Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

HISTORY UNIT 4 #3 - Coggle Diagram

- - - - The activities of all these parties combined helped ensure that Singapore's economy continued to grow well into the 20th century
      - With such a diverse group of traders, difficulties in communication would inevitably come up; middlemen, usually Straits-born Chinese, played an important part in easing these difficulties. Many spoke sufficient English and various local dialects, and were friendly with the British merchants and officials. Furthermore they knew the language and customs of the Malays. They were therefore the ideal interpreters who translated transactions for the European and Malay traders, allowing commerce to be conducted smoothly.
      - As a trading hub, Singapore would naturally need the ships that were the lifelines of its trade activities to be in good working condition. Many Malays of the time were expert shipbuilders and sailors, servicing the ships and boats that came in to trade. Others were involved in the construction or building business; they supplies the raw materials necessary for building such as timber and attap.
      - As the settlement grew rapidly, there was a need for a steady provision of daily necessities such as food and medicine. Between 1829 and 1866 an average of 30 Siamese and 78 Cochin Chinese junks arrived annually. Some of the cargoes fo these junks included rice,, sugar, raw silk, lead, and pickled pock. They also carried tea and other important items from China. A regular steam of Malay traders from Sumatra and Java also made their way to Singapore carrying spices, coffee, and rice to Singapore.
    - - Chinese coolies were unskilled labourers who came to Singapore in search of a better life, often driven away from their homeland by poverty. Nearly all of them came form the provinces of Guangdong and Fujian in southeast China and were made up of four major dialect groups - Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese. They eventually formed the majority of Singapore's labour force, and were employed in almost all sectors of work. It was a common sight in the 1800s to see coolies carrying gunny sacks near the Singapore river, clearing land, working on construction sites or plantations, and pulling rickshaws.
      - Indian labourers were often convicts who were sent over by the British as part of their prison sentences. The initial batch of convicts were sent over from Bencoolen after the British vacated it in 1824; subsequent batches of convict labour mostly came from the Coromandel COast around the Madras area. Much of the work they tasked with revolved around clearing the jungle and constructing public works such as roads, bridges and monuments. Some of these buildings are well-known landmarks to this day,s uch as the Istana and St. Andrew's Cathedral. the bricks for the cathedral were made by the Indian labourers themselves, under the supervision of a European brickmaker in Serangoon Road.
      - There was another type of middlemen, known as coolie-agents who helped the traders look for workers who came from India and China. These Indian and Chinese workers provided much-needed labour for the port to function smoothly.
    - - Another group who played an important role was the Chettiars from South India. They were moneylenders whose main area of business was along Market Street, which is today part of the Central Business District in Shenton Way. As moneylenders, the Chettiars provided financial support for the various forms of businesses. Their money-lending facilities were important because in the early years of Singapore's existence as a trading port, they were very few banks. these banks would provide loans only when they were assured they would be repaid and so they mainly provided loans to large, well-established businesses. Small-scale traders and businesses who needed loans had to depend on the Chettiars, who were more willing to take risks but charged high-interest rates. This group was so successful that by the 1930s they could form their own Chettiar Chamber of Commerce.
    - - Shortly after its founding, traders from all over the world came to Singapore to trade. In particular, the Europeans were important in setting up business infrastructure, such as banks, shipping companies, and agency houses. This was because they tended to have the cast capital required to start and run such businesses. A famous example of an agency house was Guthrie and Company set up by Alexander Guthrie, which acted as a trading agent on behalf of English companies who wised to export their goods. They also arranged for traded goods from the region to be brought back in bulk to Europe. In return for their efforts, they were paid commissions.