Sejarah Kita

Singapore was then under the control of Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Sultan of the Johor-Riau-Lingga Sultanate (otherwise known as the Johor Sultanate), in turn under the influence of the Dutch and the Bugis. Hence, he would never agree to a British base in Singapore. However, Tengku Abdul Rahman had become a sultan only because his older brother, Tengku Hussein or Tengku Long, had been away getting married in Penang when their father, the previous sultan died in 1812.

According to Malay culture, a person has to be by the dying sultan in order to be considered as a new ruler. Tengku Abdul Rahman was present when their father died. The older brother was not happy with the development while the temenggung who was in charge of Singapore preferred Tengku Hussein to the younger brother.

The British had first acknowledged Tengku Abdul Rahman at the time of their first presence in Malacca. The situation however had changed. In 1818, Farquhar visited Tengku Hussein in the little island of Penyengat, off the cost of Bintan, the capital of the Riau Archipelago. There, new plans were drawn and in 1819, Raffles made a deal with Tengku Hussein. The agreement stated that the British would acknowledge Tengku Hussein as the legitimate ruler of Singapore if he allowed them to establish a trading post there. Furthermore, Tengku Hussein and the temenggung would receive yearly stipend from the British. The treaty was ratified on February 6, 1819. With the Temenggung's help, Hussein left Penyengat pretending that he was 'going fishing', and reached Singapore where he was quickly installed as Sultan.

The Dutch were extremely displeased with Raffles' action. However, with the signing of Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch receded its opposition to the British presence in Singapore. The treaty also divided the Sultanate of Johor into modern Johor and the new Sultanate of Riau.


'I don't understand la Ayah!', Adik memandang muka aku penuh kehairanan.
'Oh nothing, Dik. I am just reading our history from the Wikipedia', aku menjawab kepada Adik.
'Well, don't read it to me. I wanna play toys now', kata Adik sambil terus berlari ke basement. Bermain dengan toys.

Aku mengalih muka dari komputer dan mencari Ibu yang sedang mencuci pinggan.
'Ibu, has Abang fixed the date of his flight in December?', aku bertanya kepada Ibu.
'Yes', kata Ibu sambil terus sambung mencuci.
'Lamanya....', jawab aku. Pendek.