The Stamford Raffles Statue and Landing Site

The best piece of advice I would give to any tourist hoping to explore the rich wonders and sites of Singapore is to get used to two names. Stamford Raffles. 

The man is plastered across Singapore. Whether it be his first name (Stamford Street, the Stamford Hotel, Stamford International School), his last name (the Raffles Hotel, Raffles Place, Raffles mall, Raffles Street) or anything that relates to the man’s career (Bencoolen Street is named as much because Raffles was lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen from 1818-1824), you will be inundated with a constant stream of places named for the ‘Father of Singapore’. So for this reason, there is no better place to start our journey through the public history of this city state than with the iconic polymarble statue of Raffles that stands on the site believed to be the location where he first landed and set foot upon the island that he would lead into it’s infant years as a crucial colony of the British Empire. 

Now as you can see, the picture I have taken of the statue in question was shot during a sudden but severe tropical thunderstorm. The lightning flashed, the clouds crackled and the rain came tumbling down with a velocity that you just don’t see in Melbourne. Some might have left and come back another day to take a more flattering picture, one in the sunlight that could show the statue shining and Raffles in all his sunny glory. But I think this environment is far more suiting. 

We can’t be sure what the weather was like on January 29th, 1819, when Raffles and his expedition team landed on Singapore island, at the time nominally under the authority of the Sultan of Johor. The paintings may show a sunny and smooth landing, a not so subtle signal of the bright future that was interpreted to follow from British rule. But it is just as likely that the weather was the same non-negotiable, unpredictable climate that Singapore is infamous for today. I personally think Raffles would feel far more at home in the misty, damp climate we see him standing so proudly amidst. He was from England after all, and died in his home in Middlesex, so it’s likely that the rains followed him from Singapore, chasing away the sunshine that he was born into on a ship off Jamaica. 

Raffles’ general legacy is one that has survived the scrutiny that many of his imperial contemporaries have fallen to. He is more likely to be put beside Nelson and Wolfe, rather than thrown in the basket with Kitchener and Rhodes. This does not mean that complicated feelings towards his impact and actions are not felt across the island nation entirely. But instead, his legacy is not one so abrasive that all sites and statues of him must be torn down immediately. The above statue is one of a layered man, whose contributions to Singapore are undoubtedly significant, and set the small island nation on the course towards the independence and prosperity that it enjoys today. In fact, an argument could be made that through Raffles’ desire to establish Singapore as a British trading post, he introduced to the world the idea that Singapura, as it was known, could stand on it’s own and materialise into something more than just the bottom of the Malay Peninsula. Furthermore, it is unquestionable that the lineage of modern day Singapore traces back to the moment when Raffles placed a Union Jack upon the island, establishing a governmental structure that Singapore’s parliament traces it’s authority to. 

But of course Raffles was a cog, indeed a fairly significant one at that, in the great machine of the British Empire, an institution upon which the sun never set and undoubtedly caused suffering and pain to some wherever that sun shone. From the suppression of natives to pillaging natural resources, Raffles’ desire to bring Singapore into the machine of the Empire was undoubtedly for profit and brought about the end of what could be considered native home rule over the island. 

But this is where the question of Raffles’ legacy becomes tricky. Modern Singapore is primarily inhabited by ethnically Chinese peoples, who make up three quarters of the population, and contains a significant Indian population who make up a further nine per cent of citizens. This means that almost eighty per cent of modern Singaporeans would not be Singaporeans without Raffles. In establishing Singapore as a trading post of the British Empire, necessitating the construction of buildings, docks and other maritime essentials, the massive wave of Chinese and Indian immigration to the island simply would not have happened, meaning no Chinatown or Little India, no Mandarin or Tamil street signs or conversations and likely a Singapore that would simply not be the shining beacon of multiculturalism that it is so famous for being today. 

The question of Raffles’ legacy is one of tremendously difficult philosophical implications. How should Raffles be remembered; as a forward thinking hero who saw the potential of this little island to become a beacon of prosperity, civilisation and innovation that Singapore stands as today, or a coloniser who just happened to establish a state that through hard work and luck managed to pull out in front of it’s contemporaries, both within the scheme of the Empire (Malaysia, Hong Kong) and the region (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand)? 

That conversation is one the people of Singapore must have for themselves. Unquestionably, Raffles is a significant figure in Singapore’s history, perhaps only rivalled by Lee Kuan Yew as to whether he is the most primary individual. Further, irregardless of all that has just been said, the statue itself is one of tremendous beauty, so realistic and lifelike, in spite of being a plastered copy of the original which now stands opposite the Victoria Concert Halls. 

Raffles’ landing site and his monument mark the exact location where Singapore, as a city, state and independent idea were born, and irregardless of conversation about his legacy, the historical significance of this site is unquestionable. What needs to be internally settled however is if this site should be marked by a shining idol to the greatness of Raffles, or something more subtle, which allows people to take in the uniqueness of Singapore collectively rather than just it’s forefather.