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Period: to
History of Singapore
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Before colonisation
Before being colonized by the British, Singapore was a small fishing village. -
Establishing a port
Raffles arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and soon recognized the island as a natural choice for the new port -
Modern Singapore was born
The island was nominally ruled by the Sultan of Johor, Tengku Rahman, who was controlled by the Dutch and the Bugis. However, the Sultanate was weakened by factional division and Temenggong Abdu'r Rahman and his officials were loyal to Tengkoo Rahman's elder brother Tengku Hussein (or Tengku Long) who was living in exile in Riau. With the Temenggong's help, Raffles managed to smuggle Hussein back into Singapore. He offered to recognize Hussein as the rightful Sultan of Johor and provide him with -
Singapore agreement which brought the island under British law
On 7 June 1823, John Crawfurd signed a second treaty with the Sultan and Temenggong, which extended British possession to most of the island. The Sultan and Temenggong traded most of their administrative rights of the island, including the collection of port taxes for lifelong monthly payments of $1500 and $800 respectively. This agreement brought the island under the British law, with the provision that it would take into account Malay customs, traditions and religion. -
Becoming under British Rule
Singapore, Malacca and Penang become part of the British Strait Settlements, under British rule. (Colonialism) -
Singapore becoming a crown colony
The British government finally agreed to make the Straits Settlements a Crown colony on, receiving orders directly from the Colonial Office rather than from India. As a Crown Colony, the Straits Settlements was ruled by a governor, based in Singapore, with the assistance of executive and legislative councils. Although the councils were not elected, more representatives for the local population were gradually included over the years. -
Fall of Singapore
Singapore was defeated by Japan and taken over by the Japanese during World War II. Eventually it was handed back after the US dropped atomic bombs in Japan. (Colonialism) -
Internal self-government
The 1959 Singaporean legislative assembly general election was a general election held in Singapore on 30 May 1959.The People's Action Party (PAP) won the general election in a landslide, winning 43 out of 51 seats. -
Singapore Meger
Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak were formally merged and Malaysia was formed.The PAP Government felt that Singapore's survival as a nation would be difficult. They lacked natural resources and faced a declining entrepot trade and a growing population which required jobs. Therefore, Singapore felt that the merger was thought to benefit the economy by creating a common free market, eliminating trade tariffs, solving unemployment woes and to support new industries. -
Seperation
The Parliament of Malaysia voted 126–0 in favor of a constitutional amendment expelling Singapore from the federation; hours later, the Parliament of Singapore passed the Republic of Singapore Independence Act, establishing the island as an independent and sovereign republic. -
Singapore sovereignty
After gaining independence abruptly, Singapore faced a future filled with uncertainties. Singapore immediately sought international recognition of its sovereignty. The new state joined the United Nations on 21 September 1965, becoming the 117th member; and joined the Commonwealth in October that year.
