what was singapore like before 1819?

Key point 1

Many people from China came to trade.

From examining the gold coins found at Fort Canning, there were Chinese characters imprinted on them. They were brought to Singapore from another country. The coins replaced locally minted gold and silver as currency in Java in the early 14th Century.

The gold coins found at the national museum.

Singapore in the 14th Century used Chinese coins as their main medium of exchange. This fact shows that the foreigners who came to Singapore to trade influenced Singapore to use their form of currency for trade. Therefore we can easily infer that many people from China came to trade.

We can infer that there were Chinese in Singapore to trade. 
There were large jars, wide basins and mercury ware bottles. Two fragments of the glass ware portray dragons and have handles with monster masks. Shards with stamped Chinese characters have been found.

The stoneware

The Chinese characters proves that there were Chinese in Singapore to trade.

Key point 2

The economy in Singapore before 1819 was prosperous. From examining the gold ornaments found, we could conclude that they cost a lot of money.

Gold ornaments

This proves that the ornaments were expensive and only the rich could afford. This proves that the economic state in Singapore before 1819 was good.

Lifestyle is Singapore before 1819 was extravagant as people were rich enough to afford such expensive jewellery and were willing to spend money on such expensive accessories which proves lifestyle was extravagant for them. 

Key point 3

People in Singapore before 1819 wrote and read in a very different language.

From examining the Singapore Stone, the words on it were not recognizable. Until today, no one has been able to make sense of the words on the stone.

The mysterious Singapore Stone

Nonetheless, it is still an important piece of evidence as it gives us information about how Singapore was like before 1819.

Done by Way Lin, Guan Yan, Slyvester, Ai Wen, Sherry.