A ‘New World Is Created’, 1819–74

Abstract

The most colourful description of life in the new British settlement of Singapore is contained in the Hikayat Abdullah (The Story of Abdullah) which is the autobiography of the noted teacher of Malay who was also scribe to Stamford Raffles. One of Abdullah’s main concerns is the change brought about by the European presence, ‘the destruction of the old world and the creation of a new’. He is understandably less interested in the historical continuities which, despite the overriding sense of change, can still be discerned. The very readiness of Malay rulers to establish links with British officials in Singapore and Penang was in keeping with previous Malay diplomacy. Like the Dutch and Portuguese, the British simply represented a new and powerful element whose friendship was desirable. Nor was Singapore’s commercial success unprecedented. In the tradition of earlier entrepôts such as Melaka and Johor, its prosperity owed much to its unrivalled geographic position, to which was added the attraction of free trade in an age when tariffs and protection were almost universal. The initial acceptance of the British was also aided by the fact that the areas involved — Penang, Singapore, Province Wellesley and Melaka — had not been forcibly taken from any Malay power and at least the trappings of legality surrounded their transfer. Well before the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the British appeared the legitimate heirs to the prestige formerly accorded the VOC.