Governance

The Sticky Problem of Opium Revenue

At one point, half of Singapore’s annual revenue came from taxing opium. Diana S. Kim looks at how the colonial government managed to break its addiction to easy money.

Milestones to the Metric System

Prior to the 1970s, Singapore used three different systems of weights and measures. Shereen Tay traces how we transitioned to the metric system.

Let There Be Light

Timothy Pwee enlightens us about the history of street lighting in Singapore, starting with the first flickering oil lamps that were lit in 1824.

At Gunpoint: Wiping Out Illegal Firearms in Singapore

Street shootouts, bank robberies and armed kidnappings used to be common here. Tan Chui Hua zeroes in on how the city’s gun-toting criminals were eliminated.

Vaccinating a Nation

The history of vaccination in Singapore goes back to the days of William Farquhar. Ong Eng Chuan provides an overview of vaccination efforts to prevent epidemics from breaking out here.

Head Count: The History of Census-taking in Singapore

The very first census here was conducted in 1824. Ang Seow Leng reveals how doing a headcount has evolved over the last 200 years.