# data[].attributes.headline
Dutch presence in East Indies (Indonesia) motivated the British to establish a port in Singapore. Explain how.

# data[].attributes.subject
Dutch presence in East Indies (Indonesia) motivated the British to establish a port in Singapore. Explain how.

# data[].attributes.body
Watch this video to learn about the Dutch East India Company and how the Dutch established control in the East Indies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How one of the most profitable companies in history rose to power - Adam Clulow

# data[].attributes.headline
To conclude, why was Singapore selected? Write down three reasons why Singapore was selected. 

# data[].attributes.subject
To conclude, why was Singapore selected? Write down three reasons why Singapore was selected. 

# data[].attributes.body
Watch this video to learn about Stamford Raffles' search for a new port and why he decided on Singapore

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1819 - Raffles Journey to Find a New Trading Base

# data[].attributes.body
Any other questions about the Europeans in Southeast Asia?

# data[].attributes.headline
How were spices a reason for British interest in Southeast Asia?

# data[].attributes.subject
How were spices a reason for British interest in Southeast Asia?

# data[].attributes.body
Watch this video to understand the importance of spices and why Southeast Asia mattered to the Europeans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Join us on a journey to learn about the magical history of spices

# data[].attributes.headline
British needed a better port in Southeast Asia. Explain how this led to the British searching for another port that was Singapore.

# data[].attributes.subject
British needed a better port in Southeast Asia. Explain how this led to the British searching for another port that was Singapore.

# data[].attributes.body
Read this post to understand why the British needed a better port.

# data[].attributes.headline
How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia?

# data[].attributes.subject
How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia?

# data[].attributes.body
Watch this video to learn about trade between Britain and China.

Think about how this trade relates to Southeast Asia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Empire's Opium Trade - Empire - Episode 4 - BBC

# data[].attributes.body
How did the Chinese smugglers manage to sneak opium into China? Why did the British really and desperately want to acquire tea? Was it for trade, business, or was it for their own purposes and desires?

====================

ANSWER:

Back in those days, border/coastal security (?) in China wasn't stringent. it was possible to smuggle opium via land or sea. China was huge and there were many ways to enter China.

Tea- somehow became a favourite/popular drink in Britain and in Europe. Started with the Portuguese who discovered tea in China. and the Dutch who brought tea to Europe. People of status drank tea- tea was a status symbol in the early years. later also, the British discovered the benefits of tea-drinking. thus trading tea allowed British traders to make a lot of money. it was not until the British cultivated tea on their own, in India, that this demand of tea from China decreased...

# data[].attributes.body
Why did they want to be part of the spice trade? Didn’t they have many other things to trade.

====================

ANSWER:

Spices were black gold back in those days. yes they had other things to trade like opium and tea (with China and India) but spices were what the Europeans wanted and could not cultivate in Europe (only in Asia) This made spices very valuable. anyone who traded spices became very rich.

# data[].attributes.body
Why were the British so desperate for tea to the point they started selling opium to china ?

====================

ANSWER:

The British LOVED tea. other Europeans too. Selling tea made money. But tea was available only from China.

Buying tea from China made China rich but British were not rich as China DID NOT want to buy anything from the British.

the solution was OPIUM. this was something China could buy from the British and the British could make money at last .... as it is millions of Chinese were addicted to opium. it was $-making opportunity for the British!

# data[].attributes.body
Why did the Chinese want to trade specifically with the British for opium?

If Penang and Bencoolen was too far away from the trade route between British and China, then why did they set up the trading port in the first place?

====================

China traded specifically with the British for opium because the British were the Europeans who cultivated opium in India. and since the British were buying so much tea from China (and losing money...), the British came up with the plan of selling something that the Chinese 'needed' and would be addicted to, which is opium. British were the prominent Europeans in China and they were the ones cultivating and selling opium to China.

Penang was chosen by the British because the British wanted a port that was 'along the Straits of Melaka' so that British ships traveling between India and China or Europe and China, could stop here. Melaka was not available at that time (it was Dutch-controlled) and the best choice was Penang...

as for Bencoolen, it was because of the spice trade, since Bencoolen was in the East Indies where spices were produced. it could be that other areas in East Indies were already controlled by the Dutch, the British had no other choices.

# data[].attributes.body
Why were the British so selfish and had to invade a bandanese society just for their own benefit?

====================

ANSWER:

I think you're referring to the Dutch? The British were not in Banda... it was the Dutch. The Dutch wanted the nutmeg and other spices that made a lot of money for the Dutch. But the Bandanese were selling the nutmeg at high prices to the Dutch. The Bandanese rebelled against the Dutch. naturally the Dutch had to fight back by forcibly occupying Banda.

You can watch the video on the 3rd post

# data[].attributes.body
Why didn’t the British chose a different SEA country other than Singapore?

==================

SG was chosen because the British wanted a PORT. other areas in SEA might be landlocked areas- not what the British needed for maritime trade. lastly, the British needed a place where they could enjoy the spice trade and be able to trade with India and China. ships needed to stop over during long journeys, hence SG was chosen. any ship traveling between Europe and Asia or India and China must pass SG.

# data[].attributes.body
Why would the British and Dutch fight over the colonies? They could have worked together.

====================

ANSWER:

when it comes to $ and power and prestige- would you cooperate and work with others? :)

Europeans were proud people. they wanted prestige.

these colonies could make a lot of money (raw materials, trade etc) why would they share with other Europeans? whoever controlled the colonies could attain wealth and status....

anyway, the Dutch in general... were hostile and aggressive so they would never work together with the British :x

# data[].attributes.body
Why were the British so obsessed with tea ☕️☕️☕️

====================

ANSWER:

it became a kind of status symbol. it was for leisure and one queen drank tea and tea got trendy...

later, the British could sell to other Europeans, and make $, so why not?

tea is still something the British drink til today... afternoon teas with cookies and cakes lol...

# data[].attributes.body
Why did China want to trade their tea for something as bad as opium?

====================

ANSWER:

I think China didn't intend to buy opium just so it could destroy its people. the Chinese did use opium for medicinal purpose like pain relief or as a relaxant. but the use of opium wasn't widespread...

it was the British who smuggled opium into China. the Chinese bought, they used, they got addicted and they kept buying more ILLEGALLY... the Chinese government could not stop the opium trade. when they tried, China and Britain got into a conflict known as the Opium War which China lost a few times, resulting in a loss of Chinese territories and the British continued selling opium to China...

# data[].attributes.body
Why did the British want tea from china so much and who was the tea for?

====================

ANSWER:

it became a kind of status symbol. it was for leisure and one queen drank tea and tea got trendy...

later, the British could sell to other Europeans, and make $, so why not?

tea is still something the British drink til today... afternoon teas with cookies and cakes lol...

# data[].attributes.body
What other reasons are there for the British’s choice in Singapore?

Why couldn’t the Dutch and the British agree with each other?

Why didn’t the Dutch choose Singapore as their port?

=====================

ANSWER:

SG was chosen because the British wanted a PORT. other areas in SEA might be landlocked areas- not what the British needed for maritime trade. lastly, the British needed a place where they could enjoy the spice trade and be able to trade with India and China. ships needed to stop over during long journeys, hence SG was chosen. any ship traveling between Europe and Asia or India and China must pass SG.

Secondly, when it comes to $ and power and prestige- would you cooperate and work with others? :)

Europeans were proud people. they wanted prestige.

these colonies could make a lot of money (raw materials, trade etc) why would they share with other Europeans? whoever controlled the colonies could attain wealth and status.... spice trade was a controlled trade and very precious to the Dutch. they would not share with the British. the British must fight for their own share...

anyway, the Dutch in general... were hostile and aggressive so they would never work together with the British :x

Thirdly, Dutch wasn't interested in SG... SG didn't have raw materials, natural resources like spice unlike East Indies. They did not see the potential of SG as a port. SG was a tiny island, the Dutch were more interested in building their presence in East Indies... SG wasn't on their radar...

# data[].attributes.body
Why did the British choose Singapore instead of other countries?

==================

ANSWER:

SG was chosen because the British wanted a PORT. other areas in SEA might be landlocked areas- not what the British needed for maritime trade. lastly, the British needed a place where they could enjoy the spice trade and be able to trade with India and China. ships needed to stop over during long journeys, hence SG was chosen. any ship traveling between Europe and Asia or India and China must pass SG.

SG was not 'owned' by another European power so the British could take SG

# data[].attributes.body
Why are the Dutch so cruel?

How did the British people have so much opium?

=====================

ANSWERS:

yes, sadly they were cruel, they wanted lands, natural resources which could make them money. Greed drove them to use violence and force when they could not get what they wanted from the locals in East Indies. Since the locals in East Indies were not militarily advanced as the Dutch, using force would make the locals give in to the Dutch and Dutch could control the lands.

The British had so much opium because they cultivated it in INDIA. India was part of the British empire so the British controlled the land in India and there were companies to own plantations and grow opium. the British easily got the people of India to grow opium through cheap Indian labourers...

# data[].attributes.body
Why did the Chinese trade tea and in return received opium with the British when opium is illegal in China?

Why did the government of China not arrest people who used opium?

Why must the Dutch and the British trade spices in SEA when there are many other things to sell other than spices?

====================

ANSWERS:

The Chinese traded tea because the British LOVED tea. There was so much demand for Chinese tea, so this was a happy situation for the Chinese- China made money... however, not for the British. they were the only ones buying tea, silk and porcelain from China BUT China wasn't interested in any European goods.... this meant that the British were losing money in the trade.

China didn't intend to receive opium as part of the trade. it wasn't what they voluntarily wanted. opium was smuggled into China by the British who found a way to make the Chinese buy SOMETHING from the British... which was opium. so yes, the trade of opium was done illegally, but what could the Chinese government do? Many people in China were addicted to opium and demanded more... the British just continued smuggling.

The Chinese government couldn't arrest because, China government was weak, China was a huge country with millions in population. they could not monitor the smuggling on a widescale. border and coastal security very weak at that time! the British were too strong. later when Chinese government tried to stop the British from selling opium, wars broke out and China lost...

Dutch and British traded spices because spices were black gold that the Europeans needed for their food. so much money to be made. SEA didn't have much goods or products to offer, except spices....

# data[].attributes.body
They were British interests because:

1. Cold climates in Europe made cultivation of spices impossible

2. Tales/legends/stories weaved around spices, made them fantastical, magical and Europeans were fascinated by spices & the regions that produced them

3. Highly priced and prized; very lucrative, could make a lot of money

4. Flavouring/preserving food (no refrigeration in past)

5. To make perfumes and dyes with spices

6. As medicine; people in Europe believed that spices like nutmeg could cure plague (a serious and widespread disease in Europe)

Look at the photo above:

The sculpture outside Ion shopping mall is a NUTMEG.

Orchard Road used to have plantations and nutmeg trees were planted here until diseases wiped out the trees...

# data[].attributes.body
How did India-China trade attract the British to Southeast Asia?

India was a British colony that provided the goods and natural resources the British needed for trade & industrialisation.

With India, an important crop known as POPPY was cultivated and processed into OPIUM.

Significance?

Opium from India was exported to China.

India and China were important trading 'partners' for the British. From China the British bought tea. However, China did not need any goods or natural resources from the British except OPIUM.

Thus, the British sold a lot of opium to China as up to 12m peasants in China were addicted to opium- good money for the British.

Southeast Asia was IMPORTANT for the India-China trade because Southeast Asia was located between India and China. British traders from India could stop in Southeast Asia to rest, replenish or trade their goods before going to China with the opium.

# data[].attributes.body
British needed a better trading port. Singapore fit the bill...

India-China trade; a port was needed midway to import and export goods (opium, tea, spices) from both countries and to other parts of the world

Break Dutch monopoly in the Malay Archipelago. Dutch controlled the East Indies. British were not allowed to use Dutch ports and this made trading activities difficult for the British

Existing British ports in Penang & Bencoolen were inferior; few ships would pass by as Penang and Bencoolen were not along the Straits of Melaka

However, Singapore was along the Straits of Melaka and could protect British ships

British presence in Singapore could prevent Dutch from further expanding their control in Malay Archipelago

# data[].attributes.body
Singapore was selected because:

Singapore was close to Johor- can help to check Dutch expansion into Johor which could block British trade with India-China

Singapore had a sheltered harbour

Singapore had accessible drinking water

Possibility of signing favourable agreement with local rulers (Sultan Hussein & Temenggong) was high

# data[].attributes.body
Dutch presence in East Indies motivated the British to establish a port in SG because:

Dutch controlled East Indies (present day Indonesia) after a series of invasions.

Banda, the island that produced the highly prized nutmeg was controlled by the Dutch VOC (trading company)

Dutch monopolised the nutmeg production and trade and made a lot of money

British aspired to break this monopoly and take advantage of spice trade

Malaya and East Indies were rich in spices

Hence, the British were very motivated to establish a port in Singapore as it is near the source of spices

British presence in Singapore could prevent the Dutch from expanding their control in the Malay Archipelago