Singapore is located at the southern tip of mainland Malaysia, between the Johor and Singapore Straits. It is made up of a main island surrounded by 63 much smaller islands. The total square footage of all the islands combined is only 700 square kilometers.
During the colonial era, the Dutch, Portuguese and English were all vying for Asian trading ports. The English set up a few ports in the general area, including one in Malaysia, China (Hong Kong) and Sumatra (Indonesia). Sir Stamford Raffles, a British lieutenant governor, believed that the key location for a port was south of the Malaysia peninsula. At that time, Singapore was controlled by the Johor empire of southern Malaysia, and locally governed by a chieftain. In 1819, Raffles struck a deal with the Johor sultan, as well as the local chieftain, to set up a free trade port in Singapore. At the time the island was nothing more than a swamp and dense jungle, but Raffles had big plans to turn Singapore into a “place of considerable magnitude and importance”.
Under British rule, Singapore did indeed flourish. Within 2 years the population went from about 150 to 10,000 and became a booming trade port. People came from all over the Middle East and Asia. Wide streets, ship yards, churches, houses, government buildings, botanical gardens, and so forth were erected in the rapidly growing city. But it was also plagued with problems, including poor sanitation, disease, opium addiction and piracy. Even before World War II, there was a growing dissatisfaction with British rule within the colony.
Singapore was easily captured by the Japanese on February 15, 1942 and remained in Japanese control until the Japanese surrendered in 1945. The Japanese were ruthless, killing, imprisoning and systematically abusing the locals. After the war ended, the British were welcomed back, but after the trials of the war, there was a strong desire among the people to be an independent nation. The British encouraged their colonies to set up independent governments. In 1959 Lee Kuan Yew became the first elected Prime Minister, though still technically under British rule.
England encouraged Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore to unify into one nation. Malaysia had already been granted independent status by the English. Brunei had recently become very wealthy from oil, and opted not to join the union because they did not want to share their resource, choosing instead to stay under the England’s wing. Singapore and Malaysia’s union lasted only two years because of differing ideologies and visions on how the government should be run.
Within a few years of the Singapore and Malaysia split, Singapore was recognized as a completely independent nation. Lee and his cabinet moved forward with his ambitious plans to advance Singapore to a first world utopia. They set about modernizing and upgrading the infrastructure. They created strict laws regarding social behaviors with severe penalties for crimes and misdemeanors. They made everyone equal, regardless of race or religion, and celebrated ethnic diversity. Singapore is made up primarily of Chinese, Malay and Indians, with many people from other cultures in the mix. Lee succeeded in creating his utopia. Today Singapore is the largest shipping port in the world, one of the cleanest and most modern cities in the world, one of the safest cities in the world, and has the highest percentage of home ownership in the world.
Like Suharto in Indonesia, Lee was democratically elected, and then changed the laws to ensure he remained in power, using measure such as restricting media from any ideas that oppose Lee and suppressing other political parties. Lee was in power for 31 years. Both Lee and Suharto succeded in creating what they set out to build. Lee created a great place for his people to live. Suharto created great personal wealth for himself. Lee’s successor, Goh Chok Tong, was in power for 14 years. In 2004, Lee’s son, Lee Hsien Loong, took power. Both successors to the throne have ruled in the same manner as Lee did.
Hi, I have been following your trip just for about the last week. I read with interest about your recent voyage from Indonesia to Singapore.
I have been looking forward to read your further blogs and see what you have made of your first few days in Singapore after such a hard trip, hoping that you would be able to add in some photos of what you saw and did in Singapore.
I must say that I was not expecting to read your summary of how Singapore came about, or your views about the governance in Singapore. I don’t know if you knew much about Singapore before coming here or where or how you have obtained your information, but unfortunately I believe that there are several factual errors in what you have written and do not believe that your last paragraph of observations is factually correct, or can be considered fair or warranted.
Lee Kuan Yew is held in high regard by most Singaporeans. He and his political party the PAP went through, elections every five years, and won overwhelming majorities each time.
He cannot be held up and compared to Suharto and called a dictator as you have done.
When you understand this region a bit more you will understand that nation building, economic prosperity, health, welfare and avoiding social unrest in a rather diverse community were held as much more important than a western style free media, if indeed such a thing exists.
Singapore’s future was rather bleak in the early independent years. A very far cry indeed from today. Utopia as you call it. Economic prosperity and well being as most Singaporeans would refer to it.
I do realize they are your own opinions, and it’s your blog, but in my case I don’t agree with what you have written, and many people within the country that you are a guest in at the moment will find what you have written unfair and offensive.
Good luck with the rest of your trip.
Interesting rebuttal Mr. Petrie. I guess one man’s dictator is another man’s father of the nation. Depends if he makes the trains run on time or not!
Most peoples, their customs and traditions, and countries and places, are different from those of the United States.
However nature, and humanity does exist and surrounds us.
But is this the end of Rico!
Love your blog, but only interested about what happens on the water and with your boat and yourselves. Bill Petrie was spot on with his remarks by the way.
The best posting ever from you in my view was the fear and pain you endured crossing to Singapore, as it really struck a cord with me for my upcoming trip to the same region and beyond. May I respectfully suggest that you plan much better what’s ahead going West with the weather.(remember the Spring/Fall lesson) A good resource on line is http://www.greatsouthernroute.com. It has great weather commentary from pleasure boat captains who do it all the time.
Regards,
Peter
I would have to disagree with Mr. Sheppard. Some of the best travel logs are those which remark upon the visited place’s people, culture and history– in the recorder’s perspective. In fact this tradition started with Herodotus. Father of history or father of lies, depends on how well you take someone else’s travel report about your people I guess. I think Eric and Christi should continue to record their experiences the way they see fit. My 2 cents.
I agree totally with Rich, it’s your blog and your opinions and insights are what I want to see weather I always agree or not. Be safe on your wonderful journey.
Heather Moore
Wow! Controversy! 🙂
Great job in prompting rational discussion – fascinating to me seeing/hearing/reading world views from those with much more real world experience than myself. I love Rich Herron’s quote: “Father of history or father of lies, depends on how well you take someone else’s travel report about your people I guess.” I enjoy hearing both sides…
BTW – love the blog! Dedicated reader… I enjoy all of the posts – the boat, the nature, the local cultures. Thank you!
Poor Bill… he was probably that poorly heeded hall monitor in grade school.
Now here’s some interesting stuff: Singapore could be misnamed!
From wikipedia:
“The name Singapura comes from the Malay words singa (“lion”) and pura (“city”).[11] According to the Malay Annals, this name was given by a 14th century Sumatran prince named Sang Nila Utama, who, landing on the island after a thunderstorm, spotted an auspicious beast on the shore that his chief minister identified as a lion.[12] Recent studies of Singapore indicate that lions have never lived there (not even Asiatic lions), and the beast seen by Sang Nila Utama was likely a tiger, most likely the Malayan Tiger.”
I was there 25 years ago. The only thing I can remember is Raffles bar and prawns. HUGE, delicious prawns.
Hey you woke everyone one up with that blog.
I never miss a day.
Have to agree with Peter Sheppard, all of your reports are interesting,
but I love the one’s on the water.
Keep up the good work, and be safe.
Regarding Some Recent Comments on the Singapore Posts:
1. “Dictator†does not refer to how one got into power, but instead how much power they are allowed to wield in office. Singapore’s Lee wields a tremendous amount of power and thus falls in the “dictator†category. Not all dictators are bad, some are benevolent leaders who do great things for their countries that would not be possible with less power, such as Singapore. Too much power in the right set of hands can bring about much good, just as too much power in the wrong hands can bring about much bad.
2. This is a journal of all the things we experience – see, do and learn — on our journey. We are not merely sightseeing; we are trying to learn more about the people, lifestyle and cultures of each country we visit. Understanding the history, religion and political structure is fundamental to understanding the culture and mentality of the people. Also, understanding the politics (what is not legal, how the police operate, etc), as well as social taboos, keep us from foolishly getting ourselves into trouble.
3. As it is clearly spelled out in “About This Blogâ€, this is a travel log and not a boating site. Yes, we talk about Kosmos a lot because she is both our home and our primary mode of transport, but boating is not the primary focus of this site.