Cultural Effects Of Colonialism In Singapore

Introduction
During the colonial period, most countries in Southeast Asia saw an influx of Europeans, who brought along with them their laws, culture, language, religion and political viewpoints. As a collection of disjointed and often hostile kingdoms and states, the Europeans were granted access into the region fairly easily, as most of the current kings were all but aware of the slow but certain threat of invasion posed by the European colonists . Singapore is often referred to a sort of oddity in this situation, due to its relative lack of opposition and the apparent overwhelmingly beneficial rather than suppressive impacts as a result of colonialism.
Singapore was unique from the other similar yet distinct ports in the region and was in a sense created rather than
The land held no political or financial prospect: in fact, the soil was found to be infertile , which limited the potential of this undeveloped island. However, the island was not disconnected entirely from its neighbouring region: the Malay and Indian influences are present in its history and artefacts from before the island was set ablaze sometime in the 17th century . Its old name- Temasek- finds itself in a few works of Malay and Indonesian literature. Despite the rich cultural influences that may have been present prior to the colonial period, the country posed itself as a blank canvas for the colonists who arrived at the land with little to none of the remnants of its past still above the surface and without any unique or stringent cultural reservations that would have opposed their immigration and the consequent effect of globalisation that find themselves integral to the country's identity