I know, I know. What am I doing online right? When I should be studying, when common test is only bloody fucking NEXT WEEK! But I just finished studying History. And I wanna update my stories...

Okay, to make me feel better, I'll revise it here, right now. Warning to those reading this right now, stop of you don't want to be reminded that common tests are NEXT WEEK and you have absolutely no wish to see the words you have studying recently again: STOP READING THIS RIGHT NOW!!!

Chapter 3

In 1824, the British possessed Singapore, Melaka and Penang. In 1826, they combined them and called them the Straits Settlements because they were all situated along the Straits of Melaka. The British government in India ruled the settlements. Then in 1867, the control over these settlements were transferred to the Colonial Office in London. The Straits Settlements then became a Crown Colony.

Under the Colonial Office, a British official, called the Governer, was put in charge of the settlements. He was the most important person in the settlements. He represented the King or Queen of Britain, and made the final decisions in the governement running the settlements. He ruled with the help of two groups of people - the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. The Executive Council helped him to carry out the laws, while the Legislative Council helped him to make laws.

The British system of government from 1867 to 1924 was like this:
the British Colonial Office was at the top, with the Governer below the Office. Under the Governer, we had the two Councils. The Executive Council was made up of British officails and helped the Governer to run the government. The Legislative Council was made up mainly of Executive Council members and some non-officials, who were traders nominated by the Governer. The Legislative Council helped the Governer to make laws.

Even though the population of Singapore was mostly Asian, the British ruled with little Asian participation. This was because up to the 1940s, the people were not interested in government and were more interested in making a living. They were contented to leave the ruling of the island to the British. The only people who were interested were European and Asian traders ( also known as merchants ). Some of them were nominated to be on the Legislative Council. This was an important step in getting Asian participation in government, as Asian traders were more aware of the situation of the people in Singapore and can help to pass laws to improve the lives of the people.

For example, from 1914 to 1918, house rents were very high and many poor people could not afford them. Dr Lim Boon Keng, a non-official member of the Legislative Council, asked them to pass a law to control house rents. The government then passed a law which prevented landlords from raising the house rents.

Eunos Abdullah, another non-official member of the Council, asked the government to improve the living conditions of the Malays. In response to this, the government set aside a very large peiece of land for a Malay settlement called Kampung Melayu. This is important as the land provided low-cost housing and allowed the Malays to grow vegetables and fruits, and rear animals for a living.

However, not all non-officials looked after the welfare of the people. For example, Dr Lim Boon Keng wanted to ban opium. This meant that the government would lose a source of income from the tax on opium. The Governer suggested taxing the people's income to make up for the laws, but the main group of people affected would be the merchants, so they opposed this, and in the end, opium was not banned.

When the merchants asked the British to increase the number of non-officials in the Legislative Council, they did it slowly. In 1824, the number of non-officials in the Legislative Council was equal to that of the officials.

Asian influence in government was still limited as the Governer had the right to veto whatever decision made by the Legislative Council. The people still did not have the right to choose who they wanted in the government.

Chapter 9
(Decided to changed the font colour...)
The government in 1928 changed from the one from 1867 to 1924. In 1928, the system of government was like this:

The British Colonial Office in London was still at the top, the Governer was still the most important person in the settlements and the Executive Council was still made up of British officials, however now, the Legislative Council was made up of 9 nominated British officials, and 13 non-officials. Of these 13, 4 were nominated by the Governer, 3 were chosen by the European, Chinese and Indian Chambers of Commerce and 6 were elected by the people.

In the 1928 elections, only 13, 800 people took part in the election, as there were 200, 000 people in Singapore who were not able to take part as they were not Singapore citizens.

The Singapore Progressive Party ( SPP ) took part. The SPP was formed in 1927, and made up of English-educated members. They won 3 of the 6 elected seats. They worked closely with the British to bring certain improvements to the lives of the people. For example, they introduced the Central Provident Fund, to provide financial security for retired workers or workers who are no longer able to work. The SPP believed in working slowly towards more local participation in government. They believed that Singapore was not ready to govern itself, and that there were not enough educated people to run things. Besides, Singapore still had many problems, such lack of housing and jobs, to be solved. Thus they did not press the British for more changes.

The British were also cautious in giving the locals too much power. They still did not want to lose their control over Singapore, which was useful to them as a free port for British goods and as a military base. Futhermore, Singapore's peace and security were still being threatened by the communists. Up to 1924, they did not believe that the people of Singapore were united and loyal enough to Singapore.

Then in 1953, the Rendel Commission led by George Rendel was formed to observe the constituition of Singapore. In 1954, the Rendel Commission recommended giving Singapore limited self-government. So, changes were made in the system of goverment.

Even though the Governer was still at the top, the Executive Council was now made up of a Chief Minister, 6 local ministers appointed from 25 elected members of the Assembly, and 3 nominated British ministers. The Legislative Council was made up of 25 elected members, 3 nominated British officials, and 4 nominated non-officials. The 6 local ministers controlled Trade and Industry, Housing, Health and Education, while the 3 ministers controlled Law, Finance, External Affairs, External Defence and Internal Security.

2 political parties were especially interested-

Ah, forget it. I know I know the rest of it. Bye. I'm going off!

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