History of Singapore, Part 2

The history of Singapore after Raffles left in 1823 was characterized by the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in London in 1824, which effectively split the Malay world between the Dutch and British influence, creating what was to become modern-day Malaysia and Indonesia. The Dutch ceded Malacca to the British while the British ceded Bencoolen to the Dutch. That year, Singapore was also ceded outright to the British, who paid off Sultan Hussein and the Temenggung handsomely. Three years later, in 1827, Singapore was united with Penang and Malacca to form the Straits Settlements, which became British Crown Colony in 1867. Singapore's economy continued to boom as immigrants continue to pour in from all corners of Asia and beyond.

The introduction of rubber into Malaya by Henry Ridley in 1877 marked another high point in the history of Singapore, as it helped to bolster Singapore as a center for rubber exporting. The opening of the Suez Canal and the advent of the steamship further consolidated Singapore's position as an international trading hub. Between 1873 and 1913, trading volume increased by eightfold, and continued unabated.

The history of Singapore during World War II marked a time of great suffering for its people. Singapore fell to Japanese occupation on 15 February, 1945, three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, and starting three and a half year of brutal Japanese rule. By the time the Japanese surrendered in 1945, tens of thousands of people, primarily the Chinese, had died.

Singapore achieved self government for the first time in May 1959, when Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party won 43 of the 51 seats. Lee became Singapore's first prime minister, and he quickly considered how he could improve his island's security through a possible merger with Malaya. In 1963, Singapore merged with Malaya, sarawak and British North Borneo (now Sabah) to form Malaysia. The marriage lasted only two years, and on 9 August, 1965, a tearful Lee told his nation that they are now independent - left to their own devices without any natural resources.

To ensure the tiny nation's survival, Lee ruled with an iron fist. The media was heavily censored, and more disturbingly, the government dealt harshly with political oppositions. The Internal Security Act grants the power to detain without trial anybody the government consideres to be a threat to the nation. A birth-control campaign was introduced in the early 1970s, engineered to decelerate Singapore's population increase. It was so effective that by the 1980s, the campaign had to be reversed, with the introduction of the "Go for Three" project, to boost the national (and some say, the Chinese Singaporean) birth rate.

Lee Kuan Yew retired in 1990. Goh Chok Tong became the second prime minister of Singapore, replaced by Lee Hsien Loong, the son of Lee Kuan yew, in August, 2004. Go back from History of Singapore Part 2 to History of Singapore Part 1 Go from History of Singapore Part 2 to DIY Singapore Vacation Homepage

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