In early April, Raffles held a meeting at his bungalow, during which he set forth his proposal for the creation of a college that would reinvigorate the cultural heritage of the region. This had long been his dream, and as he explained to his assembled audience, the goal of the college would be to educate the ‘higher orders’ of the native populations, principally the Malays and the Chinese; to instruct Company servants in the native languages, in order to further communication and understanding; and to gather together for posterity records of the literature, customs and laws of the region.
Later that month the first meeting of the trustees of the Singapore Institution was held, with Mr John Maxwell as honorary secretary, and A. L. Johnston and Co as honorary treasurer. A subscription of seventeen and a half thousand dollars was raised from the merchants, Company officers and clergy present. Raffles pledged two thousand dollars for himself and four thousand dollars for the East India Company; the sultan, temenggong, Colonel Farquhar, and Reverends Moore, Milton and Thompson pledged one thousand dollars each. Lieutenant Jackson presented a plan for the institution, which was to be built on a plot of land that Raffles had selected by the beach bordering the eastern bank of the Bras Basah stream. The plan was approved, and the sum of fifteen thousand dollars was voted towards the construction of the building.
* * *
Farquhar went with the temenggong to inspect the land that had been assigned to him at Telok Blangah, and had brought his children to see the kelongs that had been erected at Telok Ayer point. Previously the local Malays and orang laut had caught their fish by spearing them, but the Malaccan Malays who had come down with Farquhar had taught them how to fish with a hook and line, which dramatically increased their catch and left them with a surplus to sell in the town and to the ships in the harbour. One year after the settlement had been founded, a Malacca Malay named Haji Mata-mata had set up rows of kelongs along the beach, large fish-traps built upon rows of stakes that stretched out into the water, with a plank walkway leading to the traps. As the tide rose and fell, the fish that had swum into the traps suddenly found themselves suspended in the netted cages, and were collected by the local fishermen; this new method of fishing increased their catch even more dramatically. Farquhar and his daughters followed the fishermen down to the traps, the girls squealing in delight as they tried to grasp the slippery silver fish in their hands and drop them into the fishermen’s baskets.
‘But what is there here for us, Colonel Farquhar?’ the temenggong asked. ‘The fishing is good, I grant you, but the land is all mangrove swamp and quite useless for rice, and the gambier and pepper farmers are moving inland. How are we to make a living for our people?’
Farquhar knew perfectly well how Abdul Rahman would make his living, in addition to the allowances due him from the government––by selling information to the local pirates, and taking his share of the profits. But he made no reference to this. ‘I know it disna seem much to you at the moment, Abdul,’ he granted, ‘but this land of yours will be very valuable some day soon. That piece of water before you is probably the best deep-water anchorage for ships around here. I came across it a few months after we arrived, and had Captain Ross do a survey. I suggested to Raffles that we ought to use this new harbour to relocate the commercial town, but he wouldn’t have any o’ it. I tried again the following year, but by then it was too late. All the merchants had their godowns along the river, with all the ships congregating at the river mouth. But that canna last for very long––it’s getting fair crowded as it is already. One o’ these days they’re going to have to move their wharfs and anchorage out here, because they canna go east with the sandbank and the mud. So someday soon this land of yours will be worth a pretty penny, mark my words.’
‘Well, then, Colonel Farquhar,’ Abdul Rahman replied, with what Farquhar swore was a twinkle in his eye, ‘until that day I will remain content to live on my allowance and the bounty of the seas.’
Aye, thought Farquhar to himself, I know very well what kind of bounty you’re thinking of, but he said nothing. He bowed farewell to the temenggong and returned with his daughters to town.
* * *
By the end of April, Raffles had had enough. Trouble had been brewing for some time, but the last straw was when Farquhar accused Captain Flint of violating the principles of free trade by enforcing an effective monopoly on the lighter trade, and had the audacity to attend an official meeting with Raffles dressed in a native sarong. He informed Colonel Farquhar that he was relieved of his official duties both as resident and military commandant, duties that Raffles would himself assume until a new resident was appointed.
The merchants protested vigorously, but Raffles informed them that the matter had already been settled. He had written to the governor-general some time ago declaring Colonel Farquhar unfit for service, and requesting that a new resident be appointed as soon as was convenient. He was simply taking over from Colonel Farquhar in the interim, to ensure that his plans for the settlement were properly implemented before he returned to Bencoolen. Colonel Farquhar immediately sent off a letter of appeal to the governor-general, requesting that he be reinstated as resident, but he moved out of the residency to his private home on Beach Road.
With Farquhar out of the way, Raffles issued a series of regulations governing the administration of justice in the settlement, which were based upon the principles of English law––according to which every person was equal before the law––but with due consideration to the ‘usage and habits’ of the native peoples, so long as these were not contrary to reason, justice or humanity.
One of the habits that Raffles deemed contrary to reason, justice and humanity was the slave trade. He issued a proclamation prohibiting the sale of slaves in Singapore, and declared that nobody who had come to Singapore after January 1819 could be considered a slave. But as John Morgan wryly remarked, Raffles’ prohibition against slave traders was like his prohibition against individuals profiting from prostitution: it simply removed them from public view.
Raffles also issued new regulations governing debt-bondage and work tickets. The claim of a debt-creditor was limited to five years, and the cost of a work-ticket was fixed at twenty dollars, with both types of contract to be registered in the presence of a magistrate. Unfortunately, there was no government office charged with the enforcement of such regulations, so coolies remained bonded to their employers for years beyond their contracts, if the coolie did not expire before his contract did.
Another habit that Raffles deemed contrary to reason, justice and humanity was gambling and cock fighting, beloved by the Chinese, Malays and Bugis, habits that he condemned as ‘disgraceful and repugnant to the British character and government’. Both activities were banned. Those found engaging in such activities were to be publicly flogged, and those in charge of them were to be fined and have their property confiscated. Raffles ordered Mr Bernard to close down the gambling dens and cockpits, and abolished the tax-farms for gambling that Farquhar had introduced against his explicit wishes. When a gambling den was raided, those who had lost money were allowed to petition the court for the return of their losses. Few did, although Chan Hian Chuan, a Teochew trader from Penang who owned a small house and shop on Telok Ayer Street, successfully prosecuted Tan Che Sang for the five hundred dollars he had lost in a game of dice. Tan Che Sang paid without demur.
Raffles also banned fireworks, on the grounds that they represented a fire hazard, and specifically prohibited their use in and around the keramat on Bukit Larangan, which he declared a disturbance of the peace (including his own, since his bungalow was located nearby). He prohibited the public carrying of weapons, except for officers of the army and police force, but since the police peons only carried bamboo canes, the regulation was rarely enforced. Raffles also tried to have Farquhar’s son-in-law, Francis Bernard, removed as chief of police, but backed down when the merchants and magistrates expressed their unanimous confidence in him.
Raffles abolished the tax-farms for opium and arrack, but did not ban the sale of opium or arrack itself. Instead, he imposed stiff taxes upon their sale.