Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
23
Resource Scarcity
Entrepôt trade is the term given when imported commodities are processed,
graded and repackaged, and then exported at a markup. For a resource-scarce
city like Singapore, entrepôt trade has been a lifeline: In the late 19th century,
Singapore was the world's largest tin-smelting center. Today Singapore is the
third-largest petroleum refiner, importing oil from Malaysia and Indonesia.
Indian prisoners incarcerated there to Sin-
gapore, where they were put to work con-
structing the buildings and clearing the
land that the fledgling settlement needed.
After they 'd wor ked off their sentences,
many stay ed in S ingapore to wor k their
trade as free men.
During this period, the I stana Kam-
pong G lam was built in Raffles 's desig-
nated Malay enclave, along with the Sultan
Mosque. The surr ounding str eets sup-
ported a large but modest M alay settle-
ment of businesses and residences.
THE BOOMTOWN YEARS
(1827-1942)
Despite early successes, S ingapore was
almost entir ely dependent on entr epôt
trade, which was literally at the whim of
the winds. D utch trading po wer still
threatened its economic health, and the
opening of Chinese trading ports to West-
ern ships placed Singapore in a precarious
position. The soil on the island barely sup-
ported a small sago palm industr y, and
with the lack of natural r esources, Singa-
pore had to constantly look to trade for
survival. True economic stability wouldn 't
arrive until the 1860s.
Major changes around the globe had an
enormous effect on S ingapore in the sec-
ond half of the 19th century. In 1869, the
Suez Canal opened, linking the M editer-
ranean and the Red Sea and putting Singa-
pore in a prime position on the
shorter travel time not only saw entr epôt
trade leap to new heights, but also allowed
leisure trav elers to consider S ingapore a
viable stop on their itinerar y.
The blossoming I ndustrial R evolution
thirsted for raw materials, namely tin and
rubber. M alaya was alr eady being mined
for tin, much of which changed hands in
Singapore. R ubber didn't enter the scene
until 1877, when “M ad” H enry Ridley ,
director of the Botanic Gardens, smuggled
the first r ubber seedlings fr om B razil to
Singapore. After developing a new way to
tap latex, he finally convinced planters in
Malaya to begin plantations. To this day
rubber r emains a major industr
2
y for
Malaysia.
WORLD WAR II
Although the B ritish maintained a mili-
tary base of operations on the island, S in-
gapore was vir tually untouched b y World
War I. J ust befor e the G reat D epression,
however, B ritain bo wed to U.S. pr essure
and broke off r elations with J apan due to
the latter 's incr easing militar y po wer. A t
this time, S ingapore's defense became a
primary concern; ho wever, the B ritish,
believing any invasion would come by sea,
installed heavy artillery along the southern
coastline, leaving the nor th of the island
virtually unprotected.
In 1941, on the night of D ecember 7,
the J apanese attacked P earl H arbor,
invaded the P hilippines and H ong Kong,
landed in southern Thailand, and dropped
the first bombs on Singapore.
Europe-East Asia r oute. I n addition,
steamship trav el made the trip to S inga-
pore less dependent on trade winds. The
