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Government agencies communicate via. Trusted website s. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The glow of the petroleum pit sprayed its faint light upon his ivory scalp. His half-open eyes, seized by the drug, shone moist in the shadows of his cadaverous face. The supply of opium to China and Southeast Asia came largely from India. So crucial was the trade in opium to European merchants that two wars over opium were waged against China — first by Britain the First Opium War, —42 leading to the Treaty of Nanking in , and subsequently by Britain and France the Second Opium War, —60 — when the Qing government imposed a trade blockade on opium in an attempt to put an end to what it considered a social evil and the source for the large outflows of valuable silver bullion from the country. Singapore was established as a trading post in by Stamford Raffles to guard British commercial interests along the major sea trade route between India and China. It therefore comes as little surprise to know that opium wielded a huge influence on the economic and social life of colonial Singapore. Early British traders ventured to this fledging trading outpost in the hope of capitalising on the burgeoning and lucrative India-China opium trade. Not only was opium highly sought after for consumption, it was also used as a form of currency in most transactions during the pioneering years of the settlement. Despite the initial optimism held by the traders, the prospects of exploiting the India-China opium traffic failed to materialise due to the volatile nature of the opium trade. Carl Trocki, in his seminal book Opium and Empire: Chinese Society in Colonial Singapore, — , writes that fluctuating opium prices, trade restrictions from the two opium wars, competition from the new British colony of Hong Kong as well as the opening of free ports in the Dutch East Indies drove local agency houses to turn to the domestic market as a buffer against the vagaries of the regional trade. Out of this, a portion was transhipped to China, but most were consumed locally or redistributed to other parts of Southeast Asia through the domestic trade. The Chinese immigrants in Singapore, who worked in the gambier and pepper plantations, at the ports or on the streets as rickshaw pullers, were the main consumers of opium, raking in huge profits for the opium traders. Regulations on the sale of opium in Singapore had been instituted from the start. Founded on the principles of a free port, Singapore did not collect duty or port taxes. Under this scheme, government licences were auctioned off to private individuals or syndicates to give them monopoly concessions over the sale of chandu opium in smokeable form. Although wholesale opium was a freely traded commodity, the sale of opium in smaller quantities anything less than one chest was sanctioned through the opium revenue farm. The revenue farm system was not a new idea as it had been implemented much earlier in the British-controlled colonies of Bencoolen and Penang. The colonial government relied heavily on the franchising of these opium contracts to generate income. The colonial government too was understandably reluctant to turn off this tap of high economic returns although they did introduce various controls and restrictions from to curb the use of opium among the population. In the face of mounting international criticism on the opium trade, the colonial government proclaimed a total prohibition on opium-smoking in in accordance with the agreement signed at the Geneva International Opium Convention. After the Japanese Occupation, the returning British government closed the chandu factory and packing plant in Singapore, and issued a ban on the consumption and possession of opium in Up until the 16th century in the Middle East, India and China, opium was primarily a luxury item consumed orally for medicinal purposes, and to a lesser extent, used as a recreational euphoric or an aphrodisiac. It became popular as a recreational drug in the 19th century when opium-smoking became an accepted social practice. Opium leaves a bitter taste when eaten raw. Smoked opium, however, is said to release a fragrant aroma that calms the nerves and relieves boredom. There, he saw the natives smoking a concoction of tobacco and opium mixed with water. He also attributed the introduction of the Javanese practice of opium-smoking to Formosa present-day Taiwan to the Dutch, and this subsequently led to its spread in mainland China. What is certain was that by , opium-smoking had become so prevalent in Formosa and the Chinese coastal province of Fujian that an imperial edict was passed to ban it in China. The prohibition, however, did little to discourage the recreational use of opium as a psychoactive substance among the general Chinese population. The proliferation of opium was also precipitated by major changes in the Asian maritime trade. Prior to the 16th century, opium was traded on a limited scale in China and Southeast Asia by Arab, Indian and Chinese merchants. The arrival of European maritime traders from the 16th century onwards, however, transformed the nature of the opium trade. The Europeans saw colonisation as a means to control and to further their interest in the commercial enterprises of the region. The Portuguese were among the first Europeans to supply Indian opium to China in the 16th century, but rose to prominence only in the 19th century when it wrestled and gained a share of the China opium market, using its colony Macau as a staging post to import opium into China. In the 17th century, the Dutch took control from the Portuguese and came to dominate much of the Asian opium trade. The VOC also acquired monopoly rights to the import of opium into parts of the Indonesian Archipelago, commencing with the Mataram kingdom in Java in According to J. Baud, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies —36 and Minister of Colonial Affairs —48 , an average of 56, kg of Indian opium were brought into Java annually between and In the 18th century, the dominion of the Dutch was broken by the British East India Company EIC , which grew the nascent Indian opium industry into a leading opium production centre to satisfy the opiate addictions of the vast Chinese market. In , Britain seized control of Bengal during the Battle of Plassey, 2 and in , declared a monopoly over all opium produced in the region. Under a system of indentured labour, the Indian ryot small tenant farmer obtained government permission to grow poppies, and received a cash advance to purchase seedlings and supplies for cultivation. In return, the farmer was obligated to sell the harvested opium to the government at a fixed price. The raw opium was delivered to one of two factories belonging to the EIC in Patna and Ghazipur in India, where the Patna and Benares varieties of opium were manufactured respectively. The two products catered to different tastes although Patna opium was prized for its finer flavour, and was usually more expensive. In the mixing and examining halls of the factories, opium was cleaned, weighed, dried and moulded into balls. The balls were then covered with a protective shell made of poppy leaves and packed into specially fabricated partitioned chests made of mango wood. Inside each chest were 40 opium balls and a receipt indicating where the opium was packed and how much it weighed. Each chest also bore the EIC stamp that recognised the superior quality of the opium and the high standards adopted during the production process. The chests were then transported by boat to Calcutta and auctioned off before being loaded onto opium clippers each typically carried about 1, chests to be shipped to China and other regions. Once the chests of opium balls arrived at their destinations, they had to be further processed for retail and consumption. His study presents the first in-depth survey of opium use in Singapore. Preparation work would usually begin at three in the morning when the chests were opened and the opium balls divided among the workers. In the first stage of the refining process, the balls were broken in half and the soft crude opium scooped into earthen dishes. Thereafter, the protective shells were stripped away, and the poppy leaves boiled and strained through Chinese paper and cloth placed over woven baskets. Crude opium was then added to the dissolved opium water and cooked to the consistency of thick treacle. Next, the mixture was dried over charcoal and then boiled again until it took on the appearance of black molasses. This laborious process removed impurities from the opium. After the preparation of opium was completed, the residue was not thrown away but sold as tye 3 at much lower prices. The ashes from tye were also salvaged after smoking and sold to the poor as samshing. The Opium Ordinance determined and regulated the number of opium retail outlets in Singapore. In reality, Little noted some 80 opium dens in his survey, many of which were operated illegally. Opium dens were typically housed in two-storey brick houses or attap structures, and were generally located in urban areas with a high concentration of Chinese trades and population. Upon entering an opium den, patrons would purchase their opium from the proprietor or clerk who kept accounts of sales. The packets also had perforations along the folds that hindered tampering. Of the various quantities available for sale, three hoon The average consumption of a labourer was three hoon a day, although people engaged in hard labour or addicted smokers would use up to six hoon. Each opium den was spartanly furnished with benches or raised platforms arranged along the sides of the room. Smokers rested on their sides with their heads propped up on wooden blocks that acted as hard pillows. Two persons would share a tray of opium paraphernalia and take turns to smoke. With one hand, the smoker would manoeuvre the inch-thick pipe with the bowl-like knob over a flame, and with the other hand, dip a silver pin or prong into the opium, twirl the paste into the size of a pea before inserting it into the pinhole of the pipe for the opium to be cooked over the fire. The smoker would inhale the vapour as the opium melted. A 19th-century traveller to Singapore described the scene in an opium den:. Some of the smokers appeared to be quite inebriated by the drug, particularly one man, who was sitting near the door on a stool, but who had done smoking. His arms and legs hung down as if they did not belong to him; and he leered on us with meaningless, but very good-natured smiles. The effect of excess in opium is more like idiocy, than ordinary intoxication. It steals away the brain like drink. The more affluent smokers, however, partook of opium with the help of servants and in private rooms lavishly decorated with ornate blackwood furniture, mattresses and silk curtains. It was also not uncommon for the rich to collect and use elaborate opium accoutrements made of precious materials such as ivory and jade. Opium-smoking was one of the social ills that plagued Singapore in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In , there was an estimated 15, opium addicts in Singapore; by , the number had risen to around 73, or between , and , depending on which source is consulted. Although opium was consumed by all strata of society — the rich and poor, men and women, Chinese and other races — its heavy use, and often abuse, was mostly associated with the poorer classes of Chinese migrant workers engaged in back-breaking occupations such as coolies, rickshaw pullers, agricultural workers, dock labourers, boatmen and lightermen. Ironically, most of the Chinese migrant workers acquired the habit of smoking opium in Singapore. For the coolie on a meagre income and deprived of medical aid, opium was a panacea for various illnesses and their debilitating symptoms. However, many also turned to opium-smoking to relieve fatigue from arduous work or as a distraction from living in dark, overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, while some believed that opium was a stimulant that would enhance their mental capacity. And in yet other instances, the initiation into opium was borne out of curiosity — the search for pleasure or through influence from other smokers. Despite the many accounts of opiate dependency and addiction, opinions on the physical and social effects of opium remained sharply divided right up to the 20th century. Although opium was addictive, its allure was mistakenly believed by some to be no stronger than that of nicotine or alcohol. For obvious reasons, the colonial government and those engaged in the opium trade were reluctant to turn their back on this lucrative source of revenue. Anti-opium sentiments in Singapore first emerged around the s among some vocal missionaries and influential members of the Chinese community. In , medical doctor Lim Boon Keng, who was also a member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements, advocated the formation of an anti-opium society, but not much progress was made until , when his brother-in-law S. Yin persuaded the Chinese Consul General in Singapore to open an opium refuge for the rehabilitation of opium addicts. The idea proved successful and the refuge, first located on Thomson Road, eventually moved into larger premises on Tank Road. In , the Singapore Anti-Opium Society was inaugurated, formalising the start of the anti-opium movement. However, activism was largely confined to the Straits Chinese community which included social reformers such as Chen Su Lan, a medical doctor who became the president of the society. Anti-opiumists were convinced of the social evils of opium-smoking, which robbed the working classes of their health, money and even families. Woeful stories were shared of addicts who pawned all they had, sold their children and even resorted to stealing to satisfy their cravings. Against new medical evidence on the adverse effects of opium addiction and mounting criticisms from the public, the government commissioned two inquiries into opium use in Malaya in and Although the findings were inconclusive and the recommendations cautious, it led to the implementation of tighter regulations. In , the enactment of the Chandu Revenue Ordinance saw the cessation of the revenue farm system and full government control over the import, export, preparation and sale of opium. To this end, the Monopolies Department was formed in to take charge of the preparation and distribution of opium. In , the registration of smokers was introduced and was made compulsory a year later. In , the government took further steps to eradicate the retail of illicit opium by investing in a new packing factory at Pasir Panjang that hermetically sealed opium two hoon worth into small metal tubes that were affixed with the date and place of issue. Opium users faced stiffer rules in , as registered smokers were required to show a permit card bearing their photograph when buying opium. In addition, no more than four chi or 40 hoon of opium were allowed to be purchased in a day. In , the register was closed and no new applicants were accepted except for valid medical reasons. Opium-smoking was finally outlawed in Singapore on 10 November during the Japanese Occupation, ending a scourge that had enslaved its users for more than a century. A prevalent vice: Straits Chinese combine for opium suppression. The Straits Times , p. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. Braddell, T. Gambling and opium smoking in the Straits of Malacca. Call no. Cameron, J. Our tropical possessions in Malayan India: Being a descriptive account of Singapore, Penang, Province Wellesley, and Malacca; Their peoples, products, commerce, and government. London: Smith, Elder. Retrieved from BookSG. Chen, S. The opium problem in British Malaya. Singapore: Singapore Anti-Opium Society. Cheng U. Opium in the Straits Settlements, — Journal of Southeast Asian History, 2 1 , 52— Derks, H. History of the opium problem: The assault on the East, ca. Leiden; Boston: Brill. Narcotic culture: A history of drugs in China. Edkins, J. Opium: Historical note, or, the poppy in China. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. Retrieved from Internet Archive. Goto-Shibata, H. Empire on the cheap: The control of opium smoking in the Straits Settlements, — Modern Asian Studies, 40 1 , 59— International Labour Office. Opium and labour: Being a report on a documentary investigation into the extent and effects of opium-smoking among workers. Janin, H. The India-China opium trade in the nineteenth century. Jefferson, N. Little, R. On the habitual use of opium in Singapore. Local move against the opium habit. The Singapore Free Press , p. Mackay, D. Eastern customs: The customs service in British Malaya and the opium trade. London; New York: Radcliffe Press. Motte, E. The opium monopoly. New York: The Macmillan Co. National Library Board. Opium and its history in Singapore written by Naidu Ratnala Thulaja. Retrieved from Singapore Infopedia. Opium cures: Visit to a home for opium inebriates. Pietschmann, T. A century of international drug control. Bulletin on Narcotics, LIX 1—2. Rush, J. Opium to Java: Revenue farming and Chinese enterprise in colonial Indonesia, — Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Stirling, W. Opium smoking among the Chinese. Straits Settlements. British Malaya Opium Committee. Proceedings of the committee appointed by His Excellency the Governor and High Commissioner to inquire into matters relating to the use of opium in British Malaya. Singapore: Printed at the Govt. Opium Commission. Proceedings of the Commission appointed to enquire into matters relating to the use of opium in the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States. The last year in China, to the peace of Nanking: As sketched in letters to his friends pp. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Trocki, C. Opium and empire: Chinese society in colonial Singapore, — Ithaca, N. Opium, empire and the global political economy: A study of the Asian opium trade — New York: Routledge. Not available in NLB holdings. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World drug report Vaughan, J. The manners and customs of the Chinese of the Straits Settlements. Singapore: Mission Press. Warren, J. Singapore: Singapore University Press. De Leeuw, H. Cities of sin p. Tye is an inferior grade of opium used by the poor. It is made from the residue leftover from opium processing. Samshing is prepared from the opium dross of used tye. It contains very little opium and is sold to the poor. Official website links end with. Most Popular. Print Issue Latest All Issues. Chasing the Dragon: The Scourge of Opium. The opium trade was a lucrative business in colonial Singapore. Gracie Lee examines its deleterious effects on the economic and social life of the city. A Chinese man smoking opium, Opium-smoking was one of the three social ills — the other two being gambling and prostitution — that plagued the Chinese community in Chinatown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A coloured zincograph print of a poppy flower and a seed capsule Papaver somniferum by M. Burnett, Welcome Collection. Attribution 4. An advertising print for British India showing the cultivation of the opium poppy plant on the right, — Opium being moulded into balls and put into brass cups at the opium factory at Gulzarbagh in Patna, India. Painting by Shiva Lal, Chinese men inhaling opium on a raised bed, c. The opium lamp heats and vapourises opium into fumes that are then inhaled. The opium pipe is made of ornate silver with a yixing pipe-bowl and ivory mouthpiece. Her responsibilities include developing and providing content and reference services relating to Singapore. Opium is a white milky sap extracted from the poppy plant Papaver somniferum , and its derivative products include other powerful narcotics such as codeine, morphine and heroin. The cultivation and use of opium date back to antiquity. Opium poppy fossils have been discovered in Neolithic settlements in Western Europe, and one of the earliest written references to opium was found on a clay tablet in the region of Mesopotamia present-day Iraq from the period 3, BC. Opium is used in food, medicine, rituals and for recreational purposes across various cultures. Ancient civilisations were already familiar with the therapeutic effects of opium as a painkiller and sedative, and the drug was used to treat a variety of ailments ranging from diarrhoea, dysentery, chills, malaria and asthma to coughs and rheumatic pains. Today, poppy plants are grown in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate countries all over the world. It is cultivated legally in countries such as Australia, Turkey and India for medicinal and pharmaceutical purposes. Large poppy cultivations can also be found in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Laos and Mexico and are mainly used for illicit trade.
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Malacca City buying Heroin
Government agencies communicate via. Trusted website s. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The glow of the petroleum pit sprayed its faint light upon his ivory scalp. His half-open eyes, seized by the drug, shone moist in the shadows of his cadaverous face. The supply of opium to China and Southeast Asia came largely from India. So crucial was the trade in opium to European merchants that two wars over opium were waged against China — first by Britain the First Opium War, —42 leading to the Treaty of Nanking in , and subsequently by Britain and France the Second Opium War, —60 — when the Qing government imposed a trade blockade on opium in an attempt to put an end to what it considered a social evil and the source for the large outflows of valuable silver bullion from the country. Singapore was established as a trading post in by Stamford Raffles to guard British commercial interests along the major sea trade route between India and China. It therefore comes as little surprise to know that opium wielded a huge influence on the economic and social life of colonial Singapore. Early British traders ventured to this fledging trading outpost in the hope of capitalising on the burgeoning and lucrative India-China opium trade. Not only was opium highly sought after for consumption, it was also used as a form of currency in most transactions during the pioneering years of the settlement. Despite the initial optimism held by the traders, the prospects of exploiting the India-China opium traffic failed to materialise due to the volatile nature of the opium trade. Carl Trocki, in his seminal book Opium and Empire: Chinese Society in Colonial Singapore, — , writes that fluctuating opium prices, trade restrictions from the two opium wars, competition from the new British colony of Hong Kong as well as the opening of free ports in the Dutch East Indies drove local agency houses to turn to the domestic market as a buffer against the vagaries of the regional trade. Out of this, a portion was transhipped to China, but most were consumed locally or redistributed to other parts of Southeast Asia through the domestic trade. The Chinese immigrants in Singapore, who worked in the gambier and pepper plantations, at the ports or on the streets as rickshaw pullers, were the main consumers of opium, raking in huge profits for the opium traders. Regulations on the sale of opium in Singapore had been instituted from the start. Founded on the principles of a free port, Singapore did not collect duty or port taxes. Under this scheme, government licences were auctioned off to private individuals or syndicates to give them monopoly concessions over the sale of chandu opium in smokeable form. Although wholesale opium was a freely traded commodity, the sale of opium in smaller quantities anything less than one chest was sanctioned through the opium revenue farm. The revenue farm system was not a new idea as it had been implemented much earlier in the British-controlled colonies of Bencoolen and Penang. The colonial government relied heavily on the franchising of these opium contracts to generate income. The colonial government too was understandably reluctant to turn off this tap of high economic returns although they did introduce various controls and restrictions from to curb the use of opium among the population. In the face of mounting international criticism on the opium trade, the colonial government proclaimed a total prohibition on opium-smoking in in accordance with the agreement signed at the Geneva International Opium Convention. After the Japanese Occupation, the returning British government closed the chandu factory and packing plant in Singapore, and issued a ban on the consumption and possession of opium in Up until the 16th century in the Middle East, India and China, opium was primarily a luxury item consumed orally for medicinal purposes, and to a lesser extent, used as a recreational euphoric or an aphrodisiac. It became popular as a recreational drug in the 19th century when opium-smoking became an accepted social practice. Opium leaves a bitter taste when eaten raw. Smoked opium, however, is said to release a fragrant aroma that calms the nerves and relieves boredom. There, he saw the natives smoking a concoction of tobacco and opium mixed with water. He also attributed the introduction of the Javanese practice of opium-smoking to Formosa present-day Taiwan to the Dutch, and this subsequently led to its spread in mainland China. What is certain was that by , opium-smoking had become so prevalent in Formosa and the Chinese coastal province of Fujian that an imperial edict was passed to ban it in China. The prohibition, however, did little to discourage the recreational use of opium as a psychoactive substance among the general Chinese population. The proliferation of opium was also precipitated by major changes in the Asian maritime trade. Prior to the 16th century, opium was traded on a limited scale in China and Southeast Asia by Arab, Indian and Chinese merchants. The arrival of European maritime traders from the 16th century onwards, however, transformed the nature of the opium trade. The Europeans saw colonisation as a means to control and to further their interest in the commercial enterprises of the region. The Portuguese were among the first Europeans to supply Indian opium to China in the 16th century, but rose to prominence only in the 19th century when it wrestled and gained a share of the China opium market, using its colony Macau as a staging post to import opium into China. In the 17th century, the Dutch took control from the Portuguese and came to dominate much of the Asian opium trade. The VOC also acquired monopoly rights to the import of opium into parts of the Indonesian Archipelago, commencing with the Mataram kingdom in Java in According to J. Baud, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies —36 and Minister of Colonial Affairs —48 , an average of 56, kg of Indian opium were brought into Java annually between and In the 18th century, the dominion of the Dutch was broken by the British East India Company EIC , which grew the nascent Indian opium industry into a leading opium production centre to satisfy the opiate addictions of the vast Chinese market. In , Britain seized control of Bengal during the Battle of Plassey, 2 and in , declared a monopoly over all opium produced in the region. Under a system of indentured labour, the Indian ryot small tenant farmer obtained government permission to grow poppies, and received a cash advance to purchase seedlings and supplies for cultivation. In return, the farmer was obligated to sell the harvested opium to the government at a fixed price. The raw opium was delivered to one of two factories belonging to the EIC in Patna and Ghazipur in India, where the Patna and Benares varieties of opium were manufactured respectively. The two products catered to different tastes although Patna opium was prized for its finer flavour, and was usually more expensive. In the mixing and examining halls of the factories, opium was cleaned, weighed, dried and moulded into balls. The balls were then covered with a protective shell made of poppy leaves and packed into specially fabricated partitioned chests made of mango wood. Inside each chest were 40 opium balls and a receipt indicating where the opium was packed and how much it weighed. Each chest also bore the EIC stamp that recognised the superior quality of the opium and the high standards adopted during the production process. The chests were then transported by boat to Calcutta and auctioned off before being loaded onto opium clippers each typically carried about 1, chests to be shipped to China and other regions. Once the chests of opium balls arrived at their destinations, they had to be further processed for retail and consumption. His study presents the first in-depth survey of opium use in Singapore. Preparation work would usually begin at three in the morning when the chests were opened and the opium balls divided among the workers. In the first stage of the refining process, the balls were broken in half and the soft crude opium scooped into earthen dishes. Thereafter, the protective shells were stripped away, and the poppy leaves boiled and strained through Chinese paper and cloth placed over woven baskets. Crude opium was then added to the dissolved opium water and cooked to the consistency of thick treacle. Next, the mixture was dried over charcoal and then boiled again until it took on the appearance of black molasses. This laborious process removed impurities from the opium. After the preparation of opium was completed, the residue was not thrown away but sold as tye 3 at much lower prices. The ashes from tye were also salvaged after smoking and sold to the poor as samshing. The Opium Ordinance determined and regulated the number of opium retail outlets in Singapore. In reality, Little noted some 80 opium dens in his survey, many of which were operated illegally. Opium dens were typically housed in two-storey brick houses or attap structures, and were generally located in urban areas with a high concentration of Chinese trades and population. Upon entering an opium den, patrons would purchase their opium from the proprietor or clerk who kept accounts of sales. The packets also had perforations along the folds that hindered tampering. Of the various quantities available for sale, three hoon The average consumption of a labourer was three hoon a day, although people engaged in hard labour or addicted smokers would use up to six hoon. Each opium den was spartanly furnished with benches or raised platforms arranged along the sides of the room. Smokers rested on their sides with their heads propped up on wooden blocks that acted as hard pillows. Two persons would share a tray of opium paraphernalia and take turns to smoke. With one hand, the smoker would manoeuvre the inch-thick pipe with the bowl-like knob over a flame, and with the other hand, dip a silver pin or prong into the opium, twirl the paste into the size of a pea before inserting it into the pinhole of the pipe for the opium to be cooked over the fire. The smoker would inhale the vapour as the opium melted. A 19th-century traveller to Singapore described the scene in an opium den:. Some of the smokers appeared to be quite inebriated by the drug, particularly one man, who was sitting near the door on a stool, but who had done smoking. His arms and legs hung down as if they did not belong to him; and he leered on us with meaningless, but very good-natured smiles. The effect of excess in opium is more like idiocy, than ordinary intoxication. It steals away the brain like drink. The more affluent smokers, however, partook of opium with the help of servants and in private rooms lavishly decorated with ornate blackwood furniture, mattresses and silk curtains. It was also not uncommon for the rich to collect and use elaborate opium accoutrements made of precious materials such as ivory and jade. Opium-smoking was one of the social ills that plagued Singapore in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In , there was an estimated 15, opium addicts in Singapore; by , the number had risen to around 73, or between , and , depending on which source is consulted. Although opium was consumed by all strata of society — the rich and poor, men and women, Chinese and other races — its heavy use, and often abuse, was mostly associated with the poorer classes of Chinese migrant workers engaged in back-breaking occupations such as coolies, rickshaw pullers, agricultural workers, dock labourers, boatmen and lightermen. Ironically, most of the Chinese migrant workers acquired the habit of smoking opium in Singapore. For the coolie on a meagre income and deprived of medical aid, opium was a panacea for various illnesses and their debilitating symptoms. However, many also turned to opium-smoking to relieve fatigue from arduous work or as a distraction from living in dark, overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, while some believed that opium was a stimulant that would enhance their mental capacity. And in yet other instances, the initiation into opium was borne out of curiosity — the search for pleasure or through influence from other smokers. Despite the many accounts of opiate dependency and addiction, opinions on the physical and social effects of opium remained sharply divided right up to the 20th century. Although opium was addictive, its allure was mistakenly believed by some to be no stronger than that of nicotine or alcohol. For obvious reasons, the colonial government and those engaged in the opium trade were reluctant to turn their back on this lucrative source of revenue. Anti-opium sentiments in Singapore first emerged around the s among some vocal missionaries and influential members of the Chinese community. In , medical doctor Lim Boon Keng, who was also a member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements, advocated the formation of an anti-opium society, but not much progress was made until , when his brother-in-law S. Yin persuaded the Chinese Consul General in Singapore to open an opium refuge for the rehabilitation of opium addicts. The idea proved successful and the refuge, first located on Thomson Road, eventually moved into larger premises on Tank Road. In , the Singapore Anti-Opium Society was inaugurated, formalising the start of the anti-opium movement. However, activism was largely confined to the Straits Chinese community which included social reformers such as Chen Su Lan, a medical doctor who became the president of the society. Anti-opiumists were convinced of the social evils of opium-smoking, which robbed the working classes of their health, money and even families. Woeful stories were shared of addicts who pawned all they had, sold their children and even resorted to stealing to satisfy their cravings. Against new medical evidence on the adverse effects of opium addiction and mounting criticisms from the public, the government commissioned two inquiries into opium use in Malaya in and Although the findings were inconclusive and the recommendations cautious, it led to the implementation of tighter regulations. In , the enactment of the Chandu Revenue Ordinance saw the cessation of the revenue farm system and full government control over the import, export, preparation and sale of opium. To this end, the Monopolies Department was formed in to take charge of the preparation and distribution of opium. In , the registration of smokers was introduced and was made compulsory a year later. In , the government took further steps to eradicate the retail of illicit opium by investing in a new packing factory at Pasir Panjang that hermetically sealed opium two hoon worth into small metal tubes that were affixed with the date and place of issue. Opium users faced stiffer rules in , as registered smokers were required to show a permit card bearing their photograph when buying opium. In addition, no more than four chi or 40 hoon of opium were allowed to be purchased in a day. In , the register was closed and no new applicants were accepted except for valid medical reasons. Opium-smoking was finally outlawed in Singapore on 10 November during the Japanese Occupation, ending a scourge that had enslaved its users for more than a century. A prevalent vice: Straits Chinese combine for opium suppression. The Straits Times , p. Retrieved from NewspaperSG. Braddell, T. Gambling and opium smoking in the Straits of Malacca. Call no. Cameron, J. Our tropical possessions in Malayan India: Being a descriptive account of Singapore, Penang, Province Wellesley, and Malacca; Their peoples, products, commerce, and government. London: Smith, Elder. Retrieved from BookSG. Chen, S. The opium problem in British Malaya. Singapore: Singapore Anti-Opium Society. Cheng U. Opium in the Straits Settlements, — Journal of Southeast Asian History, 2 1 , 52— Derks, H. History of the opium problem: The assault on the East, ca. Leiden; Boston: Brill. Narcotic culture: A history of drugs in China. Edkins, J. Opium: Historical note, or, the poppy in China. Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press. Retrieved from Internet Archive. Goto-Shibata, H. Empire on the cheap: The control of opium smoking in the Straits Settlements, — Modern Asian Studies, 40 1 , 59— International Labour Office. Opium and labour: Being a report on a documentary investigation into the extent and effects of opium-smoking among workers. Janin, H. The India-China opium trade in the nineteenth century. Jefferson, N. Little, R. On the habitual use of opium in Singapore. Local move against the opium habit. The Singapore Free Press , p. Mackay, D. Eastern customs: The customs service in British Malaya and the opium trade. London; New York: Radcliffe Press. Motte, E. The opium monopoly. New York: The Macmillan Co. National Library Board. Opium and its history in Singapore written by Naidu Ratnala Thulaja. Retrieved from Singapore Infopedia. Opium cures: Visit to a home for opium inebriates. Pietschmann, T. A century of international drug control. Bulletin on Narcotics, LIX 1—2. Rush, J. Opium to Java: Revenue farming and Chinese enterprise in colonial Indonesia, — Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Stirling, W. Opium smoking among the Chinese. Straits Settlements. British Malaya Opium Committee. Proceedings of the committee appointed by His Excellency the Governor and High Commissioner to inquire into matters relating to the use of opium in British Malaya. Singapore: Printed at the Govt. Opium Commission. Proceedings of the Commission appointed to enquire into matters relating to the use of opium in the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States. The last year in China, to the peace of Nanking: As sketched in letters to his friends pp. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Trocki, C. Opium and empire: Chinese society in colonial Singapore, — Ithaca, N. Opium, empire and the global political economy: A study of the Asian opium trade — New York: Routledge. Not available in NLB holdings. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World drug report Vaughan, J. The manners and customs of the Chinese of the Straits Settlements. Singapore: Mission Press. Warren, J. Singapore: Singapore University Press. De Leeuw, H. Cities of sin p. Tye is an inferior grade of opium used by the poor. It is made from the residue leftover from opium processing. Samshing is prepared from the opium dross of used tye. It contains very little opium and is sold to the poor. Official website links end with. Most Popular. Print Issue Latest All Issues. Chasing the Dragon: The Scourge of Opium. The opium trade was a lucrative business in colonial Singapore. Gracie Lee examines its deleterious effects on the economic and social life of the city. A Chinese man smoking opium, Opium-smoking was one of the three social ills — the other two being gambling and prostitution — that plagued the Chinese community in Chinatown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A coloured zincograph print of a poppy flower and a seed capsule Papaver somniferum by M. Burnett, Welcome Collection. Attribution 4. An advertising print for British India showing the cultivation of the opium poppy plant on the right, — Opium being moulded into balls and put into brass cups at the opium factory at Gulzarbagh in Patna, India. Painting by Shiva Lal, Chinese men inhaling opium on a raised bed, c. The opium lamp heats and vapourises opium into fumes that are then inhaled. The opium pipe is made of ornate silver with a yixing pipe-bowl and ivory mouthpiece. Her responsibilities include developing and providing content and reference services relating to Singapore. Opium is a white milky sap extracted from the poppy plant Papaver somniferum , and its derivative products include other powerful narcotics such as codeine, morphine and heroin. The cultivation and use of opium date back to antiquity. Opium poppy fossils have been discovered in Neolithic settlements in Western Europe, and one of the earliest written references to opium was found on a clay tablet in the region of Mesopotamia present-day Iraq from the period 3, BC. Opium is used in food, medicine, rituals and for recreational purposes across various cultures. Ancient civilisations were already familiar with the therapeutic effects of opium as a painkiller and sedative, and the drug was used to treat a variety of ailments ranging from diarrhoea, dysentery, chills, malaria and asthma to coughs and rheumatic pains. Today, poppy plants are grown in tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate countries all over the world. It is cultivated legally in countries such as Australia, Turkey and India for medicinal and pharmaceutical purposes. Large poppy cultivations can also be found in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Laos and Mexico and are mainly used for illicit trade.
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Malacca City buying Heroin
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Malacca City buying Heroin