The Contributions of the Immigrants
A few months after Singapore was founded, the population began to grow very quickly. By 1821, Singapore's population had increased to about 5000. The main cause of this increase was immigration. Singapore in the 19th century attracted many people from different parts of the world. Businessmen and traders came here to trade while others came to look for jobs.
At that time, more men came to Singapore than women. This was especially so for the Chinese and Indians. Most of the Chinese and Indian immigrants did not intend to stay long in Singapore, so they did not bring their womenfolk along. This meant that the Chinese and Indians could not set up families here even though there were large numbers of them.
However, unlike the Chinese and Indians, the Malays and Europeans brought their families along when they came to Singapore. Thus, the number of Malay and European men was almost equal to the number of Malay and European women. While most Europeans returned home after they had completed their work here, most of the Malays settled with their families in Singapore.
Many people came to Singapore to work because there were a lot of jobs in Singapore. Men were needed for jobs such as the clearing land for plantations, the building of roads, and the building of houses and offices. They were also needed to work in vegetable gardens and plantations owned by the rich planters. Anyone who was willing to work could find a job. Two of the largest groups of labourers who came to work in Singapore were the Chinese and the Indians. These labourers were called coolies.
There were many people looking for jobs and many employers looking for workers. Middlemen were needed to bring the two groups together. This was especially necessary if the workers were in India or China and could not afford to pay for their journey to Singapore. These middlemen were called coolie agents.
The Chinese coolie agents were often owners of the junks that were used to bring the coolies here. They travelled to China to persuade men to work in Singapore. Those coolies who could pay for their journey from China to Singapore were free to work for anyone when they arrived here. This group of labourers was known as free labourers.
Those who could not afford to pay for their own passage would sign a contract with the coolie agent. By signing the contract, a worker agreed to work for that employer who had paid for his passage until his fare had been repaid. The contract often lasted a year or less. These labourers were the contract labourers.
Another group of contract labourers were the Indians. An employer in Singapore would go to a coolie agent if he needed labourers. The agent then travelled to the towns and villages in India to sign contracts with Indians who were willing to work abroad. Some of these contracts lasted three years. Like the Chinese coolies, Indian labourers who signed contracts had their passage paid for but they had to work for particular employers. Labourers who had fulfilled their contracts and chose to stay in Singapore were free to work for any employer.
Some of the Indian labourers were convicts who were brought here by the British. As part of their prison sentence, they had to clear the jungle and build bridges, roads and buildings. After they had completed their sentence, many chose to stay on in Singapore as labourers or to set up small businesses. They contributed to the growing number of labourers in Singapore and were sought after because of their skills in building roads and bridges, and in constructing buildings. Some of the buildings that were built by convict labour are Sri Mariamman Temple in South Bridge Road, the Istana and St. Andrew's Cathedral.
As more people came to Singapore to look for work, jobs became fewer. Workers either had to accept lower pay or become jobless. Wages soon became so low that workers were paid only three or four dollars a month as compared to 15 dollars a month in the early days of the settlement.
The low wages made it possible for employers to get workers cheaply. Although many of these workers were lowly-paid, they worked very hard and contributed much to Singapore's growth - they provided the manpower that was urgently needed during that period. Without these lowly-paid workers, Singapore would not have grown so fast.
By 1821, the population in Singapore had not only increased rapidly but it was also made up of many races. The main races were the Malays, Europeans, Indians and Chinese. They helped Singapore to grow from a small village in 1819 to a flourishing city in the 20th century.
Malay traders from various parts of the Malay Archipelago brought straits produce from their hometowns to Singapore. They helped to increase Singapore's trade and the variety of goods traded between Singapore and other countries. This made Singapore a more popular trading centre.
As the Malay population grew, the Malays took up other forms of business. They became shopkeepers, hawkers and fishermen. The early settlers were able to buy much-needed food supplies from them. Malay woodcutters helped to supply firewood to European and Chinese households.
The
Malays were also known to be good sailors and expert boat builders. A
large number of Malays served as officers on ships while others built
boats for Chinese and Malay traders. Other Malays worked as watchmen
and policemen and helped to keep peace and order in Singapore.
Some educated Malays worked as teachers and journalists. A famous Malay teacher who lived in early Singapore was Munshi Abdullah. He lived in Melaka and Singapore, and could speak and write Tamil, Hindu and Arabic besides Malay. He wrote several books, including "The Hikayat Abdullah" ("The Story of Abdullah") in which he described the people and life in early Singapore.
The Europeans who came to Singapore were mainly businessmen and government officials. Though their numbers were small, they played an equally important role in the early growth of Singapore.
The European businessmen set up big trading companies that had links in Europe. They sold goods made in European factories to people in Southeast Asia and bought Southeast Asian produce which were then shipped to Europe. In this way, they helped to increase Singapore's trade. The European businessmen often voiced their views on how to run the government. As a result of the views they gave, changes were made to improve the government.
Some of these European businessmen also worked with government officials to maintain law and order by agreeing to become unpaid judges. By doing this, the European businessmen were helping themselves too as they hoped that better law and order would make trading easier.
European government officials helped to improve and develop the town. One active official in the government was Colonel Ronald MacPherson. He served on the Municipal Commission, a group of men responsible for matters relating to the town area, for ten years and became its President three times. besides serving the Commission, he also designed and built the present St. Andrew's Cathedral.
Some of the Indian immigrants provided banking services to local businessmen in the 19th century. One banking service provided by the Indians was moneychanging. Most of the moneychangers were Indian Muslims. Today, many Indian moneychangers can still be found along Serangoon Road and Orchard Road, and in the banking district near Raffles' Place.
Another type of banking service was provided by the South Indian moneylenders who were known as Chettiars. They lent money to businessmen who needed money to set up their businesses. These businessmen borrowed money from them because there were few banks in Singapore at that time.
The early Chettiars even built a temple for themselves which was commonly known as Chettiar's Temple. The temple was run by a group of trustworthy men who were also in charge of the temple's funds. One of them was Annamalai Chettiar who organised a grand celebration of the Hindu festival of Thaipusam, which the British and important people of other races were invited to watch. Today, the Chettiar's Temple in Tank Road has become the centre of activity for the annual Thaipusam procession.
The North Indians reared cows, buffaloes and goats for milk, which they supplied to the people, especially to the Indians and Europeans. Their cattle sheds were built in the Serangoon Road area. Today, two roads in the area, Buffalo Road and Kerbau Road, and the Kandang kerbau Hospital, remind us of the cattle sheds of the North Indian milkmen.
The
Indians, like the other racial groups, also supplied the basic needs
of their fellow countrymen such as food, cloth and laundry services.
Indian shopkeepers set up their businesses along Bras Basah Road and
Serangoon Road while Dhoby Ghaut was popular with the laundrymen
(called dhobies) who dried their washing there. Most of the cloth
dealers, however, set up their shops in High Street. Today, we still
find the Indians providing such services to their community if we
walk along High Street and Serangoon Road.
Branching off from Serangoon Road is a road known as Veerasamy Road. The name of this road reminds some older Indians of an early Indian settler, Veerasamy Naidoo. As a young man, Veerasamy had a keen interest in Medicine. He read books on Medicine and even carried out his own research. After working in a clinic for some time, he set up his own clinic, known as India Despensary. He combined the use of Indian medicine with Western medicine when treating his patients and was so successful that people from other races also sought his advice.
Another important Indian contribution to Singapore came from the Sikhs. The British had earlier found that the Sikh policemen and watchmen were feared by the people in Hongkong. In Singapore, their beards and turbans also created the same fear among thieves and robbers. With the Sikh policemen and watchmen around, the public felt safe as most of them were big, tall and strong.
The
Chinese businessmen also contributed to the increase in trade. One
group of Chinese businessmen acted as middlemen between the local
traders and the British traders. They bought straits produce from the
non-English speaking traders from the Malay Archipelago and sold them
to British businessmen. They also bought goods from the British and
sold them to Archipelago trader. This group of Chinese businessmen
were usually Chinese Peranakans who could speak English.
Another group of businessmen were shopkeeperd who sold provisions, medicine, cloth and snacks. They supplied some of the everyday needs of the people in Singapore.
Successful Chinese immigrants who were rich planters gave work to thousands of Chinese coolies. One of them was Seah Eu Chin, who was born in a Teochew district in South China. He was educated to become a scholar, but he did not want to be one. His dream was to make a fortune in Nanyang, and so he sailed to Singapore in 1823. At first, he worked as a clerk but later he opened a shop in Chinatown selling items like ropes, canvas and nails. When he had saved enough money, he starting planting gambiar and pepper. He was the first businessman to start planting crops on a large scale and he made a huge fortune from his gambiar plantation. His large plantation stretched from River Valley Road up to Bukit Timah Road and Thomson Road. He therefore provided work for many immigrants by employing them on his plantation.
Some Chinese contributed their skills as
craftsmen while others did manual work as unskilled labourers. Those
with skills worked as carpenters, tailors, barbers, blacksmiths,
goldsmiths, shoemakers and boat builders. They brought their skills
from China and passed them on to others learning the trade. The
unskilled labourers worked as hawkers, shop assistants, servants,
odd-job labourers and rickshaw pullers.
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