Stamford Raffles - Bencoolen, Once Again

Bencoolen, Once Again

Raffles was still the Governor-General of Bencoolen and having returned to it after the settling of Singapore, Raffles started more reforms that were, by now, almost trademarks of his reign upon colonies. Forced labour was abolished when he first arrived, and he declared Bencoolen a free port as well. Currency was regulated and as he had an excess of out-of-work civil servants, formed committees to advise him in the running of the colony. However, Bencoolen was not as self-sufficient as Singapore. The area was poor and disease-ridden, and the first reports from the committees reflected very poorly upon the condition of the colony. Unlike the salutary neglect Raffles granted upon Singapore, he slowed the European-inspired reforms and emphasized on the cultivation of whatever land that was available. Native authorities were given power in their respective districts and were answerable only to the Governor-General. The slave-debtor system was brought in in exchange instead of the old slavery system that Raffles abolished in Java, Borneo, and initially in Bencoolen. Slave-debtors were registered, and educational reforms started to focus on the children instead of the entire population. Raffles was looking into a long-term plan for a slow reform of Bencoolen.

Unlike many other European colonizers, Raffles did not impose upon the colonized the language, culture, or other aspects of the colonizer. In addition to preserving the artifacts, fauna, and flora of his colonies, he also allowed religious freedom in his colonies, especially important as the Malay states were largely Muslim. However, Christian schools were started by missionaries in all of his colonies.