CHAPTER 26: SINGAPORE INSTITUTION — THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MALAY COLLEGE

On 1 April 1823, Stamford Raffles laid down in a meeting his plans to establish a school for the people under British rule. First published in 1819, the 110-page document which had the title Minute by Sir T. S. Raffles on the Establishment of a Malay College at Singapore (Fig. 1) on the cover, revealed Raffles’ vision of Singapore as a centre not only in trade but also in learning. (It was initially titled On the Advantage of Affording the Means of Education to the Inhabitants of the Further East.) Raffles laid down his rationale for starting an institution of learning dedicated to the education of the Malay elites, Chinese entrepreneurs as well as employees of the British East India Company. The idea was visionary at a time when even basic education was still not formally implemented in England…