Report on the sanitary condition of Singapore / by W.J. Simpson.

  • William Simpson
Date:
1907
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the sanitary condition of Singapore / by W.J. Simpson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    IReport ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OF SINGAPORE. SITUATION AND CLIMATE. Situated at the Southern entrance to the Straits of Malacca, the 1- Importance of town of Singapore owes its great importance to the fact that it faces the Singapore, narrow gateway of the maritime trade route between the Indian and Chinese seas. It thus not only commands the strait through which the ships of the world pass in going to and from the Far East, but its port, which is one of the largest and most picturesque in the East, is in the forefront of sea commerce, and so many ships enter its harbour that its shipping tonnage is the eighth largest in the world. 2. It is difficult to realise that though the town of Singapore has been in Its rapid develop- the possession of the British only some eighty-seven years it has undergone ment‘ during that time a remarkable change, effected by the activity and enter¬ prise of its owners. When taken over by Sir Stamford Ruffles in 1819 it was a fishing village with about 150 inhabitants, and with hardly sufficient clear space on which to pitch the tents of his Sepoys ; it was covered with thick jungle on its higher portions, and with mangrove swamps on its lower. Now it is a thriving town of nearly a quarter of a million inhabit¬ ants, with excellent roads leading into the interior. Such a development has not been easily attained. The site on which Singapore is chiefly built has entailed enormous exertions to bring it to its present position. Originally consisting of small hills and extensive swamps, the material from the hills has had to be removed to reclaim the swamps, and the major and older portion of the town is now situated on land which has been reclaimed from swamps or from the sea, or on land the site of former hills. This reclamation has proceeded with varying degrees of progress at different times. At the present time extensive reclamations are being projected. Thus, at Tanjong Pagar, situated in the South-western portion of the town, and where there is a splendid natural harbour, some large swamps are to be dredged out to form new graving docks for the accom¬ modation of large ocean-going steamers, the spoil earth being used for filling up some adjacent mangrove swamps. Again, North-east of these, and more towards the central portion of the town, which faces the sea, some 88 acres of land are to be reclaimed from the sea in connection with the proposed harbour improvements. This reclaimed land is intended to be used for warehouses and wharfage. The front will be made into a quay for the inner basin, which, with an outer 260146 a 2
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