Push And Pull Factors For Immigrants

Immigrants from Europe were mostly British but included Germans, the Dutch, the Portuguese and the French.

Those from Arabia were mainly from Hadhramaut, the southern part of Arabia.

Those from India were mostly South Indian Tamils from Madras and Negapatam. There were also Tamils and Sinhalese from Ceylon.

The North Indian immigrants consisted of the Punjabis and Sikhs from Punjab, the Bengalis from Bengal, the Gujeratis from Gujerat and the Parsees from Bombay.

Those from China were mostly from the southern provinces of China. The Hokkiens came from the Fujian province, the Cantonese, Teochews and Hakkas from Guangdong province, and the Hainanese from Hainan Island.

Those from the Malay Archipelago were from the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and the Celebes. The Javanese, Baweanese and Bugis also came to Singapore.

There were also groups of people such as the Eurasians, Straits-born Chinese, Jawi Pekans and the Chitty Melaka. The Eurasians were people who were descended from marriage between Asians and the Portuguese, Dutch or British and were mostly from Melaka. The Peranakans were of Malay and Chinese/Indian-Muslim/Tamil descent.

Migration generally refers to the physical movement of people, known as migrants, from one place to another over long distances. Over the centuries, many people from different places have migrated to other places, and this process has often resulted in many interactions and cultural exchanges between different communities.

It took place in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a time of major improvements in technology and mass production. This led to the creation of new industries and the production of more goods. Increased production led to a demand for more raw materials such as rubber, tin and coal. These raw materials were mainly found outside of Europe. This resulted in a wave of migration from Europe to other parts of the world in search of these raw materials.

In addition, the invention of steam technology led to vast improvements in seafaring technology. Previously, people were dependant on wind and sails to travel across the seas. Following the development of the steam engine, the Europeans were able to travel further and faster than before. More people from all over the world opted to travel by steamships as it was cheaper. This made the mass migration of people possible in the 19th century.

It took place in the 1800s. The slave trade began in the 16th century with war captives from Africa being sold to the Europeans to work on plantations and settlements in South America. As demand for slaves increased, slave traders resorted to kidnapping people from remote villages in Africa to sell as slaves.

The abolition of slavery and the slave trade in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries resulted in a shortage of cheap labour. Thus, European countries such as Britain had to look for other sources of cheap labour to ensure that their economic activities could continue. As a result, they allowed and encouraged tje unrestricted immigration of people from other countries to live and work in their colonies.

The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 opened up faster routes. In the past, ships travelling between Europe and Asia had to take a very long route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa. In 1859, a French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, drew up plans to shorten the route by constructing a long canal to link the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea.

The shorter distance and duration of travel made it easier and cheaper for people from Europe to go to and return from Singapore and other parts of Asia.

Many people left their homeland because of poor living conditions. These poor conditions were often brought about by overpopulation and natural disasters. They were experiencing hunger in their homeland and could not earn enough money to feed their families. As a result, many of them sought a better life elsewhere.

Due to the Cultivation System imposed by the Dutch in 1830, the Javanese people were unable to produce enough food to cope with the rapidly growing population. Under the Cultivation System, land was used to grow export crops such as sugarcane and indigo, instead of rice. The shortage of rice led to subsequent outbreaks of famine and epidemics in Java during the 1840s and 1850s. Many Javanese thus came to Singapore to escape from the harsh conditions back home.

China also faced the problem of overpopulation in the 19th century. Between 1650 and 1800, China’s population nearly doubled. However, there was insufficient farmland to sustain the rapid growth in population.

People living in the southern provinces of China, such as Fujian and Guangdong, were especially affected. Many of them lived in mountainous regions where there was limited land for growing crops. As a result, many Chinese in southern China suffered from starvation.

In India, the monsoon season is very important because it brings rain, which is a source of water for growing crops. When the monsoon fails to bring enough rain, the harvest for that season will fail and there will be a famine.

Of all the famines that struck India, the worst was the Great Famine of 1876 to 1878. This caused a large number of artisans and agricultural labourers to leave for other British colonies to work as indentured workers. They worked on plantations in exchange for food, shelter and other necessities.

From the 19th to the early 20th century, many people in China, India and Southeast Asia were affected by unrest and instability caused by wars, rebellions and lawlessness. It became difficult for them to work or conduct business without worrying about their own safety and the the safety of their family members.

In Java, there were frequent wars among the various local rulers. There were also wars waged by the Javanese against the Dutch colonial rulers. One of these wars was the Java War of 1825 to 1830, which took place in central Java. The war affected more than 2 million Javanese. 200 000 people died and a quarter of cultivated land in central Java was seriously damaged. These made conditions difficult for the Javanese. Thus, many Javanese decided to leave Java in search of a better life.

One of the biggest problems in China during the 19th and the early 20th centuries was the unrest created by rebellions and wars.

In the 19th century, China was ruled by the Manchus. The Manchus were a non-Chinese minority from the north who overthrew the Ming dynasty and established the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty faced several rebellions.

Wars between rival clans were also rampant in many parts of China during the 19th and the early 20th centuries. Clans are Chinese organisations with members who share the same line of descent, surname or have come from the same dialect group. Some of the fiercest clan wars broke out between the Cantonese and Hakkas in Guangdong province between 1855 and 1867.

'Once the bandits came, we would suffer. The bandits came from another place, and would come in groups of eights and tens. This was a serious problem… Also, Chinese society in the past was divided into strong and weak clans. The weak clan was always bullied by the strong clan; the Chens would bully the Soons. There was nothing we could do. We were very much bullied by them. This was one of the main reasons why we left our village.

After the Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911, China entered a period of warlordism from 1916 to 1927 when different army generals took control of different parts of China. This was followed by a civil war in the 1930s between two major groups: the Guomindang forces and the Communist Red Army.

Throughout the 1910s to the 1930s, there were constant wars between different political parties and among independent warlord armies. Each group tried to expand their armies through forced conscription of the people living in the areas they controlled.

All these violence and unrest drove many Chinese to look for better opportunities elsewhere.

There were outbreaks of wars and rebellions in India during the 19th century. The British fought wars to extend their control over parts of India. The Indian rulers resented British rule and would stage rebellions against the British. This often caused hardship and suffering to the people who were affected by the wars. One such war was the Indian Rebellion in 1857. A group of sepoys decided to rebel against their British officers and the rebellion soon spread rapidly to other parts of India.

The unrest and wars in India often led to the capture of many Indian rebels by the British. As punishment, these Indian convicts were forced to leave their homeland and sent overseas as convict labour so that they would not be able to stir up trouble in India again. These convicts were used as cheap labour in many British colonies such as Singapore.

Traders from Europe, India, China, the Middle East and neighbouring islands were attracted to Singapore. There were many trading opportunities because of Singapore’s excellent geographical location, its status as a free port, and its free immigration policy.

Firstly, the geographical location of Singapore was excellent. It was situated along the Straits of Melaka, which connected the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. It was also at the midpoint of the trade route between Britain, India and South China.

Because of its location, the island served as a convenient meeting point for merchants and traders from many parts of the world who would stop to replenish their fuel and food supplies. Many traders came as there were many different goods that could be found and traded in Singapore. By exchanging or selling their goods and buying local products, they were able to obtain what they needed and return home.

The British set up agency houses, which were companies that helped British manufacturers sell their goods to other traders in Singapore. They earned a commision for their services. Goods they sold included cloth, clocks, knives and nails.

In return, the agency houses would export goods brought by traders from China, India and the Malay Archipelago to Britain and other parts of Europe.

Singapore’s location as a convenient meeting point for traders drew another group of people to Singapore. They were the Straits-born Chinese, also known as the Chinese Peranakans. They, too, were attracted by business opportunities to set up their own trading houses here.

Secondly, Singapore was a free port under British rule, which meant that traders from different parts of the world were able to call at the port and trade freely with one another without having to pay custom duties or taxes. This enabled merchants to do business and make more profits in Singapore compared to other ports in the region, such as those controlled by the Dutch. Only some foreign traders were allowed to trade there and they had to pay heavy taxes to the Dutch government.

Singapore’s status as a free port also attracted many traders from the Riau Islands and other trade centres in the Malay Archipelago. One of the earliest and most prominent groups were the Bugis traders, who had been trading in the region long before the Europeans arrived.

However, when the Dutch took control of the East Indies and its trade routes, they imposed taxes on traders. This affected the spice trade of the Bugis, who traditionally used the trade route between Celebes and Java. News of Singapore’s free port status thus attracted huge numbers of Bugis ships to Singapore. By the beginning of the 20th century, several hundred Bugis traders and their families had moved to Singapore.

The presence of Bugis traders in Singapore also attracted Arab and Indian traders, as well as Jawi Peranakans, to Singapore. (Jawi Peranakans lived in places such as Penang, Melaka, Riau and Sumatra.) This was because of the Bugis’ close ties with the Arab and Indian trade networks in Southeast Asia.

The Arabs were active traders in Southeast Asia since the 7th century. Among the first Arab traders to arrive in Singapore were two wealthy Hadhrami Arab merchants from Sumatra, a nephew with his uncle. The nephew travelled to Palembang and established himself as a successful trader of spices. He imported spices from the Malay Archipelago and exported them to the Middle East and London. In turn, he imported cotton from England, then sent them to Indonesia to be made into textiles with batik prints. His uncle set up business in SIngapore in June 1819. His nephew soon followed and was personally welcomed by Sir Stamford Raffles.

Numerous other traders followed, setting sail from other parts of Malaya, Sumatra and Java in their ships to escape heavy customs duties.

In the 19th century, another wave of Arabs moved from Hadhramaut to Singapore. Their travels were made easier with steamship travel and the opening of the Suez Canal.

Thirdly, Singapore had a free immigration policy. This meant that the immigrants could come and go as they pleased without having to pay for immigrant passes and papers. This made it easier for many poorer immigrants from India and China to come to Singapore. For the merchants and traders, this also meant that they could come as regularly as they liked to conduct business and trade.

People were attracted to come to Singapore because there were many jobs available. Singapore was a new and growing trading settlement. Thus, the British needed to develop infrastructure to support the increase in activities at the port and to provide for the growing population.

Workers were needed to build a new harbour to accommodate the steamships arriving at Singapore in the early 20th century.

Workers were needed to unload goods from ships that arrived or load goods onto ships that were preparing to sail off.

Workers were required to refuel and restock the food and water supplies for the steamships that came to Singapore from other countries.

Workers were also required for repairing ships.

Workers were needed to clear the jungles for settlements to house the incoming immigrants.

Workers were also needed to work in farms to grow crops.

Workers were needed to construct roads and buildings as the town of Singapore continued to expand and grow.

People were needed to sell food and to provide the people living there with services such as pulling rickshaws and operating horse carriages.

Coming to Singapore was an attractive option for the poorer immigrants because they could receive higher wages compared to what they received back home. As the immigrants could come and go freely due to the free immigration policy, many of them planned to return home after they had earned enough money.

Labourers from other parts of the Malay Archipelago, such as the Javanese and Baweanese were attracted to come to Singapore because of higher wages. In the 1920s, wages for unskilled labourers in Java were extremely low, especially for work in sugarcane plantations. Thus, many people in Java were drawn to work in Singapore instead.

Many Javanese and Baweanese came to work as plantation labourers. They also tooks jobs as drivers, general traders and sailors. Many Javanese writers and publishers were also attracted to SIngapore because they could write and print their news articles and stories there without being restricted by Dutch laws.

Many people from other parts of the Malay Archipelago came to Singapore in the 19th and the 20th centuries because it was easier for them to go on the haj to Mecca. This was especially so for people from the Dutch Indies. The Dutch tried to discourage people from going on the haj by imposing a huge fee and the need for a passport before departure.

It was easier to obtain papers necessary for the haj in Singapore. In addition, there were pilgrim-brokers who arranged pilgrimages for these people. Most of these pilgrim-brokers were Arabs. One of the most prominent pilgrim-brokers was the Alsagoff family who also owned a steamship company. Using their close connections with the Middle East and steamships the owned, the Alsagoff family arranged many pilgrimages for Muslims to Mecca.

Some people who wanted to go on the haj would spend many years working to save enough money to pay for the haj. Many of them eventually settled down in Singapore.