Singapore and foreign influence by the advent of World War I

When World War became imminent British Malaya admitted that Singapore has been particularly exposed to various foreign influences, incitement and propaganda. When the War broke out on July 28, 1914, foreign influences began to spread ideological propaganda to instigate local people to rise up against the British. Major threats facing the British at that time came from the Ghadar movement, Pan-Islamism and Germany. Recognising this, the British government took several counter measures but was unable to contain the incitement and propaganda of the foreign influences which eventuated in the Singapore mutiny of 1915. This study examined the effectiveness of the British efforts in curbing this threat of foreign influences that led to the Singapore Mutiny based on primary sources from the records of the British government. The findings revealed the weakness and ineffectiveness of the British administration as the main factors that led to occurrence of the Singapore Mutiny. The British administration in Singapore failed to prevent foreign threats and influences from igniting the revolt by its own army of the 5th Light Indian Infantry.