Singapore's step to Independence, but we still see aspects of the British colonial rule today.

Image from the Backscoop

Due to their early start to trading, this laid the foundation for Singapore’s eventual rise as a global port long before Stamford Raffles stumbled upon the land. When Raffles established a British trading post in 1819, his introduction of a free port—where all trade was open to every nation without tariffs—cemented Singapore’s future as a commercial crossroads. The London Treaty of 1824 later formalized this arrangement, ending clashes between the Dutch and the British and dividing Southeast Asia into their spheres of influence: Singapore and Malacca under the British, most of Indonesia under the Dutch.

But colonial governance in Singapore mirrored the extractive systems seen across the region. The island’s residents had limited political participation, minimal civil rights, and little autonomy. Trade thrived—but democracy did not. The British vision for Singapore was one of control, not empowerment.

Yet, out of this extractive foundation grew a city where commerce shaped identity, and where symbols of colonial prestige became icons of global enterprise.

If you’ve ever been to Singapore, you’ve probably walked past Raffles Hotel. Maybe you were on the way to City Hall, or someone pointed it out as “the place where the Singapore Sling was invented.” Today, it stands as a landmark of Singaporean heritage and luxury.

Ironically, the hotel that now bears Raffles’ name wasn’t founded by the British at all, but by four Armenian brothers, the Sarkies, who arrived in Southeast Asia in the 1880s. They saw opportunity in the colonial order Raffles had built—an order that prized prestige, trade, and cosmopolitanism—and turned it into a business empire that redefined hospitality across Asia.