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SINGAPORE HISTORY
Who was Singapore pioneer, Naraina Pillai?
A short summary of a full life
Singapore has been a multi-racial, multi-religious settlement since its early days.
One of the people who came on the ship Indiana with Sir Stamford Raffles — who founded modern Singapore — on his second visit to Singapore was a certain Mr Naraina Pillai from Penang.
Nobody knows much about him, other than a few broad snippets of his public life.
When he first arrived in Singapore, Naraina Pillai became the chief clerk at the Treasury checking coins for their authenticity.
He later became the first building contractor in Singapore, setting up the first brick kiln. His company was located at what is known as Tanjong Pagar today.
He was also a successful textile merchant, selling textiles at Cross Street.
According to research by the Singapore Bicentennial Office (SBO), Naraina Pillai proved himself to be a reliable and resilient man.
The SBO gave this example in their official press release:
Pillai’s cotton bazaar at Cross Street was razed to the ground in a fire in 1822. He persuaded his suppliers of cotton, the British merchants, to let him repay them for all the credit he had taken on the large amounts of cloth. All but one agreed to give him five years to repay his debts, and he worked hard to repay that one person, John Morgan, 2,000 dollars within two years.
Pillai quickly overcame his financial hurdles.
According to Roots.sg, Sir Stamford Raffles gave him a piece of prime land in Commercial Square (now Raffles Place) so that he could set up new warehouses and rebuild his businesses. This generous gesture saved Pillai from financial ruin and his businesses bounced back.
In 1827, to give back to society, Pillai built the original Sri Mariamman Temple at South Bridge Road, after being allotted the land in 1823. The Hindu temple catered to new Tamil immigrants during colonial times, serving as a focal…
