Guthrie & Co.’s history began in 1823 when a partnership was established between Alexander Guthrie and Thomas Talbot Harrington, a family friend. First located in a rented godown on Hill Street, the company sold British goods to the European and Chinese communities ...

Gambling activities, also known as gaming, in colonial Singapore attracted different opinions from the British administrators. Stamford Raffles abhorred it and set out to ban gambling, while Residents William Farquhar and John Crawfurd saw gambling as critical ...

A variety of currencies were used in Singapore during different periods in its history. These included Chinese coins in the 14th century; Spanish and other silver dollars for much of the 19th century despite official attempts to introduce the Indian rupee between ...

The Singapore Straits is among the most geographically strategic sites in the maritime world. Ships sailing between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean had to, and still have to, sail around the southern coast of Singapore. Over the centuries, control over ...

Yio Chu Kang Road is a major road in the north of Singapore that connects Upper Thomson Road to Upper Serangoon Road. Asociated with gambier and pepper plantations and kampongs in the 19th century, the road today reflects the urban development of 20th-century Singapore. ...

The Singapore Poh Leung Kuk (保良局), or “office to protect virtue”, was established by the Chinese Protectorate in 1888. It grew out of one aspect of the protectorate’s work: controlling prostitution through registration and inspection to prevent the spread of venereal ...

Founded in Calcutta, India by Robert Laidlaw in 1882, Whiteaway Laidlaw was a department store that opened a premier branch in Singapore in 1900. Offering products that appealed to the Europeans and wealthy locals, the outlet in Singapore was located on D’Almeida ...

The arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama in India in 1498 meant that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to discover a direct sea route to Asia via the Cape of Good Hope and, subsequently, Southeast Asia. Their main motive in seeking out the maritime ...

Tuberculosis, commonly known as TB, is an infectious disease caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium. It spreads from person to person via airborne respiratory droplets from an infected person, and primarily affects the lungs. In the 19th century, Singapore’s ...

The influx of immigrants to Singapore in the 19th century brought various communicable diseases, such as smallpox, leprosy and cholera to the island. Health inspections and regulations became increasingly important in order to control the spread of such diseases ...

For much of the early 19th to mid-20th century, technical and vocational education in Singapore was underdeveloped due to the nature of the economy and the colonial government’s noninterference in education. Technical and vocational education gained importance ...

Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) is one of the most important Malay historical works, and one of the finest literary works written in Malay, that has been handed down in various versions. There were at least seven versions of this text. Sejarah Melayu is also one ...

Tan Teck Soon (b. 1859, Singapore–d. 25 November 1922, Singapore) was a Chinese scholar and writer active in Singapore at the turn of the 20th century. He was a founding member of the influential gentlemen’s debating club known as the Straits Philosophical Society ...

Caledonian Hotel, established in 1904, was one of the principal hotels in Singapore during the early 20th century. It was also said to be “the only British hotel in Singapore” at the time.

Marina Bay is a waterfront site located in Singapore’s central region. The bay area was created by reclaiming land around the body of water in front of Collyer Quay to form Marina Centre, Marina East and Marina South. The Marina Bay area has been developed over ...

The term Peranakan generally refers to people of mixed Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage. Many Peranakans trace their origins to 15th-century Malacca where their ancestors were thought to be Chinese traders who married local women. Peranakan males are known ...

The Tamils make up the largest segment of the South Indian community in Singapore. Originating from the present-day state of Tamil Nadu in South India as well as northern Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), many Tamils came to Singapore during the 19th century as labourers ...

The Javanese are one of the larger Indonesian ethnic groups that migrated to Singapore in various waves starting from the early 19th century. People of Javanese ancestry in Singapore are now regarded as part of the larger Malay/Muslim community.

The Eurasian community is a small but influential ethnic group that has been present in Singapore since the early 19th century. Eurasians are persons with mixed European and Asian lineage. Most Eurasians in Singapore can trace the European part of their ancestry ...

Alkaff Mansion is a 19th century colonial bungalow located on a hill at 10 Telok Blangah Green. Built in 1918 by a member of the prominent Alkaff family as a weekend house, it became known for hosting high society parties in the 1930s. The mansion once served ...