Chapter 3: What part did the different Immigrant communities

play in Singapore’s development?

Who is an immigrant?

• A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

Japanese immigrants in Brazil, 1937

Chinese immigrants in America

Early immigrants in Singapore

Who were the early immigrants?• Europeans – British,

Portuguese, Dutch• Arabia – Some could trace

origins to Yemen• India and Ceylon – Tamils,

Punjabis, Bengalis, Gujeratis and Parsees. Sinhalese from Ceylon.

• Malay Archipelago – Javanese, Boyanese and Bugis

• Melaka and Penang – Straits Chinese

• China – Hokkiens, Cantonese, Teochews, Hainanese, Hakkas. Mostly from Southern China.

An old postcard from Singapore

Why did they come to Singapore?

• Push Factors: unfavourable conditions in their homeland e.g. war, natural disasters

• Pull Factors: favourable conditions that attract people to migrate e.g. jobs were abundant, better opportunities, peace, etc.

Change and Continuity

• Were the reasons that attracted the early immigrants to migrate to Singapore similar to the ones that attract foreigners to come to Singapore now?

Characteristics of early immigrants

• Mostly men

• Did not intend to stay for long – sojourners

• Some decided to stay

• Some married locals, others sent their families over

Characteristics of early immigrants

• Malays were the majority till the mid-19th century when the Chinese took over

• Different ethnic groups were segregated – divide and rule

• Each group had a kapitan to take charge

Town Plan in 1822

Where did the immigrants reside in?

• Chinese – Chinatown (Kereta Ayer) and different areas for different dialect groups

• Indians- Chulia Kampong (Church Street) and later Serangoon Road

• Europeans – North Bridge Road • Malays – Kampong Glam• Arabs – Arab Street• Bugis – Bugis Campong• Commercial Square (Raffles Square today) –

centre of commerce for all traders

How did the immigrants contribute to Singapore as a trading centre?

• Entrepot trade– 1. importing and exporting

goods– 2. providing capital– 3. serving as middlemen– 4. providing goods and

services for daily living• Providing support services

– 1. construction sites– 2. dockyards– 3. plantations– 4. factories– 5. provision of daily

necessities

Singapore – A free port

• This meant that traders and ships from all nations could trade freely with one another and they did not have to pay custom duties or taxes on the goods they carried to and from the port.

• Entrepot trade is also known as re-exportation, which is when a member of a customs union charges lower tariffs to external nations to win trade, and then re-exports the same product within the customs union, but tariff-free.

• Traders often engaged Chinese middlemen to buy and sell goods.

• Other services were also provided for traders…

Services provided by different ethnic groups

• Chinese – unskilled labourers, coolies working at docks and construction sites

• Indians – banking and transportation, construction works by convicts

• Malays – providing basic necessities like firewood and foodstuff, shipbuilders etc.

• Others – services to all these new immigrants, e.g. barbers, tailors, entertainers, plantation workers, rickshaw riders, dhobi men, etc.

What Social impact did the immigrants have on Singapore?

• Acts of philanthropy by rich businessmen e.g. Tan Tock Seng who built a hospital, Govindasamy Pillay who built Hindu temples

• Building of schools by businessmen and Christian missionaries e.g. St Margaret’s Sch aimed at saving girls slavery

• Crimes committed by the immigrants e.g. slave trade, abuse of coolies, secret societies etc.

• Social vices e.g. prostitution, gambling, opium smoking