1. Imagine you are a professional advocate hired to put forth a strong argument on behalf of any one of these three clients/lobby groups. Present the best case possible for your client, providing footnotes and a bibliography to support your case. Success in this case could make your career!
I represent the families of Raffles, Farquhar and Crawfurd and seek to present our case on why it was the foresight and good management of the colony that led to the success of Singapore as one of Asia’s greatest port cities.
Let us look at the efforts of the man who founded this island under our empire, Stamford Raffles and his subordinates Farquhar and Crawfurd. Raffles sought to diminish Dutch power in the South East Asian region in the early 1800s. …show more content…
There were times when not everyone did not see eye to eye. From 1819 to 1822, Raffles returned to Bencoolen to fulfil his duties as governor there. Despite being the one who chose and founded Singapore as a trading port he was often not around to manage the colony himself. He instead entrusted Singapore to Farquhar and left him as the first resident of Singapore. In the early years as resident, Farquhar struggled to generate revenue for the administration of the colony and also for the various city and river works that were planned to improve Singapore’s infrastructure. Hence Farquhar decided he would raise revenue by allowing vice trade in Singapore and collecting permits for such operations, despite knowing Raffles strong desire for a lawful colony. He proceeded to allow gambling, brothels, the sale and abuse of opium and also permitted a flourishing trade in slaves. In 1822, when Raffles returned to Singapore from Bencoolen, he was shocked to find the colony in a very different state than from his original plans. In Farquhar’s mind he was simply adapting Raffles orders to the circumstances, and his utmost concern was to ensure the survival of Singapore as a trading port. If this meant ignoring the vice trades so as to raise the revenue needed to pay for the colony’s administration and the improvement of its infrastructure, then these were things he was …show more content…
Asian merchants especially the Chinese were a big part of trade and profit for Singapore. The Chinese trade comprised of about a quarter of Singapore’s trade at the time and was hence important to Singapore’s growth as a port. (p4) Particularly influential Chinese traders even served as middlemen for the British, securing coolies for the riverworks and also community leaders who maintained the stability of the colony by keeping Chinese secret societies under control, which were rather problematic for the British at the time. Among such influential traders was Tan Tock Seng, who was also a keen philanthropist, founding a pauper hospital at Pearl's Hill in 1844. The European trading community was small at the time and also hence helped manage the local community to some extent. The Europeans were also instrumental in the founding of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce. Most of the Magistrates in Singapore were also from the European trading community. (p3) Hence, I have found that the efforts of the merchants who chose to settle in Singapore were also helpful to its success and not just good governing
I represent the families of Raffles, Farquhar and Crawfurd and seek to present our case on why it was the foresight and good management of the colony that led to the success of Singapore as one of Asia’s greatest port cities.
Let us look at the efforts of the man who founded this island under our empire, Stamford Raffles and his subordinates Farquhar and Crawfurd. Raffles sought to diminish Dutch power in the South East Asian region in the early 1800s. …show more content…
There were times when not everyone did not see eye to eye. From 1819 to 1822, Raffles returned to Bencoolen to fulfil his duties as governor there. Despite being the one who chose and founded Singapore as a trading port he was often not around to manage the colony himself. He instead entrusted Singapore to Farquhar and left him as the first resident of Singapore. In the early years as resident, Farquhar struggled to generate revenue for the administration of the colony and also for the various city and river works that were planned to improve Singapore’s infrastructure. Hence Farquhar decided he would raise revenue by allowing vice trade in Singapore and collecting permits for such operations, despite knowing Raffles strong desire for a lawful colony. He proceeded to allow gambling, brothels, the sale and abuse of opium and also permitted a flourishing trade in slaves. In 1822, when Raffles returned to Singapore from Bencoolen, he was shocked to find the colony in a very different state than from his original plans. In Farquhar’s mind he was simply adapting Raffles orders to the circumstances, and his utmost concern was to ensure the survival of Singapore as a trading port. If this meant ignoring the vice trades so as to raise the revenue needed to pay for the colony’s administration and the improvement of its infrastructure, then these were things he was …show more content…
Asian merchants especially the Chinese were a big part of trade and profit for Singapore. The Chinese trade comprised of about a quarter of Singapore’s trade at the time and was hence important to Singapore’s growth as a port. (p4) Particularly influential Chinese traders even served as middlemen for the British, securing coolies for the riverworks and also community leaders who maintained the stability of the colony by keeping Chinese secret societies under control, which were rather problematic for the British at the time. Among such influential traders was Tan Tock Seng, who was also a keen philanthropist, founding a pauper hospital at Pearl's Hill in 1844. The European trading community was small at the time and also hence helped manage the local community to some extent. The Europeans were also instrumental in the founding of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce. Most of the Magistrates in Singapore were also from the European trading community. (p3) Hence, I have found that the efforts of the merchants who chose to settle in Singapore were also helpful to its success and not just good governing