Welcome to SG200

2015 marks fifty years of Singapore's existence as an independent nation. It was in August 1965 that Singapore was ousted from the Federation of Malaysia, after being part of the union for merely two years. There are many programmes and events planned throughout 2015, as Singapore celebrates this momentous milestone. The shortform or code that's being used in marketing and social media is #SG50.

As one who enjoys the study of Asian history, I think there is another anniversary worth commemorating in four years' time. Specifically in the year 2019, Singapore should celebrate #SG200, i.e. two centuries after the founding of Singapore by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1819.

All schoolchildren in Singapore would have heard the story of how Raffles "founded" Singapore, but I suspect that beyond sketchy dates and facts, few probably know much about the details, such as what were conditions like in the little trading village on the Singapore River that would grow into the present modern metropolis, who were the key players in the early history and what were the key events, achievements and challenges during that century and half before independent Singapore.

Fig 1: Part of Singapore island (circa 1825)

Fig 2: Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles

The purpose of this blog is to piece together articles, viewpoints and pictures about the two centuries since 1819 - especially happenings between 1819 and 1965, since events after independence have already been widely documented.

Finally, I'd like to convey my heartiest congratulations to Singapore and to all Singaporeans on SG50. May the nation continue to prosper for many more years. I also hope that some readers of this blog will join me in this journey to learn more about Singapore's history in the preceding one and half centuries,  and possibly look forward to a commemoration of #SG200.