The Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements was a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

formed on 1 April 1867, when the

Straits Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Com ...

was made a

Crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...

. This allowed laws to be made swiftly and efficiently, as it was directly responsible to the

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies. History The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increas ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, instead of being placed under a legislative hierarchy and answering to the Calcutta government based in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, tit ...

granted a colonial

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

on 4 February, which allocated much power to the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. The governor was assisted by an executive council and legislative council, the latter of which was entrusted with lawmaking in the colony, although the governor had a casting vote and the power of assent and

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

on all legislations.

Organisation

The Legislative Council was made of members in the Executive Council, the Chief Justice, and non-official members nominated by the Governor. These nominated members were intended to better represent the local people, including in its ranks

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n members. Consisting mostly of wealthy Asian business and professional leaders, they did not necessarily represent the collective will of the people, however. Beginning with just four members, it grew over the years, with

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Ind ...

members increasingly dominating the council to the displeasure of politicians from

Malacca Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has bee ...

and

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

. Despite obvious control by British subjects of European descent, there was little opposition towards the system from the local Asian population, mainly attributed to

apathy Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of inter ...

. There were a few exceptions.

Tan Cheng Lock Tan Cheng Lock KBE JP () (5 April 1883 – 13 December 1960) was a Malaysian Peranakan businessman and a key public figure who devoted his life to fighting for the rights and the social welfare of the Chinese community in Malaya. Tan w ...

, a member of the Executive Council who had previously opposed several decisions made by the Legislative Council (such as the Aliens Ordinance of 1933 which restricted immigration) as anti-Chinese, called for popular representation through

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

, and for the number of non-official members to be increased to a majority of the Legislative Council. Initiatives like these were unsuccessful, as there was little support from a society widely apathetic to local politics, with the Chinese population paying more attention towards growing their commercial and professional interests and in events which were occurring in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, fuelled largely by the rise in

Chinese nationalist Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chi ...

sentiments.

Dissolution

After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act, 1946 dissolved the Straits Settlements, with Singapore becoming a Crown colony in its own right, while Penang and Malacca became part of the

Malayan Union The Malayan Union was a union of the Malay states and the Straits Settlements of Penang and Malacca. It was the successor to British Malaya and was conceived to unify the Malay Peninsula under a single government to simplify administration. ...

. With Singapore left on its own, the council became the legislature of its colonial government and was renamed the

Legislative Council of Singapore The Legislative Council of the Colony of Singapore was the legislative council of Singapore that assisted the governor in making laws in the colony. It officially came into existence in 1946, when the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act 1946 a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legislative Council Of The Straits Settlements British rule in Singapore Political history of Malaysia Political history of Singapore

1867 establishments in the Straits Settlements Government in the British Overseas Territories