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influence, claiming every cove and cape for themselves and putting pressure on the sultanates not to engage in commerce with the British. Something had to be done and, in 1818, Hastings invited his Bencoolen governor to Calcutta where they met for the first time. They got on well in person, but the Governor General was a stickler for procedure: before Raffles made any move, London had to be consulted. Raffles knew that the company board and the British government were wary of antagonising the Dutch. Despite this, he managed to convince a reluctant Hastings to provide him with troops from Penang in order to found a settlement, ideally on the Riau Islands to the south of Singapore. Hastings insisted though, that if the Dutch had already established an outpost, Raffles was to avoid any conflict.
    When Raffles arrived in Penang he heard the bad news from Governor Bannerman: the Dutch had claimed the Riau Islands, anticipating the British move. Bannerman, who disliked Raffles immensely, and even more so his proposition that a competitor colony be established, refused to lend him any troops. Raffles couldn’t wait, as things were unfolding rapidly – well, for 1818 – so he tricked the Penang governor into sending a convoy to the South Seas, which is how South East Asia is generally known throughout the area, ostensibly to reconnoitre the territory. The assembled fleet left but, on Raffles’ instruction, anchored out of sight of the port until he set sail to meet them clandestinely. Once aboard the Indiana, commandeered by Captain James Pearl, Raffles cheekily dispatched a message to Bannerman alleging that, ultimately, ‘ he thought better to direct the reconnaissance in person ’. By the way, it was this same captain who in 1822 purchased a plantation on the hill that bears his name today, and it is that same hill that has passed on his name to the Pearl Centre by Outram Park, with its plethora of mobile phone shops and the sex shop that isn’t.
    The convoy made a beeline for Singapore, where Raffles landed at 4 p.m. on what is now North Boat Quay – about a hundred yards up from the site he surveys from the forecourt of the Victoria Theatre. A second statue and a small plaque, yellowed by damp, commemorate the occasion:
    On this historic site Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles first landed in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and with genius and perception changed the destiny of Singapore from an obscure fishing village to a great seaport and modern metropolis.
    Raffles’ action was a coup in many respects. His ideas were revolutionary and their reverberations are still felt today. Singapore was a free-port-to-be where no customs duty would be levied. Situated bang in the middle of the route from India to China, among money-grabbing authoritarian sultanates and monopolistic Dutch administrations, Singapore’s laissezfaire radiance became a beacon for entrepreneurs.
    It was also a more conventional coup, because Raffles manipulated a complicated political situation to his advantage. The throne of the sultanate of Johore-Riau was in dispute: the old sultan, Mahmud Shah III, had died leaving two sons, the elder of whom, Hussein, was by right his successor. However, he was abroad when the Sultan died, so Hussein’s younger brother ascended the throne. The pragmatic Dutch had come to terms with the status quo and supported the usurper. But then came Raffles who recognised the exiled first-born as the rightful heir. During a meeting on the island of Penyengat, he provided Hussein with protection guarantees against outside interference. Hussein – who must have thought he was dreaming – quickly agreed. Raffles also closed a deal with the Temenggong, the local warlord – and real ruler of the island – who paid tribute to the Sultan and without whose cooperation any deal with Hussein was pointless. In return for protection and a pension, they granted the East India Company full settlement