Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, was grateful to the British colonizers, what was the reason for the British colonization of Singapore? Marx once said: "Capital comes into the world, from head to toe, every pore dripping with blood and filth." "Colonial expansion is obviously an important manifestation of capital expansion, in the hundreds of years of colonial waves, the people of countless countries have fallen into the slaves of colonizers, sucking the blood of these colonized countries and nations, and forging the glory of colonial countries." Therefore, in the eyes of most countries, these colonizers are tantamount to robbers, and should always be nailed to the pillar of shame in their own history. But for the colonizers, Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew had a very different view: "I am glad that Britain colonized Singapore, and I am grateful for their departure", which is confusing. One: Conquest and plunder, colonization of Singapore Singapore is located on the Strait of Malacca, a choke point, and has an extremely advantageous geographical location. In the 19th century, the British expanded and plundered the world on a global scale, and Singapore was not spared.
Singapore was originally ruled by the Sultanate of Malacca, and in 1819 Raffles, a clerk of the British East India Company, landed in Singapore. According to the vices of the colonists, Singapore was routinely assigned to the jurisdiction of the East India Company, and the colonization of Singapore began for more than a hundred years. In 1867, due to the change in the colonial situation, Singapore's superior geographical location began to become prominent, and the British government elevated Singapore to the Straits Settlements, under the direct jurisdiction of the British government. As the British attached increasing importance to Singapore, by the end of the 19th century, Singapore had transformed from a barren land into a thriving trading port. Singapore's unique natural conditions are very suitable for rubber cultivation, and the British colonists forced local residents to plant rubber. While exploiting and oppressing the local people, it also objectively promoted the vigorous development of the local rubber plantation industry, and Singapore was also an important rubber planting and processing base in the world at that time.
After the end of World War I, the British government invested heavily in the construction of a large military port in Singapore, which Churchill called the Gibraltar of the East. This shows how much the British colonists attached importance to Singapore. With the rise of the new colonial empire, it will inevitably challenge the old colonial countries, Japan through modernization reforms, towards the capitalist road, into the wave of colonial expansion, gradually from the victim of colonial expansion to murderer, brazenly invading neighboring countries. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the base of the US Pacific Fleet, with lightning speed, and then expanded south, occupying Malaysia and other places, and in February 1942, the British army suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Singapore, more than 100,000 British Commonwealth troops became prisoners, and Singapore entered the era of Japanese colonization. Japan launched a frenzied killing of local residents in Singapore, especially overseas Chinese, and about 20,000 people were taken away by the Japanese army under various pretexts and secretly killed.
Compared with the gentle colonization of the British colonists, the Japanese colonialists' methods were ruthless, and the slightest mistake may lead to a different position, and under the rule of the Japanese colonists, Singapore was no longer prosperous and depressed. With the progress of the times and the awakening of national consciousness, the colonial system will eventually usher in the collapse. In 1946, Singapore under British rule was preparing for independence, and after nearly 7 years of struggle, Singapore was able to successfully amend the constitution and have a large degree of autonomy. In Singapore's march towards independence and self-government, Lee Kuan Yew performed prominently and became a rising star in Singapore's political circles. Lee Kuan Yew graduated from the local Raffles College, then studied in the United Kingdom, and after returning to China, he began to practice law, coinciding with the rise of the Singapore independence movement, Lee Kuan Yew threw himself into it, and became famous as a representative of the government negotiations, which was supported by many people. In Singapore's first elections in 1953, Lee Kuan Yew was successfully elected to the Legislative Yuan, working with the Communist Party of Malaysia to fight for Singapore's independence.
After years of struggle, the British colonialists were gone, and on 3 June 1959, the Singapore State of Self-Government was officially established, and the People's Action Party under Lee Kuan Yew became the largest party. Lee Kuan Yew himself served as Prime Minister of the Home Rule State Government of Singapore. Singapore then held a referendum to formally join Malaysia and secede from British rule. After the merger of Singapore and Malaysia, there was no expected harmony, and there were great differences between the two sides in terms of governance and other aspects, and Malaysia's policy towards Singapore aroused the dissatisfaction of Singaporeans. It is worth mentioning that Lee Kuan Yew himself was quite disgusted with the ideas of the Communist Party, and while leading Singapore to Malaysia, Lee Kuan Yew launched a cleansing operation to break with the pro-communist elements in the People's Action Party. Malaysia, however, closed a branch of the Bank of China in Singapore on the pretext that Singapore was funding the Communist Party. Racial discrimination, political conflicts and other factors have led to a growing distance between Singapore and Malaysia.
On 9 August 1965, Singapore officially seceded from Malaysia and established itself as a nation, and Lee Kuan Yew became Singapore's founding Prime Minister. After independence, Singapore faced many difficulties. Singapore is a small country, with few natural resources and high unemployment. The international community was skeptical that such a small country could survive for a long time, especially at a time when Singapore was facing serious social problems. In order to get out of the predicament, Singapore began to find a path suitable for its own development, committed to developing the industry and economy, and vigorously attracting foreign investment. With the joint efforts of the Singaporean people, Singapore quickly got out of the predicament and became an important financial center in Southeast Asia. Singapore and three other Southeast Asian countries at the time, together known as the Asian Tigers, won the respect of the world. It stands to reason that Singapore's development is largely due to the joint efforts of the Singaporean people, but Lee Kuan Yew was grateful to the British colonizers. He believes that Singapore's development is inseparable from British colonization, and that the people of Singapore should be grateful for Britain's departure, which is puzzling.
Three: Rejoice, why is Lee Kuan Yew grateful to the British colonists, and even glad that the British colonized Singapore, is Lee Kuan Yew really deliberately currying favor with the British colonists? First of all, the reason why Lee Kuan Yew was grateful to the British colonialists was that while the British colonized Singapore, it objectively built Singapore, laying a solid foundation for Singapore's take-off during Lee Kuan Yew's administration. Before the British colonization of Singapore, Singapore was a veritable barren land, located in a remote area, and the society was still in a relatively backward and primitive state. After the British colonists occupied Singapore, due to Singapore's unique geographical location, it became an important stronghold of British colonization of the Far East. Out of the need to facilitate British colonization of Asia, the British decided to build Singapore. Britain pioneered the Industrial Revolution, and industrial technology led the world at the time, inevitably bringing advanced institutions and technology to Singapore. When Britain colonized Singapore, it objectively promoted Singapore's modernization.
After the end of World War II, Britain lost the right to colonize Singapore, which has become an important trade and transportation center in Southeast Asia, laying a solid foundation for the subsequent rise of Singapore. Secondly, the British colonized Singapore relatively mildly, and after a hundred years of subtlety, Singaporeans have a certain sense of psychological identification with Britain. Singapore was small and resource-poor, and the British colonists valued Singapore's superior location rather than local resources. As a result, the British colonists oppressed and plundered the local population of Singapore relatively little. The ethnic contradiction between the British colonialists and the Singaporean people did not appear so prominent. In addition, the British colonized Singapore for more than a hundred years, and during the period when the British colonists left, there was no bloodshed, and everything went smoothly in negotiations. Under the subtle influence, Singaporeans still have a lot of identity and belonging to the British colonizers, and Lee Kuan Yew does not hate the British colonizers much, but is grateful for the legacy left by the British colonizers.
Moreover, the British colonization of Singapore brought many other "benefits" to Singaporeans. When Britain colonized the world, it also exported culture, technology, etc. around the world. Today, under the wave of economic globalization, English has become the most widely used language in the world. With the Strait of Malacca backdropping, Singapore has become a global trading hub, giving Singaporeans an advantage through English, a global language. Moreover, the British also left Singaporeans with a high-quality education system, providing Singapore with a large number of talents to gain a foothold in the international community. Objectively speaking, the legacy left by the United Kingdom is of great benefit to Lee Kuan Yew. Finally, and most importantly, the reason is the influence of Lee Kuan Yew's personal factors. Lee Kuan Yew lived in the era of British colonization of Singapore, received a British colonial education from an early age, and went to England to study in his youth. Lee Kuan Yew's upbringing was destined to have a certain admiration for Britain in his heart. In addition, Singapore, as a small country, naturally needs to seek refuge in the face of a large country like the mighty United Kingdom.
Although Singapore became independent, it still needed the protection and support of a large country like the United Kingdom. Perhaps this is also the sadness of small countries. Summary: Although Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, was grateful to the British colonists and rejoiced that the British colonized Singapore, this sentiment was not a deliberate attempt to curry favor with the colonizers. While colonizing Singapore, Britain objectively built Singapore, laying a solid foundation for Singapore's development. The British colonists were relatively gentle with Singapore, and did not bring too much oppression and plunder to the local population, so it did not arouse the strong antipathy of the Singaporean people against the colonists. In addition, British colonial education, legacy culture and technology, and the popularization of English have brought many benefits to Singapore. And Lee Kuan Yew's personal factors also influenced his views. He grew up during the British colonial period of Singapore, was educated and influenced by the British, and therefore had a certain admiration for the British. For various reasons, Lee Kuan Yew was grateful to the British colonists and glad that the British colonized Singapore, which was his personal opinion and feelings, not deliberately currying favor with the colonists.
It also leads to deeper thinking about the impact and role of colonialism on the colonized countries, as well as the diverse responses of the colonized. Singapore's experience teaches us that history is complex and that colonial history should be considered and understood from multiple perspectives. For a country, what matters is how to achieve its own development and prosperity on the basis of history. In the case of Singapore, through hard work and wisdom, they succeeded in coming out of the shadow of colonization and achieving independence and development. So for other countries, how to solve the problems left over from history? What are your thoughts and suggestions?