History Notes Of Singapore History Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – How did external events before WWII affect Singapore?

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN THE 18TH CENTURY

What was the Industrial Revolution

- Industrial Revolution took place in the 18th century (1750 – 1850) in Britain & spread to Europe & the United States.

- New machines invented to replace traditional methods of production & allowed people to do things at a faster & cheaper rate.

- New sources of power were discovered to drive these new machines.

- These developments brought about great changes in the way people lived & worked.

*Series of events that trace developments of the IR in Britain:

i. Why it started: 18th century, old-fashioned method of making cloth by hand too slow; workers could only produce enough cloth for themselves.

ii. How it evolved: New machines invented; e.g. spinning machines which shortened production time of cloth; & steam-engines which provided energy for machines to produce goods in large quantities. Coal was burnt into steam-engines to turn water into steam.

iii. What was impact: Workers needed to run machines which were located in factories in towns; people left countryside to look for jobs in towns & cities; use of machines meant Europeans were producing more goods at cheaper price & there was need to look for new markets outside own countries to sell these excess good & also to find raw materials for goods – Asia was an option.

iv. Other inventions that fuelled the IR:

Railway trains & steamships invented and were used to deliver goods & carry people faster & over longer distances.

How did it affect Singapore?

i. Increase in trade:

- Europeans & Americans needed raw materials such as tin, rubbed & oil from East.

- Euros & Ames needed to find markets to sell their goods.

- Euro & American steamships made SG their port-of-call to refuel & obtain food supplies.

- SG also gained importance as port for the collection of good from East & distribution of manufactured goods from West.

ii. Improvement in communications:

- With arrival of steamships, Asians in SG also used them to transport their foods between SG & other ports in region.

- Letters from Euro to SG arrived in 5 weeks instead of 5 months

- Such improvement in speed of communications meant that letters & documents could be delivered in much shorter time & brought SG closer to rest of world.

OPENING OF SUEZ CANAL IN 1869

Why there was ...

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- SG also gained importance as port for the collection of good from East & distribution of manufactured goods from West.

ii. Improvement in communications:

- With arrival of steamships, Asians in SG also used them to transport their foods between SG & other ports in region.

- Letters from Euro to SG arrived in 5 weeks instead of 5 months

- Such improvement in speed of communications meant that letters & documents could be delivered in much shorter time & brought SG closer to rest of world.

OPENING OF SUEZ CANAL IN 1869

Why there was need to have alternative route for trade

- Before opening of Suez Canal (SC), ships travelling between Europe & Asia had to take long route round the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa

- Cape route was long & often dangerous & sailing ships took 120 days to sail from London to SG

- French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, came up with plans to shorten sea route around Africa by cutting long canal to link Mediterranean Sea with Red Sea

- Took 10 years & double amount of money originally intended to construct canal

- Became one of busiest waterways in the world

- Need for raw materials & new markets to sell good caused many merchants to seek shorter route to East

How the opening of Suez Canal benefitted SG

i. Increase in trade:

- With advent of steamships & opening of Suez Canal, journey from London to SG shortened from 120 days to 50 days

- Mail & cargo from SG to Europe took shorted time to arrive

- Cost of shipping goods reduced because of savings in distance & time

- Traders could get goods from Europe faster & cheaper

- There was increase in the speed & volume of ships passing the Straits of Melaka

- SG’s importance as port of call & as trading centre increased as more traders called at port to refuel & collect food supplies

- SG operated as collection & distribution centre in the region

ii. Improvement in port facilities:

- With expansion in trade & arrival of steamships, Old Harbour became overcrowded

- The Old Harbour was small & short of modern facilities such as dry docks or ship repairing as well as sufficient warehouses along the banks of the river

- In 1852, the New Harbour was built in the strait between the southern coast of SG Island and two smaller islands – Pulau Brani & Pulau Blakang Mati (present-day Sentosa)

- In 1900, it was renamed Keppel Harbour

- New Harbour had deep waters allowing sailing ships & steamships to sail right up to the harbour

- The 2 smaller islands sheltered the New Harbour from strong winds & big waves

- In 1912, the govt set up SG Harbour Board to make new improvements to the port

- New wharves, docks, storehouses & machine shops were built

- Modern machinery such as forklifts, cranes & tractors used for loading & unloading of goods

- Railway system set up to link port to other parts of Malaya

- Improvements provided better & faster services in handling goods from ships which called at the port

- As volume of goods & number of ships coming into SG Harbour increased, SG became one of busiest ports in Asia

How WWI affected SG

War in Europe

Countries in Europe divided themselves into 2 opposing groups in 1914
Germany, Austria-Hungary & Ottoman Empire belonged to one group called the Central Powers
Britain, France, Italy & Russia formed another group called the Allied Powers
Situation in Europe was very tense & any spark would have torched a war
So when Archduke of Austria-Hungary, Franz Ferdinand was murdered in 1914, European countries took sides in a war that erupted into World War I with the Central Powers fighting the Allies

Effects on SG

There was frantic rush to buy food when news of war broke out
Even traders from neighbouring islands stocked shops with food from SG
Prices of food soared
Govt stepped in to forbid exports of large amounts of foodstuff to neighbouring countries
Govt also increased imports of rice from Siam & Vietnam so as to assure people that there was enough food for everyone
Few weeks after outbreak of war, things returned to normal
Prices of food came down & trade resumed to normal

EMDEN & ITS EFFECTS ON SG

Emden, a German warship, arrived in the East in Sept 1914
Started to attack British trading ships in the Indian Ocean
Although it did not attack SG, SG’s shipping & trade were threatened by presence of Emden
Menace to SG trade was removed after Emden was destroyed by Australian warship, Sydney, in Cocos Island

THE SEPOY MUTINY (aka MUTINY OF 5th NATIVE LIGHT INFANTRY) & ITS EFFECTS ON SG

With German naval threat removed, the Brit ordered the sepoy regiment stationed in SG to depart for Hong Kong in Nov 1914
Sepoys heard rumours that they might be sent to Europe or Turkey to fight Muslims
In Feb 1915 when sepoys received orders to sail to HK, some decided to rebel
On 15 Feb 1915, sepoys rose up against Brit and went round killing Europeans
Rebellion became known as Sepoy Mutiny
It was put down after 10 days
56 mutineers, 3 Chinese, 2 Malay civilians & more than 40 Europeans of whom 18 were civilians died in the mutiny
41 mutineers were sentenced to be shot & 126 others were sentences to jail
Mutiny caused anxiety in SG but failed to gain support from local population
Majority of Indeans & those in sepoy regiment did not participate in mutiny or help the sepoys
Sikh police also remained loyal to govt throughout mutiny
Alerted the Brit govt that it could afford to be careless about SG’s defence
Highlighted that threats to SG’s peace could come from both inside & outside country

THE GREAT DEPRESSION (effects on Singapore & its people)

(The Great Depression)

Early 1920s, companies in America made huge profits & share prices rose. Buying shares became way to make quick money
In 1929, many companies losing money as they were unable to sell their goods. As result, many people decided to sell their shares. This caused share prices to fall & more people decided to sell of shares
On 24 OCT 1929, rapid plunge of share prices led to collapse of New York Stock Exchange located on Wall Street, which became known as the Wall Street Crash
Many people who bought & sold shares on credit had to sell their possessions to pay banks what they owed
Many tried to withdraw savings but banks did not have money to pay them. Even banks were forced to close down
As a result, many people lost their savings
With the increase in number of poor people, demand for goods fell because people could not afford to buy goods
As American companies no longer making profits, workers were laid off or workers’ wages were cut
The Great Depression was not confined to America; it affected other countries that traded with America, including SG
It was only in 1934 that business conditions in America & other countries improved & exports from SG began to increase again

(Effects on Singapore)

SG’s economy depended largely on overseas trade & it was affected as demand for certain commodities including tin & rubber dropped
Many companies in SG suffered losses. To cut costs, companies retrenched workers. Many companies also went bankrupt
Hardship & unemployment was rife
Even govt had to cut down on number of workers & reduce pay of remaining workers
Unemployed had to depend on friends or relatives or return to their homeland when their relatives could no longer support them
To try to improve situation, govt passed a law in 1930 to impose quota on number of immigrants coming into SG. Number of Chinese immigrants dropped from 242000 in 1930 to less than 28000 in 1933
Govt also sent large number of unemployed Chinese & Indians back to their homelands

*Questions to think about:

i. How did the Industrial Revolution affect Singapore?

ii. Why was there a need to build a New Harbour & what are the new facilities in the New Harbour?