Write up

History Project Write Up

In the 1819s, Singapore was keen to attract Asian and European traders. To attract Asian and European traders to the new port, Raffles directed that land along the banks of the Singapore River, particularly the south bank, be reclaimed where necessary and allocated to Chinese and English country traders to encourage them to establish a stake in the port-settlement. Chinese traders, because of their frequent commercial interactions with Southeast Asian traders throughout the year, set up their trading houses along the lower reaches of the river, while English country traders, who depended on the annual arrival of trade from India, set up warehouses along the upper reaches. The port relied on three main networks of trade that existed in Southeast Asia at that time: the Chinese network, which linked Southeast Asia with the southern Chinese ports of Fujian and Guangdong; the Southeast Asian network, which linked the islands of the Indonesian archipelago; and the European and Indian Ocean network, which linked Singapore to the markets of Europe and the India Ocean littoral. These networks were complementary, and positioned Singapore as the transshipment point of regional and international trade.

• Trades

       Singapore was a busy place for trading and settlement before 1819.From the sources examined
       such as the portrait of old ships, I can tell that monsoon winds enabled traders to sail to
      Singapore for trading. The fragments of Chinese stoneware also show that there was trade in 
      Singapore. Thus these sources prove to us that many groups of traders came to Singapore for
      trading and settlement before 1819.

•  Economic

       Before 1819, Singapore was already a very well known trading spot from the set of gold
       ornaments that was being found at Fort canning Hill, which was being posted. The symbols on
       this gold ornaments represents a hindu god. So, we can infer that there were wealthy people who
       were living in Singapore that can afford to buy such expensive gold ornaments.

• Political 

       This source Sejarah Melayu ( The Malay Annals ) was first written in the 1437. It documents the
       history, the law and ceremonies of the malay kings or sultans that were ruling the malay
       Kingdom. The words that are being written on the Malay Annals as shown in the picture of the
       source posted, is the malay language.  

Chinese Coins (economic)

Economic

This chinese coin is called the Kai Yuan Tong Bao, dating from the 621 - 907 .

This picture is taken on 18 february from the national museum.

This chinese coin is suitable for monetary trade as during monetary trade, the people needs to use money to purchase items last time ( the older generations )

Each coin has a hole in the middle to put those red threads in and tie them together with other coins to make it easier for people to count and keep, thus not being lost or dropped easily too.

The chinese words 'Kai Yuan' means a new beginning and the chinese words 'Tong Bao' means 'circulating treasure' or 'coin'.

This chinese coin is made out of copper,brass or iron.

Gold Ornaments (economic)

Economic

 

Picture was taken at the Singapore National Museum on 18 February 2014.
 

These gold ornaments were from the Sacred Hill and they were found at Fort Canning in the year of 1928 by labourers.One of them stated that the ornaments were found lying beneath the top of a pre-colonial soil.

The gold ornaments consists of an armlet and a set of earrings. Both of them are made out of gold. This set of ornaments are of a Javanese style as the design of the ornaments were found at the entrance of old Hindu and Javanese temples.

The set of earrings are with inferior diamonds. It connects with a bar-and-socket joints and hinges. The armlet has a design of a Hindu god, Kala, representing time and destruction and it is a protective symbol.

The Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals)

Political

Photo taken at National Museum on 18 February 2014

This Sejarah Melayu is believed to be first written around 1436. It documents the history, the law and ceremonies of the Malay Kings or sultans ruling the Malay Kingdom.

Adapted from Sejarah Melayu, extracted from Singapore:  700 Year History by Kwa Chong Guan.

Sri Tri Buana or Sang utama died in 1437 after a reign of 48 years. He was buried on the hill of Singapura, called the Bukit Larangan or the Forbidden Hill ( now Fort canning Hill ). He was then succeeded by his son, Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira.

In the late 1340s, during the reign of Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira, the East Javanese Kingdom of Majaphit claimed superiority over Singapura. It attacked Singapura because Paduka Sri Pikrama Wira showed indifference to majaphit's wish to be the overlord of Singapura.

Paduka Sri died ion 1362 after a reign of 15 years and was succeeded by his son Sri Rama Wikerma.

Sri Rama Wikerma died in 1375, and was then succeeded by his son, who acknowledged the overlord ship of the Siamese over Temasek or Singapura. It became a vessel state of Siam.

This extract is being shown to tell you why I classified the Sejarah Melayu under political. It tells me about the history and law of the malay king and the things about political issues.

Stoneware (Trades)

Citation of source

Photo taken from: Fort Canning Hill
Date taken: 20 February 2014

Description : These are pieces of stoneware which were once used for trading before 1819. They were commonly used as containers to store liquid mercury. People used mercury as an ingredient in medicine, and for making gold. These items were then exchanged for goods with many different groups of traders. Therefore, I can infer that there was an economic connection between Singapore and other countries.

Portrait of ships (Trades)

Photo taken from: Singapore National Museum

Date taken: 20 February 2014

Description: This is a picture of old ships used before 1819. These ships are not steam-powered. The people used sails so that the monsoon winds would take them to their destination. Therefore, I can infer that people took advantage of  the monsoon winds to travel to Singapore for trading and settlement.