August 6, 2025

As Singapore celebrates its 60th year of independence, the SG60 theme, ‘Building Our Singapore Together’, serves as a reminder to reflect on Singapore’s rich and multifaceted history. Much of the country’s early history is understood through traditional sources such as the official East India Company records, but exploring alternative narratives is essential to uncover the diverse stories that shaped its development.  

In the Introduction chapter of Knowing Singapore: The Evolution of Published Information in Europe, c.1500–1819 (Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2023), Adjunct Associate Professor Kwa Chong Guan (NUS History) describes how, in the book, Benjamin Khoo (NUS Asia Research Institute) and Associate Professor Peter Borschberg (NUS History) investigate what was known about Singapore in Europe before Sir Stamford Raffles’ arrival in 1819. By adopting a transcultural approach that draws attention to alternative knowledge circuits about Singapore, the researchers challenge the overreliance and dominance of traditional sources. Through various European printed works, including rutters, which are nautical handbooks of sailing directions, travelogues, and encyclopaedias that referenced Singapore, Khoo and Borschberg show that a merchant in 17th century Antwerp had access to valuable information about Singapore when planning trade routes in the Eastern Seas. They contend that Raffles and his colleagues, despite having access to East India Company records, were largely unaware of this extensive European knowledge. 

The research reveals that the courts of the Johor-Riau sultans possessed and documented extensive knowledge about Singapore and its surrounding maritime region that predated Raffles’ arrival in Singapore. This legacy was meticulously recorded in Malay manuscripts such as the Sulalat al-Salatin (Genealogy of Kings), which circulated widely and even influenced the Portuguese and Dutch records. Similarly, institutional knowledge from the Dutch East India Company (the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or VOC), included archives and correspondence that was more systematic than its English counterpart. The VOC had meticulous archival records, which shed light on diplomatic engagements with Malay rulers and strategic assessments of the region. These archives spanned thousands of volumes and documented local politics and trade activities.  

Additionally, Asian trading communities, such as Chinese and South Asian merchants, had a rich understanding of Singapore’s strategic role. For example, Chinese nautical charts such as the Selden map reflect extensive maritime knowledge among Chinese merchants, who navigated the region centuries before European colonisation. Similarly, South Asian traders, like the Gujarati and Tamil Chulia merchants, developed comparable navigational expertise, though their records remain largely undocumented. 

As Singapore commemorates 60 years of independence, uncovering diverse narratives that have long shaped the nation’s past is essential to fostering a more holistic understanding of its heritage. 

Read the article here.