Why Did Migrants Choose Singapore?

Leaving home was hard and risky, so migrants needed strong reasons to come. These notes explain three reasons: poor living conditions pushed people out of their homelands, while Singapore's trade and business opportunities and its better job prospects pulled them in. The traders and labourers who came went on to promote trade and build the settlement.

A Risky Journey

Migrants crowded together on the deck of a ship at sea — Weeks at sea on a crowded ship. Illustration drawn for Our Study Tribe.

Dangers: migrants faced shipwrecks and disease on long journeys.
Uncertainty: they did not know what life would be like in the new land.
Push and pull: are bad conditions that make people leave home; are good conditions that draw them to a new place.

Why Did Migrants Choose Singapore?

Reason 1: Poor Living Conditions (Push)

PointOne reason why migrants came to Singapore was that poor living conditions pushed them out of their homelands.
Evidence, such as famine (an 1877 British newspaper showed people starving in a famine in India), and wars, rebellions and lawlessness in China, India and Southeast Asia left many facing hunger, poverty and fear for their lives.
ElaborationThese conditions made it hard to earn a living and put families in danger, so staying at home became riskier than the dangerous journey abroad.
LinkHence, poor living conditions pushed people to seek safer, more prosperous lives elsewhere, and Singapore's opportunities decided where many of them went.

Reason 2: Trade and Business Opportunities (Pull)

PointAnother reason why migrants came was that Singapore offered trade and business opportunities.
EvidenceSingapore was a convenient meeting point where ships stopped for fuel and food and traders found all kinds of goods. It was a , with no taxes on trade, and its required no passes, papers or permission to enter or leave.
ElaborationWith no taxes, traders made bigger profits than at other ports in the region, and with no entry rules it was easy and cheap to come and return as often as they liked.
LinkThus, the free port and free immigration pulled in traders from Europe, India, China and nearby lands, who went on to promote Singapore's trade.

Reason 3: Better Job Prospects (Pull)

PointA third reason why migrants came was that Singapore offered better job prospects.
EvidenceThe British needed roads, bridges and other for the busier port and growing population, and poorer migrants could earn than back home.
ElaborationPlentiful building work at better pay meant a poor migrant could earn more in Singapore than at home and save enough to return one day better off.
LinkTherefore, the promise of work and better pay pulled in thousands of labourers, who went on to build the settlement.

Here to Stay?

Boats and shophouses along Boat Quay on the Singapore River — Boat Quay on the Singapore River. Illustration drawn for Our Study Tribe.

Free to come and go: because of the free immigration policy, migrants could leave whenever they wanted.
A plan to return: as a result, many did not see Singapore as their permanent home and planned to go back after earning enough.
The impact: yet in chasing their own goals, they supplied the labour and trade the port needed.

In One Sentence

Poor living conditions pushed migrants out of their homelands, while Singapore's free port, free immigration and better-paid jobs pulled them in, bringing the traders and labourers the port city needed.

Think About It

Which do you think mattered more to a poor labourer: the push from home or the pull of Singapore? Why?
How did the free immigration policy help Singapore, and how might it also have made Singapore feel less like home?
Think of a reason people move to a new country today. Is it a push factor or a pull factor?