- He was in charge of a
trading settlement (Pg 17) in Bencoolen.
- He saw Lord Hastings – the Governor General of India
- To look for another trading settlement as Penang and Bencoolen are too far from the main trading settlement.
- There is a need to do so, and must also maintain good relations with the Dutch.
- He set sail with a fleet of seven ships.
- On
29 Jan 1819, Raffles and his assistant, Major William Farquhar landed on the island of Singapore.
- He was impressed with
what he saw* on Singapore.
- *Harbour with deep water--> big ships can call at the port.
- *Plenty of fresh water--> ships can stop at the port for water before continuing their journeys.
- *Good locality - located on the main trade route between India and China.
- Hence, he can imagine Singapore to grow into a prosperous port in the future. (A visionary)
- He decided to set up a trading settlement in Singapore.
- Singapore will always remain a
free port. (Pg 21)
- He saw Temenggong (Malay Chief) -->found that Singapore did not belong to him--> belonged to the Sultan of Johor who had just died at that time.
- He invited his ellder son, Tengki Hussein / Tengki Long back to Singapore and asked him for permission to set up the British trading settlement in Singapore.
- He installed him as the Sultan of Johor on
6 Feb 1819, known as Sultan Hussein--> signed an agreement to allow him to set up a British trading settlement in Singapore. In return, the British would pay the Sultan and the Temenggong large sums of money every year.
- He
left Singapore after signing the agreement.
(1819)- He
returned to Singapore in
1822 (3 years later after he left).
- He helped develop Singapore into a prosperous port.
-
In 1823, he banned slave trading, closed all gambling dens and banned public gambling.
- He believed education was important – started the first school, the Singapore Institution. (Currently known as Raffles Institution)
- Problems arise as settlement grew.
- Buildings are built in a very disorderly manner, making it very unsightly and difficult for people to find their way around.
- To solve the problem, he came up with a town plan. This will make Singapore an orderly place to live in.
- Large groups of settlers would be relocated under this town plan.
- He set up a committee – one European trader and two British officials. They helped him by gathering feedback from different racial groups on what they felt about the town plan.
- He decided to build more roads and buildings.
- In his town plan, he divided the town into different areas for government, commercial and residential use. The residential area was further divided into areas for different races.
- Victoria Memorial Hall, currently known as Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall was one located in the Government Area.
- Raffles place was previously the Commercial Square. It was once a hill; flatten to create space for Commerical Square.
- The earth (soil) from the hill was used to build a landing area (Boat Quay) for boats near Commerical Square, currently also known as Boat Quay. The Chinese and Europeans built houses and warehouses on the reclaimed land.
History of Raffles- He was born on board ship in
1781.
- He started school at
12 years old.
- He left school at
14 years old as father could not pay for his school fees.
- He started working as a clerk at
16 years old when his father died.
- He did not stop learning; reading books by candlelight during the night time.
- He was promoted several times as he was hardworking and loved learning.
- He taught himself Science, French and German, and later picked up Malay from Munshi Abdullah, a Malay teacher to many Europeans in Singapore and a famous writer.
- Learning to speak Malay and understanding the Malay customs and history enabled him to get along well with the Malay Sultan and the Malay community.
- He discovered the largest flower, Rafflesia (named after him) in the world.
- He
helped to start the first Botanic Gardens at the foot of Fort Canning.
(He is not the founder.)- He made hundreds of drawings of the people, plants and animals of Java, Sumatra and the surrounding islands.
- He wrote the histories of Java, Singapore, Malaya and the Celebus.
-
In 1824, he returned to England. His ship caught fire. He and his family survived but all his invaluable drawings and papers were destroyed. However, he did not give up and began to redraw the maps and tried to build up his collection again. (Great determination)
- He continued to work in England until he fel ill and died in his home in
1826.
-
Two statue of Raffles in Singapore; the
white statue stands at
North Boat Quay, known as the Raffles Landing Site, and the
bronze statue can be found
in front of Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.Qualities of Raffles-
Loved learning: Taught himself Science, French and German. He was also very knowledgeable in History, Music and Arts. Learned Malay from Munshi Abdullah.
-
Had good communication skills - Learned the above languages and tried to understand Malay culture and history so as to enhance the communications between the Malay and the British.
-
Was a visionary. He saw the potential of Singapore to grow into a prosperous port in the future.
-
Had leadership. Under his leadership and with the use of competent people such as
Farquhar and those in the committee – one European trader and two British officials, the growth of Singapore is evident.
