A fascinating and illuminating read on Singapore from pre-1819, to Raffles' scheming and founding of Singapore to the Japanese invasion and occupation, to the roots of merdaka after the Rendell Commission, to the independence struggle among the colonialists, communists and nationalists.
The well-researched book is seldom dry, and often exciting to read with its story-telling style. For example, the chapter of the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore, "Fortress December 1941 - February 1942", was peppered with the accounts from Imperia Guard Corporal Tsuchikane Tominosuke's memoirs, how he journeyed down south all the way to the "impregnable fortress". In the chaper "Emporium 1820s-1860s", the Malay poem "Syair Dagang Berhual Beli" was the hook to reel in readers to appreciate the tension between the Malay, Chinese and Indian communities under the British divide and rule policy in the 1800s.
The book is rich with contrarian narratives, reminding readers that history is often contested and varies depending on whose point of view.
Stamford Raffles, the founder of "modern" Singapore, was described as a scheming, ambitious risk-taking adventurer from the East India Company. Major William Farquhar, the "Raja Melaka" as he was affectionately termed by Malacca residents, was the first Resident of Singapore. He steered Singapore to a commercial and trading success, and was the real founder of Singapore as can be inferred from the chapter "Settlement 1819-1824". Sophia Raffles, Stamford's wife, had published in 1830 "Memoir of the Life and Public Services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles" which posthumously projected Stamford Raffles as a visionary-explorer and servant of the Empire, sweeping Farquhar's accomplishments into a dusty corner of Singapore's history.
On controversial Operation Coldstore where communists and leftists were caught in a dragnet in 1963, the book described that the British far from being reluctant participants, wanted the left-wing movement in Singapore crushed but waited for an excuse to give their actions a semblance of "fair play". This opportunity was provided when Lim Chin Siong had lunch at the Rendezvous Hotel with the leftist leader of the North Borneo National Army, A M Azahari, two days before he launched his rebellion in Brunei.
The book is enjoyable to immerse into. It is also well stocked with endnotes e.g. when Lord Selkirk, the British Commissioner General for Southeast Asia, asked Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan whether they were communists during the Eden Hall Tea Party, the book cited the overlooked story that the two "seemed to be embarrassed by this question and failed to give a clear reply" and hinted that they might be communists despite their denials, and old engaging photographs of places and people, windows into Singapore's roots e.g. a 1965 picture of the UMNO building (now PKMS) in Changi Road, a 1950s picture of the riot squad where the police truck displayed prominently a sign "Disperse or We Fire" and with policemen in shorts.