Sports and games in colonial Singapore: 1819–1867

Abstract

The first 50 years of colonialism in Singapore (beginning in 1819) provided a foundation for the spread of team games that occurred in the second half of the century. The pursuit of athleticism and the games ethic, associated with activities emerging from British Public Schools, would dominate the later sports scene in Singapore. With the added necessity of ensuring health and fitness to combat the tropical environment, games were gradually introduced to other sectors of the predominantly migrant population. This article outlines the evolution of sport (often termed ‘amusements’ by the British settlers) within the context of rule by the British East India Company. Individual games and recreational pursuits were the rule of the day. The small British and European contingent brought the legacy of country games and traditional sport with them, meaning horse racing, hunting, shooting and to a lesser degree fishing. Not surprisingly sailing proved to be the first systematically organized outdoor activity. Indoor games such as billiards and chess also prevailed. The first organized open-air game was probably fives – a relative of rackets and squash. Some indigenous games were present, notably ‘sepak raga’ played in a circle form (bulatan). The first sports organized for the general population took place during the New Year festivities, when land and sea sports provided a rare occasion for the people to participate in boisterous fun. The first clubs of any standing emerged in 1826 the Singapore Yacht Club, in 1842 the Sporting Club and in 1852 the Singapore Cricket Club. Association football had yet to be codified in England, so any games of that sort may have included elements of the handling game that was to become rugby. Racket games such as lawn tennis would be introduced in the 1870s. The establishment of modern sports to Singapore can be linked to the early and middle periods of the nineteenth century and as such it would appear that Singapore (along with settlements such as Penang) was a pioneering location for sport in South-East Asia.

Notes

¹ Thomson, Glimpses into Life, 15–6.

² The Marlburian, Some Recollections and Letters, 235.

³ The first census in 1821 indicated that the total population of the island numbered 4727. Europeans accounted for 29 of those settlers. Between 1824 and 1860, the population grew from 10,683 (including 74 Europeans) to 80,792 (460 Europeans). By 1871, the population would reach 97,111 (922 Europeans). Even with the inclusion of military personnel, the figures indicate that active sportsmen (in the imperial sense) were representatives of little more than 1% of the population.

⁴ The competitive aspect of sport followed the recreational foundation.

⁵ Thomson, Glimpses into Life, 202–03 and see also Newbold, Political and Statistical.

Saparaga is a game resembling foot-ball, played by ten or twenty youths and men, who stand in a circle, keeping up a hollow ratan ball in the air, which is passed to and fro by the action of the knees and feet; the object being to prevent the ball from touching the ground; it is frequently, however, taken at the rebound. The awkwardness of novices occasions great merriment. Such games were played by the indigenous Malay population and also, it is speculated, by Muslim Bengali camp followers, known as lascars.

⁶ The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, Singapore, June 16, 1831.

⁷ Q, The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, June 30, 1831.

⁸ Vindex, The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, July 7, 1831.

⁹ Fusbos, The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, July 21, 1831.

¹⁰ In February 1826, the Singapore Yacht Club was formed. One of the club's initial tasks was to survey the coastal waters for dangerous sand banks, so the motivation to sail was twofold: business and pleasure.

¹¹ The Straits Times, September 7, 1852, 2.

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Buckley, An Anecdotal History.

¹⁴ ‘Play’, Singapore Chronicle, June 25, 1836.

¹⁵ The Straits Times, Saturday August 17, 1861, 1.

¹⁶ The Straits Times, May 10, 1862, 3.

I refer to an open sink cut only four yards from the gate of the Fives Court, into which all manner of refuse and filth is cast, polluting as you may imagine, the atmosphere for hundreds of yards around. This is peculiarly disagreeable on close afternoons, and I have only to refer to any of the members, who played in the court yesterday to bear me out when I say that the effluvia which pervaded the place was not only sickening, but must have been highly unhealthy.

¹⁷ Singapore Chronicle, June 25, 1836, 2.

¹⁸ Buckley, An Anecdotal History, 304.

¹⁹ The Straits Times, Tuesday September 21, 1852, 6.

²⁰ The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, Thursday February 15, 1827.

A gold medal value ten guineas, or fifty dollars in money, should be awarded to the person who produced on or before the 31” day of December 1827, the best Cargo Boat, of not less than 8 coyans, 6 of handy rig, and weatherly, drawing not more than 3 feet when loaded, calculated to keep goods dry in all weathers, and of Singapore build.

²¹ Singapore Chronicle, January 2, 1834, 3.

²² Earl, The Eastern Seas.

²³ The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, Singapore, May 19, 1830.

²⁴ The Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, Singapore, June 3, 1830.

²⁵ The Straits Times, Saturday June 15, 1861, 1.

²⁶ Ibid., 452.

²⁷ The Straits Times, April 30, 1850, 5.

²⁸ Gibson-Hill, The Straits Times Annual, 34–8.

²⁹ Read, Play and Politics.

³⁰ Singapore Chronicle and Commercial Register, Singapore, December 29, 1836.

³¹ Ibid.

³² Bukit Larangan or Forbidden Hill overlooked the Esplanade. It later became known as Fort Canning.

³³ Abdullah, The Hikayat Abdullah.

³⁴ Osborn, A Midshipman's Exploits, 16.

³⁵ The Straits Times, July 29, 1846.

³⁶ The Singapore Cricket Club was founded in 1852.

³⁷ The Straits Times, August 17, 1861, 1.

³⁸ The Straits Times, September 10, 1864, 1.

³⁹ Established in 1878, the Raffles Cricket Club was a private and independent organization that ran all the games in the school. The senior boys guided by the teachers collected subscriptions from the different age groups to fund the activities of the club. Wijesinghe, History of Raffles Institution.