Focus on Singapore investment immigration and listen to the story of Singapore: The name Singapore comes from the Sanskrit "Singapura," and it has a beautiful legend.
Singapore was formerly known as Temasek (meaning "sea town" in Javanese). It was founded in the 8th century and belonged to the Srivijaya Empire of Indonesia. According to legend, in the 11th century, Prince Sang Nila Utama of the Srivijaya Kingdom in Sumatra settled in Temasek after marrying the daughter of the queen of Bintan.
One day, Sang Nila Utama went hunting with his wife and attendants. While chasing a deer, he came upon a rock and accidentally saw a silver-white beach in the distance. His attendants told him that place was called Temasek. So, Prince Sang Nila Utama and his attendants took a boat there, but they encountered a storm halfway. As the boat was about to sink, they had to throw everything overboard, but the storm continued to rage, and water kept flooding into the boat. Finally, Sang Nila Utama had to throw the remaining crown into the sea. Strangely, the storm calmed down after that.
They happily rowed to the shores of Temasek and finally reached their destination. Upon arriving in Temasek, Sang Nila Utama first rested on the grass by the river mouth and then went hunting in the nearby forest with his attendants. Suddenly, they discovered a creature larger than a ram, with a black head, white chest, and red body, moving swiftly and robustly. When the creature saw Sang Nila Utama and his group, it immediately fled into the forest. Not knowing what to call this creature, Sang Nila Utama asked his attendants, and an older attendant told him: This is a lion (Singa). Sang Nila Utama was very pleased to hear this and decided to stay instead of returning to Bintan. He also renamed Temasek to Singapura. "Singa" means "lion," and "pura" means "city." Thus, the origin of Singapore, the Lion City, was established.
After that, the queen of Bintan sent many people, along with elephants and birds, to Singapore. Sang Nila Utama established a new nation here, called the Kingdom of Singapore. After the establishment of the Kingdom of Singapore, Sang Nila Utama became its first monarch, and the kingdom was succeeded by a total of five kings.
Due to Singapore's advantageous position at the crossroads of shipping, it attracted merchants from India and China, and soon Singapore became a prosperous port. The Chinese merchant Wang Dayuan mentioned in his travelogue that he had visited Singapore and referred to the two rocks by the sea as Longyamen (Dragon Tooth Gate). One of these rocks was blown up, while the other remains in today's Keppel Harbor.
Although Singapore became a prosperous port, it was unfortunately plagued by pirates who used the islands' natural barriers to frequently rob passing merchant ships. This was a significant drawback at the time. However, under the rule of successive kings, Singapore had established a defense force. By the end of the 13th century, the Majapahit Kingdom of Java had a powerful military, and small states had to pay tribute to it. Only the king of Singapore did not comply. The king of Majapahit then sent troops to attack Singapore, and both sides were at a stalemate for a day. Due to the bravery of the Singaporean military and civilians in resisting foreign invasion, the powerful Majapahit forces were ultimately defeated and retreated.
When Singapore reached its last king, Iskandar Shah, the prime minister was Laksamana Lanchuna Dobo. Due to the prime minister's resentment over the king killing his daughter, he wrote to the king of Majapahit, asking him to send troops to attack Singapore. This time, Majapahit dispatched hundreds of large and small ships carrying 200,000 troops to attack Singapore. When their army arrived in Singapore, the prime minister secretly opened the city gates to let the enemy in, resulting in the brutal slaughter of the Singaporean people, with rivers of blood flowing, and the prime minister's family was also killed in the chaos. After Iskandar Shah was defeated, he had no choice but to flee to the Malay Peninsula with the remaining soldiers. The Majapahit army left a monument at the mouth of the Singapore River, plundered many treasures, and then returned to Java.
After this great destruction, Singapore reverted from a prosperous port to a sparsely populated fishing village. Although King Iskandar Shah returned from the Malay Peninsula, he soon passed away. His tomb still remains at the foot of Fort Canning Hill today.
After the Majapahit army returned to Java, the Kingdom of Siam took the opportunity to extend its influence into Singapore, appointing a chief to manage the area under Siamese protection.
At this time, the prince of Palembang, Biri Misura, was also expelled by the Majapahit army for not paying tribute. Biri Misura fled to Singapore with his troops. Upon arriving in Singapore, Biri Misura was warmly welcomed by the chief. However, soon after, in order to seize Singapore, Biri Misura assassinated the local chief. This act immediately drew the displeasure of Siam, which dispatched troops from Phang Nga to attack Biri Misura and drive him away. After Siam regained Singapore, due to the long distance, governance was difficult, and thus Siam did not actively manage it, and Singapore remained a fishing village.
After Biri Misura was expelled from Singapore by the Siamese army, he led his troops to the Malay Peninsula and established the Malacca Sultanate. Malacca, located at the narrowest point of the Strait of Malacca, became a famous trading port and the center of politics and Islam under the rule of successive kings. Looking at Singapore, it had neither natural high mountains as barriers nor large rivers sufficient for defense, coupled with the unpredictable presence of pirates, making defense difficult and hindering Singapore's development.
In 1511, the Malacca Sultanate fell. Although its descendants established the Johor Sultanate and the Riau Johor Sultanate, Singapore was included in their subordinate regions. Unfortunately, this kingdom frequently fought with the Portuguese, Dutch, and Acehnese, lacking a stable environment for nation-building, and Singapore could not develop, merely appointing a governor to manage it. This situation continued until 1819 when Raffles arrived and reopened it as a major trading port.
After the end of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe in 1815, the overseas colonies originally managed by the British on behalf of the Dutch were returned to the Dutch, leaving the British with only Penang and Singapore as colonies in Southeast Asia. In 1817, the British East India Company appointed Raffles as the Deputy Governor of Singapore. However, despite Raffles' efforts, merchants were unwilling to do business there; on the other hand, the Dutch, as before, sought to obstruct British development in Indonesia, which made Raffles very dissatisfied with the Dutch. At this time, the Governor of the British East India Company, Hastings, summoned Raffles to India to discuss British commercial development in Southeast Asia. Raffles proposed a plan, arguing that Singapore and Penang were too remote to compete with the Dutch, and thus it was necessary to find a new base at the southern end of the Strait of Malacca. Governor Hastings agreed with Raffles' opinion and sent him to find a new base. Since Raffles was familiar with Southeast Asian history and had a good understanding of the Strait of Malacca, he chose Singapore.
On January 28, 1819, Raffles and his companion, Farquhar, arrived in Singapore on six or seven British ships. They anchored off the coast near Bukit Chandu for a night, and the next day sent Chinese carpenter Ah Cheng and two sailors to the island to check for any Dutch presence.
Ah Cheng and the sailors found that there were no Dutch on the island, only about four to five hundred sea people, Malays, and Chinese. They raised a large flag on the mountain, and Raffles and his companions knew the island was safe, so they brought the ships to shore and landed in Singapore.
When Raffles landed in Singapore, it was under the administration of the governor of the Riau Johor Sultanate. Raffles expressed to the governor that the British wanted to establish a port and market on the island to allow merchants from various places to do business, hoping the governor would permit them to establish a trading post. Although the governor agreed to Raffles' request, it still required formal approval from the Sultan. Since the Sultan of the Riau Johor Sultanate was under Dutch control, success was difficult, which made Raffles feel very troubled. Soon, Raffles learned that the current Sultan's throne should rightfully be succeeded by his brother, Tunku Long, meaning that the younger brother had usurped the Sultan's position from the elder brother. After learning this news, Raffles took the opportunity to discuss with the governor and secretly welcomed Tunku Long to Singapore, supporting him to ascend the throne as Sultan, named Hussein. That day, Raffles and the Sultan, along with the governor, signed a treaty in which the Sultan agreed to allow the British to establish a trading post in Singapore and sent an official to manage it, while the British would pay the Sultan five thousand dollars annually and the governor three thousand dollars as remuneration. Thus, a small part of the coastal area of Singapore became a transshipment port for British trade in the Far East and a major military base in Southeast Asia.
In 1942, Singapore was occupied by Japan, and after Japan's surrender in 1945, the British restored their colonial rule over Singapore. In 1946, Singapore was designated as a direct colonial territory. In the 1950s, the national independence movement surged, and in August 1958, the British approved the "Singapore Self-Government Plan." In June 1959, after 140 years of British rule, Singapore became a self-governing state with internal autonomy, while the British retained rights over defense, foreign affairs, constitutional amendments, and the issuance of emergency laws. In September 1963, Singapore joined Malaysia. On August 9, 1965, Singapore declared independence from Malaysia and established the Republic of Singapore.