They range from extensive sets of statistics on, for example, the imports and exports of the
Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang and Malacca) to detailed discussions of mining in British Malaya and the indigenous cotton industry in British Burma.
Mok describes the organizational changes in the island-based surveying establishment, and the important surveys and maps they undertook, from Raffles' 1819 founding of an East India Company trading post on the island, through the first 1:63,360 map of the entire island in 1852, the merger of the Survey Departments of the
Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States in 1920, the extension of the primary triangulation of Malaya to Singapore in 1921, the first modern contoured topographical map of the island in 1924, Japanese-occupation mapping 1942-1945, a 1:10,000 topographic series in 1959, formation of the Singapore Armed Forces Mapping Unit (SAFMU) in 1970, to metrication in the 1970s, computerisation in the 1980s, and the creation of a national digital terrain model in 2013.
They relied principally on the system of opium revenue farming in the
Straits Settlements, which allowed private companies to hold monopolies over the distribution and sale of consumable opium in return for rent paid to the government.
Straits Chinese refers to the Chinese born in the former
Straits Settlements (the three port cities of Malacca, Penang and Singapore which were under direct British rule) who were fiercely loyal to their territories and to the British colonial government (Lee & Chen, 2006).
Two years later Singapore was grouped together with other British possessions in the region to form the
Straits Settlements.
Religion-State Encounters in Hindu Domains: From the
Straits Settlements to Singapore.
UNESCO World Heritage sites in Malaysia include not only places of ecological significance, but also the beautifully preserved
Straits Settlements cities of George Town and Melaka (Malacca).
Sayid Abdul Rahman set up a firm Alsagoff and Company in the year 1848 to manage a large part of the
Straits Settlements exports such as timber, rubber, sago, coconut, cocoa and coffee to Arab and European countries.
As British influence expanded in the
Straits Settlements of Malacca, Penang and Singapore during the first quarter of the 19th century, the Straits Chinese soon apprehended the advantages that accrued from an education in English.
In 1826, Singapore, Penang, and Malacca were combined as the
Straits Settlements to form an outlying residency of the British East India Company; in 1867, the
Straits Settlements were made a British Crown Colony, an arrangement that continued until 1946.
Focusing on the experiences of Singapore's Indian minority during the periods in which the
Straits Settlements functioned as an Indian presidency, 1825-1867, and as a penal settlement for transported Indian convicts, 1825-1873, Pieris (U.
Nathan Collection of
Straits Settlements, an award-winning group of stamps and covers.
