Krakatoa

 

Krakatoa

We woke up at 5:30 AM to sail past the Krakatoa caldera. This volcano is famous for its 1883 explosion, the equivalent of 13000 Hiroshima nuclear bombs. The explosion was heard as far away as Alice Springs, Australia. At least 36,417 people died, and many more thousands were injured, mostly from the tsunamis that followed the explosion. The eruption destroyed two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa. The caldera today has several islands that are above sea level. The last major eruption was in 2018. We could see steam coming up from one of the low-lying islands in the caldera.

Steam escaping on right

Singapore History

Singapore began as a fishing village named Temasek. Legend has it that a Malay prince was shipwrecked here, saw a lion, and considered it good fortune. Singapore stands for Lion City and was established in 1323. It became a major trading hub, but the city burned down in 1613. Thomas Raffles, an officer of the British East India Company, established a trading post here in 1819. The city had over 10,000 inhabitants in 1822, with a mix of cultures and a chaotic use of the land. That same year the Jackson plan was established creating four towns: European, China town, Indians in Chulia Kampong and an Islamic town in Kampong Glam.  By 1880 there were 80,000 inhabitants, half of whom were Chinese. The city became a British Crown Colony in 1867. In 1939, a British Naval base was established, and guns were placed along the seacoast because of the threat from Japan, fuel tanks were established, but no naval fleet was sent. The Japanese attacked Malayasia on December 8^th, 1941. Rather than attacking Singapore by sea, the Japanese came down the Malay peninsula through the dense jungles  using bicycles. This allowed them to quickly traverse the jungle. The Allied troops withdrew to Singapore on January 31^st. Rather than attacking Singapore by sea, the Japanese used collapsible boats to cross to the island from the peninsula. They quickly gained control of the water supply on the island, forcing the surrender of 35,000 allied troops on February 15^th, 1942. They slaughtered 70,000 Chinese in the next few weeks. The British took back the colony after the war, but the move for independence had begun, since they had failed to protect the citizens from the Japanese. The island became independent in 1959.  It spent 1963 to 1965 as part of Malayasia, but major disputes arose since Malayasia gave few rights to those of Chinese origin. Singapore returned to a nation state in 1965 and built a strong national identity and an economy based on manufacturing, finances, and trade.

Singapore's Marina Bay Hotel