Entertainment of European Immigrants

Source 1: An oil painting by John Turnbull Thomson - The Padang in Singapore 1851.

This is an oil painting by J.T. Thomson, who served as the first government surveyor in Singapore from 1841 to 1853. It shows a view of the Padang from Scandal Point, the Saluting Battery (a small knoll above the original shoreline since levelled) situated at the edge of Connaught Drive, southeast of St. Andrew’s Church (St. Andrew’s Cathedral today). The Padang was the heart of social life in 19th-century Singapore, and is depicted here in its most bustling state in the late afternoon with different communities dressed in their respective costumes. It creates the impression that Singapore was an idyllic multicultural society. However, the representation of Europeans on an elevated plane – on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages – while Asians are either standing or seated on the field, subtly suggests that it was the Europeans who held the authority in the settlement.

Reference:

National Museum of Singapore. (Year Unknown). Investigating History: Colonial Singapore 1819 – 1941. Retrieved from https://www.nhb.gov.sg/-/media/nhb/images/nhb2017/what-we-do/education/activity-sheets/nms/ActivitySheet_Teachers-HI-Resource-Unit-2-Colonial-Singapore.pdf

Source 2: An excerpt about multi-talented British - Jonas Daniel Vaughan who was a sailor, public official and prominent lawyer in colonial Singapore. He contributed to many community organisations and activities, promoted scientific observation, wrote on local history and native culture, and edited The Singapore Free Press (a newspaper).

Vaughan was a talented singer, musician and amateur actor, performing on the local cultural scene under stage names such as Mr Jingle. He was president and stage manager of the short-lived Savage Club (1862–63) before joining the Corps Dramatique. On one occasion, he produced and starred in a short play to raise funds for Tan Tock Seng Hospital with just 30 hours’ notice. His paintings were regularly included in Arts Club exhibitions and displayed in the Masonic Hall. Vaughan was interested in science, particularly astronomy, and published an interesting paper on the recording of temperature and rainfall measurements from 1862 to 1869. He was one of the founders, and later vice president, of the Straits Asiatic Society, also known as the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

He enjoyed a good relationship with the Asian communities and took an interest in their cultures. He studied the Malay language and was one of the most pro-Malay British officials. He found the task of compiling a supplement to the Malay-English dictionary to be too complex, but published a journal article on the Malays of Penang. Vaughan also authored The Manners and Customs of the Chinese of the Straits Settlements (1879), which was a valuable resource due to his keen observations. The book was reprinted over a century later.

Reference:

Sutherland, D. (2007). Jonas Daniel Vaughan. Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board. Retrieved from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1826_2011-08-11.html?s=Colonial%20administrators--Singapore--Biography

Source 3: An excerpt about Gaston Dutronquoy was a prominent French hotelier and entrepreneur in Singapore during the 1840s and early 1850s. He first arrived in Singapore in 1839.

He was the island's first recorded resident photographer. Advertising himself as a painter of miniatures, portraits, houses and palanquins. Apart from photography, Dutronquoy also tried his hand at theatre. He set up the Theatre Royal in London Hotel, which staged theatrical performances between 1844 and 1845.

Reference:

Ong, A. (2020). Gaston Dutronquoy. Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board. Retrieved from https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1263_2007-07-06.html?s=Pioneers--Singapore--Biography

Source 4: History of the Singapore Cricket Club, taken from a government website that introduces readers to the history of various sports in Singapore.

Established in the year 1852, the Singapore Cricket Club is a fascinating history of Singapore itself. The club's transition from an elite, colonial sports club into an open multi-racial one has played a leading role in both the sporting and social life of the community. It also mirrors the similar changes of Singapore's social and historical evolution throughout the years. Sports played an important role in the early colonial culture of Singapore, as it was the antidote for many social ills such as boredom, loneliness, isolation and cultural disorientation.

There was a de facto racial segregation in early Singaporean society. Each community had their own clubs and stayed within their own racial boundaries. Thus, the SCC at its beginnings, was a largely whites only club, while, conversely, the Singapore Recreation Club was the domain of the Eurasians.

Although billiards and horse racing have had earlier histories as club activities in Singapore, it is the cricket club that has flourished continuously at the same location longer than any other sports club.

Reference:

Sports Singapore. (2019). Singapore Cricket Club. Retrieved from https://www.sportsingapore.gov.sg/sports-education/history-of-singapore-sports/sports-clubs/singapore-cricket-club#:~:text=Established%20in%20the%20year%201852,social%20life%20of%20the%20community.

Source 5: Excerpt taken from the website of Singapore Cricket Club, explaining their beginnings as a club in Singapore in 1853.

The Club’s beginnings were quite humble, with the first 28 members in 1853 being mostly men working in the British business and mercantile community, usually as clerks or “junior assistants”. In the 1880s, however, membership had grown to almost 400 and was seen as a social feather in the cap, not only by the businessmen who founded the Club but also by the power-brokers and decision-makers in government. Presidents in the early days of the Club included several governors of the then Straits Settlements: Sir Cecil Clementi Smith (SCC President, 1883, Governor, 1887-1893), Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham (SCC President, 1902-1903, Governor, 1901-1904) and Sir Arthur Henderson Young (SCC President, 1909-1910, Governor, 1911-1920).

It was not all cricket on the Padang. A popular event almost up to World War I was the SCC Annual Sports; the SCC Athletic Sports were an integral part of this programme up to 1900. Football of both sorts, soccer and rugby, was established in Singapore in the 1880s, while an annual tennis tournament was initiated in 1875. Hockey arrived early in Singapore, in 1892, considering that the rules of the game had been established in Britain only in 1849 and the English Hockey Association established only in 1886. Billiards was no doubt played at the Club, but it is seldom mentioned in existing records. Lawn bowls began at the Club in the 1870s and the tournaments were held regularly from 1898.

Reference:

Singapore Cricket Club. (2020). Our humble beginnings. Retrieved from https://scc.org.sg/our-history/

Source 6: Photo of the Singapore Cricket Club in its early days. 

Reference:

Yap. L. (2020). Celebrating Singapore’s Bicentennial. Retrieved from https://expatliving.sg/singapore-history-bicentennial-200th-birthday-events-singapore-cricket-club/

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