Conditions in British India and China were bad and many people chose to leave their old place of abode and headed for the shores of Nanyang (Colony of Singapore). Some headed for Malaya, Sumatra, Riau, Borneo, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries. They were looking for a better place to escape from the misery at home.
Those from British India did not have problems as the British wanted them here as labourers, rubber tappers, watchman, soldiers and policemen. The British Indian Steam Navigation, a large shipping company had huge ships like the State of Madras, Rajula and Chiddambaram. All these would call at the Singapore Harbour in Tanjong Pagar. Hence the large number of Indians settled at close by areas., However, the poor Chinese had to make perilous sea voyages. Many of them (sometimes with entire families) perished in the high seas.
Now this was because of opportunity. Singapore was thriving at that time as compared to conditions in highly populated and disease ridden India and China. It is wellll-known that, when many people are given the chance to migrate, they bring along their customs and traditions along with them.
Therefore, the early Chinese migrants to Nanyang set up secret societies, opened opium dens, started "chap-ji-kee" and other form of gambling and introduced red light brothels. (Readers will remember the names of Ghee Hin and Hai San SS groups that became notorious in Perak in the 1870s. A British Resident, JWW Birch was mudered and this led to the British to intervene there.).Names like Keong Siak Street, back-lanes of Kin Cheo Kha (next to Kitchener Road, Jalan Besar and Geylang became red-light areas.
Gambling also became so widespread that the locals even became addicted to it. Those days they even with roasted duck as the prize. These was during lunch-time in areas where there were large numbers of "coolies" or gang of labourers.
The SS Triads collected protection money from new-arrivals, attracted and recruited new members as fighters in the SS groups even appointed White Fans and other ranks within the heirachy. They went another step forward and became suppliers of opium and morphine products.
Some of their leaders went on and built rubber smoke-houses and became towkays. Others bought land in prime areas and became developers.
The proliferation of these gangs and they money they made soon attracted rivals who set up other SS groups for they too wanted a share of the pie. This led to to vicious gang attacks with the fighters armed with parangs, bearing scrapers and even guns. Many people died horrific deaths. Some even had their entrails sticking out of their mortal remains.
The local police became impotent for many of the policemen and Asiatic officers were bought over by these SS groups via bribes and sex. They closed their eyes and ears and the SS groups had a field day.
Now such situation surely made the locals Singaporeans suffer. Their once peaceful country had been over-run by hordes of "marauders". The British took steps to curtail this rising problems. They enlisted ex-gangsters as detectives with the Hokkien Branch, Cantonese and Teochew Branch. Phantom Squads led by such detectives and their officers went out and found trouble with the SS members. A place was fixed and when all hell broke loose, who the losers were is anybody's guess.
Some form of normalcy returned, when we parted from Malaysia and slowly started to progress. Effective police action in the late 60s right up to the mid 80s brought many of these thugs onto their knees. Tough laws like the Criminal Law (Temp) Provisions Act and the Societies Act was used against suspected SS members.
Yes, many of the present day generation are descendants of the early foreigners. But circumstances changed their attitude and they got rooted to Singapore. These became much more deeply-rooted when the Japanese took over Singapore and Malaya and subjected the Chinese to much atrocities. Chairman Mao's behaviour after the Long March made the early arrival much more determined to remain here.
Hence we progressed and made this country our home.
Today the same Gates have been wide opened once again and we see an exodus coming in with all their customs, traditions and beliefs. Loud-mouthed, filthy habits and scant respect for the original people. Even they cannot stand the smell of local spices. People are afraid to bring their dogs out for fear of loosing them.
The new arrivals here left a thriving China and no one knows their motives.
Lets wait for a few hundred years and see what happens next in what I would call, "The Exodus - 2nd Wave).
Those from British India did not have problems as the British wanted them here as labourers, rubber tappers, watchman, soldiers and policemen. The British Indian Steam Navigation, a large shipping company had huge ships like the State of Madras, Rajula and Chiddambaram. All these would call at the Singapore Harbour in Tanjong Pagar. Hence the large number of Indians settled at close by areas., However, the poor Chinese had to make perilous sea voyages. Many of them (sometimes with entire families) perished in the high seas.
Now this was because of opportunity. Singapore was thriving at that time as compared to conditions in highly populated and disease ridden India and China. It is wellll-known that, when many people are given the chance to migrate, they bring along their customs and traditions along with them.
Therefore, the early Chinese migrants to Nanyang set up secret societies, opened opium dens, started "chap-ji-kee" and other form of gambling and introduced red light brothels. (Readers will remember the names of Ghee Hin and Hai San SS groups that became notorious in Perak in the 1870s. A British Resident, JWW Birch was mudered and this led to the British to intervene there.).Names like Keong Siak Street, back-lanes of Kin Cheo Kha (next to Kitchener Road, Jalan Besar and Geylang became red-light areas.
Gambling also became so widespread that the locals even became addicted to it. Those days they even with roasted duck as the prize. These was during lunch-time in areas where there were large numbers of "coolies" or gang of labourers.
The SS Triads collected protection money from new-arrivals, attracted and recruited new members as fighters in the SS groups even appointed White Fans and other ranks within the heirachy. They went another step forward and became suppliers of opium and morphine products.
Some of their leaders went on and built rubber smoke-houses and became towkays. Others bought land in prime areas and became developers.
The proliferation of these gangs and they money they made soon attracted rivals who set up other SS groups for they too wanted a share of the pie. This led to to vicious gang attacks with the fighters armed with parangs, bearing scrapers and even guns. Many people died horrific deaths. Some even had their entrails sticking out of their mortal remains.
The local police became impotent for many of the policemen and Asiatic officers were bought over by these SS groups via bribes and sex. They closed their eyes and ears and the SS groups had a field day.
Now such situation surely made the locals Singaporeans suffer. Their once peaceful country had been over-run by hordes of "marauders". The British took steps to curtail this rising problems. They enlisted ex-gangsters as detectives with the Hokkien Branch, Cantonese and Teochew Branch. Phantom Squads led by such detectives and their officers went out and found trouble with the SS members. A place was fixed and when all hell broke loose, who the losers were is anybody's guess.
Some form of normalcy returned, when we parted from Malaysia and slowly started to progress. Effective police action in the late 60s right up to the mid 80s brought many of these thugs onto their knees. Tough laws like the Criminal Law (Temp) Provisions Act and the Societies Act was used against suspected SS members.
Yes, many of the present day generation are descendants of the early foreigners. But circumstances changed their attitude and they got rooted to Singapore. These became much more deeply-rooted when the Japanese took over Singapore and Malaya and subjected the Chinese to much atrocities. Chairman Mao's behaviour after the Long March made the early arrival much more determined to remain here.
Hence we progressed and made this country our home.
Today the same Gates have been wide opened once again and we see an exodus coming in with all their customs, traditions and beliefs. Loud-mouthed, filthy habits and scant respect for the original people. Even they cannot stand the smell of local spices. People are afraid to bring their dogs out for fear of loosing them.
The new arrivals here left a thriving China and no one knows their motives.
Lets wait for a few hundred years and see what happens next in what I would call, "The Exodus - 2nd Wave).
