A history lesson by Ho Ching, former boss of Temasek, provoked some controversy last month. Known for compulsively sharing articles on Facebook with her 173,000 followers, this time she produced an essay exceeding 500 words, declaring that Singapore had no significant history before 1819. Whispers of Tumasik, the 13th-century port-polity, and Sang Nila Utama, the Palembang prince who founded Singapura in 1299, were “sketchy mentions at best, and do not speak of a large or significant thriving kingdom”. Archaeological finds at Fort Canning suggest “some early ruler or local warlord abode” on the hill. The records went silent afterwards, and local dynasties were passing clouds: “the royal households come and go, sometimes fleeing to Malacca, sometimes moving up the Johor river.” Singapore was a fringe of various neighbouring empires, until European explorers came and dominated the region through conquest and diplomacy. Only the British miracle-worker Stamford Raffles “gave life to Singapore”. 

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