STORIES OF EARLY SINGAPORE
from Vivien Webster
Recently I was browsing in an antique store and came across a small book, "Stories of Early Singapore" written by Captain H F Pearson and published in 1953. I found it quite interesting and Jo has kindly set up this page so that I can share some of the stories and old drawings with other brats.
The first 2 chapters describe the coming together of Raffles' Fleet in search of a new British settlement and their arrival in late January 1819 off the small island of St John's - a landmark for European ships as they passed through the Straits of Singapore on the way to China. The seven ships of Raffles' expedition were:-
- the Honourable Company's Cruiser Nearchus, an armed cruiser of the East India Company, commanded by Captain Maxfield and flying the flag of Sir Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen and its Dependencies.
- two merchant vessels out of Calcutta, the Mercury and the Indiana (commanded by Captain Pearl)
- the Ganges, a brig out of Malacca, captained by F J Bernard (the son-in-law of Major Farquhar)
- two armed survey ships - the Margaret & Frances, also known as Discovery, (commanded by Captain Ross) and the Investigator (Lieutenant Crawford)
- the Enterprise, a small schooner out of Penang.
The following is an extract from the third chapter describing Raffles' landing on the island of Singapore.
THE LANDING
Raffles and Farquhar walked slowly from the river bank towards the largest of the houses, and the villagers, Malays and Orang Laut (the sea gypsies of the Malay people) followed a little way behind. They were curious rather than frightened at their first sight of the European visitors to Singapore Island.
The path through the village wandered round the Malay houses, which were raised off the ground on stilts. Under them the owners piled their old rubbish, parts of broken canoes and coconut husks. Each house possessed its own patch of worn and lifeless ground, where a few hens would peck hopefully for tiny titbits.
An elder of the village came forward to show the two white men the way, but when they came to a gap in a wooden stockade there was no further need for a guide. There stood the Temenggong 'Abdu'r-Rahman, and at his back stood a party of armed followers.
Raffles and Major Farquhar greeted the Temenggong who, with all the politeness of his people, invited them on to the verandah of his bamboo-floored and attap-covered house, where he sat and faced them. Fruit was brought for the visitors, and the villagers formed a circle on the ground outside.
Raffles, who understood the Malays, told the Temenggong in his own language why he had come to Singapore. Then both men went inside the house so that they could talk privately. Major Farquhar thought he would like to inspect this place, which might be his future care, so he slipped away and walked through the village. He still thought of the Carimons, which had been his first choice, and he wished to make sure that this island was better. As he walked along the river bank and on the plain, pushing aside the high grass, he saw what a splendid place it was.
At last he came back to the house of Temenggong and found Captain Ross, who told him what he had found. There was a good, safe anchorage close to shore; a basin in the river that was ideal for the harbouring of small cargo boats; and plenty of wood and fresh water.
Invited by the shade of a kalat tree, Farquhar looked first for ants, and then sat down, leaning his back against the trunk. Though still active he was, at forty-nine, old for the Eastern service, and he was more than ten years older than Raffles, his superior. He took off his helmet, mopped his brow, and eased the high collar of his uniform jacket as a second circle of villagers settled around him. Word had already gone round that this was Tuan Farquhar. They called him the Rajah Malacca, using the title by which he was last known. His name had spread through the Eastern seas, accounts of his kindness having even reached China.
When he spoke to the people, they knew him straightaway as a friend. They questioned him about the Indiana and the ships which they had seen lying off St John's. He told them about these things, and was telling them of Sir Stamford Raffles, when Raffles and the Temenggong came out again on to the verandah.
The Temenggong, seeing Major Farquhar, came down and led him back to the house. There Major Farquhar told Raffles of what he had seen and that Captain Ross was very pleased with the harbour. As they sat on the verandah, looking out through the trees on to the bay, Raffles told Major Farquhar of the difficulties. The Temenggong, said Raffles, was willing to allow them to settle in Singapore; but he could not answer for his overlord, the Sultan of the old empire of Johore, who lived at Riau.
There was no need to tell Major Farquhar any more. During the last year he had visited that same Sultan to talk with him in the name of the East India Company, and had found him to be without power or strength in his own empire. The man who held the power now was the Rajah Muda. He was a Bugis prince from Celebes, and it was he who had placed the present Sultan on the throne after the death of his father, and while his elder brother, Tengku Long (or Husain), was away. Major Farquhar, during his term of office as Resident of Malacca, had received many letters from this same Tengku Long asking for British help. It was no surprise to Major Farquhar when Raffles said: "And the Temenggong is ready to send a messenger to Tengku Long and to accept him as his overlord." But Farquhar knew that before they set up a rival sultan they must give the correct way a trial. He was not at all surprised, therefore, when Raffles ordered him to go to Riau and ask the Rajah Muda if he would allow the English to form a factory at Singapore. Both men knew that the Rajah Muda was far too much under Dutch control to agree, but at least they would have done the right thing.
It was arranged then that Major Farquhar should take his son-in-law's brig Ganges, the cruiser Nearchus with the party of European artillerymen on board, and the schooner Enterprise. Raffles also asked him to start landing the troops and stores from the other ships immediately. At four o'clock in the afternoon, Raffles returned to the Indiana. By then he had seen the first of the sepoys land and set about putting up shelters for themselves as if they were on a campaign. As he was rowed out of the river, heavily laden boats passed him making for the shore.
That evening, after reporting to Raffles, Major Farquhar left with his three vessels for Riau. As darkness came, the cruisers Margaret and Frances and Investigator, and the hired transports Indiana and Mercury, settled down for the night. The ships were quiet shadows on the bay; the only signs of life were the campfires of the sepoys on the plain; red glares against the black background of the island.
It had been an eventful day for Singapore; from this day on she would grow and increase in importance, until she became one of the greatest and fairest cities in the East.
