Founded as a British trading settlement in 1819, Singapore attained independence only in 1965. Yet its history stretches as far back as the second century AD when it first appeared in the renowned Greek polymath Ptolemy’s seminal map, Geographia.
Over the next millennia, its fortunes were tied to the neighbouring Hindu kingdoms of Sumatra and Java. But hardly anything was written about this island then and it only “re-emerged” in the 14th century under the name Temasek, or Sea Town. This new identity soon changed when a Sumatran king, Sang Nila Utama, spotted what he thought was a lion on Temasek’s shores and duly christened it “Singapura.” (In Sanskrit “Singa” means lion and “Pura” means city)
By the early 19th century, the British were looking for a trading settlement in the region to counterbalance the influence of the Dutch, and under the stewardship of Sir Stamford Raffles, a reputable colonial administrator, they formally set up one on Singapore’s shores on 6 February 1819. Raffles established a free port and soon the new colony attracted merchants from all over Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Within five years the population grew from 150 to 10.000, consisting mainly of Chinese, Malays and Indians – which continue to be the three main ethnic groups in Singapore today.
When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, trade increased substantially between Singapore and the West, making the island very prosperous.
This prosperity rose unchecked until the Second World War when, in 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese. After three years of occupation, stirrings of nationalism rose and the cries for independence from Great Britain grew louder. Singapore obtained self-government in 1959 before forming a union with Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. However this lasted a mere two years as, on 9 August, 1965, Singapor left Malaysia to become a fully independent nation. In the years since, Singapore has gone from a rural –and manufacturing- based economy to a knowledge- based first world economy. Today, it constantly ranks among the world’s most liveable cities, with people from across the world attracted to the wonderful contrast between the modern dynamic metropolis and the legacies of history all around them.
