After a week of intense fighting, the British Commonwealth surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. From 21 February to 4 March 1942, Chinese men suspected of being anti-Japanese were executed in the Sook Ching Massacre. An estimated 20,000 died but the exact number is unknown due to a lack of written records.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore.

Two weeks after the Japanese surrender that officially ended World War II, another surrender ceremony was held on 12 September 1945 at the Municipal Building of Singapore (now City Hall). This officially ended the Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia.

Image credit: Australian War Memorial.

On 1 April 1946, the Malayan Union was inaugurated, replacing the Straits Settlements. Under this new arrangement, Penang and Malacca became part of the Malayan Union, together with the other nine Malay states: Selangor, Perak, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johore. Singapore was made a separate Crown colony.

Image credit: The Singapore Free Press © Singapore Press Holdings Limited.

In 1958, the British Parliament passed the State of Singapore Act that would convert Singapore from a colony into a self-governing state. Terms for a new constitution were laid, which came into force with the city-state’s first fully-elected government in May 1959.

Image credit: Ministry of Information and the Arts Collection, courtesy of National Archives of Singapore.

Lacking in natural resources and facing declining trade, Singapore joined the Federation of Malaya, forming the Federation of Malaysia, for economic survival. Forging a bigger common market with Malaya would create jobs and generate growth. Ensuring Singapore’s viability would also support its independence from the British.

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reprinted with permission

In response to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, Indonesia severed trade links with Malaysia and Singapore, and launched an offensive called Konfrontasi. Much of the fighting took place near the Malaysian-Indonesian border in Borneo, but Singapore suffered as well. On 10 March 1965, the MacDonald House on Orchard Road was bombed by two Indonesian marines, killing three and injuring 33 others.

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reprinted with permission

After less than 23 months, Singapore broke away from the Federation of Malaysia, due to political and economic differences. Racial riots had also erupted in the months leading up to the separation. Making the announcement on 9 August 1965, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was overcome by emotions and broke down on national television.

Image credit: The Singapore Free Press © Singapore Press Holdings Limited.

Tasked to find a new British trading base in a more central location in the Malay Archipelago, Raffles first arrived at St John’s Island on 28 January 1819. Within two days, he secured a preliminary agreement to establish a factory in Singapore, after pledging to back a claimant of the Johore-Riau-Lingga Sultanate.

Concept visuals by CraveFX as part of The Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre.

On 6 Feb 1819, at the Padang, Tengku Long agreed to the treaty allowing the British to set up a post in Singapore, in exchange for stipends and support for his bid to be Sultan of Johore. With the signing, the Union Jack was raised for the first time. Major-General William Farquhar was appointed the first British Resident and Commandant, and became deeply involved in the day-to-day administration of Singapore.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore.

Three years after his first arrival, Raffles drafted his vision for the urban development of Singapore in the Raffles Town Plan, also known as the Jackson Plan. Designed for communal harmony and ease of trade, the plan assigned government and commercial areas, ethnic neighbourhoods and even building designs – including the five foot way.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore.

Two different treaties sealed Singapore’s fate as a British colony. The 1824 treaty ceded Singapore to the East India Company, in exchange for continued British support of Tengku Long as Sultan; while the Anglo-Dutch Treaty divided Southeast Asian polities into a British sphere and a Dutch sphere, ending Dutch claims to Singapore.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore.

To reduce the costs of managing its territories, the East India Company (EIC) united Singapore, Penang and Melaka under one administrative unit – the Presidency of the Straits Settlements – in 1826. When EIC was dissolved in 1858, the Straits Settlements fell under the administration of the India Office in London.

Feeling that the Indian government did not promote the Straits’ interest, the mercantile community in the Straits Settlements petitioned the Colonial Office to take over administration of the Straits. On 1 April 1867, the Straits Settlements became directly administered by the Crown.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore.

As the Suez Canal increased global trade, Singapore became an important international hub, serving as the primary coaling and refitting stop for steamships in Southeast Asia. Singapore was also a key station in a network of submarine telegraph lines, making it the ideal financial centre for international banks such as HSBC.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore.

In a bid to win British support for his tenuous reign, the Sultan of Johore offered Singapore as a gift to Scottish trader Alexander Hamilton. However, Hamilton declined the gift, despite knowing Singapore was at the centre of trade; because no other private individual had established a trading post in the region.

Image credit: National Library, Singapore.

Official mapmaker to King Louis XV of France, Jacques Bellin updated a 17th century French map that charted the Straits of Melaka and Singapore. In his detailed map, he identified Singapore as Pulau Panjang, meaning Long Island. This name appeared in Dutch, French and English maps until the early 19th century.

Image credit: National Library, Singapore.

As the Dutch and the British continued their battle for supremacy in Europe and Asia, Stamford Raffles joined the British East India Company as a clerk at age 14. He was forced to quit school in order to support his mother and siblings.

 Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London | Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Fighting for dominance over trade in Asia, the Dutch and the Portuguese engaged in several battles at sea. In 1603, the Dutch attacked the Portuguese merchant ship Santa Catarina off the coast near Changi – plundering cargo worth 3 million Dutch guilders (approx. S$20 to $30 million today). This alerted the rest of Europe to the huge profits that could be gained from trade in Asia.

Image credit: National Library, Singapore.

Portuguese explorer and cosmographer, Manuel Godinho de Erédia, found Singapore in 1604 and drew a map of it as part of a plan to secure the region for the Portuguese, and possibly building a fortress here.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore.

In a sustained bid to undermine Portuguese influence in the East, the Dutch – under Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge – engaged in a series of campaigns to oust the Portuguese from Melaka, as early as 1606. Battles at sea continued in the interim years, until the Dutch, allied with Johore, blockaded the Straits of Singapore and Melaka, and succeeded in taking Melaka in 1641.

 Image credit: Atlas of Mutual Heritage | Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Singapore was burnt down by 20,000 Acehnese warriors arriving by ship. With the destruction of the Johore Sultanate, Singapore once again dimmed on the global scale. This situation worsened with the increasing preference of larger vessels to use the Governor’s Strait (now Singapore Strait), which bypassed Singapore.

Concept visuals by CraveFX as part of The Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre.

Commissioned by Johore Regent Yang di-Pertuan Di Hilir Raja Abdullah, Bendahara Tun Sri Lanang composed the manuscripts of Sejarah Melayu, also known as the Malay Annals. One of the most important works on Malay history, Sejarah Melayu was later referenced by Stamford Raffles himself as he searched for a potential British trading post in the Malay Archipelago.

Image credit: The British Library.

After the assasination of Mahmud Shah II in 1699, Chief Minister Abdul Jalil declared himself the new Sultan of Johore. However, one of Mahmud Shah’s wives escaped and gave birth to the Raja Kechil, who later established a Sultanate in Riau, claiming his right of succession from Mahmud Shah II. The Riau Sultanate became a trading rival to the Johore Sultanate, contributing to Singapore’s decline.

The Fall of Melaka to the Portuguese resulted in the Laksamana of Melaka, the sultanate’s naval chief, establishing a settlement in Singapore, which became his fiefdom.

 Image credit: Ernesto Ferreira Condeixa | Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

With its independence, Aceh would become a challenger to the primacy of the Melaka and Johore Sultanates, to which Singapura was affiliated, in the years to come.

Concept visuals by CraveFX as part of The Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre.

The Melaka Sultanate rebuilt its base along the Johore River and was renamed the Johore Sultanate. Meanwhile, Singapore remained as a trading outpost and experienced an era of growth under a “Shabandar,” the title of a lord of the harbour appointed by the Sultanate.

Although no longer a bustling port, Singapore became part of the Melaka Sultanate and geographically remained an important site of their naval base. The backbone to this naval force was the Orang Laut. Fearless warriors, loyal sailors and expert fishermen, the Orang Laut were a dominant group living in Singapore during the 1400s.

Concept visuals by CraveFX as part of The Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre.

The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) in 1453 closed European access to the East, especially the Silk Road. Thus began the Age of Exploration as European explorers set sail in search of ways to reach Asia by sea, in place of land trade routes.

Image credit: Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, Modena, Italy | Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Forced to find an alternative to the overland trade route closed by the Ottomans, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed down the western coast of Africa and rounded the Cape of Good Hope – becoming the first European to reach India by an all-sea route originating from Europe.

 Image credit: Tournai tapestries | Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

According to the Malay Annals, Sang Nila Utama arrived on our shores and renamed the island from Temasek to Singapura. He used it as a port city that flourished due to its location at the crosswinds of the monsoons and the rise of the maritime trade with China.

Concept visuals by CraveFX as part of The Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre.

Records from Wang Dayuan, a Chinese trader, showed he visited Singapore and reflected on the city’s plurality, with foreign traders living side by side with the locals. He also recorded the existence of two local Chinese settlements, Banzu and Long Ya Men.

Image credit: National Library, Singapore.

Parameswara, a Palembang prince, sought refuge in Singapore after a failed revolt against the Majapahit empire. Within days, he turned on his local host and usurped the Singapura throne. His rule, however, was shortlived as there was a quick reprisal from the north to punish him for his crime.

Concept visuals by CraveFX as part of The Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre.

Parameswara fled Singapore and settled in Melaka, later establishing the Melaka Sultanate.

Concept visuals by CraveFX as part of The Bicentennial Experience at Fort Canning Centre.