History: Chapter 3 Flashcards
What is free port status?
When was it established and by who?
Traders come in ships from different places and can trade freely with one another without having to pay taxes on the goods they carried.
It was put in place by the British in 1819.
Free Port Status
What are two types of trade involved and what are they?
Transshipment and Entrepôt Trade.
Transshipment is the transfer of goods from one trading ship to another while in transit at the port.
Entrepôt Trade is the repackaging and redistribution of imported manufactured goods and regional produce.
What is an example of Entrepôt Trade?
Tea, silk and porcelain from China, cotton and opium from India, and manufactured produce from Britain are transported to Singapore and repackaged then sent to places like Europe, India, China, and the Malay Archipelago.
Free Port Status
What happened after that?
As a result, Singapore flourished as a port city. Between 1830 and 1867, its trade almost tripled. By the time Singapore was handed over to the Colonial Office in 1867, it was already one of the most important and prosperous ports in the British Empire.
What was Singapore transferred to and when? (Administrative Changes)
Singapore was transferred to the British India Government in 1819 (until 1824) and the East India Company (EIC) in 1824 (until 1858)
What was Singapore like before and after it was transferred?
Before, Singapore’s government had trouble managing the needs of the expanding population and raising money
The British India Government had supported a constant drain in finances to maintain a colony which it gained no profit, and hardly paid a cent in taxes.
Who was the chief police officer of the police force before and when? What was it like?
Francis James Bernard was the chief police officer in 1820.
However, he had other duties to attend to. The police force remained small and weak with very few members (one jailer, one writer, one chief police officer, 1 European and 8 Asian policemen) and was very hard to keep peace in Singapore.
Who led the police force after that and what was his title? What did he do and how did this help Singapore?
In 1843, Thomas Dunman was made Deputy Magistrate and Deputy Superintendent of Police.
He persisted in making the police force more appealing to potential recruits by fighting for better wages and higher working conditions.
He managed to attract better men into the police force. He was able to enlarge the police force by taking in more men, especially those of good character.
By the time he retired in 1871, he had achieved much by reducing gang robberies and improving the quality and morale of the police force.
How does the coolie system work?
Those who had the money to pay for passage could choose any job they found once they reached Singapore.
Those who could not afford to pay for passage had to first find a coolie-agent, who would pay for their passage and find a place for them to work. After that, the coolie would have to work for more than a year to pay off the debts they owed their employer for paying the coolie-agents.
Why did the coolies decide to work in Singapore and what were the conditions they were put in? When did this start?
Some were tempted by huge amounts of money, tricked, or kidnapped by coolie-agents in China. This became more common as the Chinese community started expanding around 1871.
The conditions of the coolie ships were very poor. They were crammed aboard, and there was a lack of food and water. Many coolies died during the voyage.
When they reached Singapore, they were locked up in houses to prevent them from escaping. The houses were in very bad conditions and were cramped and unhygienic.
Who joined secret societies and why did they join them?
Mostly poor and uneducated young men.
They were far away from their homelands, hence they felt lonely and helpless in Singapore.
They were befriended by members of secret societies who helped them find work or lodging, and thus they ended up joining them.
- They could enjoy the protection of the society
- The societies would take care of them when they were sick
- When they died without anyone to bury them, they would give them a proper burial
What did the secret societies do?
They took part in gang robberies, gang fights and other forms of lawlessness. They would carry out armed robberies on the homes of the rich.
They were also responsible for many of the riots in the 1840s and 1850s as they fought for control of territory and illegal vice trades such as gambling and prostitution.
Why was there a high demand for prostitution?
Most of the Chinese migrants were unmarried or left their wives in their homeland. There were very few Chinese migrants who were females in Singapore.
As working conditions were hard for the Chinese migrants, most of them turned to visiting brothels to escape the hardship.
What happened because of the high demand for prostitution?
As there was a high demand for prostitutes, this meant that brothel owners and traffickers could make large profits. In the latter part of 19th century:
- young female migrants tricked into prostitution trade
- promised well-paid jobs but then sold to keepers of brothels and earned money for them
When and what did the government do about prostitution, secret societies and coolie abuses?
In May 1877, a government department called the Chinese Protectorate. It was set up to tackle the problems of secret societies, prostitution, coolie abuses and poverty among the Chinese community.
Who was the head of the Chinese Protectorate and what did they do to help?
The head of the department was William Pickering.
His fluency in many Chinese dialects and personality helped him gain the trust of the Chinese.
He was able to develop a comprehensive understanding of the complicated operations of secret societies.
He managed to bring some sense of order into the Singapore society.
How did William Pickering help?
He persuaded the Chinese community to settle their quarrels at the Chinese Protectorate instead of going to the secret societies.
The Chinese Protectorate also inspected the coolie houses to ensure the coolies were treated fairly.
What else did the government do other than the Chinese Protectorate?
They pushed through a law called the 1890 Dangerous Societies Ordinance that made secret societies automatically unlawful. It gave the government the power to banish the Chinese migrants and abolish any society deemed too dangerous.
Why was the 1890 Dangerous Societies Ordinance effective?
The Qing government often arrested and executed such individuals.
How did this law help Singapore?
Although disturbances still continued to take place, the days of the large-scale secret society fights that paralysed Singapore were over.
How did piracy negatively affect the boats sailing to Singapore?
Posed a great danger to the lives, prosperity and trade of the trading community.
- Trading ships plying on Straits of Melaka often attacked by pirates. Their cargoes were taken, and the travellers were killed or sold as slaves.
- Attacked a lot of boats sailing between Singapore and Penang, and along the coasts of Java, Sumatra and Malaya.
How did piracy negatively affect Singapore?
Because of this, many traders stayed away. Singapore’s trade suffered greatly and the traders lost huge sums of money.
What was done about piracy? Why was it not enough?
Government in India sent three gunboats to patrol the waters.
- It was only a temporary solution
- The EIC could not afford a permanent naval force
What was done after that about piracy?
Only in the early 1870s, piracy became less of a problem due to increased patrolling by the British and other European powers.
