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Journeys - Tamils in Singapore, 1800s ā Present, by Murugaian Nirmala. She was the Tamil Murasu editor 2005-2011, and previously was a senior research officer at MHA and a senior political correspondent at The Straits Times https://t.co/YKDZAwwHWF
Book starts by talking about the Spice Wars - the Banda Islands where much-coveted nutmeg was found, the Dutch VOC, the British East India Company, and Madras. āThe companyās founding of the city of Madras, Tamil Nadu [...] it was here that the British Empire was born.ā https://t.co/Dv59dghnH1
Itās fascinating on retrospect how obsessed people were with spices. āTen pounds of nutmeg, costing less than a penny in the Banda Islands, were sold for more than two pounds ten shillings in London, a markup of 60,000%.ā Nutmeg was believed to have magical curative properties https://t.co/BZ7rvDLt1Z
When Raffles left Singapore in 1823, hundreds showed up When Farquhar left 6 months later, thousands showed up Population was around ~5,000 then. By 1881, it was over 130,000 https://t.co/Opro3IscVJ
āA stranger visiting Singapore canāt fail to be strict by the signs everywhere exhibited of the settlement being in a high state of prosperity and progressive improvement.ā - Major J F A McNair, 1842 (29 years before LKYās grandfather Lee Hoon Leong was born) https://t.co/BCMlljOpET
why most Southeast Asian Indians are Tamil https://t.co/t6rNeVmL8W
checks out: https://t.co/3KAPV1Xm7C
Why so many untouchable Tamils in Singapore? Colonialism! It was colonial policy to recruit South Indians for menial workā it was cheaper to recruit labor near the eastern port cities such as Negapattinam (pics). They wanted to avoid spending money on train tickets and lodging. https://t.co/GfZP6L4JxE
Never heard about this: in 1936 there was a major island-wide strike by nearly 8,000 Tamil coolies in Singapore. I think my grandma wouldāve been ~10yo at the time (LKY was 13) https://t.co/b3rJxmXzuS
rich vs poor Indians in early Singapore - not entirely clear what that dates were. Early 1900s? 1930s? Rich family is fancier than anybody Iām related to, I think https://t.co/MD6xiTrAwk
Itās always interesting to me to hear about arts and music and theatre from older times. Iād like to know more about the Samarasa Samarka Sangam. Thereās a common, simplistic narrative I think that the arts are a luxury that immigrants can not afford. Still present in SG today https://t.co/w9bqi6YNF0
The first known Ceylonese Tamil in Singapore was such a pioneer that when he returned to Sri Lanka a wealthy man, they called him Singapore Vytilingam Travel Pillai ššŖš¾ https://t.co/prd6Wp5hOd
Never thought Iād read the words āChettiarā and āventure capitalistā in the same breath, but I suppose it makes sense https://t.co/Y6XzDvI7jQ
