THE KINGS & QUEENS EXHIBITION

The Exhibition takes you on a philatelic journey to see

• why and how Singapore was established by the British East India Company
• the Kings & Queens Collection of stamps and philatelic materials during the colonial period
• monarchy in the region through stamps

COLONIALISM IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Coming of the Europeans

Around the 15^th century, Europeans curiosity in the world outside Europe, the desire for more knowledge and their search for new trading routes led to great voyages of discovery and journeys to the East. As the Europeans found new trade routes, they began setting up permanent trading posts in the countries they were trading with, and these posts soon grew into colonies. 

European Possessions in Asia

• Portugal - Malacca (1511), but was seized by the Dutch in 1641. Timor (1520), but was annexed to Indonesia in 1975
• Spain - The Philippines (1565) but was seized by USA after the Spanish-American War in 1898
• The Netherlands - East Indies (1619), now Indonesia.
• France - Indochina - Vietnam (1858), Saigon (1859), west and north of Indochina by 1907.
• Great Britain - India (1600), Burma (1824), Penang (1786), Malacca (1824) and Singapore (1819). Penang, Malacca and Singapore became the Straits Settlements in 1826. Christmas Island (dependency of Singapore in 1889), Cocos Island (1903) and Labuan (1906). Labuan was constituted a fourth Settlement in 1912.

  East India Company (EIC), which was chartered by Queen Elizabeth I for trade with Asia, operated as a British commercial and political organisation in India from 1600 to 1858. The company was dissolved in 1858, and the territories were placed under the jurisdiction of the India Office. In 1867 the Straits Settlements became a crown colony administered by the Colonial Office.

ESTABLISHMENT OF SINGAPORE

British's Search of a New Trading Port

When the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, the British government returned to the Netherlands all the Dutch possessions in the East. The Dutch began to monopolise trade in Southeast Asia. Progressively, the British traders found themselves in danger of being left out in the trade of the East.

1955 $1 Stamp featuring Sir Stamford Raffles

The British had established two trading settlements. Bencoolen was however located on the wrong side of Sumatra, facing the Indian Ocean instead of the Straits of Malacca where main trade routes lay. Penang lay too far north of the Straits of Malacca to effectively protect the British ships using the Straits.

Sir Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen, went in search for a new trading port. His search led him to the island of Singapore. It had a well-sheltered harbour with plenty of fresh water and had not been occupied by the Dutch.

Singapore: A British Possession

1819 Treaty

To settle on the island, Raffles recognised Tengku Hussein as the rightful Sultan for the island of Singapore through a ceremony held on 6 February 1819. The Dutch reacted strongly against the British settlement in Singapore, claiming that Singapore was part of the Johore Empire ruled by Sultan Abdul Rahman, Tengku Hussein's younger brother.

After series of letters between the two governments, they agreed to settle their disputes in the East with the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 on 17 March.  The treaty divided all areas north of Singapore to the British while the areas south of Singapore to the Dutch.  The British signed another Treaty with Sultan Hussein and the Temenggong in August 1824, which ceded Singapore to the EIC.  Hence, Singapore officially became a British possession in August 1824.