Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Chapter 3 How Did the British Rule and External Developments Affect…

- - - - 1824-1858
        
        1824: Singapore was formally transferred to the EIC and came under British control (1824-1858)
        
        1826: Singapore became a part of the Straits Settlements with Penang and Melaka
        
        difficulty managing the needs of the expanding population and the increasing size of Singapore's trade
        
        trouble raising money to pay for better port facilities, security and social services (education and healthcare)
        → unable to impose taxes on trade as it would affect businesses
        had to turn to taxing gambling, opium and liquor to raise funds
        → owners who could offer the largest sum of money were granted the right to collect taxes
        
        1829: gambling was banned
        
        tax could no longer be collected
        
        reduced revenue
        
        insufficient money to improve conditions and to provide social services
        → EIC supplied Singapore with money
        
        1830s - EIC lost its dominant control of trade with China (opened up to other British traders)
        
        lost interest in the Straits Settlements
        
        being run at a lost
        → EIC began to cut costs and refused to spend more money
        → dismissed many officials and cut pay of those who remained
        
        1843-1855: William Butterworth,
        Governor of the Straits Settlements
      - 1858-1867
        
        1858: EIC was dissolved
        
        Singapore came under the administration of the India Office in London
        
        1859-1867: Sir William Cavenagh,
        Governor of the Straits Settlements
  - - - :male-police-officer::skin-tone-5: Police Force
        
        1820: Francis James Bernard (chief police officer)
        
        Bernard had other duties, could not give his time and attention to his police work
        
        police force was very small - hardly enough to keep peace in a population of a few thousand settlers
        
        1843: traders wrote to the Governer to ask for a stronger police force
        
        Thomas Dunman was appointed as Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Superintendent of Police
        
        1857: Thomas Dunman → Commissioner of Police
        
        fight for better working conditions and higher wages
        → attracted better men into the police force
        → able to enlarge the police force
        
        could not solve all the problems of crime and disorder
        
        rioters usually outnumbered his men
        → had to send soldiers to help
        
        e.g. 1854 Hokkien-Teochew Riots, 1876 Chinese Post Office Riots, 1888 Verandah Riots
        
        1871: Dunman retired
        
        reduced gang robberies and improving the quality and morale of the police officers
        
        1881: a police training schools was started
        
        1884: detective force was established
        
        1930s: use of telephones, motor cars and radio communications
        
        police force become more efficient
        
        about 2000 strong
    - - :warning: Labour Abuses of Coolies
        
        Chinese migrants were known as sinkehs
        
        some had money to pay for their passage from China → free to take on any job
        
        those who were too poor had to find a coolie-agent (who would pay for them)
        
        promised to work for any employer (willing to pay the coolie-agent a sum of money more than the passage money)
        
        coolies would have to work without pay for a year or more to pay off the debts they owed their employers for paying the coolie-agents
        
        provided food and lodgings
        
        might be given a small sum of money for the whole period of their service
        
        demand for Chinese coolies in Australia, the United States, the plantations in Java and Sumatra, and tin mines in Malaya
        
        coolie trade grew very quickly
        → Singapore became one of its major centres
        → thousands of coolies came to Singapore, who were then sent to work in neighbouring countries or other parts of the world
        
        coolie-agents were tempted by huge profits
        
        tried to obtain coolies by any means
        → many Chinese were tricked/kidnapped by coolie-agents in China
        
        conditions during the voyage were very poor ("floating hells")
        
        hundreds were crammed aboard a junk
        
        many coolies died due to overcrowding and the lack of food and water
        
        many were locked up in houses that were cramped and unhygienic (prevent them from escaping)
        
        closely guarded by gangsters until employers were found
      - :warning: Secret Society Problems
        
        secret societies - form of mutual aid for the Chinese migrants
        
        found it useful to join
        
        members helped them to find work or lodgings
        
        they could enjoy the protection of the society
        
        e.g. when they became sick or died (taken care of and arranged a proper burial)
        
        1840s: several secret societies with thousands of members
        
        members often took part in gang robberies, gang fights and other forms of lawlessness
        
        responsible for many riots in the 1840s and 1850s
        → fought for the control of territory and illegal vice trades (gambling and prostituition)
        
        The government took no steps to tackle the problem because:
        
        British officials had few dealings with most of the Chinese
        
        knew very little about how the secret societies operated
        
        British officials did not understand the various Chinese dialects
        
        European officers and police officers (Malays, Indians) did not speak the language
        → could not find out anything about the secret societies and their activities
      - :warning: Prostitution
        
        majority of migrants were Chinese males who were unmarried or had left their wives in their homelands
        
        few Chinese migrant women came (man's responsibility to earn a living)
        → unbalanced ration of men to women
        
        working conditions were hard
        → many turned to opium smoking, drinking, gambling and visiting brothels to escape the hardship
        
        great demand for prostitutes
        
        brothel owners and traffickers could make large profits
        → female migrants from China were tricked into the trade, promised well-paid jobs but were sold to keepers of brothels and forced to earn money for them
    - - :red_flag: The Chinese Protectorate
        
        1877: set up to tackle the problems of secret societies, coolie abuses, poverty and prostitution among the Chinese community
        
        all Chinese societies had to register to the Chinese Protectorate
        
        persuaded the Chinese community to settle their quarrels at the Chinese Protectorate
        
        controlled the coolie trade by registering the coolie-agents and lodging houses
        
        officers visited every coolie ship that arrived from China and inspected the coolie houses to ensure the coolies were treated fairly
        
        worked with the leaders of the societies to build trust between the British and the community
        
        set up a department called Po Leung Kuk
        → rescued many girls from beong sold to brothels
        → provided shelter for those who were poorly treated as servants
        
        unable to completely reduce the power of the secret societies as some of the coolies and women did not come forward to seek help of the Protectorate
      - :red_flag: 1890 Dangerous Societies Ordinance
        
        gave the Governor the power to banish Chinese migrants and abolish any society deemed too dangerous
        
        threat of banishment was effective as the Qing government often arrested and executed such individuals when they returned to China
        
        disturbances continued to take place, but there were no more large-scale secret society fights
    - - ships were attacked by pirates, their cargoes taken, and travellers killed or sold as slaves
        
        "pirate wind" (Aug - Oct) brought large fleets of pirate ships from North Borneo to the Straits of Melaka
        
        also attacked by pirates from pirate settlements along the coasts of Java, Sumatra and Malaya
        
        pirates attacking ships outside Singapore's harbour
        → many traders stayed away
        → Singapore's trade suffered greatly
        
        traders asked the government in the Straits Settlements to take strong action against piracy
        
        lacked the legal means to punish the pirates and had to send them to India for trial
        
        after many appeals, government in India sent gunboats to patrol the waters
        
        needed a permanent naval force which the EIC could not afford
        
        unable to curb piracy effectively
        
        early 1870s: piracy became less of a problems due to increased patrolling by the British and other European powers
  - - - rapid socio-economic development
        
        became necessary to provide English education to create a supply of English-speaking clerks in the government and companies
        → the British promote English as the medium of instruction, provided government grants to schools that imparted English to students whose home language was not English
        
        for education NOT supporting trade and administration, it was left to non-governmental agencies
        
        led to the growth of many Chinese schools run by the Chinese community
        these schools do not tolerate any interference from the government
        
        schools established by Christian missionaries were given a free hand in how they were run
        
        lack of quality education that catered to the needs of the local people
    - - the British did not control English or vernacular education
        
        focused only on subsiding a few schools
        
        provided free primary schooling in the Malay language
        
        very few Tamil-language schools and none for the Chinese population
        
        schools were established by various Christian missionary groups and European traders
        
        parents did not see the value of English-language education
  - - - 1 or 2 doctors in military hospital,
        a few European doctors who served mostly the Europeans and rich Asians
        
        before 1860s: due to poverty, the poorer Asian population suffered from malnutrition, overcrowding and poor sanitation
        → high death rate :skull: among Asian population
        
        Public Health Department (1887)
        
        to tackle health issues in the town area
        
        e.g.
        
        setting up malaria committee to supervise the draining of swamps
        
        replacing the bucket system with modern water-carriage sewerage system
        
        clearing dirty streets and drains
        
        improve housing conditions
        
        1882: new :hospital: general hospital was built on Outram Road to provide public healthcare
        
        1886: to prevent infectious diseases (smallpox and cholera) from spreading, a quarantine law was passed
        
        passengers arriving Singapore by sea had to be checked by a doctor
        
        those found to be suffering from such diseases were isolated
        
        death rate was still higher than the birth rate
        :!: overcrowded and unhygienic living conditions of the poor in the town area
        
        workers preferred to stay in the shophouses in the town area due to the availability of jobs there
        → overcrowded, unsanitary and poorly ventilated
        → gave rise to the spread of highly contagious diseases
        :!: poor understanding of certain diseases
        
        most Asians did not seek treatment when they were ill due to the lack of money or a mistrust of Western medicine
        
        1940s: public health generally improved
        :check: economic growth generated greater spending on healthcare
        :check: increased awareness of the need to improve healthcare
        
        calls by local people for the government to tackle the spread of diseases
  - - - 1850s: Old Harbour at the Singapore River had become increasingly overcrowded
        
        insufficient space along the river banks to build more warehouses for storing goods and coal, or to build dry docks for ship-repairing
        
        1852: the New Harbour (renamed Keppel Harbour) was built in the strait between the southern coast of Singapore island and 2 other smaller islands (Pulau Brani and Pulai Blakang Mati)
        
        the harbour had deep waters, allowing steamships and sailing ships to sail right up to it
        
        sheltered from strong winds and big waves by the 2 smaller islands
      - 1913: set up the Singapore Harbour Board to make further improvements to the port
        
        new wharves, docks, storehouses and machine shops were built
        
        modern machinery was used for loading and unloading goods
        
        done in time to cope with the increasing world demand for tin and rubber, and the rapid opening of plantations in Singapore and Malaya
        
        set up a railway system to link the port to parts of Malaya
        
        1924: the Causeway between Singapore and Malaya was opened
        → improved the services provided to ships
        → make Singapore one of the busiest and most prosperous ports in Asia
- - - - prior to the opening, ships travelling between Europe and Asia had to make a long and dangerous journey around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa
        
        17 Nov 1869: opening of Suez Canal
        
        the route is shorter than the Cape route
        
        faster steamships were increasingly used instead of the slower sailing ships
        → became one of the busiest waterways in the world
    - - benefitted greatly from the opening of the Suez Canal
        :check: shortened the time needed for people, mail and cargo to travel from Europe to Singapore
        → lower shipping costs (savings in distance and time)
        :check: increased the volume of ships passing through the Straits of Melaka and calling at the port of Singapore to refuel and collect food supplies
        → Straits of Melaka overtook the Sunda Straits as the main route from Europe to the Far East, securing Singapore's dominance in the region
        :check: increased use of steamships as sailing ships could not use the Suez Canal throughout the year
        
        steamships travelling long distances had to stop at regular intervals to refuel with coal and fresh water
        
        coaling stations developed along shipping routes from Southern Asia, down the Straits of Melaka and into the South China Sea
        → enhanced Singapore's role as a coaling station, became more important in the trade between Europe and the Asia Pacific region
  - - - Expansion of rubber industry due to:
        :arrow_right: John Dunlop's invention of the pneumatic tyre
        
        bicycles could now be fitted with these tyres instead of solid tyres
        
        pneumatic tyres made possible the rise of the motor car industry
        
        :arrow_right: production of cars in the United States led to a great demand for rubber for making tyres
        
        supply of rubber from Brazil and Africa was insufficient
        → the price of rubber shot up very quickly
        → planters in Malaya became interested in growing rubber on a large scale
        → European and Chinese traders in Singapore provided capital to open rubber plantations
        
        large European companies in Singapore formed rubber companies in England
        
        sold shares to the public in order to obtain huge capital needed to open up rubber plantations in Malaya
        
        1911: Rubber Association was established
        
        organised sales of rubber in Singapore and made it an international rubber market
        :check: rubber exports from Malaya rose
        :check: Malaya overtook Brazil as the world's biggest producer of rubber, with most of the rubber exported through Singapore
    - - Expansion of tin trade due to:
        :arrow_right: the spread of British control to parts of Malaya after 1874 led to peaceful conditions
        → facilitated the development of tin mining and tin trade
        :arrow_right: canning industry in the United States was expanding
        → resulted in corresponding increase in the demand for tin
        
        :check: growth of trade between Malaya and the Straits Settlements,
        especially Singapore
        → added a great deal to the volume on trade
        
        the amount of tin produced in Malaya increased rapidly because of new machinery and new methods of mining that began to be used by the Chinese and European miners
        :check: 1874: Malaya was the 4th largest tin producer in the world
        :check: 1890s: producing more than half of the world's tin
        
        from 1890: a large part of Malayan tin was brought to Singapore as tin ore (impure)
        → the tin ore was smelted and made into blocks of almost 100% pure tin (at tin smelting factory on Pulau Brani)
        :check: by early 20th century, the factory had become the leading tin smelter in the world
        
        :check: tin smelting industry and tin trade brought handsome profits
        → increased the prosperity of the island
        → tin became the most important item of trade among the imports and exports handled by Singapore traders
  - - - early 1920s: companies in the United States were making huge profits
        → shares rose, many people bought shares to make quick money
        
        :!:by 1929: many companies were losing money as they were unable to sell their goods
        
        some people decided to sell their shares
        → caused share prices to fall
        → more people sell their shares
        
        :!:Oct 1929: share prices decreased rapidly
        → collapse of New York Stock Exchange, known as the Wall Street Crash
        
        those who borrowed money to buy shares had to sell their belongings to pay the banks
        
        many tried to withdraw their savings, but many banks did not have the money to pay them
        → banks were forced to close down
        → many people lost their life savings
        → spending on goods fell drastically
        
        :!:companies in the US were no longer making huge profits
        
        cut the wages of workers, many were also laid off
        → unemployment rose
        
        had an impact on countries that traded with the US
        :!:Singapore was affected as the demand for commodities (tin and rubber) dropped
    - - prior to the Great Depression, prices of tin and rubber were very high
        → too much tin and rubber was produced
        → :!:prices of tin and rubber fell drastically as the companies that used them closed down
        
        worsened the lives of people in different communities in Singapore
        
        companies suffered losses and cut expenses by retrenching workers
        → :!:businessmen lost their wealth or became bankrupt
        → :!:widespread unemployment and hardship
        
        difficult to find jobs
        
        government had to cut the number of workers and reduce pay of those remained
        → many migrants had to return to their homelands
        
        1928: government passed a series of laws to restrict and reduce the number of migrants, especially unskilled male Chinese labourers
        
        also arranged for large numbers of unemployed Chinese and Indians to return to their homelands
        
        by 1934: business conditions in the US and other countries had improved
        :check: exports from Singapore began to increase again