HISTORY

The Straits Settlements

In 1826, the amalgamation of Singapore, Malacca and Penang, formed the Straits Settlements, which came under the control of the British East India Company.

By 1832, Singapore had become the seat of government for the three settlements.

The Straits Settlements became a Crown Colony under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Office in London on 1 April 1867.

Singapore continued to prosper as a trading port during the subsequent decades. Several factors attributed to this success, including the advent of the steamship in the mid-1860s and the production of tin and rubber in Malaya.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 further established Singapore as a major port of call for ships plying between East and West.

The peace and prosperity enjoyed up to this point were shattered when Japanese aircraft bombed the slumbering city in the wee hours of 8 December 1941.

On Chinese New Year, 15 February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese and was renamed Syonan-To (Light of the South).

This was the beginning of a nightmare that was to last for three and a half years.

During the Japanese Occupation, Malays and Indians were sent to Thailand to build the Death Railway. Eurasians suspected of helping the British were shot and others were put in prison camps.

The Chinese suffered the most for their part in aiding China in its war effort against Japan. Chinese males between the ages of 18 and 50 were rounded up as an effort to remove anti-Japanese elements. Those identified as anti-Japanese were executed at locations such as Bedok, Changi and Punggol. This bloody affair was known as the Sook Ching Massacre.

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