Founder of Singapore: Who deserves this title?

I feel that Sir William Farquhar deserves to be called the founder of Singapore.

Sir Stamford Raffles was the man who established and founded Singapore as a free port. He signed a treaty with Sultan Hussein and Temenggong Abdul-Rahman in which they would receive a fixed annual allowance in exchange for allowing the East India Company to use Singapore as a trading port. This directly resulted in a flourishing economy for Singapore as traders from all around the world gathered at Singapore to trade their goods as they would not be levied with heavy duty and goods taxes. Singapore’s name was widespread and its fame grew, attracting even more traders which simulated its economy, making it a prosperous and developed nation. Hence, Sir Stamford Raffles should be known as the founder of Singapore as he was the one who had the foresight that Singapore, having a prime spot at the heart of South-East Asia, right along the trading path of two major trading countries, India and China, would be an ideal spot for a trading station and found it.

However, Raffles went on in 1823 to become the Governor-General of Bencoolen and left Singapore entirely to Farquhar. He died young and did not get back to Singapore to chart its growth.

Sir William Farquhar is the man who built it up from scratch. He first came with Sir Stamford Raffles to Singapore and was made the First Resident of Singapore. At that time, Singapore was very unhygienic, with rats, cockroaches and centipedes running rampant. This caused a huge problem as traders did not dare to trade here as they were worried that there products might be contaminated with diseases spread by these vermin. Thus, Sir William Farquhar introduced a scheme whereby each pest killed could be exchanged for monetary compensation. This scheme was well received and within a few months, not a single pest was to be seen in Singapore. Hence, traders flocked to Singapore and helped it to develop into a prosperous trading port.

Another example would be when there were racial riots and secret societies robbing and killing people. Sir William Farquhar quickly countered this problem by forming the country’s first ever police force to maintain law and order in Singapore. The police managed to prevent most racial riots and deter secret societies from committing crimes, making Singapore a safe and secure place. This encouraged others to make Singapore their home and made Singapore a bustling city and port.

Furthermore, since Raffles proclaimed as a Singapore, there was no revenue to carry out Raffle’s ambitious plans. The senior officers in Calcutta did nothing to help as they were not inclined to invest in public works. Selflessly, Farquhar paid for numerous expenses out of his own pocket to help build houses and homes for Singaporeans and also other public places.

In conclusion, I feel that Sir William Farquhar deserves the title, “founder” of Singapore more as he was the one who guided it through its early and difficult years and developed it. Sir William Farquhar should be credited as the founder of Singapore as though Sir Stamford Raffles did identify Singapore as a suitable trading port and build it as one, all the administrative and financial work was left to Farquhar. He solved the various problems that Singapore faced. He was the one who was responsible for advancing Singapore socially, politically and economically. Without his invaluable effort, we would not be where we are today. Thus, I feel that he should be recognized as the founder of Singapore and not Raffles.