History History

The research of the Greek geographer Claude Ptomélée evokes the first trace of Singapore. Chinese accounts mention "the island at the end of the peninsula", named Pu Luo Chong, derived from the Malay Pulau Ujong.

The island belongs to the empire of Srivijayan, and known as Temasek (the city of water), it is inhabited by Chinese and Malays. According to the legend, the prince of Sumatra would have seen a creature resembling a lion and immediately baptized the island with the Sanskrit name of singa (lion) and pura (city).

Around 1400, the Siamese fleet arrived in Singapore, chased away the prince and destroyed the commercial activities of the island, becoming a high place of piracy.

The potential of the island's strategic location did not escape the attention of the British Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles who landed in Singapore on January 29, 1819. The island was then under the control of the Sultan of Johor State, at the tip of the Malay Peninsula. After negotiations, a treaty was signed on February 6, 1819 between the Sultan of Johor and Sir Stamford Raffles authorizing the latter to make Singapore a trading post on behalf of the British East India Company. Raffles left Colonel Farquar with the plans of the city to be built and instructions of all kinds such as granting the island the status of a free port.

Singapore is attached to Penang and Malacca to form the Strait Settlements where administrative entities managed by the East India Company. From 1867, they formed a single British colony.

Singapore was declared a British Crown Colony in 1867. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the island became more than ever the essential port of call between Europe, China and Japan.

Singapore is growing at a rapid pace. The workforce from China is increasing. Real empires were created thanks to the extraction and exploitation of raw materials like tin and rubber.

Singapore is the ^7th largest commercial port in the world. With 312,000 inhabitants from 48 ethnic groups, it was already a cosmopolitan city. Its prosperity was affected by the serious crisis of 1929 which shook Europe and the world. A dark period began and faced with the Japanese threat in Manchuria in 1837, the British established their most powerful naval base in the Far East in Singapore.

The Imperial Army of Japanese General Yamashita landed in Singapore on February 8, 1942 and crushed the two Australian brigades defending the area. Singapore fell to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. It was renamed "Syon-To" (the "light of the South Island" in Japanese). The act of surrender was signed in the old Ford factories. The surrender of the Japanese troops in Southeast Asia was concluded on September 12, 1945 in the presence of Lord Mountbatten, Commander-in-Chief of Southeast Asia and Japanese General Itagaki. The British were back in Singapore but their failure against the Japanese had tainted their legitimacy.

When the British took over Singapore, the colony was weakened and its port infrastructure was in poor condition. In this context, there was strong pressure to change the status of the colony.

Lee Kuan Yew, a young Cambridge-educated lawyer, formed the People's Action Party (PAP) in November 1954, in an attempt to end British rule. In 1955, elections were held and won by one of the two left-wing parties, the Labour Front, whose leader David Marshall was allowed to form a minority government. The Hock Lee Bus demonstrations in May 1955 left four people dead and brought the Marshall government into real disrepute. In April 1956, Marshall went to London to negotiate full autonomy for the island but failed. The government held out for four years.
The PAP won the legislative elections of May 30, 1959. It was then a question of electing a team capable of preparing the independence of Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew, at the head of the party, became the^first Prime Minister of the State of Singapore on June 5, 1959.

Creation of the Federation of Malaysia with the accession of Singapore and the northern Borneo states in September 1963. The PAP won the legislative elections again. Ethnic demonstrations between Malays and Chinese followed in July 1964. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, feared an emancipation of the Chinese majority and decided that Singapore should separate from the Federation of Malaysia. Independence was reluctantly proclaimed on August 9, 1965.

After 31 years in power, Lee Kuan Yew resigned as Prime Minister. Goh Chok Tong replaced him and tried to tone down the paternalistic and authoritarian style of his predecessor. In 1994, a serious incident tarnished the reputation of the city-state. Michael Fay, an American teenager, was sentenced to beatings for vandalizing several cars. The United States appeals for clemency in vain.
At the end of the 1990s, Singapore entered a recession following the Asian crisis and Sellapan Rama Nathan became President of the Republic in 1999 without going through an election.

Singapore is facing unprecedented anti-government protests. Hundreds of demonstrators supported opposition leader Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, who was threatened with expulsion from Parliament. The PAP won the election again in November 2001. Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Kuan Yew's son, became Prime Minister on 12 August 2004. But Lee Kuan Yew, although he retired from politics in 2011, still inspires major decisions. After signing a free trade agreement with the United States in 2003, the city-state passed the controversial Gambling Act in April 2005, which allows casinos on the island. President Sellapan Rama Nathan was elected for a second term in September 2005 and Lee Hsien Loong won the general election in May 2006. Singapore was hit by the global economic crisis in 2009, but by July signs of recovery were evident. In August 2010, Olivier Flicker was sentenced to three strokes of the cane and seven months in prison after breaking into a public transport depot and graffitiing subway trains with a British accomplice.

The PAP scored slightly lower than usual in the 2011 parliamentary elections, the opposition made progress. Lee Kuan Yew announced that he was stepping down from the government altogether. Following the publication in March 2013 of a white paper on population that predicted massive immigration within 15 years, more than 3,000 Singaporeans demonstrated their displeasure. The government is adapting, but with subtlety, fearing that it will lose the young talent the country needs. Riots in Little India pitted workers from the Indian subcontinent against the police after an Indian man was run over by a bus. Singapore had not seen such violence in 40 years.
In March 2015, the death of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father, led to three days of national mourning and tributes from all citizens. He will not have participated in the celebration of 50 years of independence, in August 2015. On September 13, 2017, Halimah Yacob became Singapore's first president. Singapore hosted the most anticipated summit of the year in 2018, between Donald Trump, President of the United States, and Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea.

In July 2020, the parliamentary elections unsurprisingly saw the PAP victorious for the fifteenth consecutive time, but the Workers' Party (WP) still won 10 of the 93 seats in parliament, an unprecedented victory for the opposition.

In February 2021, the visionary Singapore Green Plan 2030 was unveiled. It includes the following pillars to make the city more environmentally friendly: incorporating nature into the city, a green economy, a green government, a resilient future and energy reset.

After several incidents of discrimination, the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act is passed to combat racist behavior. Preventive provisions are also adopted to complement the tightening of the criminal code.

In March 2022, The White Paper on Women's Development and Equality is unveiled. Its program extends over 10 years. For example, it promotes part-time jobs, the possibility of freezing one's eggs between the ages of 21 and 35, and the strengthening of the fight against sexual harassment.

Sex between men is decriminalized. Section 377A of the Penal Code was repealed, as it was a remnant of the colonial era.

Singapore is once again ranked as the world's second port, notably because of its unique geographical situation in Asia, its modern infrastructures and the political stability of the country.