Raffles

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Raffles also known as Sir Stamford Raffles(斯坦福莱佛士)was credited as the founder of the British colony of Singapore. Among the locals he was known as the oldest White Rajah of Singapura.

[edit] Places and buildings named after the White Rajah

• Raffles Institution was founded in 1823 ( as Singapore Institution) by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, it is the school with the longest history in Singapore. It was renamed "Raffles Institution" in 1868 as a tribute to Raffles. A girls' section was formed at Raffles Institution with a small enrolment of 11. The vision was to provide girls with an education. In the early years, the main curriculum was sewing and cookery. Later it became Raffles Girls' School {1879 Raffles Girls' School (RGS) functioned and operated as a separate and independent entity from the Boys' School section of Raffles Institution. The enrolment then was 77 students)

• In September 1887, a short article in the local press announced the intention of the Sarkies Brothers, proprietors of the Eastern & Oriental in Penang, to open a hotel in Singapore and name it after Singapore's founder Sir Stamford Raffles. The location: the old bungalow at the corner of Beach and Bras Basah Roads owned by the Arab trader, Mohamed Alsagoff. On 1 December, Raffles Hotel opened to the public as a 10-room hotel. Over the next few years, a pair of wings flanking the bungalow were added.

• A modern "Raffles Marina" [[1]]

• A Raffles Hospital [[2]]

• A Raffles shopping Centre [[3]]

[edit] The Story of Raffles

related to East India Company

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles 1781 - 1826

Thomas Stamford Raffles was born at sea on board a ship Ann on the 6th of July, 1781 off the coast of Jamaica. In 1795, the young man accepted his first job in the East India Company as a clerk. But he studied hard in his spare time and in 1804, was posted to Penang (then Prince of Wales Island) and promoted to Assistant Secretary to the Presidency of that Malaysian island. His mastery over the Malay language made him indispensable to the British Government, and he was later appointed Malay translator to the Government of India. In 1811, he returned as the Lieutenant Governor of Java, and was soon promoted to Governor of Bencoolen (now Sumatra). On 19th January, 1819, Raffles founded modern Singapore and first mooted the idea which led to the establishment of the Raffles Museum on the island.

Stamford Raffles was deeply fascinated by the immense diversity of strange animals and plants of the East Indies during his tenure there. He soon employed zoologists and botanists to discover all they can about the animals and plants of the region and would pay his assistants out of his own pockets to collect specimens. He also revived and became the president of the Batavian Society which was actively engaged in the study of natural history of Java and adjacent areas.

In her memoirs of him, his wife Lady Sophia Raffles , also mentions his zoological collection, among which were beautiful specimens of tapirs, rhinoceros and barking deer. She mentions that these were sent to England. Raffles also kept some animals as pets. A Sun Bear cub he reared with his children reportedly often joined him for dinner, eating mangoes and drinking champagne.

Raffles' principal assistant Abdullah, also his Malay tutor, was engaged in packing all the stuffed skins and skeletons which numbered some one-thousand specimens. Earlier, throughout his time in Java and Sumatra, Raffles had sent home many consignments of creatures preserved in spirit. Lady Raffles recalls that Raffles' interest in biology was great as evidenced by references to plants and animals in most of his letters. He had compiled a long list of animals of which, he believed nothing is yet known beyond the name and native descriptions.On his return journey to England in 1824 on the ship Fame, he lost a huge consignment of plant and animal specimens, notes, papers and even certain drawings to a fire aboard. Upon his return, he founded the now world famous Zoological Society of London of which he was its first president, and the London Zoo. back to topSir Thomas Stamford Raffles passed away a day before his 45th birthday in 1826. A few years earlier, in 1821 and 1822, he contributed two papers in the Transactions of the Zoological Society, London, with descriptions of some 34 species of birds and 13 species of mammals, chiefly from Sumatra. Most of the new species he named are valid today, and these animals will continue to remind us of the contributions he has made. Animals named by Raffles himself include: As Stamford Raffles was well-known in natural history circles, a number of animals and plants have been named in his honour. They include Megalaima rafflesi (Red-crowned Barbet), Dinopium rafflesii (Olive-backed Woodpecker) and Chaetodon rafflesi (Latticed Butterflyfish). Perhaps the most distinctive organism named after him would be Rafflesia, a genus of plants parasitic on palm trees which he discovered on an expedition to a jungle in Sumatra. These are endemic to Southeast Asia and produce the world's largest and possibly the most spectacular (abeit evil-smelling) flowers

Raffles another symbol of the times

• The raffles myth? is not something to eat or chew on, a myth out of th closet is still a myth. here is an idea of myth-

Mythology is defined as a collection of interrelated stories of a given culture. Myths tend to describe the creation of the world and give a culture an understanding of the events of nature and the world around them. Myths are also generated to tell the story of the first people to inhabit the earth. These people are elevated to gods and goddesses, which usually associate them as having supernatural and special powers. Myths also express the values or beliefs of a culture, and every culture studied has their own myths distinctive to their group...

Raffles is not a myth but a true historical figure in history of Singapore but certainly we can create our myths with the name of others just like him!

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