On 28th February, just over two weeks after the fourth anniversary of the founding of the settlement, the Town Committee completed their work, and the new town plan was published and distributed, posted in every prominent place, and declared upon the beating of the gong in every quarter in all the languages of the settlement.
The ground east of the Singapore River to the Bras Basah stream, extending from the beach to the rear of Bukit Larangan, was to be reserved exclusively for the government. All other buildings would be destroyed or appropriated for government purposes as required; those who had been issued temporary permits by the resident would be compensated for their losses. The European and the ‘respectable’ Chinese merchants were to be relocated to the reclaimed land on the west bank of the river, where they would be allowed to bid for allotted spaces on the newly raised quay.
The European town was to be located east of the Bras Basah stream, extending out towards the sultan’s istana at Kampong Glam, and inland as far as the Rochor River and foothills. The bulk of the Chinese community was to be resettled in the area west of the river, beyond the commercial quarter, extending through Telok Ayer and beyond. Different areas of the Chinese town were to be reserved for the different dialect groups––such as the Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese––in order to avoid disputes between them. The Chuliahs, the south Indian Muslims from the Coromandel coast, most of whom made their living as lightermen, were situated on the upper region of the west bank of the river. The temenggong and his dependents and followers were to be resettled on a large plot of land at Telok Blangah, a quarter of a mile west of the Chinese Town. Land was reserved for the Arabs in the vicinity of Sultan Hussein’s istana, and the Bugis were moved further east to the mouth of the Rochor River.
The committee also directed that the streets and highways of the town and kampongs be laid out at right angles, and of uniform breadth, according to their status as primary, secondary or tertiary roads. Each street was to be assigned a name, and all houses, commercial properties and government buildings were to be numbered. The principal commercial and government buildings were to be constructed of masonry with tiled roofs, to avoid the danger of fire. As a special accommodation to the public, each house was to have ‘a verandah of a certain depth, open at all times as a continued and covered passage on each side of the street’. Coleman later determined that the covered passageways should have a depth of five feet, and they became known as the ‘five-foot ways’. Ground rent was to be assessed on all buildings, which would become due on the first day of January every year.
Provision was also made for Chinese and Muslim burial grounds, and the fish market was to be moved to Telok Ayer, with the pork, poultry and vegetable markets redistributed as appropriate. The bazaar on the plain was to be dismantled and the buildings destroyed, with the shops and stalls relocated to the respective communities of their owners.
Raffles then disbanded the Town Committee and appointed another committee to enact and enforce these allocations and regulations, which comprised George Bonham, the assistant resident, who was now also the registrar in charge of land allocation, Lieutenant Jackson, and Francis Bernard, the chief of police. The merchants grumbled, but most saw that the writing was on the wall. They accepted the compensation offered, and bid for the new lots when Bonham put them up for public auction in March, and declared all previous permits and leases null and void.
Two of the first to move were Alexander Johnston and Tan Che Sang. Johnston had been quick off the mark and had purchased the plot closest to the mouth of the river, where he built his godown and offices. His godown extended all the way back to the area of land set aside for the new Commercial Square, and he had his own private dock built out over the river. Johnston’s godown came to be known as Tanjong Tangkap,[1] because he was able to ‘capture’ the first tongkangs and sampans that entered the river mouth.
Tan Che Sang built his godown further up river, also backing onto Commercial Square. He had little need to capture business, since he acted as agent for the Chinese and Cochin-Chinese junks, and as comprador for many of the European houses. When he heard that the fish market was to be moved to Telok Ayer, he offered to build it at his own expense, so long as he was allowed to maintain it free of tax for a number of years. His offer was readily accepted.
The other merchants quickly followed, and soon Alexander Guthrie, John Hay, John and Ronnie Simpson, Graham Mackenzie, Lim Guan Chye and Tan Hong Chuan were established along the west bank of the river, which was named Boat Quay. The Chinese, Malay and Indian merchants in the bazaar were more reluctant to move, but a fire that had raged though their wooden shops and stalls in late December had preempted their protests. One of those who suffered most from the fire was Naraina Pillai, who had the largest shop in the bazaar. He appealed to Raffles, who assigned him a plot of land near Commercial Square. Naraina complained that he could not afford to pay for the new plot, since he had only paid for a small portion of the cotton piece goods that had been destroyed in the fire. Raffles told him not to worry, for the high prices of lots in the new commercial area quoted at auction were a mere formality, designed to ensure that only respectable traders could secure them; they were not expected to pay the auction price, only the ground rent. For this Naraina was very grateful.
He was also grateful that most of the European and Chinese merchants who had sold him goods on credit had given him a year to repay his debts; he still operated his brick kilns and construction company, which were doing a roaring business, so they saw him as a good investment. The exception was John Morgan, who demanded immediate payment. Naraina managed to repay him the thousand dollars he owed within three months.
Not everyone relocated peacefully. Claude Quieros, the agent for Palmer & Co of Calcutta, bitterly protested the removal of the wharf he had built out over the river in front of his godown on the east bank. He refused to let Lieutenant Jackson tear it down, but backed down when Mr Bernard arrived with a group of peons. Captain Methven refused to quit his property, rejecting the generous offer made by Raffles, who wanted to convert it into a courthouse. Methven demanded more money––a lot more money––and gave Raffles a piece of his mind about his abuse of authority. In response Raffles requisitioned the property in the name of the East India Company and ordered Methven to quit the settlement.[2]
One other man refused to move, and curiously neither Raffles nor Bernard did anything about it. John Morgan remained in his large property on the east bank of the river, with his schooner docked at his private wharf. Some speculated that it was because Raffles did not wish to jeopardize the fledgling trade with Siam that Morgan had initiated. Others believed that Morgan, who had trained as a lawyer, had threatened the lieutenant-governor with legal action, which might cause the Court of Governors to overrule Raffles’ treatment of the merchants, and threaten his new town plan.
Whatever the reason, most of the merchants were happy not to have Morgan as their neighbour on Boat Quay, although they remained annoyed at his behaviour, including his irritating habit of firing off his own gun in response to the official five o’clock morning gun fired from Bukit Larangan.
* * *
The peons came to the cottage where Moon Ling lived with her sons and daughter, and told her that she had to move to the west side of the river, where the Chinese community were to be resettled. They told her they would have to dismantle her cottage and joss house to Ma Cho Po, and advised her to remove any contents she wished to take with her. With the help of a Chinese family who lived nearby, Moon Ling and her children moved to a small plank and attap hut on the beach at Telok Ayer, where she set up a new joss house to Ma Cho Po. This became very popular with the hundreds of sinkeh who disembarked in Telok Ayer Bay, and who gave thanks to the goddess for their safe passage to Singapore.
One day when Moon Ling was preparing her offerings, her daughter asked her how Ma Cho Po had become a goddess.
‘Well, pretty one,’ Moon Ling began, ‘the story goes like this. During the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, a baby was born on Meizhou Island in Fukien Province to a family called Lin. They had six children, only one of whom was a daughter. The mother prayed to Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy, for another daughter. Kuan Yin came to the mother in a dream, and gave her a flower blossom to eat, which made her pregnant.
When the baby girl came into the world, the birthing room was filled with brilliant light and the soft fragrance of blossoms. Although she was bright-eyed and healthy, the baby girl never cried, so they called her Muonjiang, which means ‘keeping silent’. Lin Muonjiang grew up by the sea–shore, and watched the fishing boats and trading junks set out in all weathers.
One day when she and her friends were gazing at their reflections in a rock pool, a monster appeared with a bronze talisman in its claws. The other girls fled, but Muonjiang was very brave and stood her ground, and reached out and took the talisman from the monster. From that day forth she developed strange powers of healing and prophecy. She could predict the coming weather, and warned sailors when it was too dangerous to set out on a voyage. She was a powerful swimmer, and would often rescue sailors when their ships sank in a storm.
One afternoon, while she was weaving a blanket for her sister, Muonjiang fell into a deep sleep. In her dream, she saw her father and brother washed overboard from their fishing boat in a great storm, and dived into the sea to rescue them. She grasped her brother in her arms, and held her father’s sleeve in her teeth as she swam towards the shore.
Her mother came into the room, and seeing her daughter asleep, went to wake her. She touched Muonjiang gently on the shoulder, and asked her if she was unwell. Still half asleep, Muonjiang tried to answer, but as she opened her mouth in her dream she let go of her father’s sleeve, and he was swept away by the angry sea. Muonjiang woke with a start and exclaimed ‘Father and brother are in great danger!’ Soon afterwards a fisherman came running to their house, and told them that there had been an accident at sea. The young master had been saved but the old man had drowned.
Muonjiang ran down to the beach and pushed her boat out to sea. She searched for three days and three nights, until she found her father’s body washed up upon a promontory. She carried his body home and prepared the funeral rites. After the mourning period was complete, Muonjiang announced to her family that it was time for her to leave them.
She climbed up the mountain in the middle of the island. When she reached the top, she was engulfed by thick clouds, and carried up to heaven on a golden shaft of light. Beautiful music drifted down from the mountaintop, and when she disappeared from sight a giant rainbow appeared in the sky, uniting Heaven and Earth.
Muonjiang became an Empress of Heaven and protector of sea travellers. When sailors are in great danger, they know that if they call out her name, she will come and rescue them. Even in the darkest storm, she will appear in the sky carrying a red lantern, to guide the sailors to safety. And so she is known as the goddess of the sea, or Ma Cho Po.’
Her daughter sat silent for a few moments. Then she asked Moon Ling, ‘Mother, did the goddess rescue father?’
‘No,’ Moon Ling replied, ‘but I believe he followed her red lantern all the way to Heaven.’