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Some nice ideas were presented here Tianyun. It was  good to see you recognising the interlinked subjects of meteorology - climate change - droughts and so on and to see how contemporaries thought about how these subjects connected. This was a less straightforward and more complex look at the subject of concern for nature in SG than I might have expected. You can see the early stages here of what we now know to be a teleconnected atmosphere - seeing recognition of global atmospheric patterns, as opposed to just seeing climate on a local scale and how science developed apace- albeit with many conflicting ideas. At the same time, you noted land-use change was recognised as an important local issue. It was also a strong point to note how people only tended to sit up and listen when things affected them (isn't it the same today?!) such as in climate creating drought conditions or poor public health.    Do be careful though with typos and minor errors. Check your prose carefully before submission as there are improvements to be made.

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Dry Spells Broken Singapore & Penang (Article 1)

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Dry Spells Broken Singapore & Penang (Article 1)

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Retrieved from
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 11 March 1940, Page 2

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On the left is a newspaper article from 1940 that particularly sparked my interest. In the article, deforestation and dry spells are mentioned, as well as outside causes which linked the dry spells with the bigger global picture.

Thus, in this case study I will discuss how the concern for climate anomalies and deforestation grew in colonial Singapore, and how emerging scientific theories and discoveries may have affected people's view on this matter.

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The Effect of Trees on Climate (Ariticle 2)

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The Effect of Trees on Climate (Ariticle 2)

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Retrieved from
Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser, 26 March 1906, Page 3

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Continuation of article 2

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Retrieved form
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly), 16 November 1905, Page 3

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(Corlett,1992)

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Apart from the first newspaper article, another two articles with similar topics are also included. The three articles share similar themes, which is climate and deforestation.

From the articles, we can see that in early 1900s, there is already quite a substantial concern for climate issues. All three articles explicitly mentioned the relationship between reduced rainfall and deforestation.
Articles 1 and 2 interestingly took a very open, holistic approach to the subject. The first article mentioned that causes might need to be sought outside of Malaya. The second article compared Singapore's situation to Greece, Egypt and Mexico, while also proposed other theories such as shifting polar axis.

Firstly, I will explore the background of these articles in the context of local environmental changes. As suggested by Corlett's (1992) article,  in the early 1800s, apart from a small settlement at the mouth of Singapore river the rest of Singapore is mostly covered with tropical rain forest. As shown in Figure 1 (land use chart) retrieved from the article, we can see a sharp decline in primary, or virgin forests and an increase in urban land use. Shortly after 1990s, there is a sharp increase in cultivated land use with more secondary lands transformed into cultivation and urban.

By examining the land use changes, we can infer that in the early 1900s, these is a near depletion of primary forests, and rapidly increasing cultivation and urban expansion, both requires extensive water usage. These factors may be the leading causes of water-shortage thus prompted a growing concern for rainfall and deforestation.

Secondly, I will explore the background in the context of natural science developments and mindsets of that time. The modern activist environmentalism did not become fashionable until the 1960s with the publication of Silent Spring. However, environmental concerns existed well before the arise of environmentalism. The contemporary environmental movement arose primarily from concerns in the late 19th century about the protection of the countryside in Europe and the wilderness in the United States and the health consequences of pollution during the Industrial Revolution.("History of the Environmental Movement", n.d.) We saw the establishment of various environmental organizations in the early 1900s, in coincidence with the newspaper articles, such as the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, the US. Weather Bureau in 1891 which expanded its research beyond recording of simple meteorological metrics(temperature, humidity) and into more complex factors.(Harper, 2008) Also, in the early 1900s, there  was substantial progress made in the field of climate and ecology. Such as, the study of irregular climate patterns such as El Niño by Sir Gilbert Walker in the 1930s and continuous geographical surveys by the Royal Geographical Society in Malaya which indicates the connection between droughts and deforestation(Grove, 1998).

These developments in the scientific society has had clear influence present in the news articles. We can see infer that the scientific findings has provided a scientific, holistic approach to understanding the local extreme weather.

Another point worth mentioning is that, from the newspaper articles, it seems that the concern for nature is confined within social-economic aspects, such as public health and water supply, which is apparent in article 1 and 3 . The concern for nature arises when the effects of environmental degradation becomes evident on everyday life. which contrasts with the contemporary world where many believes in the idea of actively preserving nature just for the cause of protecting nature as in environmentalism.

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From analysis the three newspaper articles, supplemented by an exploration the history of meteorology, ecology and environmental science, we can acquire an understanding of the concern for environment in colonial Singapore. In the early 1900s, With rapid urban and agricultural development and an influx of new natural science discoveries, there is a growing concern for nature among the general public. At the same time a more holistic and scientific understanding of destruction of environment and climate change is developed. However, with environmentalism not appearing until the 1960s, these concerns for nature are still mostly confined to for the well-being of people and for the promotion of social-economic benefits.

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Name: Zhao Tianyun
Theme: Concern for nature in colonial Singapore

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Corlett, R. (1992). The Ecological Transformation of Singapore, 1819-1990. Journal of Biogeography, 19(4), 411-420. doi:10.2307/2845569

Harper, K. (2008). Weather by the numbers : the genesis of modern meteorology . MIT Press.

History of the environmental movement. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/environmentalism/History-of-the-environmental-movement

Grove, R. H. (1998). Ecology, climate and empire: The Indian legacy in global environmental history 1400-1940. Delhi: Oxford Univ. Press.

Barnard, T. (2014). Nature Contained: Environmental Histories of Singapore. NUS Press Pte Ltd.

Chang, J., & King, A. (2011). Towards a genealogy of tropical architecture: Historical fragments of power‐knowledge, built environment and climate in the British colonial territories. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 32(3), 283–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9493.2011.00434.x