Suez, Steam and Telegraph: Singapore in the First Globalisation: summary

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The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the spread of the compound steam engine made steam the dominant mode of shipping between Europe and Asia, so that steamers overtook sailing ships at Singapore in 1870 and the port grew into a hub of ocean and feeder lines. Coaling, docks and repairs moved the centre of the port to New Harbour, where the Tanjong Pagar Dock Company of 1864 built a near monopoly until the colonial government expropriated it with generous compensation in 1905 and created the Singapore Harbour Board. The submarine cable of 1870–1871 linked Singapore to London, Hong Kong and Australia, accelerated trade, opened markets to new firms and made the port a hub of imperial communications. Chinese and Indian migrants arrived by the hundreds of thousands, regulated from 1877 by the Chinese Protectorate and from 1907 by the Tamil Immigration Fund, and their remittances through the qiaopi houses created some of the earliest Asian financial networks of the city. Between the wars Britain built the naval base at Sembawang as the keystone of its Asian strategy while the depression closed the gates to migration, until the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 showed how closely the colony’s prosperity had depended on imperial power.

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

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