The Founding of Singapore as British Trading Port

The Founding of Singapore as British Trading Port

Source 3: Letters of Sir Stamford Raffles

Let's recap

Make an educated guess!

Multiple Choice

Where do you think this gold coin was found?

• Near the Holland Village Windmill

• At the top of Bukit Larangan

• Along the north bank of the Singapore River

• At a bank

Chinese coins

• One of the many found along the north bank of the Singapore River

• These coins date to the Tang (618 – 907) and Northern Song (960 – 1127) dynasties, but were in circulation in Singapura in the 14th to 15th centuries. 

• They were used for payment, and some may have been melted down at metal workshops to make other objects

Multiple Choice

Where was this artefact discovered?

• Near Longyamen

• Along the Singapore River

• At Bukit Larangan

Javanese-style gold jewellery 

• The armlet bears details depicting the Javanese kala. 

• The kala motif is a protective symbol found at the entrance of Javanese temples dating from the 8th to 14th centuries.

Javanese-style gold jewellery 

• Fort Canning is the only site in Singapore where ancient gold ornaments have been discovered.

• This tells us that there was mostly likely royalty living on the hill.

Artefacts

• Like stories and historical records of early Singapore, the information that we gather from artefacts forms part of Singapore’s heritage. 

• Can you recall the process of studying an artefact?

•  Generate 5W1H questions, make careful observations and make inferences based on observations

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the man in the picture?

• Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles

• Lord Francis Rawdon-Hastings

• Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

• Lord Franc Rawdon-Hastings

British Trading Port

• A lot of trade took place in the Malay Archipelago

• The British, Dutch and Portuguese competed to control trade in the area

• Singapore eventually came under the control of the British in 1819

• Over ime, it became a busy port.

• We will be looking at letters written by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and other documents to learn about the events that led up to the establishment of a British trading port in Singapore.

Multiple Choice

Who do you think had greater control of trading ports in the Malay Archipelago?

• Dutch

• British

• Portuguese

Multiple Choice

Which picture shows the Malay Archipelago?

Multiple Choice

Sir Stamford Raffles was a British Official in charge of ___________.

• Orchard Road

• Raffles City

• City Hall

• Bencoolen

Two Significant Letters

• On 16 April 1818, he wrote a letter to Lord Francis Rawdon-Hastings, the Governor-General of India - the head of the British Government in India, requesting for a meeting.

Open Ended

Why do you think he wrote a letter to Lord Hastings?

Two Significant Letters

• Wanted to meet Lord Hastings to discuss how to help British ships travel more easily so as to increase their trade in the Malay Archipelago

• At that time, the Dutch had more control of trading ports in the area. Hence, they could not travel easily in the area.

Fill in the Blanks

The letter shown was written on 16 April 1818. In what year do you think Singapore was established as a British trading port?

Successfully Established as a Port

• On 13 February 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles wrote another letter.

• He informed his superiors that he had successfully established a trading port in Singapore.

• He provided an official account of the events leading to the founding of Singapore as British port.

• We will learn more about this in our next lesson.