17 / 409
A HISTORY LESSON THE FIRST BATCH DID NOT GET
1
ONE
I. SINGAPORE: A MILITARY OUTPOST SINCE FOUNDING
Defence had always been an important element in governing Singapore from its founding
on 29
th
January, 1819 till incorporation into Malaysia on 16
th
September, 1963. A major
consideration for selecting Singapore as a trading station had been to serve as a military
outpost for the protection of British interests in the Far East. These interests included the
shipping in the Straits of Malacca, the protection of the trade route between China and India,
and providing a bastion against Dutch colonial expansion in South East Asia. On 6
th
February,
1819, the very day Raffles signed the formal treaty with Sultan Hussein Mohamed Shah of
Johor and Temenggong Shree Maharajah Abdul Rahman, the local Chieftain of Singapore,
Raffles addressed this issue. He instructed Major (later Colonel) William Farquhar, the first
Resident and Commandant of Singapore, to construct a fort or blockhouse on the hill that
became Government Hill and in time, Fort Canning, with magazines and barracks for “the
permanent residence of 30 European artillery and for the temporary accommodation of the
rest of the garrison in case of emergency.”
1
In a letter from Bengal to Farquhar dated 11
th
January, 1820, the British East India Company
(BEIC) also categorically stated that “Singapore was to be considered rather as a military post
than as a fixed settlement, that artificial encouragement was not to be given to the immigration
of natives…”
2
Representing the British Government in areas where it operated, the BEIC stationed troops
in Singapore immediately after the treaty was signed. Led by one Captain J. Seppings, the first
contingent, a detachment of the 2
nd
Battalion, 20
th
Regiment of the Bengal Native Infantry,
which was then deployed also in Penang and Bencoolen, arrived in 1819 itself.
3
It also became
a practice to station a Royal Navy (RN) ship in the harbour with Royal Marines on board.
The primarily military role envisioned for Singapore was eclipsed by two developments. By
1824, Singapore had surpassed Penang in trade turnover. Also, in the same year, the signing of
the Anglo-Dutch Treaty ended rivalry with the Dutch for dominance outside the Indonesian
archipelago. Thereafter, the administrators of the island had no concrete enemy to address in
their defence planning for more than a century and their defence preparations were directed
towards a possible naval attack by European powers with which Britain might be at war from
time to time. There was also always the prospect of some kind of pirate attack against the
settlement. On the strident urgings of the expatriate community, military emissaries from India
or London undertook studies to propose appropriate defence concepts. The practical outcome
was that dominating and strategic sites around the harbour were designated as forts and gun
emplacements, which might or might not be adequately provided for in terms of weapons,
A HISTORY LESSON THE FIRST BATCH DID NOT GET