THE TRACKLESS TROLLEY OF SINGAPORE

[Cecil Lee]

THE TRACKLESS TROLLEY OF SINGAPORE
The early history of Singapore is shrouded in mystery. It seems to be established that the Malays settled there 1360 A.D., followed in 1377 A.D. by the Javanese who had invaded the island. Marco Polo does not mention it though he wintered in Sumatra on his way backin Europe.
It was supposed to have been an important trading center in the early centuries, but when Great Britain acquired it, it was wholly uninhabited save by a few families of wild Malay fisher folk andl was a rendezvous of pirates.
Today it is one of the world's chief distributing points for the commerce of all nations, truly a "crossroads of the world."
Under British rule. Singapore has developed into one of the most prosperous and modern cities of the East, with broad, well-paved streets. It has a population of over 500.000 inhabitants and. though not old, isa city that providesal the travel interests of age-old places in the Orient.
In Singapore, as in so many other Eastern ports, the coming of the motor car has changed much the aspect of life and to help solve its transportation problems.

Singapore has also adopted the trackless tram car, that hybrid of the automobile and the electric street car. The ricksha, you will note, however, still holds an important putt as a means of transportation and more than 10,000 jinrikisha coolies swam-the port of Singapore. From early morning until the late at night, they trot their six miles an hour through its crowded streets. The streets of Singapore are a never-ending procession of carts, automobiles and jinrikishas.
By Keystone View Company.
The above implies that Singapore was already well developed prior to the claim by our elder statesman that Singapore was not so... when he took over ...