The Chinese population of Singapore grows rapidly,…

The Chinese population of Singapore grows rapidly, from thirty-four thousand in 1878 to one hundred and three thousand in 1888, although most Chinese immigrants merely pass through the island.

The colonial government establishes the Chinese Protectorate in 1877 to deal with the serious abuses of the labor trade.

William Pickering, the first appointed Protector of Chinese, is the first British official in Singapore who can speak and read Chinese.

Pickering is given power to board incoming ships and does much to protect the newly arrived immigrants.

In the early 1880s, he also extends his protection to Chinese women entering the colony by working to end forced prostitution.

Because of his sympathetic approach and administrative ability, the protector soon spreads his influence and protection over the whole Chinese community, providing arbitration of labor, financial, and domestic disagreements, thereby undermining some of the powers of the secret societies.