Raffles Landing Site
North Boat Quay, Singapore River
Civic District Trail 1, Marker 1

Raffles landing site is situated near the Boat Quay. For many Singaporeans, this educates and reminds them of the Singapore of the olden days, and how Raffles first set foot on Singapore to change our destiny. Understanding our roots helps to unite our people.

This is the place where Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826), an agent of the British East India Company, is believed to have set foot on Singapore soil in January 1819.

Raffles hoped to establish Singapore as a British port that can compete with the other Dutch ports in the region. He wanted to make Singapore a free port and an ideal stopping route for traders along the shortest sea route between India and China. On 30th January 1819, Raffles signed a treaty with the Temenggong, the local chief, and Sultan Hussein of Johore-Riau to establish a British trading port in Singapore.

However the Dutch protested. The dispute was finally resolved with the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in March 1824. According to the treaty, the British acquired Malacca,Penang and Singapore, while the Dutch gained the control of Bencoolen and Indonesia.

In August 1824, a Treaty of Friendship and Alliance was signed with the Temenggong and the Sultan, which gave the governance of the island to the British. Currently there is a statue of Sir Stamford Raffles in that place where Raffles first stepped on Singapore soil.

"On this historic site
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
first landed in Singapore
on 28 January 1819
and with genius and perception
changed the destiny of Singapore
from an obscure fishing village
to a great seaport
and modern metropolis"