Historic Overview Of Singapore

Singapore, lying as it is in the midst of present-day Malaysia (of which it was a part till 1965), became like Malaysia, an important centre of trade between the East and the West during the 1300s.

 One of the first mentions of Singapore is in the annals of Chinese history dating back to the third century, which referred to Singapore as 'Pu-luo-chung’, meaning 'The Island at the tip of the Peninsula’. By the seventh century, Singapore (then known as 'Temasek’) was a trading outpost of the Malayan Buddhist Empire on Sumatra. The name 'Temasek', incidentally means 'sea town’, and it was by this name that Singapore came to be known till the 13th century, when it acquired its present name by a rather interesting incident which occurred on the island. At the time, a Sumatran prince Sang Nila Utama, landed on the island and saw what he thought was a lion (probably in reality a tiger), and named the place 'Singapura’- Lion City, the Sanskrit word for lion being 'singa’. 

Singapore, as we know it, came into being thanks to a British civil servant, Sir Stamford Raffles, who first hit upon the idea of taking advantage of the strategic location of this obscure fishing village. In the early 1800s, the Dutch already had a considerable influence in the Straits of Malacca; the British were searching for a suitable place to set up a trading post. Sir Stamford Raffles, combing the area, came upon Singapore and after signing an agreement with the Sultan of Johor (whose dominion it was), laid the foundations of modern Singapore here in 1819. Singapore became a part of Malaysia and remained under the rule of the British till the independence of Malaysia. In 1965, Singapore itself became independent, and under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, quickly built up a formidable administrative structure and an enviably stable economy - factors which have gone towards making it one of South Asia’s most admired countries today.