Category: History
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Next Station: Sembawang
For many Singaporeans, Sembawang is just another small town up North of Singapore. But long before it became a quiet residential town with parks and MRT stations, did you know that Sembawang was once home to one of the largest naval docks in the world? As the crown jewel of British naval power in Asia,…
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Tan Kim Ching and the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company, Singapore
Previously, we have highlighted the strategic role of Singapore as a colonial port, focusing on the developments in the late 19th century (check out our recent blog HERE). Around that period, discussions around opening the Suez Canal further cemented Singapore’s status as a shipping port with great potential, such as reduction in travel time between…
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The Lifeline of Colonial Trade – Singapore
This week, let us dive into the lifeline of colonial trade, focusing on the Singapore Straits. Serving as a crucial corridor between the East and West, it connected the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, allowing goods like spices, silk, opium, and textiles to flow between Asia, Europe, and beyond. As a crucial entrepôt…
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The El Nino Story
The Beginning of the Endeavour In the early 1891, a traveler named S.M. Scott was staying near Talara in northwestern Peru when clouds started building on the horizon. He described the extraordinary season of torrential rains and a transformed landscape as “a low-hanging, densely clouded sky, intense heat … The rain fell in inconceivable torrents…