A Brief History of Singapore (Part I)

The period from the 2nd century to 1819 was the early Singapore period, located in the southern corner of the Malay Peninsula, guarding the southern tip of the Strait of Malacca

Indochina Peninsula or Sino-Indian Peninsula, is a peninsula in southeastern Asia, bordered by the South China Sea to the east and the Indian Ocean to the west

The southern Malay Peninsula, also known as Peninsular Malaysia, West Malaysia, formerly known as Malaya

It is bordered by Thailand to the north, Singapore to the south, and the Indonesian island of Sumatra across the Strait of Malacca

In a broad sense, it refers to the Southeast Asian continent, including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar and Thailand, Malaysia, Malaya, Singapore, Penang, and Malacca

The climate is humid and hot, the vegetation is luxuriant, the rivers and mountains extend to China, the mountains are the same vein, the water is the same source, the history is long, and the languages are diverse

Ptolemy's Guide to Geography, Savannah Region, the earliest written record of Singapore

It is adjacent to the Strait of Malacca, separated from the Strait of Singapore to the south by the Riau Islands in Indonesia, and the Strait of Johor to the north from the Malay Peninsula

The Kingdom of Singapore was a small Malay state that existed from about 1299-1398 AD, with borders mainly in the present-day Republic of Singapore

Around 1299 AD, Prince Shanila Uthama fled to Srivijaya Palembang and founded the Kingdom of Singapore

During the Mongol peace period in the 14th century, Singapore flourished economically and transformed itself from a small commercial port into a center of trade relations

Singapore's prosperity alarmed two neighboring powers, the Ayutthaya Kingdom and the Majapahit Kingdom

It was destroyed by Majapahit in 1398, and in 1400 the late king of Singapore, Iskandarsa, established the Sultanate of Malacca

At the beginning of the 15th century, Singapore was a Siamese vassal state, which was later annexed by the Malacca sultanate and became a dependency of Handu

In 1511, Portuguese Alfonso conquered the Malacca dynasty and built Fort Famosa to prevent the remnants from counterattacking

In 1819, British Raffles contracted with the Sultan of Johor to set up a port in Singapore, which became a British colony

British politician Thomas Stanford Raffles, founder of Singapore and one of the founders of the colonial empire in the Far East

On March 17, 1824, Britain and the Netherlands signed a settlement of trade and spheres of influence disputes in the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London, translated by Singapore as the Anglo-Dutch Treaty

It later influenced the territorial extent of Malaysia and Indonesia, and determined the fate of Singapore

From 1826 to 1946, the British administration of the Straits Colony of the Malay Peninsula

It consists of three British ports, Singapore, Penang and Malacca, known locally as Tri-State Capital or Lagou Latsu

With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Singapore became an important port of call in East Asia and Europe

The Suez Canal is located on the western side of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, across the Suez Isthmus at the junction of Asia and Africa

Head and tail in the Mediterranean Sea port of Said and the Red Sea Gulf of Suez city of Suez, large merchant ships pass through the lockless canal

In 1877, the complexity of Singapore's population brought serious social problems, and the colonial government established the Chinese Civil Guard Department

The Department of Chinese Community Affairs was originally established to protect overseas Chinese from the south, and actually developed into comprehensive control of Chinese social activities

The Anglo-Siam Treaty of 1909, also known as the Treaty of Bangkok of 1909, was signed between Britain and Siam on March 10, 1909

Malaya was divided into two parts, present-day Pattani, Tao Gong, Songkhla, Satun and Jala under Thai control

Kedah, Kelantan, Perlis and Terengganu were included in the British sphere of influence and became protectorates

The Malay Peninsula is a general term for the Malay Peninsula that was protected by the United Kingdom but did not join the Malay Federation princely states

In 1826, Johor became a British protectorate under the Anglo-Dutch Treaty, the beginning of the Malay states

In 1909, the rest of the former Siamese vassals were transferred to Britain due to the change of suzerainty

In the 1942 Pacific War, the Malay states were occupied by Japan and returned to Britain after the war

On 1 April 1946, the Malay States formed the Federation of Malaya with the Malay Federation and the Straits Settlements (excluding Singapore).

During World War I, Singapore was not affected by the war, and the Indian uprising was quickly suppressed

World War II changed the world, European colonial empires declined, and British Singapore began the process of independence

During the Japanese occupation of Malaya or Japanese occupation of Malaya, the Japanese army invaded Malaya on December 8, 1941

The British Malay Archipelago (Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei) were occupied by Japanese forces

The Battle of Malaya, December 8, 1941 – January 31, 1942, was fought between the Allies and Japan in British Malaya

The Japanese had rich combat experience and were well prepared for jungle warfare, and the British army was poorly trained and poorly commanded, but its strength was much larger than that of the Japanese army

Yamashita Bongwen broke through the British lines with incredible speed, and the Japanese triumphantly occupied the entire Malay Peninsula and Singapore

Winston Churchill called the fall of Singapore the greatest disaster in British history, and Japan called the battle the Japanese version of blitzkrieg

The Battle of Singapore from 8 to 15 February 1942 was a key battle in the Southeast Asian theater in which Japanese forces attacked the Straits Settlements

In the end, the successful occupation of the entire island of Singapore, the good use of bicycles was an important reason for the victory of the Japanese army

The Japanese occupation of Singapore is also known as the period of Japanese occupation of Singapore, and Singapore as a British colony was interrupted by the Japanese occupation

On 15 February 1942, the government of the Straits Settlements of Singapore surrendered, and on 12 September 1945, the Japanese army surrendered unconditionally

Japan occupies Singapore, and the Malay Tiger Yamashita Fengwen renamed Zhaonan Island (the island of light in southern Italy)

Administratively, Singapore became part of Japan and became a special city of Shōnan, hence the name Shōnan period

The purge was a systematic ethnic cleansing of the Chinese population by the Japanese occupation of Singapore and Malaya

In 1943, Japan established a Southeast Asian puppet regime, the Provisional Government of Free India, in Singapore to replace British India

On 5 September 1945, British troops landed and officially took over Singapore, ending the anarchy in Singapore after the surrender of Japan

In March 1946, the British ended martial law on the Malay Peninsula, and on 1 April Singapore became a crown colony

In 1948, the Communist Party of Malaya fought armed and the British government declared a state of emergency in Malaya, which lasted until 1960

The British Army fought a twelve-year guerrilla war with the People's Liberation Army of Malaya, the Malayan Emergency or the War of National Liberation against the British

In 1953, the British embarked on constitutional reform in Singapore, and the Linde Constitution was approved on 8 February 1955

An elected government is formed, with ministers divided between the British and elected members, and the highest decision-making body being the Council of Ministers

The Federation of Malaya was established on 31 January 1948 and consisted of the Malay State and Straits Settlements Penang and Malacca

Britain's attempt to merge into the Federation of Malaya was strongly opposed by Malay nationalists

Eventually the Federation of Malaya was dissolved and the Federation of Malaya was re-formed, restoring the symbolic status of the Malay rulers

Malay remained a British protectorate, and Penang and Malacca remained British colonies

On 31 August 1957, the Federation of Malaya became independent and became a member of the British Commonwealth

The 1959 Singapore Legislative House election, the first election after Singapore's autonomy, was elected by the people of Singapore

Lee Kuan Yew won a majority of political parties to form a ruling government in the Legislative Council, and the Lee Kuan Yew People's Action Party won a landslide victory

It is still the ruling party in Singapore and has never lost absolute control of Singapore's legislature

On 3 June 1959, Singapore became self-governing and Lee Kuan Yew became the first Prime Minister

Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, was born in Dangxi Township, Gaopi Township, Dapu County, Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, and the founder of the People's Action Party

Government agencies are lean and strictly require public officials to be honest and perform their duties, implement high wages, ensure efficiency, and maintain social stability

The change in Singapore caused fear among Prime Minister of Malaya, fearing that Singapore would be occupied by the Communists

On 16 September 1963, Malaya and Singapore, Sarawak and British North Borneo (Sabah) formed Malaysia

Singapore was established as a state of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, ending Singapore's British period

The state of Singapore and the federal government of Malaysia are at odds economically, financially and politically

The 1964 Singapore Race Riots involved large ethnic riots in the Chinese and Malay communities

In 1965, Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman removed the state of Singapore from the Federation

Malaysia and Singapore signed the Singapore Independence Agreement on 7 August

On 9 August, Singapore withdrew from the federation and became the independent Republic of Singapore, giving Singapore full independence from Malaysia