Singapore, First Impressions by Sea

Today, most Singapore citizens have already forgotten how interlinked we are with the countries of this region. By chance of geography, we recieved shipping traffic, the flow of resources and people in and out of the island. The island was also used as important network point for people in the region, it will be ever more so once more as countries like Cambodia and Vietnam continue to prosper.

The troubling world of 1940s had swept away everything that stood before its time. Chinese Christian communities had links from China to places like Sarawak and Malacca. And people flowed freely between them. A network of churches and schools formed in these places, which helped people to find their way round the archipelago.


In 1940s before the war, Singapore had tranformed from a mere trading post into British fortress. The island remained technically defended by its seaward guns and a stronghold of troops. Ships sailing in from the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea will have to steam past a ring of minefields that laid between Raffles Lighthouse and Keppel harbour. Supply ships were prevalent more than destroyers or battleships as the defense held faith in the coastal guns and troops alone. Hence, much of military vessels were troopships and cargo freighters.

The only recent exception then, was a newly beefed up British airforce, that was patrolling the skies above the city and its harbour. Not a single day passes where people cannot see a bomber from Kallang Airfield droning overhead at low altitude.


In spite of the oil embargo on Japan, trade continued freely, with Japanese ships sailing in and out at Singapore harbour alongside British vessels. War has not broken out yet.