| Show T z r I s I r tl r t Rubber Planters Planter's Planters Planter's Home In Malay lY States Prepared d by the National Geographic Society Washington D C C fIE Fe Federated Malay Y states Ton TilE T on Asias Asia's southernmost penin penin- peninsula peninsula peninsula sula have ha been I literally i t e r a I t y snatched from an on covering all nil wild vegetation Where once the chokIng jun jungle le f crO crowded ded men back a jungle so thick that a man swimming In a n stream could hardly land because I vines and plants hug hugged so close to the waters water's broad edge edge broad fields have ha now DOW been cleared and Malaya plan plan- plantations plantations are among the richest In tin the II world Fort Forty five five years ago ngo a few pare para rub rub- rubber rubber rubber ber plants smuggled out of Brazil fruited here Today three fourths of I the worlds world's rubber comes from this I region And In this ma magic lc develop develop- development development ment ment Americans have hae played a lead lead- leading leading o oIn In ing role This Malay lalay peninsula stretching hundreds of miles from the Siamese frontier down toward the equator forms a vast humid region of ot dense forests of jungle wild lId elephants snakes and naked people rice fields rubber plantations and ond tin mines I There is a 0 governmental mixture In inthis Inthis this re region lon Singapore built on a tiny i green Isle of ot the same name which I lies Just off oft the end of ot the peninsula and nearly on the equator Is the cap capital Ita ital of the British crown CroWD cottony colony com commonly called tile the Straits Settlements Settlement This colony embraces the Province ot of Wellesley the and Malacca on the mainland and the Islands ot of and Singapore The F Federated Malay states on the I peninsula and adjoining the StraIts Settlements comprise the States of I and Ne rl Kuala Lumpur Is the cap capital I ital Just opposite Singapore on the mainland Is the independent native native state I of which has hns Its own sultan and government go hut hilt which Is IsI I ender British protection The British governor of ot Singapore Is la also high i commissioner for tor the Federate Federated Malay states dates and Brunei Brunel and British o agent ent for north Borneo and Sarawak thus I linking up British possessions and andI I spheres of ot Influence In all Malaya and close contact through one I man with the colonial office In Lon Lon- London London Lon Lon-idon don Many Races There The Melting Pot of ot Asia they call callI this prolific potent peninsula because I ot of the babel habel of races colors and andI I castes which Its wealth of ot rubber and andI i I tin has drawn to It It But nut In all nil this Industrial army of ot Europeans Chinese C Japanese Hindus and assort assort- assorted assorted ed South Sea Islanders the Chinese are the most numerous and powerful I The Malay himself is too lazy even e evento evento to be a good fisherman He De grows R a little rIce a few coconuts and nets the fish h he needs but nature Is so kind that It Is said one olle hours hour's effort a 11 day will support him and his family I It Is the Chinaman who Is the tin maser the farmer shopkeeper artisan contractor and financier The Tamil and ond the Hindu add to the stock ot of local labor and own small farms and herds berths but the many millionaires made In Malaya have ho mostly been Chinese The palatial homes of the rich Chinese bosses In Singapore and In contrast with the miserable shacks of the natives afford proof enough of ot tIle the I singular commercial superiority of theo the o yellow v race I Here Indeed Chinese Immigration has bas worked a modern miracle In la the magic reclamation of this thia th once reek reck In log ing fever cursed jungle grown wilder wilder- wilderness wilderness wilderness ness The Chinese It was who firstI first braved the poisonous darts of ot the lurkIn lurking lurk- lurk lurkIng I In Ing sa savage the perils of ot tigers and o reptiles the flames of fever and the to conquer these danger of ot dysentery jungles and dig the tin Un that put Un- Un UnI Mn-i Mn laya Inyo on the map of ot the trading world orld I Chinese say that tin grows and they divining rod roll to locate It use the lie I Suse Singapore Is la both a n great ent trading center and fortress of the Far East example of how Great shining Lt It Is B ft Britain has muddled muddied muddled as the British It into It Into possession of themselves ves put Jut sonic MOle of the worlds world's most Important strategic gateways Singapore I Is an is- is Iland island Is Island land 27 7 miles long by 14 19 wide and Just misses being the southernmost point of the continent of ot Asia by hr a half rulle water channel It Is at nt the funnel point orthe of the Strait of ot which extends between cn the Mala Malay peninsula and the Island of Sumatra India In India th the great Kreut water highroad between d dia and China How Raffles Made Singapore Little Lithe mor more than thun a hundred years ago the lie Island owned l by the suitor ot of on the nearby mainland was n a deserted jungle save sa for a n little fish fish- fishing fish fishing h- h hIng ing village Ships In the China trade passed It by as they thy I passed sd many an- an another another an another other jungle shore the only ports ot of call In that Hint region of ot the world were those on the Dutch Islands of Sumatra and Java Jaa But nut these ports took a n big toll toll In fee fees and Sir Raffles on an official of the I East ast India company be began an to dream of a n free British port that would facilitate trade In 1819 1818 he obtained the seemingly worthleSs Island of ot Singapore for his company for n a small fee Developments quickly quick quick- quickly quickly ly proved him a prophet for within two years ears the little trail trad n center he hei i established had a n population of ot It was only In IS that the British government consented to take an nn in- in interest In Interest terest In the place In the little more than a hundred years since pince It was founded the jungle ot of Singapore has given place to a huge buge city of ot close to population car car r In on trade valued at a billion dol dollars lars Inns one annually annually one of ot the metropolises of the British empire Its quays and anchorages serve sene thousands of craft cratt ot of all nil sorts and sizes from the plc- plc pic picturesque e graceful Malay sampans and the e st- st Chinese junks to the fa- fa familiar fa familiar freighters of ot the West and what hot Kipling ns asserts erts are the lady like liners They build up Singa Singa- Singapore's Singapore's Singapore's pores pore's shipping to the tremendous total to- to to total tal of ton tons yearly early Though Is free from du- du duties du duties ties tics and to this tart act art owe owes Its very existence still tie lire people who make moke makeup makeup up the take their toll from the stream of world trade Ih That t s ii about them live 11 In fact h by and for and In n nn an lulo I of commerce Tens of make their livings hy by caring carinI for fur shipping conditionIng and supplying vessel amid taking part partin partIn In loading lo and unloading goods gooda The port pMt Is 1 I primarily a 0 t IO trins shipping point for both hoth imports and exports It gives 1 what time the economists wo would call place value to hundreds of commodities whIch trickle to Singapore's reser reser- reservoirs reservoirs of goods 19 from scores of districts In the East and ore are there obtainable In the large quantities that world trade demands In the city's go godowns godowns owns owns- as 03 the East Enst calls call Its warehouses are warehouses handled d n a very ery large part of the worlds world's finest rubber before It If begins this the lon long journey that will take most of It eventually to American highways So too much of ot the worlds world's tin is I smelted In and shipped from Singapore Singa Singa- Singapore Singapore pore It might be dubbed the world worlds world's pepper pot for more pepper Is assem bled there than thoD Is ever held heM In any anT other port Cosmopolitan City Real If It ever er a city could claim to be cos cos- cos- cos cosmopolitan cosmopolitan Singapore can At one of ot the principal world crossroads and with witha a population per cent immigrant ant It could not escape cosmopolitanism It has drawn Its population from c practically practically all nil parts of Asia from Oceania the Malay archipelago o Africa Europe and America The Chinese predominate predominate nate Date making up about one halt the population There have been lieen many thousands of Immigrants from India Europeans Americans and Australians number less loss than and there are ara probably as ns many Japanese The appearance of ot Singapore shows show Its mixture of many influences The vIsitor may ride In or electric elec elec- electric electric ears fars automobiles or ancient horse horse- horse drawn drawn carriages es Ui In the chief busi busl- busi- busi business business ness nelis district he sees seNt modern ern streets and buildings and In the Asiatic quarters quarters quarters he encounters facilities and sight sights I and odors that smack of the Orient Singapore's houses of worship furnish nn an excellent Index to Its varied life There are Christian cathedrals and andI I churches Moslem mo mosques ques and the temples of ot half halt a dozen or more Indian and Chinese and Japanese faiths Without making use of ot reiteration lone one can hardly describe the physical aspects of Singapore Island adequate adequate- adequately I I ly Iy It Is an Island of red red soil and soil soli la Is verdure The green reen green poor but since Singapore Is la olmo almost t tnt nt at the equator and moist vegetation might he said to grow furiously Thero Is nn an unending fight between It and the tha coolies who strive to prevent Its vivid green waves from engulfing the thc con con- conspicuous con conspicuous r red d roads and cleared spaces So Su here In the strait Raffles names early declared that the principles of British law should be applied with patriarchal mildness and Indulgent consideration for the prejudices of each ench All native Institutions such as religious ceremonies marriage e and were r respected d when not Inconsistent with Justice and humanity In this policy lies the tle secret of British I Ii success sa I |
