Immigrants were forced to leave their homelands due to overpopulation, which led to famines & unemployment as there was insufficient farming lands to grow enough food, and inadequate jobs for everyone. An example is 19th century south China, where there was a rapid increase in population. Due to insufficient fertile farming lands, there was not enough food cultivated to feed the entire population, and many were driven to leave their homelands in Fujian and Guan Dong, for Singapore, so they could feed their families. Immigrants were attracted to come to Singapore for the many benefits.
SG was a bustling trading settlement, and many laborers were needed for construction works. Thus, there were many job opportunities for skilled & unskilled, and people from other countries were attracted by the fact that as long as they worked hard, they could earn a decent living. Traders were attracted to come due to SG’s free port status and lax immigration policy which allowed them to come & go as they please without having to pay duty on goods they bought Immigrants’ contribution Immigrants contributed to the building of the settlement.
They laid the foundations of Singapore by building the necessary infrastructure, such as residential areas, schools, roads etc. The British organized and arranged for the construction to take place. They took charge of various public works, for instance they brought in Indian convicts to clear the jungles Singapore was filled with so infrastructure could be built on the land. Many unskilled Indian and Chinese immigrants were hired as laborers to work at the construction sites too, and they worked laboriously under the scorching sun for little pay.
Their contributions in building the settlement were crucial in laying the basic foundations in Singapore, and greatly aided in her rapid development. It also helped transform Singapore from a quiet fishing village into a settlement well equipped with proper infrastructure, thus attracting even more immigrants and traders to come. The immigrants contributed to promoting entrepot trade in Singapore. Coming from all over the world, they brought a wide variety of goods to trade. For instance, the Chinese brought tea and silk while the Indians brought cotton and opium.
This diversity of goods made Singapore a popular trading centre, and many traders were attracted to visit. This increase trade activities led to an increase in revenue Singapore government gained too. Furthermore, some Chinese immigrants facilitated trade between local and European traders, who could not communicate otherwise, by acting as translators. Moreover, the European traders promoted trade by bringing the capital to set up trading houses and agencies which had links to Europe, and the Indian immigrants provided baking services to traders who needed money to carry out trade.
Thus, the immigrants played crucial role in promoting and facilitating entrepot trade in Singapore. They helped transform Singapore from a quiet fishing village, into a bustling trading settlement, thus aiding in her economic development. Immigrants helped contribute to governing settlement. Many educated Europeans and Asians contributed to the administration of the government. Other immigrants helped too, such as Govindasamy Pillai, a successful businessman from India, served as the Justic of Peave to settle disputes amongst the Indian community.
Many Indians and Sikhs came to Singapore as sepoys too, and took on police duties to help maintain law and order in society. Rich immigrants helped contribute by serving the community. Singapore was developing much faster than it could cope with. Moreover the B was more concerned about their profit rather than people’s welfare. Hence, there were minimal social services, and social problems were rife. Fortunately, there were many wealthy immigrants who saw the need to step up and help the less fortunate by providing essential social services.
Examples include Tan Tock Seng, whom set up the pauper’s hospital to provide free or very cheap health services for poor. Syed Oyed Aljunied is another example. He contributed to the construction of this hospital, and built wells to provide immigrants with potable water supple. Thus, immigrants helped improve the Standard Of Living of locals Singaporeans, by ensuring the health and education were properly taken care of. This allowed them to continue to work hard to develop and build Singapore, and attracted more immigrants to come and work here. This also ensured sustainability and continued development of Singapore.
