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.

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.