History - Singapore
by Kamma, Simon and Nina
Singapore is the 16th biggest trading country, the 10th richest, and the least corrupted country in Asia, in spite of its small size. The living standard is high and the technology it extremely developed. But it hasn’t always been that way: In the 7th century Singapore was a part of the Sumatran Srivijaya-empire. When asking the Singaporeans how their city was founded, many will refer to an old myth, that tells the story of how a prince arrived at the, then unknown, city in 1299 and named it Singapura, which in Sanskrit means Lion City, because he thought he saw a lion. Years later, Singapura was destroyed during a conflict between Siam and Majapahit in Java. It was reclaimed by the jungle, and for 400 years it was deserted. January 26th 1819 the founder of Singapore, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffels, went ashore. He wanted to remake Singapore and have it be controlled by the British. In 1819 Raffles made a treaty with Sultan Hussein Shah, on behalf of the East India Company*. The purpose of the treaty was to make the Southern part of Singapore a British trading post. Raffles dreamed of making free trading possible for everyone. Due to the free trading system, many immigrants came from China, India, Malaya, and the surrounding areas. This meant that the population increased by 10000%, going from 1000 to 100.000 people within 50 years. People came to work in the rubber plantations and the tin industry. This was a great period for Singapore, and in 1867 it became a British crown colony. |
National Anthem of Singapore When the world economy crisis raged in 1929, it hit Singapore very hard. For the first time the immigration decreased, and a lot of restrictions where made by the Chinese men. The free trading system backfired, because no one had ever paid taxes. And then the 2nd world war came. In 1942 Singapore was occupied by Japan, but in 1945 they became a British colony again.
During the years Singapore’s independence increased. In 1958 they had internal self-government and in 1965 they became fully independent. Now in 2012 the Singaporean prime minister is called Tony Tan Keng Yam. Singapore has evolved from a no-mans land to a high-tech metropolis in very few years. *The East India Company: A company who traded with the Indian Subcontinent. *The Suez Canal: The fast way to Asia, when this opened the ships didn’t have to go all the way around the African South coast. |
Sources:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeTMo-hclOg
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O12Lwol3iaY History of Singapore, Discovery Channel (all chapters)
- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sn.html (CIA The World Fact book about Singapore)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore
- “Lande i Lommeformat - Singapore” Det Udenrigspolitiske Selskab 2011
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeTMo-hclOg
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O12Lwol3iaY History of Singapore, Discovery Channel (all chapters)
- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sn.html (CIA The World Fact book about Singapore)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore
- “Lande i Lommeformat - Singapore” Det Udenrigspolitiske Selskab 2011