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Raffles restitution: Artistic responses to Singapore's 1819 colonisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2020

Ng Yi-Sheng
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Abstract

1819 represents a highly charged moment in the Singapore imagination. It marks the birth of our modern city-state, yet it also signals the beginning of our colonisation: the domination of Malay and other Asian cultures by Western powers. Artists have thus responded to the event with widely variant attitudes, ranging from E.W. Jesudason's laudatory Raffles Institution Anthem (c.1963–66) to Isa Kamari's stridently anti-colonial novel, Duka Tuan Bertakhta / 1819 (2011). The prevailing sentiment, however, has been one of playful ambivalence. While accepting the fact of colonisation, artists have rejected a founding myth that glorifies our primary colonist, Sir Stamford Raffles. Instead, we have lampooned him in works like Robert Yeo's play The Eye of History (1991) and Colin Goh's film Talking Cock: The Movie (2002); raised ourselves to the height of his statue in Lee Wen's art event Untitled (Raffles) (2001); highlighted narratives of overlooked figures in the drama of colonisation: William Farquhar, Sophia Raffles, Nonio Clement, Sultan Hussein Shah, Munsyi Abdullah, and Sang Nila Utama. As a cultural researcher and author of the biographical drama The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles (2008), I shall examine trends behind these divergent representations of our colonisation. I argue that artists have chosen to retell 1819 not as a year of conquest, but as a polymorphous moment of transformative contact between East and West; one in which we may view ourselves, not as the victims of change, but as its agents.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , December 2019 , pp. 599 - 631
Copyright
Copyright © The National University of Singapore, 2020

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Footnotes

He would like to thank the innumerable artists and scholars who have aided him in his research, including Ho Chi Tim, Jason Wee, Jufri Supaat, Nicola Perry and Stephanie Chan, as well as the many others cited in this article.

References

1 I have attempted to be as comprehensive as possible in my survey of artworks: as such, I will be citing pieces as diverse as George Francis Joseph's 1817 Sir Stamford Raffles portrait to Dick Lee's 1989 remix of the pop song Rasa Sayang and Internet memes from the 2010s. However, I have resolved to exclude museum exhibits and non-fiction writing, as such examples of collective memory are already covered in conventional historiographies. My study is also constrained by my limited familiarity with Singapore's Chinese and Tamil literary scenes.

2 Mr. Glover, ‘Loss of the Fame’, 2 Feb. 1825. British Library; http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/texts/ship/raffles/poem/famepoem.html (accessed 17 July 2017).

3 ‘Raffles Club’, Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, 19 July 1827, p. 1.

4 ‘Proposed Public Library and Reading Room’, Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, 12 Mar. 1829, p. 2.

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6 George Francis Joseph, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, 1817, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Francis_Joseph_-_Sir_Thomas_Stamford_Bingley_Raffles.jpg (accessed 26 Dec. 2017).

7 James Lonsdale, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, 1817. Art UK; https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/sir-thomas-stamford-raffles-17811826-216138 (accessed 26 Dec. 2017).

8 Jacklee, Bust of Stamford Raffles by Francis Chantrey (replica), National Library, Singapore, 2 Feb. 2013. Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bust_of_Stamford_Raffles_by_Francis_Chantrey_(replica),_National_Library,_Singapore_-_20130202-02.JPG (accessed 26 Dec. 2017).

9 Ng Yi-Sheng, Miniature portrait of Sir Stamford Raffles, by Alfred Edward Chalon, c. 1817, Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Miniature_portrait_of_Sir_Stamford_Raffles.jpg (accessed 25 Feb. 2020).

10 James Thomson, Thomas Stamford Raffles (‘Engraved by Thomson, from a Miniature in possession of Mr. Raffles’), 1824. Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StamfordRaffles.jpeg (accessed 26 Dec. 2017).

11 Francis Chantrey, Memorial statue to Sir Stamford Raffles, 1832. Westminster Abbey, https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/stamford-raffles (accessed 26 Dec. 2017).

12 Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, Hikayat Abdullah, p. 193.

13 Ibid., pp. 81, 194.

14 Hill, ‘Introduction’, in ibid., p. 24.

15 Allington Kennard, ‘Some brilliant reporting on our history’, Straits Times, 28 Sept. 1970, p. 20.

16 The unveiling of the statue was a stimulus for literary production as well. A Jubilee prize was awarded by Inspector of Schools A.M. Skinner for the best inscription for the statue. Though the award was won by Lim Koon Tye's prose inscription, several poems were shortlisted, including the rather impressive rhyme ‘An Epitaph’ by D.C. Perreau, a student at Raffles Institution. ‘The Jubilee Prize’, The Rafflesian 2, 10, 29 June 1887, pp. 63–4.

17 ‘Centenary of Singapore’, Straits Times, 7 Feb. 1919, p. 27.

18 Wills Builder of Empire 1898, reprint set of 50 issued in 1999, eBay; https://www.ebay.ie/itm/WILLS-BUILDERS-OF-THE-EMPIRE-1898-REPRINT-SET-OF-50-ISSUED-IN-1999-EXC-MINT/202154700664?hash=item2f115bef78:g:~M4AAOSwjL5ZCZS5 (accessed 27 Dec. 2017).

19 Cigarette Card, ‘Builders of the British Empire’. Pinterest; https://www.pinterest.com/ivoloshina/cigarette-card-builders-of-the-british-empire/ (accessed 27 Dec. 2017).

20 A British poster from 1930 called ‘The Empire is Still in Building’. The National Archives; http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/g2/cs1/g2cs1s6a.htm (accessed 1 Aug. 2019).

21 ‘Stamford Raffles Farewell in Singapore’, National Archives of Singapore. http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/photographs/record-details/d59dfac0-1161-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad (accessed 12 Aug. 2019).

22 Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton and Paul Readman, ‘The pageant of Empire’, The redress of the past; http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/1302/ (accessed 27 Dec. 2017).

23 Ong Choo Suat, ‘Our heritage: Many a narrow escape for Raffles’ statue’, New Nation, 3 Dec. 1971, p. 9.

24 I have no official record of the date of the bust's installation; however, the back of the bust is inscribed with the name ‘S.C. Siew 1950’.

25 ‘A Singapore Chinese tailor …’, Straits Times, 13 May 1950, p. 7.

26 ‘Malay procession’, Indian Daily Mail, 7 June 1953, p. 6.

27 Eption, Nina Conseulo, The golden sword; being the dramatized story of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, 1781–1826 (London: Oldbourne, 1957)Google Scholar.

28 Edward Wilson Jesudason (1913–82) served as Principal of Raffles Institution between 1963 and 1966; it is unclear when he composed the school anthem. He began his teaching career in Taiping, Malaya, but moved permanently to Singapore in 1950.

29 ‘The Anthem’, RAMpage; https://rafflesrampage.wordpress.com/the-institution-anthem/ (accessed 1 Aug. 2019).

30 There was some retreat from the cult of Raffles with regards to the names of landmarks, at least: in 1949, Raffles College and King Edward VII College of Medicine merged to become the University of Malaya; in 1960, the Raffles Library and Museum became the National Library and the National Museum.

31 ‘Singapore is indebted to Winsemius: SM’, Straits Times, 10 Dec. 1996, p. 32.

32 The bronze-coloured Raffles statue was installed on the exterior of the building in 2002, along with similar statues of visionaries such as Plato, Dante Alighieri, Isaac Newton and Sun Yat-Sen. These statues were removed in 2018. I have been unable to trace any open source images of the Raffles statue.

33 Singapore Art Society, ‘Singapore Art Society Exhibition 2019, Bicentennial Edition …’, Facebook, 1 Aug. 2019; https://www.facebook.com/Singapore-Art-Society-408088782565528/ (accessed 21 Feb. 2020).

34 ‘The rugged society's day …’, Straits Times, 10 Aug. 1968, p. 1. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19680810-1.2.3.

35 Wolfgang Holzem, ‘Sir Stamford Raffles statue Singapore’, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_stamford_raffles_statue_singapore.jpg (accessed 2 Jan 2018).

36 Mayo Martin, Stamford Raffles’ tea party, 26 Oct. 2015, Twitter https://twitter.com/mayomartinCNA/status/658446976384659456 (accessed 12 Apr. 2018).

37 National Day Parade 1996: My Singapore, My Home (Singapore: National Day Parade Executive Committee, Commemorative Magazine Sub-committee, 1996), p. 15.

38 Helmi Yusof, ‘Musical on Stamford Raffles for SIFA 2019’, Business Times, 31 Mar. 2017; https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/arts/musical-on-stamford-raffles-for-sifa-2019 (accessed 9 Aug. 2019). It is not known why this musical never went into production.

39 Almost all works were created with a largely Singaporean audience in mind. The Lion of Singapore was performed at Victoria Theatre while Raffles finds a friend (EPB, 1992), Olivia and Sophia (Monsoon, 2016), and Forbidden Hill (Monsoon, 2017) were all published by Singapore-based presses.

40 Ronald Alcantra (b. 1929, d. unknown) was a part-time singer and dramatist of Singaporean Eurasian descent. In 1955, he won the All-Malaya Talentime Contest as a singer. By the 1970s, he was working as a Port of Singapore Authority superintendent and playing an active role in amateur theatre, serving as a committee member of the Sceneshifters and an honorary member of the Stage Club. In 1978, he migrated to Australia. He wrote a number of one-act plays and a full-length work titled Ma Deus, but it is unclear if these were ever staged.

41 Ronald Alcantra, ‘An eclipse leaves no shadows’, in Prize-winning plays, ed. Robert Yeo (Singapore: Federal Publications; Ministry of Culture, 1980), p. 139.

42 Roger Vaughan Jenkins (b. 1953) is a theatremaker, poet and storyteller. Born in Singapore as a British citizen, he later became a Singaporean citizen and was highly influential as a theatre director in the 1980s. His poetry manuscript From the Belly of the Carp won the Singapore Literature Prize in 1995.

43 Roger Jenkins, ‘Colonel William Farquhar’, From the Belly of the Carp: Singapore River Voices (Singapore: Raffles, 1996), p. 7.

44 Dick Lee, ‘Rasa Sayang’, Track no. 1 on Dick Lee: The Mad Chinaman, Warner Music Singapore, 1989.

45 Daren V.L. Shiau, Heartland (Singapore: Raffles, 1999).

46 Marcus Goh, ‘Raffles v Utama: Dawn of Singapore (GV25 Film Shorts Competition)’, MARCUSGOHMARCUSGOH; http://marcusgohmarcusgoh.com/portfolio/raffles-v-utama-dawn-singapore-gv25-film-shorts-competition (accessed 15 Feb. 2018).

47 ‘Sang Nila Utama: The online exhibition’, A Good Citizen; http://www.agoodcitizenobeys.com/sangnilautama.html (accessed 14 Feb. 2018).

48 These last two works were created in response to an open call for Sang Nila Utama-themed fan art. A Good Citizen Obeys, ‘We can't get enough of #sangnilautama!!’, 19 Jan. 2018 (accessed from Facebook, 11 Aug. 2019). https://www.facebook.com/AGoodCitizen/photos/a.469368279789268/1673864402672977/

49 Shiau, Heartland, p. 218.

50 ‘Sang Nila Utama: The online exhibition’.

51 Robert Yeo (b. 1940) is a Singaporean academic, playwright, poet and novelist, highly respected as a pioneer voice in the nation's English language literary scene. He is best known for The Singapore trilogy, a trio of plays that questioned Singapore's political status quo: Are you there, Singapore, staged in 1974; One year back home, staged in 1980, and Changi, staged in 1996.

52 Robert Yeo, The eye of history (Singapore: Epigram, 2016), p. 11.

53 Ibid, p. 37.

54 Ibid., p. 54.

55 Script obtained from the authors.

56 Suratman Markasan (b. 1930) is a Singaporean writer, editor and educator in the Malay language. He has served as a chairman of the Singapore Malay Teachers’ Union and head of the influential literary society ASAS ‘50. He writes about the Singaporean Malay experience in poetry, short stories and novels, with one of his best-known works being his Penghulu yang hilang segala-galanya [The village chief who lost everything] (Shah Alam: Penerbit Fajar Bakti, 1998).

57 Suratman Markasan, Suratman Markasan: Puisi-puisi pilihan/ Selected poems of Suratman Markasan, compiled by Juffri Supa'at, trans. Shaffiq Selamat (Singapore: National Library Board, 2014), p. 23.

58 Ibid., p. 27.

59 Art Fazil (b. 1967) is a Singaporean singer, musician and writer of songs in both English and Malay. In the 1990s, he formed a folk rock band Rausyanfikir (‘thinkers’ in Persian), exploring political and social issues. He continues to be active as a historian of Malay music.

60 Rausyanfikir, ‘1819’, Youtube; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc_vAmsjCAg (accessed 19 Dec. 2017). My translation.

61 Mohamed Latiff Mohamed, Bila rama-rama patah sayapnya: Puisi pilihan 2002–2006 (Singapore: Angkatan Sasterawan ’50, 2007), p. 146.

62 Ibid., p. 104.

63 Isa Kamari, Duka tuan bertakhta (Kuala Lumpur: Al-Ameen, 2011); Isa Kamari, 1819, tr. Raman Krishnan (Kuala Lumpur: Silverfish, 2013). The portrayals of Freemasonry were only in the original Malay text; they were removed in the English translation.

64 Fyerool Darma, The most mild mannered men, Fyerool Darma.com, http://www.fyerooldarma.com/The-Most-Mild-Mannered-Men (accessed 15 Feb. 2018).

65 Alfian Sa'at, ‘A Diorama’, Tumasik: Contemporary writing from Singapore, ed. Alvin Pang (Singapore: National Arts Council of Singapore, 2009), pp. 20–21.

66 Wong Yoon Wah 王润华, 重返诗钞 [English trans] (Johor Baru: 南方大学学院, 2014), pp. 25–7. My translation.

67 Interview, Jimmy Ong, 23 Feb. 2018.

68 Haresh Sharma (b. 1965) is a Singaporean playwright, known for his English and multilingual works exploring a range of social issues. He has been resident playwright at The Necessary Stage since 1987.

69 Nadim's name makes reference to the precolonial legend of a boy named Hang Nadim who saved Singapore from an attack of swordfish, only to be executed by the king.

70 My dating of this has been obtained via online correspondence with the writer Gwee Li Sui, dated 20 Dec. 2017.

71 Singapore Tourism Board, ‘Raffles & the New Threads’, Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMncyZz6ess (accessed 12 Dec. 2017).

72 1819, ‘Screw Raffles, let's replace his statue with a samsui woman one’. Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pg/1819SG/photos/?tab=album&album_id=483685115320866 (accessed 12 Dec. 2017).

73 Lee Wen, ‘A.I.M. (Artists Investigating Monuments)’, Republic of daydreams; http://leewen.republicofdaydreams.com/aim-raffles.html (accessed 23 Feb. 2018).

74 Charles Mandel, Days of Sir Raffles (Singapore: Federal, 1998).

75 Lesley-Anne and Monica Lim, Danger Dan spooks the peculiar Peranakan pirate (Singapore: Epigram, 2014).

76 Theophilus Kwek, ‘Farquhar’, in Giving ground (Singapore: Ethos, 2016), pp. 65–6.

77 John D. Greenwood, Singapore Saga, vol. 1: Forbidden Hill (Singapore: Monsoon, 2017).

78 ‘Foreign talent, 2007’, Vertical Submarine; http://verticalsubmarine.org/c-02.html (accessed 18 Feb. 2018).

79 Ng Kim Chew, ‘Allah's Will’, in Slow boat to China and other stories, tr. and ed. Carlos Rojas (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016).

80 Described in Bernards, Brian, Writing the South Seas (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015), pp. 101–4Google Scholar.

81 Sharma, Haresh, ‘History, whose story?’, Plays for schools (Singapore: The Necessary Stage, 2012), p. 56Google Scholar.

82 Ibid., p. 61.

83 Ibid., p. 52.

84 Script obtained privately from the author.

85 Jessica Chan, ‘The Dim Sum Dollies are back with a saucier The History of Singapore Part I’, Superadrianme; https://www.superadrianme.com/entertainment/review-dim-sum-dollies-history-of-singapore-part-i/ (accessed 2 Mar. 2018).

86 ‘Moving Image’, Loo Zihan; http://www.loozihan.com/moving-image (accessed 2 Mar. 2018).

87 ‘Singapore’, The Necessary Stage; https://www.necessary.org/index.php/main-season/singapore (accessed 2 Mar. 2018).

88 Theophilus Kwek, ‘Sophia’, The Learned Pig, 8 Apr. 2016; https://www.thelearnedpig.org/sophia/3368 (accessed 2 Mar. 2018).

89 Haresh Sharma, Singapore. Script obtained from the author.

90 ‘To the Eastward (the Lines Divide)’, Kent Chan; http://kentchan.info/index.php/to-the-eastward-the-lines-divide/ (accessed 2 Mar. 2018).

91 Faulkner, William, Requiem for a nun (New York: Vintage, 2011), p. 69Google Scholar.