1926

SINGAPORE
1179*
The total value of the foreign imports and exports of Singapore (merchandise only)
: for the years 1922, 1923 and 1924 (excluding Inter-Settlement trade) are given below: —
1922 1923 1924
Imports $437,688,109 $561,024,906 $622,615,788
Exports 391,906,849 486,890,845 525,196.847
Total $829,594,958 $1,047,915,751 $1,147,812,635
It thus appears that out of a total of £188,345,584, representing the Colony’s foreign
i trade, Singapore is responsible for £133,911,474, or 71.1 per cent.
The climate of Singapore is remarkable for its salubrity, and the island has been
described by medical writers as the “paradise of children,” infantile diseases seldom
j being at all malignant. Despite its proximity to the equator, under normal circumstances
a daily rainfall tempers the heat so thoroughly that many sleep beneath blankets.
Droughts, however, have been experienced of from one to six months. The climate of the
island is thus described by Mr. Thomson, in the “Journal of the Indian Archipelago,”his
remarks still holding good:—“Singapore, though within 80 miles of the equator,
has an abundance of moisture, either deposited by the dews or gentle refreshing
showers, which keep its atmosphere cool, prevent the parching effects of the Sun, and
< promote continual verdure. It seldom experiences furious gales. If more than ordinary
• heat has accumulated moisture and electricity a squall generally sets in, followed by a
heavy shower of rain, such squalls seldom exceeding one or two hours in duration.
According as the monsoon blows, you will have the squalls coming from that
direction. But the most severe and numerous are from the west, called ‘ Sumatras,’ and
these occur most frequently between 1 and 5 o'clock in the morning. The north-east
: monsoon blows from November to March; after which the wind veers round to the-
) south-east and gradually sets in the south-west, at which point it continues to September.
' The north-east blows more steadily than the south-west monsoon. The temperature is
by one or two degrees cooler in the first than in the last. The average fall of rain is
found, from the observation of a series of years, to be 92.697 inches ; and the average
number of days in the year in which rain falls is found to be 180, thus dividing the year
almost equally between wet and dry; the rain is not continuous, but is pretty equally
distributed through the year, January being the month in which the greatest
quantity falls. The mean temperature of Singapore is 81°.24, the lowest being 79°.55
and the highest 82°.31, so that the range is not more than 2°.76. It would appear from
I this that the temperature of the island is by 9°.90 lower than that of many other
; localities in the same latitude. Comparing the temperature now stated with that which
1 was ascertained 20 years earlier, and in the infancy of the Settlement, it would appear
i that it had increased by 20.48—a fact ascribed, no doubt, to the increase of buildings, and
i to the country having been cleared of forest for three miles inland from the town, the
i site of the observations. The general character of the climate as to temperature is that
I the heat is great and continuous, but never excessive, and that there is little distinction
i of seasons, summer and winter differing from each other only by one or two degrees of the
; thermometer. Thunder-showers are of frequent occurrence, butthe thunder is by no means
as severe as I have experienced it in Java, and seldom destructive to life or property.”
For some years there was a great development of pineapple cultivation in
Singapore. Extensive areas of waste ground covered with secondary jungle were
cleared and planted with pineapple for tinning^ the whole of this business appears
to be in the hands of Chinese. Considerable interest has also been shown in the
cultivation of rubber, oil-grasses, lemon-grass and citronella, as well as indigo,
vegetables, pepper and ground nuts. Coconut cultivation increased rapidly for a time
but more recently there has been a strong tendency to substitute rubber for
coconut, which has been officially declared to be “not an advisable policy.”
Singapore offers but few points of salient interest to visitors, the Botanical Gardens
at Tanglin, the Waterworks in Thomson Road, and the Raffles Library and Museum
being its only show places. A considerable mileage of electric tramway is now in
operation. A railway across the island was sanctioned by a vote of the Legislative
Council in 1899, and was opened for traffic on 1st January, 1903. An extension to the
Tanjong Pagar Docks and neighbourhood was sanctioned and now runs as far as Pasir
ranjang. This line of 14 miles was the first section of a projected Malay Peninsula
and India Railway, passing through and opening up the countries of Johore, Malacca,
the Native Malay States, some Siamese territory and Burma, on to Calcutta. The
Railway now runs direct from Singapore to Penang; it has been extended on the
West Coast through Kedah and Perils and is now connected with the Siamese railway