Transcending Borders: The Story of the Arab Community in Singapore, 1820–1980s

The Arab community was a small but influential merchant community in Southeast Asia. The history of the Alkaffs and the Alsagoffs illustrates vividly the ups and downs of merchant community in Singapore. The Alkaffs and the Alsagoffs adapted to and prospered under colonial regimes even as they forged and maintained connections in the Arab world. The British East India Company was more interested in trade than in governance, so their land development policies were flexible, aimed at attracting immigrants and opening up virgin territories. The traditional institution of the waqf became an important mechanism helping them to preserve the family estate amassed in British Singapore. Yet, with the demise of British colonial rule after the Second World War, and the rise of Singapore as a secular city-state with an expressed mission to use 'state land' for all of its citizens, the influence of this merchant community has gradually been eroded by a series of high-handed modernist government policies.