History of Singapore

This book is a macro-study of Indian business communities in Singapore through different phases
of their growth since colonial times. It goes beyond the conventional labour-history approach to
study Indian immigrants to Southeast Asia, both in terms of themselves and their connections with
the people’s movements. It looks at how Indian business communities negotiated with others in
the environments in which they found themselves and adapted to them in novel ways. It especially
brings into focus the patterns and integration of the Indian networks in the large-scale transnational
flows of capital, one of the least studied aspects of the diaspora history in this part of the world.
The complexities and overlapping interests of different groups of traders and businessmen form an
interesting study of various aspects of these trading bodies, their methods of operation and their trade links, both within and outside Singapore. The book also charts their mobility and progress, in terms of both business and social status. The research aims to construct linear threads of linkages through generations and situate them in the larger framework and broader paradigms of business networks in Singapore.

While salvaging a steel barge off Pedra Branca in early 2015, commercial divers noticed intact ceramic plates on the seabed. Samples were brought to the ISEAS – Yusof-Ishak Institute where they were identified as 14th-century Longquan green-ware. An archaeological survey later confirmed an extensive shipwreck site, now designated the Temasek Wreck, with not just green-ware but also blue-and-white porcelain, shufu-ware and qingbai-ware from Jingdezhen, and brown-ware from Guangdong or Cizao in Fujian province. An excavation carried out in stages over four years resulted in the recovery of approximately 4.4 tonnes of ceramics, mostly
shards, and a handful of non-ceramic artefacts. None of the ship’s structure had survived.
Without any hull remains it is impossible to conclusively identify the type of ship. However, from circumstantial evidence such as an exclusive Chinese cargo and an absence of non-Chinese artefacts, there is a high probability that the ship was a Chinese junk. She contained more Yuan dynasty blue-and-white porcelain than any other documented shipwreck in the world. From an analysis of this rare and important cargo element it would seem that the wreck dates between 1340 and 1371. From the location of the wreck, the many parallel finds from Singapore terrestrial sites, and importantly a common dearth of large blue-and-white plates,
the ancient port of Singapore (Temasek) was the most likely intended destination.

The Flemish gem trader Jacques de Coutre visited Southeast Asia in the early 17th century, and his lengthy account of his experiences provides a glimpse of Singapore, Johor and the Straits of Melaka during an era for which little written material has survived. This special edition, which presents reworked highlights from the full translation, is designed to provide students, teachers and the wider public with a glimpse of this tumultuous region when it was still controlled by local rulers, and Western colonialism was just gaining a foothold. The author describes dangerous intrigues involving fortune hunters and schemers, as well as local rulers and couriers, adventures that on several occasions nearly cost him his life.
The manuscripts come from a bundle of documents preserved at the National Library of Spain in Madrid that includes De Coutre’s autobiography and several memorials to the Crowns of Spain and Portugal. Chapters from the autobiography have been excerpted from book I, which covers the writer’s life in Southeast Asia between 1593 and 1603. A glossary and list of place names provide information about officials, goods and places mentioned in the text that will be unfamiliar to readers of English.

In 1963, Brunei rejected to join Malaysia. Since its rejection of Malaysia in 1963, Brunei had never had a steady relationship with the Malaysian government. In 1960, the Malayan Prime Minister proposed the formation of the Federation of Malaysia which would consist of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, Sabah and Brunei. However, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III (r.1950-1967) refused to join Malaysia as he could not accept Malaysia's terms for examples on the control of Brunei's revenue and the Sultan's contribution to the federal government. Though Brunei rejected Malaysia, Britain was still planning to bring Brunei within the federation at least by 1965. 1 Brunei and the Malaysian Plan Initially, the British government hoped to see continuous cooperation from Malaysia in seconding Brunei its officers in various fields of administration even after Brunei's rejection of Malaysia in 1963. By giving Brunei this type of cooperation , the British government hoped that Brunei would become closer to and eventually enter Malaysia. Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of Malaysia however, demanded that the Brunei government return the Malaysian officers to Malaysia, as he wished to teach Brunei a lesson for not joining the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. 2 Tunku Abdul Rahman hoped that by recalling the officers, their positions would be substituted by British expatriates. 3 When this happened, he expected that it would stimulate the people of Brunei to rise against the British in Brunei, push the British to grant Brunei independence and drive the Bruneians to seek membership of

The late development of industrialism, socialism and national liberation movements in much of South-East Asia and Oceania saw anarchism emerge as a marginal force – with the exception of the Spanish- then US-occupied Philippines, British-occupied Malaya (Malaysia and Singapore), and Dutch- and Portuguese-occupied East Indies (Indonesia and East Timor) where it developed as a key component of the anti-colonial struggle. This text, provided especially for the Indonesian PPR, is a slightly modified extract from Michael Schmidt, In the Shadow of a Hurricane: Global Anarchist Ideological and Organisational Lineages, publication forthcoming.

This article studied the development of Singapore's history in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. The objectives of this study were: 1) to investigate Singapore's development as a British colonial trading port, and 2) to examine trade and development of labor in seaport towns. Using a historical methodology, the data were collected from the records of the indigenous people explored in previous research studies. The key concepts of the article were colonialism and labor liberalization, which reflected the context of Malay Peninsula trading at that time. The results of the study showed that: 1) maritime trade attracted labors and migrants, especially from East Asia and South Asia to Singapore; 2) traditional slave trade was abolished by the British colonial regime and consequently, 3) labor liberalization was encouraged in Singapore. This study brought about an understanding of changing meanings and forms of labor, as well as social development of Singapore as an important colonial seaport in Southeast Asia during the 19 th and 20 th centuries.

Review of: John N. Miksic, Singapore & the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300–1800. Singapore: NUS/ National Museum of Singapore, 2013, ix +491 pp. ISBN 9789971695743, price: US 65.00 (hardback); 9789971695583, 48.00 (paperback) // Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Leiden). 2014. Vol. 170.4. P. 587–590.

International Seminar "A Sociedade e a Grande Guerra" - "The Great War and Society", Faculty of Letters, Lisbon University, Portugal, 13.11.2014

Place:

Faculty of Letters, Lisbon University
Alameda da Universidade
1600-214 Lisbon
Anfiteatro III (Central Building)
14:00 Western European Winter Time
Entrance: Free

In August 2015, nearly 90 years after the disappearance of trams in Singapore, former Government Town Planner Sit Kwok-keung proposed the cancellation of tram route in Hong Kong (HK), on the grounds that it is no longer efficient.  The proposal instantly led to a surge of local interest on the history of tramways. Tramways were extensively introduced in Asian cities along with the spread of colonialism.  Indeed, the introduction of tramway system is a landmark in the histories of urban transport and urban planning, as it has often marked the shift from pre-colonial man-powered to modern mechanised transportation, and made effective urban planning and economic development possible.  Yet, those topics in an Eastern perspective are scarce, and so in urgent need of further scrutinising and historicising.  This article aims at filling the gap by examining the patterns and impacts of colonial transport development, and its relations with urban planning, using the cases of tramways in two of the most important and busiest British colonial ports in the East – HK and Singapore.  After illustrating some essential background issues, the essay will compare and contrast the developments and impacts of HK and Singapore Tramways, which are then followed by the important but often neglected linkage between transportation development and urban planning in colonies.  It is found that the two tramways experienced similar experiences and difficulties at first, but the lack of governmental support and inferior management strategies in Singapore led to her tramways’ ultimate downfall in the late 1920s, and thus limited the impact on the society.  Furthermore, it is agued that in the period concerned, due to the dominating laissez-faire capitalist approach in colonial administrations, the colonial transport did not play an active role in urban planning but indirectly served as catalyst to urban development.

The University Socialist Club and the Contest for Malaya - 1[-]Contents - 8[-]Acknowledgments - 12[-]List of Photographs - 16[-]Abbreviations - 18[-]1 The Socialist Club and the Modernity Project - 20[-]2 Awake in the Bowl of Night - 42[-]3 The Fajar Trial - 62[-]4 Visionary of the Nation, Voice of Stifled Malayans - 82[-]5 A Beacon of Light on the Campus and Beyond - 106[-]6 Frankly Partisan in the Struggle for Student Leadership - 128[-]7 The Shadow over the Club - 154[-]8 Resisting Malaysia, Swansong for Malaya - 168[-]9 Long Night after Coldstore - 192[-]10 In Defence of University Autonomy and Student Rights - 210[-]11 Entwined Memories and Myths - 234[-]Conclusion: Modernity in Singapore and Malaya Reconsidered - 256[-]The University Socialists: Biographical Sketches - 266[-]Timeline of Events - 282[-]Notes - 288[-]Bibliography - 326[-]Index - 338

As 2019 marked the centenary of China’s May Fourth demonstrations, in this piece, we reflect on how this event and the broader movement surrounding it were commemorated in Singapore and Hong Kong, with reference to Southeast Asia. We probe the question of how the movement’s “memorialization” and “localization” in these two settings were shaped by both their connection with China and the history of British colonialism. Politicians, intellectuals, and students negotiated the meaning of the movement congruent with a variety of agendas, whereas the commemorations also coincided with another anniversary in Singapore and occurred amidst political protests in Hong Kong.

Online version:
https://www.iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/may-fourth-100-singapore-and-hong-kong-memorialization-localization-and

This article builds on existing scholarship about the history of student activism in Singapore by arguing that student activism re-emerged briefly during the 1980s as a result of the "Great Marriage Debate". The National University of Singapore Students' Union (NUSSU) attempted to engage the government despite limits imposed on it, but its impact was relatively muted. However, through their literary works and publications, some individual students still challenged the government in the ideological terrain, reflecting the limits of its hegemony.