The modern city of Singapore was founded in 1819 as a British trading post by:

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, an official of the English East India Company, founded the modern city of Singapore as a British trading post in January-February 1819.

How Singapore was founded:

• Raffles was looking for a port at the southern end of the Strait of Malacca, to protect British trade between India and China, and to compete with the Dutch, who controlled much of the region.
• He landed on the island of Singapore on 28 January 1819.
• On 6 February 1819, he signed a treaty with the local Malay rulers (the Sultan of Johor and the Temenggong), which allowed the British to set up a trading post.
• He made Singapore a free port, open to the ships of all nations without taxes.

Growth of Singapore:

• Singapore grew rapidly into a major centre of trade.
• In 1824, it came fully under British control.
• In 1826, it became part of the Straits Settlements, along with Penang and Malacca, which were governed from India until 1867.
• Later, it became a British Crown Colony.

About Stamford Raffles:

• He was born on 5 July 1781 on a ship off Jamaica.
• He joined the East India Company as a clerk in London.
• He served as the Lieutenant-Governor of Java (1811-1816), when the British took it from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars.
• He wrote "The History of Java" (1817).
• He was interested in natural history; he founded the Zoological Society of London (1826).
• The giant flower Rafflesia is named after him.
• He died on 5 July 1826 in England.

Singapore in the 20th century:

• Singapore was occupied by Japan during the Second World War (1942-1945).
• It became part of Malaysia in 1963, but separated and became an independent republic on 9 August 1965.
• Lee Kuan Yew was its first Prime Minister.
• The famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore is named after the founder.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Robert Clive and Warren Hastings worked in India; Francis Light founded the British settlement at Penang (1786).