Photo: ‘Container ship at the container port’ by Rui Kang from SRN’s SG Photobank
The choice of Singapore as the main setting for the movie Crazy Rich Asians was fitting since Persian and Arab merchants, who were basically the ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ of the 8th century, had important roles in developing Singapore into a great maritime city.
Professor Tan Tai Yong (NUS Department of History), in an editorial in The Straits Times, traces Singapore’s position in historical trading networks, which was monumental in establishing its foundations as a port city. In the 8th century, Persian and Arab merchants formed trading networks connecting China to West Asia, and East Asia to India and the Middle East. As Southeast Asia was strategically located in these networks, exports of silk, tea, and copper circulated throughout the region, including Singapore. By the time the Europeans arrived in Singapore in the 19th century, it was already embedded in global maritime flows. This helped accelerate its growth as a thriving hub of trade, money, and ideas.
Chinese and Indian immigrants during the mid-1800s fuelled this development. The former came in such large numbers that there was a burgeoning demand for rice in Singapore. Teochew merchants seized the opportunity and established a lucrative trade in rice shipments; many of them remain involved in the rice business today. The latter, consisting of Chettiars, operated a global financial centre in Singapore, where they provided a ready source of credit for small businesses across the Southeast Asian region. Besides trade and finance, Singapore also became a centre for Islamic learning and literature as its diversity and metropolitanism facilitated intellectual debates and the production of new knowledge and ideas.
Today, Prof Tan questions the status of Singaporean society – is it a plural or cosmopolitan city? The former represents a segregated society while the latter indicates a melting pot of cultures. He argues that continuing with the narrow CMIO (Chinese-Malay-Indian-Others) framework risks entrenching cultural divisions among Singaporeans. There is a need for modern Singapore to appreciate its history as a cosmopolitan city as it attempts to strengthen its citizens’ sense of nationhood.
