Chapter 3

• Law and order

  1. With an influx of more migrants there was a lot more robberies, murders and other crimes
  2. Thomas Dunman was appointed Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Superintendent of Police in 1843 and Singapore's full time commissioner of police in 1857. He trued to enlarge the police force and by 1930s, the police force expanded to about 2000 strong
• Police force

  • William Farquar's son-in-law was the chief police officer, but he could not give all his time and attention.
  • -- police force remained relatively small and weak (only one chief police officer, one writer, one jailor)
• Police Force

  • Thomas Dunman continued as the Singapore's first Commissioner of Police in 1857 and tried to enlarge the police force and by the 1930s, the police force expanded to about 2000 strong
  • -- However, the police force was still unable to solve all the problems of crime and disorder
• Labour abuses (Who were the migrants?)

  • By 1871, 58% of the population belonged to the Chinese community
  • Singapore's growth as a commercial center attracted many Chinese migrants over due to the prospect of work
  • These migrants were known as Sinkehs (new guests), and took up any job they could
• Labour abuses

  1. Coolie agents were responsible for finding coolies for their employers

  • --Many were tempted by high profits, willing to trick poor Chinese migrants

  2. Poor conditions on board the overcrowded coolie ships with a lack

  of food and water

  
  

  3. Many of them were even locked up in houses after landing in

  Singapore
• Secret Societies Problems

  Many of those who arrived from China found it useful to join a secret society

  • Benefits such as protection, helping members to find work and housing, taking care of the sick
  • Many of these migrants and uneducated young men who did not have any families or friends in Singapore
• Secret Society Problems

  By the 1840s, secret society numbers increased to the thousands and many of them took part in gang robberies, fights and other forms of lawlessness

  1. E.g. 1854 Hokkien-Teochew that started due to conflicts between the Hokkien and Teochew communities
• Prostitution

  • Due to the difficult working conditions for the male migrants, many turned to opium smoking, drinking, gambling and visiting brothels
  • There was a great demands for prostitutes, many young female migrants from China were tricked into the prostitution trade in Singapore
  • They were promised well-paying jobs, but sold to brothels and forced to earn money for them
• Solution ; Chinese protectorate

  1. May 1877, the Chinese Protectorate was set up to address problems of coolie abuse, secret society and prostitution in Chinese community
  2. William Pickering became the first protector of the Chinese, and he was fluent with Chinese dialects
• Solution ; Chinese Protectorate

  1. William Pickering had all the coolie agents register with the Chinese Protectorate to ensure that the coolies were treated fairly
  2. In 1890, the dangerous societies ordinance was formed to banish Chinese migrants and remove any society deemed too dangerous
• Piracy

  • Every year, the pirate wind or the season between August and October brought large fleets of pirate coats from northern Borneo to the Straits of Melaka where they attacked trading ships and boats sailing between Singapore and Penang. Other pirates also came from pirate settlements along the coasts of Java, Sumatra and Malaya
  • Gunboats was sent from India to patrol the waters but it was a temporary solution only.
  • Only in the early 1870s did piracy become less of a problem due to increased patrolling by the British and other European powers
• Educational opportunities (1819 - 1867)

  • For the most part of the early 19th century, the British government provided few education services for the people in Singapore
  • Before 1867, little attention was given to English or the vernacular education and focused only on subsidizing a few schools.
  • There were few Tamil-language and Chinese-language schools, and instead the establishment of schools was left mostly to the efforts of carious Christian missionary groups and European traders
• Educational opportunities (1867 - 1942)

  • With rapid expansion, the needs of British colonial administration increased. Educational activities started to grow from 1867 onwards
  • The British government took deliberate steps to promote English to create a supply of English-speaking clerks in the government and companies
  • As for education that did not directly support trade, and government administration in Singapore, it was usually left to non-government agencies
• Educational opportunities (1867 - 1942)

  Educational opportunities created by non-government agencies had 2 consequences

  • It led to a growth of Chinese schools run by the Chinese community in 1911
  • Schools established by Christian missionaries were given a free hand in how they were run
• Opening of the Suez canal in 1869

  Before 1869, ships travelling between Europe and Asia had to go around the Cape of Food Hope. This route was long and dangerous.

  The Suez Canal was constructed (17 Nov 1869) to shorten the journey by linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.
• Opening the Suez Canal in 1869

  The journey from London to Singapore usually took at least 120 days

  With the Suez Canal, it would take about 50 days. Within days of its opening, it became the busiest waterways in the world
• Impact of Suez Canal on Singapore

  1. Lower shipping costs because of reduced distance and time spent to travel
  2. Increase in ships passing through the Straits Of Melaka and Singapore become a well-known port for refueling and collecting food supplies
  3. Enhanced Singapore's role as a coaling station with the increased use of steamships
• Expansion of the tin industry : Why was there a high demand for tin?

  1. New machinery and new methods of mining allowed tin smelting industry to prosper
  2. Tin was one of the most popular exports due to the invention of canned food that could store food for extended periods of time
• Expansion of the tin industry : How did it impact Singapore

  1. The growth of trade between Malaya and Straits Settlement, especially in Singapore
  2. Singapore became a key part of Malayan commodities to be processed and exported to the rest of the world
  3. By 1890, Malaya was producing more than half of the world's tin with Singapore benefitting from trade
• Expansion of rubber industry : Why was there a high demand for rubber

  1. Due to John Dunlop's invention of the phenimantic tyres which can be used for auto mobiles and bicycles
  2. Planters in Malaya were interested in growing rubber and hurried to Singapore Botanic Gardens to ask for seeds
• Expansion of the rubber industry : How did it impact Singapore?

  1. Singapore had rubber processing factories and rubber trees were grown and tapped for their latex which increased jobs and economic growth
  2. Provided a lot of capital to open rubber plantations which allowed Singapore traders to export rubber for trade