By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times In memory of my other parents Shri Parameshwara Raghava Kurup and Shrimati Nilima Kurup (nee Bose) who taught me to find Kolkata everywhere in India and find India everywhere in the world Vasudaiva Kutumbakkam By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times The Singapore Indian Association, established in 1923, seeks to fulfil the material, intellectual, cultural and recreational aspirations of the community. The IA left its mark on the destiny of the Indian community during the Great Depression, World War II, and the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. Since Singapore’s Independence in 1965, it has provided a link between Indians and the larger multi-racial community that constitutes the nation. With the rise of India, the IA is serving as a platform where new arrivals from India can socialize with settled Indians. The Singapore Indian Association Book Series is a new initiative to make available scholarly works on the Singapore Indian community to a wide audience, both Indian and non-Indian, whether in Singapore or abroad. Carefully researched and engagingly written, these books are part of the IA’s outreach efforts as it continues to identify itself with the needs and aspirations of Indians in a globalizing, multi-racial Singapore. By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times Singapore indian aSSociation Book SerieS no. 1 IndIa In the MakIng of SIngapore Asad-ul Iqbal Latif SINGAPORE INDIAN ASSOCIATION 2008 First published in Singapore in 2008 by the Singapore Indian Association 69 Balestier Road Singapore 329677 Distributed worldwide by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. © 2008 Asad-ul Iqbal Latif The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the author and his interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the publisher or its supporters. Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Latif, Asad-ul Iqbal. India in the making of Singapore. (Singapore Indian Association book series ; no. 1) 1. Singapore—Relations—India. 2. India—Relations—Singapore. 3. Indians (Asian people)—Singapore. I. Title. I. Series. DS610.47 I4L35 2008 ISBN 978-981-08-1539-4 (hard cover) ISSN 1793-8325 Typeset by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Utopia Press Pte Ltd By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times Contents Preface ix 1 RAffLeS’ BeNgAL CoNNeCtIoN 1 2 WoRkeRS AND SoLDIeRS 25 3 Chalo DElhI! 42 4 LookINg WeSt to INDIA 62 5 LookINg eASt to SINgApoRe 75 6 gLoBAL INDIANS 90 appendices 97 Bibliography 145 about the author 154 By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times Preface In 1995, professor tan tai Yong and Dr Andrew J. Major wrote a path-breaking chapter, “India and Indians in the Making of Singapore”, in Singapore-India Relations: a Primer, edited by Yong Mun Cheong and V.V. Bhanoji Rao and published by Singapore University press. I tried to follow up on the insights present in their work in my chapter, “From Mandalas to Microchips: the Indian Imprint on the Construction of Singapore”, included in the volume Rising India and Indian Communities in East asia, edited by Ambassador k. kesavapany, professor A. Mani and professor p. Ramasamy and published by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. This monograph is an expanded version of my chapter in the volume. It limits itself to India; the role of Indians in the making of Singapore is covered comprehensively in Dr Akurathi Venkateswara Rao’s history of Indians in Singapore. I came to know of his book, which is being published by osmania University press, just as this monograph was about to go to press. I contacted Dr Rao. Very generously, he e-mailed me a soft copy of his manuscript, but it was too late for me to read it and incorporate its conclusions. What I would like to do here is to cite his book, which will add undoubtedly to existing scholarship on the subject. This monograph does not attempt a detailed history of India’s relations with Singapore. Instead, it highlights several turning points in that relationship: the role of Bengal in By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times x Preface Sir Stamford Raffles’ decision to set up a base in Singapore; the contribution of Indian labour to the construction of Singapore; the Singapore Mutiny of 1915; Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s arrival in wartime Singapore and the revitalization of the Indian National Army; independent Singapore’s early relations with India; the dramatic breakthrough in ties created by India’s Look east policy following the end of the Cold War; and the arrival of global Indians in Singapore. Footnotes have been kept to a minimum to appeal to a broad audience; the select bibliography reflects this choice. I am grateful to the Singapore Indian Association, and particularly to its president, Mr M.V. Rajendran, for publishing this monograph. I am grateful to Ambassador k. kesavapany, my Director at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, for his encouragement and guidance. To Mr Deepak Nair at ISeAS, I owe my gratitude for his intellectual companionship and critical indulgence over the past two years. I would like to thank my colleague, Ms Sheryl Sin Bing peng, for all her care and help. I thank professor Sugata Bose of Harvard University for his kind permission to draw from a paper, co-authored by Ambassador kesavapany and myself, that was presented at an international conference on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in kolkata in 2007. May this humble volume contribute to continuing good relations between India, which was my country once, and Singapore, which is my home today. By: ROS Size: 135 x 216mm J/No: 08-13270 Fonts: Helv, Times