Directory_and_Chronicle_1929 — Page 1236

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SINGAPORE

The town of Singapore, situated on the southern shore of an island of the same name, in lat. 1 deg. 16 min. N. and long. 103 deg. 43 min. E., is the seat of government of the Straits Settlements.

The Island of Singapore is about 26 miles long by 14 wide, containing an area of 206, or, with the adjacent islets, 223 square miles, and is separated by a narrow strait about three-quarters of a mile wide from the territory of Johore, which occupies the Southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. Originally taken possession of in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles, it was, until 1823, subordinate to our then settlement in Sumatra. In that year it became an appanage of the Indian Government, in which condition it remained until 1867, when it was placed under the Colonial Office in conjunction with Penang and Malacca.

The town proper extends for about four miles along the south-eastern shore of the island, spreading inland for a distance varying from half to three-quarters of a mile, though the majority of the residences of the upper-class Europeans lie much further back, within a circle with a radius of three and a half miles from the Cathedral. This portion of the Settlement is almost entirely level, the highest hill in the island, about seven miles from the town, rising to a height of only 500 feet. The country roads are well kept, and, thanks to the luxuriance of tropical vegetation, abound in shade. The town streets, on the other hand, though wide and well metalled. are, as regards architectural matters, drains, and gutters, not much credit to the Settle- ment. The Settlement possesses a handsome Cricket Club which compares favourably with any in the East. A fine bronze statue of Sir Stamford Raffles stands in front of the Town Hall, to which position it was removed on the occasion of the Singapore Centenary on 6th February, 1919. A dignified and imposing cenotaph has been erected on the esplanade to commemorate men from the Settlement who fell in the Great War. This memorial was unveiled by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales on the occasion of his visit early in 1922.

The Singapore Club has a good building in a central position. There are Recrea- tion, Sporting, Rowing, Shooting, Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Art, and Reading Clubs, and the Celestial (Chinese) Reasoning Association. There is a Country Club with a well-built bungalow situated some three miles out of town, at which dances and amateur theatricals are frequently given. The best Club-house in the Settlement was that occupied before the war by the German community in the Tanglin district. The Raffles Library and Museum, moved in October, 1887, into the new building erected for them, are creditable and well-kept institutions, the Museum having made very fair progress since its inception.

There are several good hotels, of which the Raffles, the Hotel de l'Europe and the Adelphi are the best. The daily Press is represented by the Straits Times, Singapore Free Press and Malaya Tribune. The Government Gazette is published weekly. There are also several Japanese, Chinese and Malay papers.

Singapore is a free port, there being no Customs Duties, but Excise Duties are levied on alcoholic liquors, opium, tobacco and petroleum. There are no Port, Harbour, Docks, Town or Light dues. The Harbour is practically landlocked by islands, and the rise and fall of ordinary spring tides is 9 feet. Although the majority of ocean- going steamers are berthed at the Harbour Board's wharves, many vessels discharge and load in the Inner and Outer Harbour, the Inner Harbour being protected from the north-east monsoon by a mole of granite rubble nearly a mile long. The Singapore Harbour Board's premises are about a mile to the westward of the town. The Singapore Harbour Board (constituted under an enactment by the Governor of the Straits Settle- ments entitled the Straits Settlements Ordinance No. 130 (Ports) now control all the wharves and dry docks in Singapore. The Board's assets and capital outlay at June 30th, 1926, totalled $75,000,000 .e., £8,750,000 sterling (exchange being fixed by Govern- ment at 2s. 4d. per Straits Settlements Dollar). There are 10,608 lineal feet of wharves, including Empire Dock (24 acres) with 30 feet and over depth of water at