2011/2012, Sem 1

SSA2211 Evolution of a Global City-State

Tutorial 2: Is Singapore strategically located?
Define what strategic means in Singapores context Was Singapore always strategic? Singapores success is due to its strategic location. How true is this statement? It is commonly thought that Singapore was only founded in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles. However, if strategic location is the reason for this islands success, why was there no settlement on Singapore before 1819? How accurate is this laymans understanding of Singapores history? BACKGROUND READING: Waterways and Trade Routes Read paragraphs, 1, 2 and 9 of the following website: http://www.archatlas.dept.shef.ac.uk/Portages/Portages.php Singapore has always been located along the main waterways between the Indian Ocean and Pacific basins. Does this mean it was always on the main East-West trade routes?

PART I: The History of Chief Entrept Ports in the Melaka Straits Read Singapore: A 700-Year History, Chapter 3, The Lure of the Chinese Market, pp. 19-32. What was the chief entrept port in the Melaka Straits region from the 7th to the late 12th centuries? What led to its rise and decline (pp. 20-23)? What led to the founding of Temasek as a trading port? Consider both long-term/broader factors as well as more direct/specific factors (pp. 20-27). What determined the success of Temasek as a trading port (pp. 27-31)? What led to the decline of Temasek as a trading port? Which place replaced Temasek as the main port of the Melaka Straits region, and why? Consider both long-term/broader factors as well as more direct/specific factors (pp.31-32).

PART II The waterways around Singapore were also of strategic importance, and were hotly contested in the seventeenth century. However, the waterways ceased to be strategic by the later half of the 17th century. We can learn more about how to define strategic by looking at this process of rise and decline. Read Singapore: A 700-Year History, Chapter 5-6, Contesting the Waters Around Singapore, pp. 53-82.

2011/2012, Sem 1 Why did the following powers consider the waters and islands around Singapore strategic? a) Portuguese Melaka (pp. 72-79) b) Dutch Batavia (pp.72-79) c) Aceh (pp. 72-79) d) The Johor Sultanate (pp. 53-62. Use map below)

Was Singapore more or less strategic than Portuguese Melaka, the Johor River, Dutch Batavia and Muslim Aceh? Was Singapore more or less successful? Explain why the flourishing port-settlement on Singapore had become an insignificant fishing village by the second half of the 17th century (p. 79)

LOOKING FORWARD These are questions for you to try and answer during the rest of the semester. See how Singapore was of strategic importance at different points in history. Try to understand the nature of Singapores strategic importance in relation to the historical context during each period. Can you see any underlying patterns in Singapores strategic value over the course of its 700-year history? How was Singapore strategic to the British in the early 19th century? Relate this to the reasons for the founding of a British trading settlement on Singapore in 1819. What role did Singapore play in British Malaya from 1874-1942? How was Singapore strategic during the Cold War, in the decades following World War II? Singapores leaders have been developing Singapore as a global city since the early 1970s, in what ways is Singapore strategic today? 2