Suez Canal
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Free immigration policy
Immigrants could come and go as they pleased without having to pay for immigrant passes and papers
Benefits:
Easier for poorer immigrants from India and China to come to SG to earn $$ and send them back home and provide them a comfortable lifestyle
Merchants and traders could come as regularly as they liked to conduct business and trade and hire more immigrants to work for them hence creation of more jobs
Excellent geographical location of SG
Situated along Straits of Melaka which connected the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea
The mid-point of the trade route between Britain, India and South China
Benefits:
Convenient meeting point for merchants and traders from all over the world
They were able to trade a variety of goods
Able to stop and replenish their fuel and food supplies
Able to obtain what they needed and return home by exchanging or selling their goods
Provides jobs for immigrant workers
Business opportunities
British Agency Houses
Companies that helped British manufacturers sell their goods to other traders in SG
They earned a commission for their services
They would export goods brought by traders from China, India and Malay Archipelago to Britain and other parts of EU in return
Goods included
Cloth
Clocks
Knives
Nails etc
BAH in SG
Boustead & Company
Guthrie & Company
A.L. Johnston & Company
Paterson, Simons & Co.
The Straits-Born Chinese (Chinese Peranakan) Traders
Chinese Peranakans were Chinese who lived in Malay Archipelago and could speak English, Malay and Chinese dialects well enough to communicate with their clients
Many came from Melaka
Attracted by business opportunities to set up their own trading houses in SG
BAH needed middlemen (Chinese Peranakans) to help them trade with Asian traders as they could not understand each other's language
[In 1820s]
Tan Kim Seng was one of the 1st Straits-born Chinese merchants to come to SG
His ability to speak different languages helped his business grow rapidly
Was a very important and influential member of the Chinese community
Better Job Prospects
Many job opportunities created as SG was a new and growing trading settlement
Thus the British needed to develop infrastructure to support the increase in activities at the port and to provide for the growing population
Needed workers to:
Build infrastructure e.g. roads, towns, buildings like banks and shop houses
Build a new harbour to accommodate the increasing number of steamships
Load and unload the goods from the ship
Restock the food and water supplies for the steamships
Refuel and repair the ships
Clear jungles
Work in farms to grow crops
Build houses to accommodate the immigrants
Sell food, pull rickshaws, sell other essentials
Benefits:
Receive higher wages compared to what they received back home
Work a variety of manual jobs
Able to return home after earning enough money
A brighter and more stable future
e.g.
[In 1920s]
Wages were extremely low for unskilled labourers in Java esp for sugarcane plantations
Thus many Javanese were drawn to work in SG
The Javanese and Baweanese were attracted to come to SG due to higher wages
They work as plantation labourers, drivers, general traders, sailors
Javanese writers and publishers came to SG as they could write and print their news articles and stories without being restricted by Dutch laws