Pioneers of Early Colonial Singapore(1819- 1850)

Pioneers of Early Colonial Singapore(11850)1819-1850by Dr Ernest ChewThis is a revised version of a talk given by Dr Chew, who is a Club Advisor, at theNUS Museums last October. He has written this especially for the RTC Magazine.Introduction1. For more than a decade, in my teaching,research, and writing, more recently inthe NUS University Scholars Programme,I have tried to move my audience awayfrom the idea that there was only onefounder of Singapore, and that he is SirThomas Stamford Raffles.It is hard to change this perception, basedas it is on Raffles' historical achievementsand reputation -- on a whole pile of books,on not one but two statues of Raffles inthe civic heart of Singapore, and on agrowing number of places andinstitutions named after him.I recall that The Times of London describedme as a Singapore sceptic whoWilliamFarquhar"cast doubt over the Raffles legend" in (Ernest Chew, 'The foundation of a BritishFebruary 1994, the 175th anniversary of settlement', in A History of Singapore, ed.the founding! (I was in good company, E.C.T.Chew and E.Lee (Singapore: Oxfordfor the other sceptic they mentioned was University Press, 1991), p.38.BG George Yeo.) The Times' report wasbased on a chapter I wrote in A History I also pointed out that most of theof Singapore, a book I co-edited with foundational work was done byEdwin Lee (Oxford University Press, Farquhar, the man who Raffles left1991). Let me quote an extract from it: "If behind, literally and metaphorically, andhe [Raffles] is to be honoured as the that it was Crawfurd, another Scotsman,founder and architect of the British who among other things signed in August'factory' in Singapore, then the early and 1824 the treaty which made Singaporeenterprising builders (who modified his British.designs) should also be commemorated:the first two British Residents, [William] Since then I have written separate articlesFarquhar (1819-23) and John Crawfurd on Raffles, Farquhar, and Crawfurd for(1823-6), along with the known Malay, the Raffles Town Club magazine (Jan-Mar,Arab, Bugis, Chinese, Indian, and Apr-Jun, and Jul-Sep 2002 issues), andEuropean notables (mostly traders), and have attempted to reappraise theirthe numberless, unnamed pioneering respective contributions to the foundingsettlers"of colonial Singapore.The Co - Founders of Colonial Singapore?2.1.Raffles' Claims: It was undoubtedly Raffles' ambition and vision which led him tosearch for another British base in the Straits of Malacca, and to select Singapore as thebest location to achieve British economic and strategic objectives in the region. WithoutRaffles, it is likely that Singapore would have remained a sparsely inhabited island, onthe margins of the Dutch colonial empire in the East Indies.It was Raffles who signed the treaty of 6 February 1819 with the Sultan Hussein, whomhe recognised, and this treaty enabled the British to start a settlement and port in Singapore.Raffles thus called Singapore 'a Child of my own' and 'my new Colony' .However, as Crawfurd was to point out, that treaty 'amounted to little more than apermission for the formation of a British factory....There was in reality no territorial cessiongiving a legal right of legislation... The native chief was considered to be the proprietorof the land, even within the bounds of the British factory' .Tan Tock SengJohn CrawfurdRaffles visited his ‘Child’ and ‘new Colony’ only thrice - (1) for nine days inJanuary-February 1819, (2) for about four weeks in May-June that year, and - after morethan three years' absence - (3) for eight months from October 1822 to June 1823. Of course,Raffles did lay down certain plans and policies which were to be vital for the developmentof the settlement. On his last visit, he dismissed Farquhar from the Residentship, andreplaced him with Crawfurd.Pioneers of Early Colonial Singapore(1819-1850)

9-2.2.Farquhar's Counter-Claims, alongsideRaffles and Crawfurd, are well summedup by Dr C. Mary Turnbull: "Singaporewas fortunate in her three early pioneeradministrators: Raffles, a man ofextraordinary vision, but for whomSingapore would never have existed;Farquhar, who by his energy, good senseand courage, nursed the infant settlementthrough its first dangerous years; andCrawfurd, shrewd and sensible, with hisfeet planted firmly on the ground, whoconverted into reality Raffles' mostpractical dreams" (A History of Singapore1819-1988 (Singapore: OUP, 1989), p.30).Farquhar was a pretty tough 'nurse'. Hewas both British Resident andCommandant (a post which hepreviously held in Malacca), and helpedto secure the settlement against attacksfrom the irate Dutch authorities. Throughhis connexions with the Malay rajas, andwith Malacca,he attracted many tradersfrom the peninsula and archipelago toSingapore. He had to administer thesettlement with little help from Raffles,who was stationed in Bencoolen in westSumatra.When Farquhar finally left Singapore atthe end of 1823, he was given a granderfarewell from the local community thanRaffles had received in June. No wonderhe was upset when Raffles and later LadyRaffles emphasised Raffles' solo role as"founder". Farquhar registered his ownclaim for some recognition, and when hedied in 1839, the inscription on his tombin Perth, Scotland, stated that he"founded" the settlement of Singapore!I think it a real pity that there is so littlerecognition of Farquhar in present-daySingapore. The only road named afterhim, Farquhar Street, was erased in theearly 1990s.Even the exhibition of the Farquharcollection of natural history drawings issuspended, since the main SingaporeHistory Museum is closed for redevelopment.2.3.Crawfurd's Contributions: I do notconsider Dr John Crawfurd as a cofounderto the same extent as Raffles andFarquhar. He did not become Residentuntil May-June 1823, four years after theBritish settlement had been established.Yet, when we consider the idea of aBritish colonial settlement, we cannotescape the fact that it was only the Anglo-Malay Treaty of August 1824, whichCrawfurd concluded with the Malayrajas, which made Singapore a Britishpossession. This treaty followed theAnglo-Dutch Treaty of London, in March1824, by which the Dutch recognised thatSingapore and the Malay States were inthe British sphere of political influence.It was also the Anglo-Dutch treatywhich led to the exchange of DutchMalacca for British Bencoolen.2.4.Others? The work of founding orestablishing colonial Singapore was notaccomplished by one, two or threepersons, but was the collaborative effortof other official and non-official pioneers.It was the joint success of all theirendeavours which lent lustre to the nameand reputation of Raffles.Dr K.G. Tregonning puts this succinctly:"Singapore remained British, in the finaloutcome, because unlike the othersettlements initiated by Raffles, it wasfound worth keeping; it saved itself byits own exertions. ... "Raffles paid onlythree brief visits to Singapore.He played no part whatever in itsretention, hardly any in its development.Historians have long claimed for Rafflesall the subsequent growth of thesettlement. His master touch has beeneverywhere. In fact, the credit forSingapore's growth must go to those whomade it grow, to the people who indefiance of all history built a bustling porton the equator" (The British in Malaya(Tucson: University of Arizona Press,1965), pp.153,160.) In other words, it wasnot so much Raffles who made Singapore,but Singapore which made Raffles!The Constructionand the Early BuildersIt is difficult to make a clear-cut distinctionbetween founders and builders of earlycolonial Singapore. If "founding" isequated with "establishment", and takento be a process rather than an initial act,then we can regard the earliest leaders ofthe various communities in Singapore tohave been co-founders as well as earlybuilders of the settlement . Certainly wecan consider all of them as ‘pioneers’.3.1.The Malay Rajas:Moving away from the British triad of cofounders-- Raffles, Farquhar, Crawfurd -- we must start with the Malay rajas -(1) Sultan Hussein, who with his followersoccupied the Kampong Glam area; and(2) Temenggong Abdu'r Rahman, whowith his followers lived along theSingapore River and then movedwestwards to Telok Blangah.While Singapore became increasinglycosmopolitan as a commercial centre, theMalays still constituted about 60% of thepopulation in 1821 (3,000 out of 5,000), inwhat was still an Anglo-Malaycondominium, until 1824.A Quarterly Publication of Raffles Town Club 11Pioneers of Early Colonial Singapore(1819-1850)

The Sultan’s and Temenggong's networks,as well as Farquhar’s links with Malacca,led to this influx and growth.3.2.The Straits and Nanyang Chinese:The earliest Chinese builders of thesettlement came from the immediatevicinity, from the Malay Peninsula andArchipelago, from places like Malacca,Penang, and Riau, and the majority werefrom settled Baba families.According to Dr Turnbull, "The mostimportant of Singapore's Chinesepioneers was Tan Che Sang, who left hisnative Canton in 1778 at the age of 15,and after making his fortune in Riau,Penang, and Malacca, came to Singaporein 1819, where he built the first warehouseand was agent for the early Chinesejunks." However, she adds that "he hadno social contact with the rulingcommunity and was a strange withdrawnman, an inveterate gambler, obsessedwith making money..." (Turnbull, p.13).She contrasts him with the youngerHokkien leader, Chua Chong Long, sonof the Kapitan China of Malacca, "anopen-handed extrovert" who "entertainedEuropeans to lavish entertainments, andwas the government's most trusted gobetweenwith the Chinese communityuntil he left Singapore in 1836" (p.14).Among others who came from the Babacommunity in Malacca was Tan TockSeng, who came to Singapore as avegetable hawker in 1819, when he was21, and rose to be a rich merchantand philanthropist, being the founder ofa pauper hospital at Pearl's Hill in 1844In which later became "TTSH" (pp.14,62-3). Another Hokkien Baba who came fromMalacca was Tan Kim Seng, who alsobecame a rich merchant, and was the firstAsian Justice of the Peace.However, the early Straits Chinesedominance gave way to that of Chinabornimmigrant traders like the Teochewleader, Seah Eu Chin, and the more wellknownCantonese leader, Hoo Ah Kay,known as Whampoa from his birth-placein Guangdong province. They botharrived here in 1830. Whampoa was tobe the first Chinese and Asian memberof the Legislative and later ExecutiveCouncil of the Straits Settlements in the1860s and 1870s (p.54).Tan Tock SengBy 1840 the Chinese comprised about50% of the population of Singapore. (Formore details on the Chinese, see SongOng Siang, One Hundred Years' History ofthe Chinese in Singapore (1923; reprint,Singapore: University of Malaya Press,1967.)3.3.The Bugis:Next to the Chinese, the largest group ofearly immigrants was the Bugis who tookrefuge here in 1820, from the Dutch inRiau, under their leader, Arong Bilawa.They made Singapore a Bugis junction!3.4.The Indians:While most Indians in early colonialSingapore were sepoys and campfollowers in the cantonments, there werealso merchants, the most famous ofwhom was Naraina Pillai, who came herefrom Penang with Raffles on his secondvisit in May 1819. He was a literal"builder" of early colonial Singapore, forhe started a brick-kiln, and was the firstbuilding contractor -- and he also openeda shop selling cotton piece-goods. Hebecame bankrupt when the shop burneddown in 1822, but Raffles helped him tore-start his business, which was toprosper greatly.3.5.The Arabs, Armenians, Jews andAmericans: With his background asformer Lieutenant-Governor of Java,Raffles sought to attract enterprising Arabtraders from the Dutch East Indies. Thefirst to arrive in 1819, from Palembangin Sumatra, were Syed Mohammed binHarun Al-Junied and his nephew SyedOmar bin Ali Al-Junied. They settled inKampong Glam,and built a thrivingcommunity around Arab Street.A smaller but also rich tradingcommunity were the Armenians, ledinitially by Aristarchus Moses whoarrived in 1820. They built one of thefirst Christian churches in Singapore, theArmenian Church of St.Gregory,consecrated in 1836.The earliest Jewish traders had arrivedby 1830. The pioneer was a man withthe impressive name of AbrahamSolomon, who came from Baghdad. Helived in Boat Quay, and later built thefirst Jewish synagogue in the early 1840s.3.6.The Europeans: In the social peckingorder,the most influential traders wereof course the Europeans, and the mostinfluential among them were the Scots.Again, I take my cue from Dr MaryTurnbull who writes: "Most of the earliestEuropeans were former merchant navymen or agents of Calcutta firms.The doyen of the mercantile communitywas a Scotsman, Alexander LaurieJohnston, a former ship's owner/captain,who settled in July 1820, founded thefirm of A.L. Johnston & Company, andremained the leader of the Europeanmerchants until his retirement from theEast in 1841. Another Scot, AlexanderGuthrie, founder of Singapore's oldestsurviving firm, arrived from the Cape ofGood Hope in January 1821" (Turnbull,p.15).This theme is taken up by Mr RoderickMacLean, in his coffee-table book, APattern of Change: the Singapore InternationalChamber of Commerce from 1837(Singapore: SICC, 2000): "In the earliestdays of the settlement, the number ofEuropean firms based in Singapore wasnaturally quite small.... There was a strongScottish contingent among them, whichin other, less politically correct, days mightalmost have been termed a Scottish,'Mafia' with apparent nepotictendencies..." (p.17).Maclean also notes the influence of thetrading community in local affairs:"Inevitably in such a small community,the leading figures, the majority of whomwere merchants, involved themselvesin every cause and issue of the day, bothgreat and small" (p.18).He also highlights the role of Scotsmenin the founding of the SingaporeChamber of Commerce. AlexanderJohnston was the founding Chairman in1837, and Alexander Guthrie waschairman in 1846 and 1847 (pp.22-25).Apart from the first two British Residents,most of the magistrates (who were mostlymerchants) appointed by Raffles werealso Scotsmen. [For details on all thesetraders, see C.B.Buckley, An AnecdotalHistory of Old Times in Singapore (1902;reprint, Kuala Lumpur: University ofMalaya Press, 1965).]Among the earliest Americans to arrive 4. Concluding Businessin Singapore was Joseph Balestier, who Lest it be thought that I have given unduebecame the first American Consul here. prominence to the role of these traders asHis wife, Maria, was a daughter of the pioneers of early colonial Singapore, letfamed American patriot, Paul Revere, me remind you of a famous statement ofand presented a bell for St. Andrew’s one of the less famous AmericanChurch. This Revere Bell was later Presidents, Calvin Coolidge, who saiddonated to the Museum and even later that "The chief business of the Americanloaned to the U.S. Embassy.people is business". I think it couldalso be said that "The chief business ofthe Singaporean people is business". Itwas so in the early days, and it remainstrue today.A Quarterly Publication of Raffles Town Club 11Pioneers of Early Colonial Singapore(1819-1850)[Dr Ernest Chew is an Associate Professorial Fellow of the UniversityScholars Programme at the National University of Singapore, and HonoraryChairman of the Singapore History Museum]