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Stamford Raffles
18th-century British statesman who founded Singapore
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The Honourable
Sir Stamford Raffles
Portrait by George Francis Joseph, 1817
Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen
Newly Created
George John Siddons
Resident of Bencoolen
Abolished
John Prince
2nd Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies
Earl of Minto
Robert Rollo Gillespie
John Fendall Jr.
Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles
(1781-07-05)5 July 1781[1][2]
Off the coast of Port Morant, Jamaica
5 July 1826(1826-07-05) (aged 45)[2]
Highwood House, Highwood Hill, Middlesex, London, England
St Mary's Church, Hendon, London, England
Spouse(s)
Olivia Mariamne Devenish
(m. 1805; died 1814)
Sophia Hull
(m. 1817)
Charlotte Raffles (1818–1822)
Leopard Raffles (1819–1821)
Stanford Marsden Raffles (1820–1822)
Ella Sophia Raffles (1821–1840)
Flora Nightingale Raffles (1823–1823)
Anne Lyde
Benjamin Raffles
William Charles Raffles Flint (nephew)
Mansion House Boarding School
British Colonial Official
Founding of Singapore
The History of Java (1817)
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826)[1][2] was a British statesman, Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies (1811–1816) and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen (1818–1824), best known for his founding of modern Singapore and the Straits Settlements.
He was heavily involved in the capture of the Indonesian island of Java from the Dutch during the Napoleonic Wars and the running of day-to-day operations on Singapore. He also wrote The History of Java (1817).[3]
2.1 British invasion of Java
2.2 Rule
3 Interlude in England
4 Bencoolen (Bengkulu) and Malaya (Malaysia)
5 Founding of modern Singapore
5.1 Establishment
5.2 Achin, and the early conflict with the Dutch
5.3 First year of Singapore
6 Bencoolen, once again
6.1 Consolidation of the Eastern Isles
7 Administration of Bencoolen, 1820–1822
8 Singapore (1822–1823)
9 Return to Britain and death
10 Memorial sculpture in Westminster Abbey, London, England
11 Legacy
11.1 Biology
11.2 Places and landmarks
11.3 Business
11.4 Education
11.5 Sports and recreation
11.6 Transport
14 Sources
Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was born on 5 July 1781 on board the ship Ann off the coast of Port Morant, Jamaica[2], to Captain Benjamin Raffles (1739, London – 23 November 1811, Deptford) and Anne Raffles (née Lyde) (1755 – 8 February 1824, London).[1] His father was a Yorkshireman[citation needed] who had a burgeoning family. When Benjamin retired from the West Indies trade in 1800 it caused his family considerable hardship.[citation needed][4]
The little money the family had went into sending Raffles to boarding school. In 1795, at the age of 14, Raffles started working as a clerk in London for the British East India Company, the trading company that shaped many of Britain's overseas conquests. Nine years later, in 1804, the 23-year-old Raffles married Olivia Mariamne Devenish, a widow 10 years his senior[1]:57, 73, 107, who was formerly married to Jacob Cassivelaun Fancourt, an assistant surgeon in Madras who had died in 1800.[1]:59, 69
In 1805, he was sent to Prince of Wales Island, Malaya, starting his long association with Southeast Asia. He started with a post, as assistant secretary, under the Honourable Philip Dundas, the new Governor of Penang.[5] At this time he also made the acquaintance of Thomas Otho Travers, who would accompany him for the next twenty years.[citation needed]
British invasion of Java[edit]
His knowledge of the Malay language, as well as his wit and ability, gained him favour with Lord Minto, the then Governor-General of India, and he was sent to Malacca.
In 1811, after the annexation of the Kingdom of Holland by France during Napoleon's war, Raffles had no choice but to leave the country. He mounted a military expedition against the Dutch and French in Java, in the Dutch East Indies. The war was swiftly conducted by Admiral Robert Stopford, General Frederick Augustus Wetherall, and Colonel Robert Rollo Gillespie, who led a well-organized army against an army of mostly French conscripts with little proper leadership.
The previous Dutch governor, Herman Willem Daendels, had built a well-defended fortification at Meester Cornelis (now Jatinegara), and at the time, the governor, Jan Willem Janssens (who, coincidentally, had surrendered to the British five years earlier at the Cape Colony), mounted a brave but ultimately futile defence at the fortress. The British, led by Colonel Gillespie, stormed the fort and captured it within three hours. Janssens attempted to escape inland but was captured.
The British invasion of Java took a total of forty-five days, during which Raffles was appointed the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies by Baron Minto before hostilities formally ceased. He took his residence at Buitenzorg and despite having a small subset of Britons as his senior staff, kept many of the Dutch civil servants in the governmental structure.
Rule[edit]
During the relatively brief British rule in Java, Raffles negotiated peace and mounted some significant military expeditions against local Javanese princes to subjugate them to British rule. Most significant of these was the assault on Yogyakarta on 21 June 1812, known as Sepoy Commotion (Geger Sepehi); Yogyakarta was one of the two most powerful indigenous polities in Java. During the attack, the Yogyakarta kraton was badly damaged and extensively looted by British troops. Raffles seized much of the contents of the court archive. The event was unprecedented in Javanese history. It was the first time an indigenous court had been taken by storm by a European army, and the humiliation of the local aristocracy was profound.[6]
Although peace returned to Central Java in the immediate aftermath of the British assault, the events may have fuelled the deep-seated instability and hostility to European involvement that ultimately gave rise to the Java War of the 1820s.[7] Raffles also ordered an expedition to Palembang in Sumatra to unseat the local sultan, Mahmud Badaruddin II, and to seize the nearby Bangka Island to set up a permanent British presence in the area in the case of the return of Java to Dutch rule after the end of the War of the Sixth Coalition in Europe.
The memorial to Olivia Mariamne Raffles, Raffles' first wife, erected by him along the Kanarielaan in the National Botanical Gardens (now the Bogor Botanical Gardens). Raffles re-landscaped these gardens, which were established in 1744 in Buitenzorg (now Bogor), West Java.
During his lieutenant-governorship, Raffles placed some restrictions on the local slave trade in line with wider British policy across its Asian territories, although slavery remained widespread and Raffles himself was served by a large retinue of slaves at his official residences in Java.[8] Raffles also attempted a replacement of the Dutch system of forced agricultural deliveries in kind with a cash-based land tenure system of land management, probably influenced by the earlier writings of Dirk van Hogendorp (1761–1822).
Under Raffles's aegis, a large number of ancient monuments in Java were systematically catalogued for the first time. The first detailed English-language account of Prambanan was prepared by Colin Mackenzie, while the Buddhist temple of Borobudur was surveyed and cleared of vegetation by H. C. Cornelius.[9]
Under the harsh conditions of the island, his wife, Olivia, died on 26 November 1814, an event that devastated Raffles. In 1815, he left again for England shortly before the island of Java was returned to control of the Netherlands following the Napoleonic Wars, under the terms of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814. Raffles had been removed from his post by the East India Company ahead of the handover and officially replaced by John Fendall on account of the poor financial performance of the colony during his administration and allegations of financial impropriety on his own part. He sailed to England in early 1816 to clear his name and, en route, visited Napoleon, who was in exile at St. Helena, but found him unpleasant and unimpressive.
Interlude in England[edit]
In 1817, Raffles wrote and published The History of Java,[10] describing the history of the island from ancient times as well as its geography, flora, and fauna.
In 1817 he was created a Knight Bachelor by the Prince Regent whose daughter, Princess Charlotte, was particularly close to him. At the publication of the book, he also stopped using the name "Thomas", preferring to use his middle name, "Stamford", possibly to avoid confusion amongst his associates with Sir Thomas Sevestre or his cousin Thomas Raffles who bore the same name.
On 22 February he married his second wife, Sophia Hull,[5] and later set sail to Bencoolen (present day Bengkulu in Indonesia) to take up his new post with his new wife.
Bencoolen (Bengkulu) and Malaya (Malaysia)[edit]
Territory of Bencoolen (pink)
Raffles arrived in Bencoolen on 19 March 1818, where he was appointed as the Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen on 22 March 1818. Despite the prestige connected with the title of Lieutenant-Governor, Bencoolen was a colonial backwater whose only real export was pepper and only the murder of a previous Resident, Thomas Parr, gained it any attention back home in Britain. Raffles found the place wrecked, and set about reforms immediately, mostly similar to what he had done in Java – abolishing slavery and limiting cockfighting and such games. To replace the slaves, he used a contingent of convicts, already sent to him from India.
It was at this point that he realized the importance of a British presence that both challenged the Dutch hegemony in the area and could remain consistently profitable, unlike Bencoolen or Batavia. However, the strategic importance of poorly maintained but well-positioned British possessions such as Penang or Bencoolen made it impossible for the British to abandon such unprofitable colonies in such proximity to the Dutch in Java. The competition in the area, between Raffles and the aggressive Dutch de jure Governor, Elout, certainly led at least in part to the later Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Raffles looked into alternatives in the area – namely Bangka, which had been ceded to the Dutch after its conquest by the British during its occupation of Java. Bintan was also under consideration. Despite the fact that Francis Light overlooked the island before settling upon Penang in 1786, the Riau Archipelago was an attractive choice just to the south of the Malay Peninsula, for its proximity to Malacca.
In his correspondences with Calcutta, Raffles also emphasized the need to establish a certain amount of influence with the native chiefs, which had greatly waned since the return of the Dutch. Raffles sent Thomas Travers as an ambassador to the Dutch, to possibly negotiate an expansion of British economic interests. When this failed, and when Raffles' own expeditions into his new dominion found only treacherous terrain and few exportable goods, his desire to establish a better British presence was cemented. However, the Anglo-Dutch Convention of 1814 was not completely clear, especially on the issue of certain possessions such as Padang. The Convention of 1814 only returned Dutch territory that was held before 1803, which did not include Padang. Raffles asserted the British claim personally, leading a small expedition to the Sultanate of Minangkabau. Yet, as Raffles confirmed with the sultan regarding the absolute British influence of the area, he realized that the local rulers had only limited power over the well-cultivated and civilized country, and the treaty was largely symbolic and had little actual force.
Founding of modern Singapore[edit]
Main article: Founding of modern Singapore
Statue of Sir Stamford Raffles in Singapore, based on the original by Thomas Woolner
Major William Farquhar, the British Resident of Malacca, had been attempting to negotiate commercial treaties with the local chiefs of the Riau Archipelago, especially before Raffles's arrival. Farquhar was compelled to sign the treaty not with the official head of the sultanate, but rather, the Raja Muda (Regent or Crown Prince) of Riau. He noted it as a success and reported it as such to Raffles.
Raffles sailed to Malacca in late 1818 to personally secure a British presence in the Riau area, especially Singapura, which was favoured by him both through the readings of Malayan histories and by Farquhar's explorations. Despite Lord Hastings' less-than-stellar opinion of Raffles before (which had necessitated his trip to England to clear his name at the end of his tenure as Lieutenant-Governor of Java), the now well-connected and successful Raffles was able to secure permission to set up a settlement. At this point in Malaysian history the name Lion City was applied. The city was in a strategically advantageous position; however, he was ordered not to provoke the Dutch, and his subsequent actions were officially disavowed by the British government.
In London, Viscount Castlereagh attempted to quell Dutch fears, and continuing efforts were made to reach an agreement between the nations that eventually became the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London of 1824. As well as the treaty, instructions were sent out to Raffles to undertake far less intrusive actions; however, distance between the Far East and Europe meant that the orders had no chance of reaching Raffles in time.
Establishment[edit]
After a brief survey of the Karimun Islands, on 29 January 1819, he established a post at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It was established that there was no Dutch presence on the island of Singapore. Johor also no longer had any control of the area, so contact was made with the Temenggong Abdul Rahman. The contacts were friendly and Raffles, knowledgeable about the muddled political situation, took advantage to provide a rudimentary treaty between the nominal chiefs of the area that called for the exclusivity of trade and the British protection of the area. Members of Raffles' party surveyed the island and proceeded to request the presence of the sultan, or whoever at the time had supreme nominal power, to sign a formal treaty, while Major Farquhar was ordered to do the same in Rhio (Riau). A few days later, the formal treaty was signed by a man who claimed to be the "lawful sovereign of the whole of territories extending from Lingga and Johor to Mount Muar."
This man was Hussein Shah, who, although having had no previous contact with the British, had certainly heard of the might of the British navy and was in no position to argue against the terms. However, Raffles was able to charm the man and to reassure him that the Dutch posed no threat in the area. Hussein Shah had been the crown Prince of Johor, but while he was away in Pahang to get married, his father died and his younger brother was made sultan, supported by some of the court officials and the Dutch. To circumvent the situation of having to negotiate with a sultan influenced by the Dutch, Raffles decided to recognise, on behalf of the British Crown, Hussein Shah as being the rightful ruler of Johor.
Farquhar's attempt to establish a more favourable treaty in Rhio (Riau) was met with greater challenge, as the Dutch were present and made for a rather awkward position. The Dutch were alarmed and sent a small contingent to the island. Despite a covert offer of subterfuge against the Dutch offered by the Raja of Rhio (Riau), Farquhar returned and an official protest was sent by the Raja to Java regarding the matter.
Raffles declared the foundation of what was to become modern Singapore on 6 February, securing the transfer of control of the island to the East India Company. With much pomp and ceremony, the official treaty was read aloud in languages representing all nations present, as well as the Malay and Chinese inhabitants.
Sultan Hussein Shah was paid Spanish dollars 5,000 a year while Temenggong Abdul Rahman received 3,000 a year, both massive sums at the time, roughly equivalent to £287,000 and £172,000 now.[11][12].
Farquhar was officially named the Resident of Singapore and Raffles was named as "Agent to the Most Noble the Governor-General with the States of Rhio (Riau), Lingin and Johor". Although ownership of the post was to be exclusively British, explicit orders were given to Farquhar to maintain free passage of ships through the Strait of Singapore and a small military presence was established alongside the trading post. After issuing orders to Farquhar and the remaining Europeans, Raffles left the next day, 7 February 1819.
Achin, and the early conflict with the Dutch[edit]
Raffles also planned to start a British presence in Achin, on the northern tip of Sumatra. As soon as he had departed, the Raja of Rhio (Riau) sent letters to the Dutch, disclaiming the deal, protesting innocence and blaming British encroachment. Meanwhile, in Malacca the Dutch acted at once, commanding that no Malays could go to Singapore. Raffles' bold claim of Singapore created a curious geographic situation: although Penang was clearly closer in distance to Singapore, Raffles, in his capacity as Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen, was nominally still in control. This undoubtedly irked the authorities in Penang to the point where they refused to send any sepoys to Singapore to complete the garrison.
Official Dutch complaints came before the end of the month, and Raffles attempted to appease the situation by instructing Farquhar to not interfere with the politics of surrounding islands. Despite numerous threats and serious considerations by the Dutch Governor-General in Java, they did not take any military action. The confused political situation in Johore and Rhio also created a certain uneasiness and instability for the two nations. Tengku Long was claimed to be a pretender to the throne, and, since the succession laws in the Malay sultanates were not clear cut, treaties signed between native rulers and the European powers always seemed to be on the verge of invalidation; especially if a sultan should be deposed by one of his siblings or other pretenders.
Nonetheless amidst uncertainty and intrigue, Raffles landed in Achin on 14 March 1819, with begrudging help of Penang. Once again, it seems that multiple people were in power, but none wanted to formally deal with the British. The hostile atmosphere created allowed Raffles to cancel the only meeting he was able to arrange, with Panglima Polim, a powerful divisional chief, fearing treachery. As the influential merchant John Palmer, Raffles, and fellow commissioner John Monckton Coombs of Penang sat offshore, awaiting a response, Calcutta debated whether to reinforce the port city. Evacuation plans were made, but the Dutch never acted and ultimately Lord Hastings prompted Colonel Bannerman, the Governor of Penang, to send funds to bolster Singapore. Finally Raffles was capable of convincing his fellow commissioners to sign a treaty with Jauhar al-Alam Shah, the ruler of Achin, which installed a British resident as well as guaranteeing the exclusivity of bilateral trade.
By the time Raffles had returned to Singapore, on 31 May, much of the immediate crisis that the colony had caused in Penang and Calcutta had passed. By then, the initial five-hundred villagers had grown to become five-thousand merchants, soldiers, and administrators packed onto the island. Raffles was determined to destroy the Dutch mercantile monopoly in the area to replace it with a gateway for trade with China and Japan. The latter he had attempted but failed to reach an agreement while governing Java.
First year of Singapore[edit]
While in Singapore, Raffles established schools and churches in the native languages. He allowed missionaries and local businesses to flourish. Certain colonial aspects remained: a European town was quickly built to segregate the population, separated by a river; carriage roads were built and cantonments constructed for the soldiers. Otherwise no other duties were imposed.
Confident that Farquhar would follow his instructions well, Raffles sailed for Bencoolen once again on 28 June.
Bencoolen, once again[edit]
Raffles was still the Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen when he returned. Raffles started more reforms that were, by now, almost trademarks of his rule over the colonies. Forced labour was abolished when he first arrived, and he declared Bencoolen a free port as well. The currency was regulated and, as he had an excess of out-of-work civil servants, they formed committees to advise him on the daily running of the colony. However, Bencoolen was not as self-sufficient as Singapore. The area was poor and disease-ridden: the first reports from the committees reflected very poorly upon the condition of the colony. Unlike the salutary neglect Raffles granted upon Singapore, he delayed European-inspired reforms emphasising only the cultivation of whatever land was available.
Native authorities were given power in their respective districts and were answerable only to the Lieutenant-Governor. The slave-debtor system was brought in, instead of the old slavery system that Raffles had abolished in Java, Borneo, and initially in Bencoolen. Slave-debtors were registered, and educational reforms started to focus on children instead of the entire population. Raffles looked into a long-term plan for the slow reform of Bencoolen.
Unlike many other European adventurers, Raffles did not impose upon the colonised the alien language or culture of the coloniser. In addition to preserving the artifacts, fauna, and flora of his colonies, he also allowed religious freedom, which was especially important as the Malay states were largely Muslim. Christian schools were started by missionaries in all of his colonies.
Consolidation of the Eastern Isles[edit]
Colonel Bannerman's death in Penang in October 1819 brought new opportunities for Raffles to expand his power to also include the other minor British factories and outposts from Sumatra to Cochin China. He sailed to Calcutta and as Lord Hastings sought to consolidate all of the small British possessions in the East Indies. During his sojourn, he had the opportunity to argue for free trade and the protection of the private enterprise. Education and the retention of small British outposts were also discussed.
The Dutch claim on the Sultanate of Johore and hence, Rhio, and the diplomatic exchanges between Baron Godert van der Capellen and Calcutta continued throughout this time. The legitimacy of the British treaties was also questioned once again, but finally, as Singapore grew at an exponential rate, the Dutch gave up their claim on the island, allowing the colony to continue as a British possession. However, the pressures put upon Calcutta ensured that no single governor of all British possessions in the Strait or on Sumatra was appointed, and Raffles, whose health was slowly ailing, returned to Bencoolen.
Administration of Bencoolen, 1820–1822[edit]
Raffles returned to Bencoolen in ill-health, but as his health improved, he continued on his quest to learn about the island he now called home. He studied the Batak cannibals of Tapanuli and their rituals and laws regarding the consumption of human flesh, writing in detail about the transgressions that warranted such an act as well as their methods. He also noted the rise of the Sikh religion in certain parts of Sumatra.
By early 1820, Tengku Long had firmly established himself as the Sultan of Johor to the British, but the political situation in the area remained a befuddled mess, with the old sultan dying and many new ones attempting to gain either the crown or regency. As Farquhar was involving himself poorly in local politics, Raffles appointed Travers as the Resident of Singapore, replacing Farquhar. Upon his arrival, Travers found the colony a delightful smörgåsbord of different races and cultures, numbering over six thousand. He also found that Singapore's trade was slowly overtaking that of Java.
As in Java, Raffles collected samples of local species of plant and animal, as well as describing them in his journals. He located other tribes and recorded their customs, especially their religions and laws. Bringing the island of Nias under British rule he noted its civilized state and high production yields of rice.
Yet the production of food remained a problem. In Bencoolen Raffles paid special attention to the agricultural methods of the Chinese, including an introduction to the only issue of Proceedings of the Agricultural Society. In order to remedy the shortages his employer, the East India Company, concerned themselves only with profit-taking. Even as Raffles lived like a country gentleman and ran his colony like an estate, his expenditure on nature preservation was seriously frowned upon. In both Calcutta and London they discussed his removal from office, while Castlereagh continued negotiations with the Dutch regarding the ongoing diplomatic conflicts.
Luckily, the Singapore issue had its supporters in the House, so as negotiations continued in Europe, Raffles remained largely idle in Bencoolen. The only major issue, outside the politics of the local sultans, involved the replacement of Farquhar, who decided that he had no intention of leaving his post voluntarily, causing a moment of tension between him and Travers. Raffles' request for Travers to deliver dispatches to India nullified the issue late in the year, and Farquhar remained in charge of Singapore, with its survival still in doubt for many in both India and London, who believed that it would either be handed over to the Dutch or taken violently by force when Castlereagh's negotiations had ended. Still William Farquhar stirred up more trouble, especially with local English merchants over trivial matters of self-importance and overreaction over small infractions of white traders, for some of which he was reprimanded by Calcutta officially. Public works, commissioned by Raffles but undertaken by Farquhar, were becoming overwhelmingly expensive.
Personal tragedies also started for Raffles. His eldest son, Leopold Stamford (b. 1818), died during an epidemic on 4 July 1821. The oldest daughter, Charlotte (b. 1818), was also sick with dysentery by the end of the year, but it would be his youngest son, Stamford Marsden (b. 1820), who would perish first with the disease, on 3 January 1822, with Charlotte to follow ten days later. For the good part of four months the couple remained devastated. The year would be eventful with the suicide of Castlereagh and the appointment of Lord Amherst as the Governor-General of India, replacing Hastings. As Raffles grew restless and depressed, he decided to visit Singapore before retiring and heading home to England. Accompanying him would be his wife Sophia and their only surviving child, Ella.
Raffles was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1822.[13]
Singapore (1822–1823)[edit]
The Plan of the Town of Singapore, also known more commonly as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan
Raffles returned to Singapore in October 1822. Raffles was pleased with the fact that Singapore had grown exponentially in such a short period of time. The colony was a bustling hub of trade and economic activity. Even so, Farquhar's administration was deemed unsatisfactory, for example, he allowed merchants to encroach on government areas, permitted vices such as gambling, and tolerated slave trade.[14]:38[15] In response Raffles instituted new policies and set up a committee headed by the colony's engineer, Philip Jackson to draw up a plan, now known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan, based on instructions by Raffles. The plan was still racially segregated, giving the best land to the Europeans. Yet it was considered remarkably scientific for the time. Raffles also supervised the leveling of a small hill south of Singapore River to create Commercial Square (now Raffles Place).[16]
It was also during the replanning and reconstruction of the port town that Farquhar dramatically argued with Raffles, who now considered him unfit for the position of Resident. Raffles dismissed Farquhar in April 1823 and took direct control. He had written to Calcutta declaring Farquhar to be incompetent in January 1823, and repeated efforts were made to persuade Calcutta to send a replacement for Farquhar; but they remained unanswered. As Raffles made Johor a British protectorate, raising a protest from Van der Capellen. Eventually Calcutta appointed John Crawfurd, who had followed Raffles for over twenty years, as the new Resident of Singapore, while Captain William Gordon MacKenzie took over Bencoolen. In March 1823, coincidentally the same day he was replaced, he received an official reprimand from London for the takeover of Nias.
Raffles convened a meeting on 1 April 1823 with the intention of opening a Malay college in Singapore based on his observations on his years in Southeast Asia and his belief of the importance of both the local and the European languages. Raffles personally gave $2,000 towards the effort, the East India Company gave $4,000, with the contributions from various subscribers totalling $17,495. This would be the foundation of Raffles Institution.[17]
In the final few weeks of his stay in Singapore in 1823, Raffles drafted a series of administrative regulations for Singapore that aimed to govern Singapore in a fair manner but also reflected his stance on various moral and social issues. A registration system was first instituted for all land, regardless of ownership, and the repossession of the land by the government if land remained unregistered. This act asserted the power of the British government as it covered land previously owned by the Sultan as well. This is followed by laws regarding the port and freedom of trade. In May 1823, he outlawed gambling, imposed heavy taxation on what he considered social evils such as drunkenness and opium-smoking, and banned slavery.[14]:40 A police force and magistracy were also set up on British principles, turning a trading post into a proper city with some semblance of order. A specific regulation in the constitution called for the multiethnic population to remain as they were; and no crimes were entirely based on racial principles. Raffles worked on drafting laws, defining exactly "what" constituted a criminal act.
A view of Singapore from the sea, sketched by Lt. Philip Jackson shortly before Raffles' departure in 1823. Found amongst documents belonging to Raffles.[18]
Finally, on 9 June 1823, feeling that his work in establishing Singapore was finished, he boarded a ship for home, but not before a stop in Batavia to visit his old home and adversary, van der Capellen. A final stop in Bencoolen followed. Tragedy befell Raffles once more when his youngest daughter Flora Nightingall, born on 19 September, died a little over one month later on 28 November while still in Bencoolen.
On 2 February 1824, Raffles and his family embarked on the East Indiaman Fame for England. Unfortunately, she caught fire 50 miles from Bencoolen the evening after she sailed. All aboard were able to take to her boats and were saved, although the ship herself was totally destroyed.[19][20] The fire claimed all his drawings and papers.
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 finally settled the score in the East Indies. The British gained dominance in the north, while the entirety of Sumatra became Dutch. The Malay Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent were both free of Dutch interference. Raffles finally returned to England on 22 August 1824, over a year after he left Singapore. His longest tenure in Singapore was only eight months, but he was considered the founder of Singapore nevertheless.
Return to Britain and death[edit]
Coat of Arms of Raffles
Upon arrival in England in poor health, Sir Stamford and Lady Raffles convalesced in Cheltenham until September 1824, after which he entertained distinguished guests in both London and his home. He also made plans to stand for parliament, but this ambition was never realised. They removed to a London address at Berners Street at the end of November 1824, just in time to have a war of words with Farquhar, who had also arrived in the city, in front of the Court of Directors of the EIC regarding Singapore. Despite raising several severe charges against Raffles, Farquhar was ultimately unable to discredit him; he was denied a chance to be restored to Singapore, but was given a military promotion instead.
With the Singapore matter settled, Raffles turned to his other great interests – botany and zoology. Raffles was a founder (in 1825) and first president (elected April 1826) of the Zoological Society of London and the London Zoo. Meanwhile, he was not only not granted a pension, but was called to pay over twenty-two thousand pounds sterling for losses incurred during his administration. Raffles replied by clarifying his actions: and he decided to move to his country estate, Highwood, north London, but before the issue was resolved, he was already much too ill.
He died at Highwood House in Mill Hill, north London, on his 45th birthday, on 5 July 1826, of apoplexy. His estate amounted to around ten thousand pounds sterling, which was paid to the Company to cover his outstanding debt. Because of his anti-slavery position, he was refused burial inside the local parish church (St Mary's Church, Hendon) by the vicar, Theodor Williams, whose family had made its money in Jamaica in the slave trade. A brass tablet was finally placed in 1887 but the actual whereabouts of his body was not known until 1914 when it was found in a vault. When the church was extended in the 1920s, his tomb was incorporated into the body of the building and a square floor tablet with inscription marked the spot.
Raffles was survived by his second wife Sophia Hull and daughter Ella, and predeceased by his other four children in Bencoolen.[21] Ella died in 1840, aged nineteen. Sophia remained at Highwood House until her death in 1858, at the age of 72. Her tomb and memorial may be seen in St Paul's Church graveyard, Mill Hill, close to the rear door of the church. All his other children remained buried overseas. Thirty-three years after his death, Raffles's substantial collection of Indonesian antiquities and ethnography was donated to the British Museum by his nephew, Rev William Charles Raffles Flint.[5]
Memorial sculpture in Westminster Abbey, London, England[edit]
A life-size figure in white marble by Sir Francis Chantrey depicts Raffles in a seated position. The sculpture was completed in 1832 and it is in the north choir aisle.[22]
The inscription reads:
To the memory of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, L.L.D. F.R.S. Lieut. Governor of Java and first President of the Zoological Society of London. Born 1781 Died 1826. Selected at an early age to conduct the government of the British conquests in the Indian ocean, by wisdom, vigour, and philanthropy, he raised Java to happiness and prosperity unknown under former rulers. After the surrender of that island to the Dutch, and during his government in Sumatra he founded an emporium at Singapore, where in establishing freedom of person as the right of the soil, and freedom of trade as the right of the port, he secured to the British flag the maritime superiority of the eastern seas. Ardently attached to science, he laboured successfully to add to the knowledge and enrich the museums of his native land, in promoting the welfare of the people committed to his charge, he sought the good of his country, and the glory of God.
In Singapore and in other parts of the world, his name lives on in numerous entities, including:
Biology[edit]
See also: Category:Taxa named by Thomas Stamford Raffles
The standard author abbreviation Raffles is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[23]
Raffles gave the scientific name to Macaca fascicularis, also known as the crab-eating macaque.[24]
He also gave the scientific name of the lesser mouse-deer (Tragulus kanchil).[24]
A number of species are named after him:
Chaetodon rafflesii, latticed butterflyfish
Dinopium rafflesii, olive-backed woodpecker
Megalaima rafflesi, red-crowned barbet
Nepenthes rafflesiana, a species of pitcher plant
Protanilla rafflesi Taylor, 1990 – a species of ant
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
Rafflesia, a genus of parasitic flowering plants, known for having the largest flowers in the world
Theridion rafflesi Simon, 1899 – spider from Sumatra
Places and landmarks[edit]
Raffles Hospital
Business[edit]
Raffles Holdings
Raffles Medical Group
Yantai Raffles Shipyard
Education[edit]
Raffles College (currently National University of Singapore)
Raffles Institution (Secondary)
Stamford Primary School (formerly Stamford Girls' School)[25]
Sports and recreation[edit]
Raffles Cup
Transport[edit]
Raffles Institution Lane
Raffles Lighthouse
Raffles Place MRT station
Stamford Road
Raffles Class – The former name for Singapore Airlines Business Class
Two statues in Singapore, one made of white marble along the Singapore River while another made of bronze in front of the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.
Singapore portal
History of Singapore
Raffles' Landing Site
^ a b c d e Bastin, John Sturgus; Weizenegger, Julie. The family of Sir Stamford Raffles (National Library Board and Marshall Cavendish Editions ed.). Singapore. ISBN 981472176X. cited in "Family of Sir Stamford Raffles".
^ a b c d Raffles, Sophia; Raffles, Thomas Stamford (1830). Memoir of the Life and Public Services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, F.R.S. &c.: particularly in the government of Java, 1811–1816, and of Bencoolen and its dependencies, 1817–1824 : with details of the commerce and resources of the Eastern archipelago, and selections from his correspondence. John Murray, London. CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
^ Raffles, Thomas Stamford (1 September 2015). The History of Java, v. 1-2.
^ "Family of Sir Stamford Raffles | Infopedia". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
^ a b c Anon (n.d.). "Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (Biographical details)". British Museum. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
^ Ricklefs, M. C. (2008). A History of Modern Indonesia Since C. 1200 (4th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
^ Carey, Peter (2008). The Power of Prophecy: Prince Dipanagara and the End of an Old Order in Java, 1785–1855.
^ Hahn, Emily (1946). Raffles of Singapore.
^ Miksic, John (1990). Borobudur: Golden Tales of the Buddhas.
^ Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles: The History of Java; Black, Parbury and Allen for the Hon. East India Company 1817; reprinted in the Cambridge Library Collection, 2010
^ Blagden, C.O. (1921). "Historical: Singapore prior to 1819". In Makepeace, Walter (ed.). One Hundred Years of Singapore: being some account of the capital of the straits from its foundation by Sir Stamford Raffles on the 6th February 1819 to the 6th February 1919. London: John Murray. pp. 10.
^ "Currency converter: 1270–2017". The National Archives. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
^ American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
^ a b Turnbull, C.M. (2009). A History of Modern Singapore, 1819–2005. NUS Press. ISBN 978-9971694302.
^ Kevin Khoo. "William Farquhar's Pragmatism: Another Perspective on Raffles Vision for Singapore". National Archives of Singapore.
^ Charles Burton Buckley (1902). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore. pp. 88–89.
^ Charles Burton Buckley (1902). An anecdotal history of old times in Singapore. p. 122.
^ Pearson, H. F. (July 1953). "Singapore from the Sea, June 1823. Notes on a Recently Discovered Sketch attributed to Lt. Phillip Jackson". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 26 (1 (161)): 43–55. JSTOR 41502903.
^ "From Lloyd's Marine List – – July 20". Caledonian Mercury (16060). 24 July 1824.
^ "The Marine List". Lloyd's List (5929). 30 July 1824.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012. CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ 'The Abbey Scientists' Hall, A.R. p49: London; Roger & Robert Nicholson; 1966
^ IPNI. Raffles.
^ a b Raffles, Sir TS (1821). "Descriptive Catalogue of a Zoological Collection, made on account of the Honourable East India Company, in the Island of Sumatra and its Vicinity..." Transactions of the Linnean Society.
^ "Stamford Primary School". Roots. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
Cornelius, Vernon (24 August 2016). "Family of Sir Stamford Raffles". National Library Board. Singapore Government. Infopedia. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
Barley, Nigel (1999). The Golden Sword: Stamford Raffles and the East. London: British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-2542-3.
Barley, Nigel (2009). In the Footsteps of Stamford Raffles. Singapore: Monsoon. ISBN 978-981-08-3534-7.
Borschberg, Peter (2019). Dutch objections to British Singapore, 1819–1824: Law, politics, commerce and a diplomatic misstep. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 50 (4): 540-561.
Brayley, E. W. (1827). "Some account of the life and writings and contributions to science, of the late Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Knt., F.R.S., S.A. & L.S., &c; successively Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its dependencies, and of Fort Marlborough, Singapore, and the British Possessions in Sumatra: Founder and President of the Zoological Society". The Zoological Journal. 3 (9): 1–48.
Brayley, E. W. (1827). "Some account of the life and writings and contributions to science, of the late Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Knt., F.R.S., S.A. & L.S., &c; successively Lieutenant-Governor of Java and its dependencies, and of Fort Marlborough, Singapore, and the British Possessions in Sumatra: Founder and President of the Zoological Society". The Zoological Journal. 3 (11): 382–400.
Chandler, David P.; Steinberg, David J. (1988). In Search of Southeast Asia. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1110-5.
Wurtzburg, Charles E. (1986). Raffles of the Eastern Isles. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-582605-1.
de Jong, Joop (2000). De Waaier van het Fortuin. SDU publishers. ISBN 90-12-08974-3.
Glendinning, Victoria (2012). Raffles and the Golden Opportunity. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1846686030.
Murdoch, Adrian (ed.) (2013). Raffles--Three Lives. Rott Publishing. CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
Noltie, H. J. (2009). Raffles' Ark Redrawn: Natural History Drawings from the Collections of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. British Library Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7123-5084-6.
Finlayson, George; Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford, F.R.S. (27 April 2014) [1826]. The Mission to Siam, and Hué the Capital of Cochin China, in the Years 1821-2. Fairbanks: Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. EBook #45505. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
Jardine, Sir William. "with a memoir on Sir Stamford Raffles". The natural history of game birds.
Raffles, Stamford. History of Java. Volume One.
Raffles, Stamford. History of Java. Volume Two.
Woodman, Dorothy. "Raffles of JAVA, 1781-1826." History Today (Sep 1954) 4#9 pp 581–590.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Stamford Raffles
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stamford Raffles.
Portraits of Stamford Raffles at the National Portrait Gallery, London
Firaci, Biagio (10 June 2014). "Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and the British Colonization of Singapore among Penang, Melaka and Bencoonen".
Biography at the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
Thomas Stamford Raffles at Find a Grave
Raffles and the Golden Opportunity, The Guardian, 5 December 2012
Library resources about
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries
By Stamford Raffles
Robert Rollo Gillespie Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies
Resident of Bencoolen Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen
Botanist: Raffles
BPN: 44610742
SNAC: w6ht2nnw
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stamford_Raffles&oldid=1000487043"
People born at sea
British ornithologists
British rule in Indonesia
British rule in Singapore
City founders
British East India Company civil servants
English abolitionists
Fellows of the Royal Society
Knights Bachelor
Presidents of the Zoological Society of London
Indonesianists
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England
CS1 maint: uses authors parameter
Botanists with author abbreviations
Wikipedia articles with Botanist identifiers
Wikipedia articles with BPN identifiers
Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers
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Use British English from September 2014


SAN JOSE (CN) – A federal judge partially dismissed Cisco Systems' patent and copyright lawsuit against Arista Networks.
Cisco sued Arista in December 2014, claiming that after Arista raided it to get 11 top executives, it " blatantly and extensively " copied Cisco's networking technologies and operating system software.
Cisco also sued 11 Arista executives, including its founders, president and CEO, chief development officer, chief technology officer and seven vice presidents, all of whom, it claims, jumped from Cisco to Arista.
The exodus allowed Arista to "avoid hiring the thousands of engineers and making the substantial investments that would otherwise have been needed to legitimately develop its own technologies," Cisco said in the lawsuit.
It claimed the "widespread and flagrant" copyright violations included Cisco's operating system software, its Nexus Operating System and its operating system documentation.
U.S. Federal Judge Beth Labson Freeman heard arguments on July 2.
She let stand Cisco's claims for patent and copyright infringement that allegedly took place after it filed the original complaint.
She dismissed the pre-suit indirect infringement claims, since Cisco conceded that it is not seeking damages for those claims.
She gave Cisco until July 23 to amend its complaint on the post-suit allegations.
"At this stage, however, allegations summarizing Arista's puffery in sales and marketing materials is not enough," Labson wrote.
Cisco's general counsel Mark Chandler praised the ruling.
"Judge Freeman's order giving us the opportunity to amend our complaint is exactly what we expected after last week's hearing," Chandler wrote in an email. "Arista is left in the strange position of arguing in court that their claims that the EOS+ product is 'pioneering,' were actually just 'marketing puffery,' as the judge put it. They introduced EOS+ even after they knew of our allegations that they had used our patented technologies, so there can be no doubt that their action was willful.
Arista is represented by Juanita Brooks, with Fish & Richardson in San Diego.


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Hard Rock Stadium is home to the Miami Dolphins football team, and local provider Obvious Choice AV & Lighting of Hollywood, Florida is contracted to handle all pre- and post-game audio/video needs. The team warms up to high-volume hip-hop that plays from the stadium's roof-mounted full-range sound system, but the throw all the way down to the field leaves the low-end lacking. Obvious Choice staff remedied the situation with a Danley Sound Labs BC412 subwoofer that they roll out into the corner of the field for warm-ups and roll back off at game time. The players are into it, the coaches are satisfied, and everyone involved simply can't get over how much bass emerges from the 4' x 4' x 1.5' BC412!
MIAMI, FLORIDA: Hard Rock Stadium is home to the Miami Dolphins football team, and local provider Obvious Choice AV & Lighting of Hollywood, Florida is contracted to handle all pre- and post-game audio/video needs. The team warms up to high-volume hip-hop that plays from the stadium's roof-mounted full-range sound system, but the throw all the way down to the field leaves the low-end lacking. Obvious Choice staff remedied the situation with a Danley Sound Labs BC412 subwoofer that they roll out into the corner of the field for warm-ups and roll back off at game time. The players are into it, the coaches are satisfied, and everyone involved simply can't get over how much bass emerges from the 4' x 4' x 1.5' BC412!
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text:
Cabinet Committee on Security to meet later today
Updated : February 28, 2019 02:52 PM IST
A Union Cabinet meeting is also slated for 6.30 pm. Both meetings are scheduled to take place at the Prime Minister's residence.
Sources said that the CCS at the 7, Lok Kalyan Marg will discuss steps to bring back an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, who was captured by Pakistan on Wednesday.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely on Thursday evening to take stock of the situation as tension escalated between India and Pakistan.
Islamabad had also issued a video on social media of an interview with Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the pilot. India, however, was yet to confirm his name officially.
The tension between India and Pakistan escalated following the February 14 Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror outfit, which claimed the lives of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)troopers.
India carried out a "non-military pre-emptive attack" on the JeM's biggest terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot in a pre-dawn air strike on Tuesday that led to dogfights between the IAF and the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Wednesday.
Tags air strike CCS Meet IAF air strike India Pakistan Updates India- Pakistan Modi Narendra Modi PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi Pulwama Attack

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text:
One day in Whitstable
by Robyn J on Thu 3rd July 2014 Thu 31st July 2014
It started as it usually does: 2pm on a sunny Saturday and the inevitable question "what should we do today?"
It could be said that planning in advance would allow us significantly more time in these places under such circumstances but I'd venture to guess that if planning were involved, we wouldn't do nearly so much. Instead we had a short amount of time (the day wasn't getting any younger) and a decision to make. Peter threw out suggestions – Henley! Eastbourne! (apparently he is on the verge of retirement) – but Whitstable was chosen for its Goldilocks qualities of mid-range train tickets and the promise of oysters.
Having a bike promises freedom not just within London but outside as well. You can take them on most trains – National Rail positively encourages it (although your fellow passengers may be less than welcoming) – and at the other end there's no need to worry about taxis or buses. Just hop on and go, making up directions en route. This time we simply followed our noses (and signs towards the harbour).
Living in London it can often seem as if the city is the be-all and end-all but it doesn't take too long a journey to remember that, indeed, there is life outside the M25. Whether you're looking for art, culture, sea air, forest or fields, I'm always amazed by how quickly I can get there from inside the concrete jungle. In the case of Whitstable, less than two hours after leaving Victoria we were nestled on the beach with two cups of freshly-brewed coffee and a polystyrene cup full of whelks.
We didn't really have a plan. It was the longest day of the year and as such, time was on our side, so after the obligatory paddle (and ensuing clamber along the groins so as to avoid a bare-footed return up the pebbly shore), we swung on by a beachside pub for a taste of the local brew. In terms of craft beer, it wasn't the greatest, but when you're sipping a pint on the sea-front, you can't complain.
Really, we were there for dinner. Freshy, fishy dinner.
Yelp provided the answer: hidden away in Seasalter, a village just outside Whitstable, was a restaurant which came with glowing reviews. One trusted Yelper admitted that she had taken the four-hour round-trip for a second time due to memories of the bread alone. We were intrigued by the location: a lonely former pub atop a wind-swept stretch of coastal road, out of town and off the map. The kind of place we'd never have attempted to reach without our bikes.
In fact it was far enough away that after pedalling for quite some time, we still hadn't found it, and sheepishly asked at the local sailing club whether we were in fact headed in the right direction. The two men outside assured us that we were but warned of steep prices. The younger admitted that it was a great spot for a special occasion, but the older man was adamant that since the new owners had taken over, it had gone considerably downhill. "It's not the Sportsman any more" he said sadly. "It's a – a -" "Gastropub?" asked Peter helpfully. "Yeah – gastro" he replied uncertainly, and with great suspicion, "But definitely not the Sportsman". With suggestions of two alternative dinner spots ringing in our ears (one providing enormous portions of "everything, even omelette" and another some sort of charitable initiative with alpacas, directions for which were limited to "When I'm in the bungalow looking at the trees, it's towards that second pylon, do you see? Near there"), we carried on.
The Sportsman used to be a pub and still looks like it, dilapidated and lonely, sheltered from the ocean winds by a slight crest of hill. A couple of benches, rotting in the coastal elements, sit wonkily outside. We dubiously chained our bikes to a tree and walked in to discover a relatively full restaurant and nobody to welcome us. At the bar, a very friendly man apologetically admitted that they had no tables – not that they were lacking in space, but that the kitchen had set a limit for covers and they'd already gone over. We were astonished. All the way out here, and they were full? "Sometimes you'll get lucky, but we're usually booked up pretty far in advance" he explained. I suspected he was going to offer us a place next Saturday and was all ready with my "Actually, we're only up from London for the day" when he continued "Usually 10-12 weeks". My response died on my lips and my eyebrows shot up into my hair. "I think the next availability is in September" he added helpfully.
Peter and I glanced at each other, amazed. The manager – I presume it was he – suggested another restaurant down the way, the Oyster Pearl, which someone he knew had visited with fairly good results, and apologised again for not being able to help. We shook our heads, palmed off the apologies. "No really, I understand," I said, teetering dangerously close into patronising Londoner territory, "We just dropped by on the offchance. I mean it's great, isn't it? It's great that you're doing so well. Clearly word's spread far and wide". He gave me a slightly pitying, though no less kindly smile. "Well . . . we have had a Michelin star for seven years now . . ."
This time my eyebrows may well have just fallen straight off my head.
We made our excuses and left.
Nope, not even the slightest glimmer of a clue that we were attempting to walk in on a Saturday night to one of just five Michelin-starred restaurants in the entire county of Kent.
We went to the Oyster Pearl, figuring that if we were going to get a decent restaurant recommendation from someone in Whitstable, this was probably as good as any.
Things didn't start off too great when I asked what ciders they had and was told "Bulmers, Strongbow, Doom Bar . . . he's drinking cider", pointing to Peter's glass – to which Peter had to gently point out that he was in fact drinking ale, and also Doom Bar was a bitter . . . I ordered a diet coke. In the event, the dinner was fantastically good: whitebait, a seafood platter and gorgeous puddings and most importantly an oyster each.
Mine went down better than Peter's.
If you're in the area and looking for a great place to have dinner then I wholeheartedly recommend the Oyster Pearl. They've already won the Newcomer of the Year award from a local paper. Despite the unprepossessing frontage, one of their charms is the beautiful food presentation. We managed to scarf down three courses, and accompanied by the aforementioned drinks, it came to around £35 a head.
All in all a lovely afternoon out to the seaside and we even got seats on the last train home. Even we city types need to escape every now and then, and a whiff of sea air is just enough to keep me going until my next jaunt. Which actually was the following (now last) weekend in Somerset, although I'm not sure that five days at Glastonbury can ever really be considered restful . . .
Escaping the M25
Oyster Pearl
whitebait
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text:
Chris Hemsworth >
Chris Hemsworth enjoying 'forced stillness'
By Bang Showbiz in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 23 April 2020
Follow Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth Elsa Pataky
Chris Hemsworth has been enjoying the ''forced stillness'' in his life which the coronavirus pandemic has brought because he can have quality time with his family.
Chris Hemsworth has been enjoying the ''forced stillness'' in his life which the coronavirus pandemic has brought.
The 'Extraction' actor is relishing having downtime with his wife Elsa Pataky and their children daughter India, seven, and six-year-old twin sons Tristan and Sasha while isolating at their Australia home because he's previously been too busy to take the time out that he's dreamed of.
He said: ''Not to diminish by any means the [coronavirus] challenges that are occurring, the absolute uncertainty, the anxiety that is happening in the world, but me personally, and to that question, it's (created) a forced sort of meditation and forced sort of stillness that I haven't been able to dive into like I've wanted to for many years.''
Although the 'Men in Black' star is grateful for all the career opportunities he's had, he's thankful he's no longer being ''controlled by a schedule''.
He added to the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper: ''For 10 years I've been part of the machine, and I've been thankful for it, and done so many wonderful things and traveled so much, but what it meant was, I was away from my family. A lot.
''I've wanted to just stop being controlled by a schedule. So to be home now with the kids full time. and to be able to go 'Wow, this is truly what's important.' It would be a real miss if I didn't use this opportunity to soak up that time.''
However, Chris admitted there's still a part of him that drives him to look for ''more'' during such a quiet period.
He said: ''There is also another that other part of me, that ego or whatever it is, that is saying, 'What else? We've got to do something else. Come on, there's got to be more. But I'm just trying to quiet that and just exist in the present moment now, and it's really nice.''
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text:
Boxed Out Among Friends and Lovers
Life on the Indian River Lagoon
Tapping untapped markets and dreams for people with disabilities
From Cape Town, South Africa Mistletoe Mischief: An Interview
From Tragedy to Treats
Canonical and Influential Author-Publishers
Destiny | Livin' Small
THE NEA MUST STAY!
The Tulsa City-County Library System | Honoring the Twenty-first Century
When I was twenty-one, I traveled across the country and found Oklahoma unlike any other terrain I had seen on the east coast. Dry roads kicked up plenty of dust. I found myself at a gas station that did double-duty as a liquor store. I thought I was in the middle of nowhere, but I was in Stroud, Oklahoma, between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Situated on the Arkansas River, and sitting at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, Tulsa is the second largest city in Oklahoma and the first place where I ate Mexican food.
I wish I could have visited one of Tulsa's many libraries. Public library service started in the early 1900s. Tulsa's very first library was in the basement of a courthouse. I like to think it did double-duty as shelter during tornado season. Some erstwhile librarian will have to do the fact-checking on that assumption. While Andrew Carnegie awarded a grant for $12,500 to build the original library, funds to complete the project came from private sources.
The exterior of Tulsa's first library building was faced with Bedford Limestone quarried from Indiana. Its interior stairways and pillars were constructed from marble. Despite its original glory, within ten years the library was running out of space. By 1970, the original building was described in Tulsa's newspapers as an "ugly old lady." The building was soon knocked flat to pave the way for a parking lot. A new central library opened in 1965. Deemed to be of space-age design, the library's exterior lights were turned on remotely via a U.S. communications satellite. That building underwent a massive $55-million renovation, reopening to the public in 2016, to become a Library serving the needs of its community in the Twenty-first Century.
The present incarnation of the Tulsa Library system is much more than a single Central Library building. Today's Tulsa City-County Library actually emerged during the 1960s, but this library system has grown to encompass twenty-five branches. Among its many civic activities, The Tulsa City-County Library bestows multiple prestigious literary awards to authors, including the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature, the American Indian Festival of Words Writers Award, the American Indian Circle of Honor Award, and the Sankofa Freedom Award. Sankofa, derived from the Akan language spoken in southern Ghana, literally translates as We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today.
The Tulsa City-County Library strives to promote lifelong learning, literacy in all forms and critical thinking skills. During this past Banned Books Week (September 22—28, 2019), the library celebrated books, reading, freedom of information, and providing access to all. The library's message to the public is Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark. Keep the Lights On!
It's no surprise that Tulsa City-County (Okla.) Library was selected to receive the 2019 Library of the Future Award, sponsored by ALA and Information Today. One reason why the library system was selected was due to its solid track record of implementing its creator-focused digital training, and its complementary workspace called the Digital Literacy Lab. This lab gives people the opportunity to experiment with the many facets of learning the new and emerging technologies related to digital literacy.
The library offers meeting spaces, and a multitude of programs ranging from art and crafts to storytelling sessions and book discussion groups for children, teens and adults. Distinguishing characteristics of this library system include resource centers that focus on the needs and historical interests of the community it serves: the African-American Resource Center in the Rudisill Regional Library; the American Indian Resource Center at the Zarrow Regional Library; the Genealogy Resource Center at the Hardesty Regional Library; and the Hispanic Resource Center at the Martin Regional Library.
The library's many outstanding programs, ethnic research resources, and forward thinking services enrich life and learning for Oklahomans in the Twenty-first Century. The library also embodies the true meaning of the term Sankofa: We must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today.
Community services and hours vary at each branch.
For more information, go to the main website to access a specific location https://www.tulsalibrary.org/locations/
or email askus@tulsalibrary.org.
https://www.tulsalibrary.org
American Libraries Magazine Future Award
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/latest-links/2019-library-future-award/
Tulsa Libraries
2019 Library of the Future Award
the Digital Literacy Lab
Patricia Vaccarino is an accomplished writer who has written award-winning film scripts, press materials, articles, essays, speeches, web content, marketing collateral, and eight books.
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Anki Interview
Interview Date: 30 Oct. 17
What drew you into making music? Were there any specific musicians or non musicians that influenced you in the beginning?
I've been making music in one way or another all my life. I picked up the saxophone nearly 20 years ago. I just absolutely loved it from such a young age! When I was 13 I got my first guitar and absolutely fell in love with bands like Guns N Roses, Black Label Society, and Avenged Sevenfold. I slowly progressing to the heavier side of things before finding myself falling headfirst into the most extreme end of things with bands like Meshuggah, Necrophagist and Cynic. Throughout my teens I would just endlessly play guitar and write riffs inspired by whatever I had listened to that day, that's where I really learned to love the creative process of refining a song and finding out what works and what doesn't.
I got into electronic music through bands like The Prodigy and Pendulum. Hearing elements I knew and recognized mashed in with these amazing new electronic sounds really helped me transition into finding out more about the scene. Around this time Dubstep really started blowing up and I tried to play around with making those "wobble basses" on my guitar, but with out any luck. I started to play around with production software in my colleges music department trying to recreate some of those sounds, but I had no idea what I was doing. I would just press any button I saw trying to work out what they all did to the sound! That's really where it all started, messing around with software. I had no idea about how to develop sounds, but I had more fun than I could even imagine trying to do it. Over that summer, I lost myself in teaching myself everything I could about production and made an alias and just released whatever I could!
How do you mix your tracks? What does this process look like Do you mix as you go? Are there specific decibel ranges that you aim for with the certain elements in your track? Do you start with setting volume ranges, then move on to EQing?
So I almost always mix as I write. I look at it like keeping your house tidy every day so you never have to do a big arduous spring clean! Generally, when it comes to mixing, I base a lot of my mental check marks against my drums. Usually when making a track with a big full section, I run my kick and claps very hot (loud in the mix). I work on sound designing them and getting them to a point where I'm happy with the tone and feel of them. Wherever they're peaking I tell myself "That's the loudest sound of this section, nothing overrides that". While that may change towards the end of the writing process for tonal reasons, I always find that just setting that benchmark in my mind really helps to shape my sound as I go rather than just leaving it in a big mess for me to tidy at the end!
In terms of workflow, I EQ as I go, but it's always quite cursory and functional: high pass anything that doesn't need low end, get rid of nasty resonances, small sound design boosts and cuts etc. Then at the end of a project I look to see if there are any elements fighting for space in particular frequencies and go back in with a fine tooth comb to do some more surgical cuts.
What are your go-to effects and processing chains at the moment?
It's always completely dependent on the track and style. This always changes, but there's always a few mainstays. For example, at the moment I love bussing all my cymbals together and running them through the Softube Tsar-1A reverb, set to bright on a very short decay, followed by a Kuassa EVE AT4 EQ which has a lovely high shelf boost option. This really helps them pop and keep them all in their own space.
Another that I'm really favoring at the moment is running the stock Reason phaser into a Scream 4 tape distortion unit on everything above 600Hz-ish. With some interesting automation and work you can get some CRAZY bass tones out of that.
In terms of favorire processing units, shout out to Synapse DR-1 Deep Reverb and Softube Saturator Knob. Both are used extensively throughout my work. They are very simple but very versatile devices that are incredible for keeping your workflow smooth.
How do you get past a creative block in the studio?
A lot of different ways! There's an amazing talk by Mick Gordon on how he composed the DOOM soundtrack that has a wonderful mantra that always sticks with me.
"Change the process, Change the outcome."
Sometimes sitting at the same screen with the same instruments, patches, samples etc. is just not going to spark off creativity. Work on changing that process. Find something interesting to record with your microphone and process it using devices you've never used before, pick up an instrument you're not comfortable with and see what you can get out of it, challenge yourself to write a genre you've never done before. Changing up the way you approach writing a song can lead to so many more interesting moments.
Is there a technique or two that you consistently use when producing tracks? If so, what are they?
Double tracking my guitar and vocals is very common, alongside utilizing weird octave stacking with things like atmosphere and backing elements. Stacking an octave above in bigger sections and an octave below in more subdued ones. For bass tones and weird glitches I do tend to resample a lot and pick my favorite sounds from long strings of bounces. Multi-band distortion and very resonant filter movements are key here!
A big technique that is used in all my songs is specifically targeting missing frequency regions through the use of a targeted bass patch. By just using a square wave layered with a triangle wave and slamming it hard into a filter with 36db of drive, you can get so many interesting overtones which creates a full sound. From there you can use the resonance on the filter to pick exactly which frequencies you want the bass to occupy with surgical precision, allowing you to plug the holes in your mix without having to try and tease it from other elements in your track that just don't have those frequencies in the first place!
On top of that, never limit yourself to writing one style or feel. You'll find yourself burning out fast! If you're releasing music, keeping a consistent style is important, so try and write something you won't release every day just to keep your chops fresh and your brain active. Every day I wake up and do 20-30 minutes of sound design drills. I find a random song on Spotify and recreate one motif and sound from it. Not only will you end up with a great library of sounds to pull into your main projects, but you will also begin to discover and appreciate wonderful new music that keeps inspiring you!
When you are at the finishing stages of your track, it always seems like you can take the track further and further. This often just leads to overproducing. How do you know when your track is done and what sorts of processing, arranging, and mixing do you do in these final stages?
This is a very common problem and something I definitely struggled with earlier in my career. In terms of knowing when your track is done, it can be a fine line to walk, but the most crucial thing is get good honest external feedback. So many people tend to stuff their tracks far too full with ideas as they feel like it's boring. You tend to forget when writing that you've heard this song hundreds and hundreds of times and you have become desensitized to it. A new listener will have never heard it before. Remember to keep it simple, elevate and change elements every 4-8 bars, keep the focus on one main lead/vocal and work on making that shine rather than drowning it in worse ideas.
In terms of what I do at the final stages of my tracks, I always leave transition FX like short risers between phrases until the very end. If I can't think of anything else to add to a track but them then I know I've reached the end. From there I take a day off and come back and honestly assess whether or not certain sections are needed. Is everything as concise and impactful as it could be? If the answer is yes, I move onto small mix fixes like EQing problem areas, mid/side processing, and then a very quick DIY master and done!
Your tracks are full of beautiful progressions and track defining leads. Are there any specific techniques that you use to get the emotion that you want out of these two musical parts?
Thank you! For me it comes very naturally as the Anki project really started as an outlet for a lot of emotions I didn't know how to express. All the main motifs and chord progressions tend to just flood out when I'm feeling in a particular mood. However that's only able to happen because I've developed such a big bank of knowledge about how certain chords make a listener feel, how certain melodic movements can affect the tone of your track. This also comes from analyzing all my favorite songs and working out exactly what chords I liked and how the melodies worked over them.
For me, working out the relationship between your harmony and melody is vital to creating something impactful. For example if you are in a minor key hearing the same basic 4 note lead of III, II, VII, V (3rd, 2nd, 7th, and 5th notes in the key) you will get a different sound and feel over every chord – each one imparts a certain feeling and emotional response. Putting a III chord under the elicits a sense of happiness and coming home. The IV chord is a very uneasy, unsettling chord that paints the lead in a very uncertain light. The V chord with a minor 3rd is a heartbreakingly yearning chord that just begs to be raised up to the VI, giving your melody a sudden sense of tension. My advice to anyone looking to really get to grips with how to tell a story via music is to go back and listen to your favorite songs that make you feel emotional and write down all the chord progressions and melody lines and look for patterns. Note how each chord or movement makes you feel and try using them in your own work to see if you can achieve the same result.
Aspiring producers these days lack patience. They want to produce the next big hit after they've only been producing for a short period of time and they get discouraged when the results aren't immediately there. What motivated you to keep learning and improving through the beginning stages of your music career and what advice would you give to impatient producers.
Keep being impatient. Keep writing loads of music. Keep wanting that next big hit. But be aware that the next song you write will not be it. Nor will the next one. Or the one after that. This year by my count I've written 623 full songs in one way or another. Each song is a lesson to teach yourself, not everything you write has to be released. Write shit tons of music, yes, but take a step back and actually, honestly look at all the tracks you've made. Detatch yourself from the writing process and say, "Is this really the best thing I could make?" You'll find that 90% of the time, the answer is a no. Write a lot, select carefully, and plan your releases.
With so much of the music sounding similar out there right now, how do you develop a signature sound that is true to you and expresses your own unique voice?
Be sincere. Be weird. Be out there. Take risks. You are nothing more than a big melting pot of your musical influences and your life experience. No one else will have your exact make up of songs you really love, moments in life that have affected you. Something I did when starting the Anki project was I just went through my whole iTunes and Spotify library and listened to every song (which took weeks admittedly!) and found one element in each that was my favortie thing about that particular song, wrote it down and then stuck that on my wall. What I found is that my heart instinctively latched on to a lot of common musical elements regardless of genre. For example, I found that I loved a Vb7 chord so much in a Carly Rae Jepsen song and had listed the exact same chord as my favorite thing from a Trivium song! Finding these elements that are personal to you and using them in your songwriting is so crucial to forging a sound that no one else will have!
On top of that, if you can play instruments or have access to a microphone to use your voice, then do it! Imparting that human element into your work is so important for forging a unique tone. Anki wouldn't sound right without my guitar on every track as that's the instrument that I can truly express things the best on!
A lot of your tracks contain very talented vocalists that deliver a very emotional performance that is aligned perfectly with your music. What does this collaboration process with the vocalist look like? Are you sending the vocalist ideas and then bouncing ideas back and forth?
It completely depends on the vocalist. Some, I trust implicitly to understand the emotional core of a song and deliver the goods, others I won't know so well and will require some direction. For those vocalists I usually send a brief alongside the track, telling the vocalist the mindset I was in when writing, what I want the track to make a listener feel, and a few reference tracks that go for the same kind of tone. From there they'll send me a draft back and we'll keep iterating back and forth until it fits perfectly.
In today's music industry, building a dedicated fan base is important to the success of your career as an artist. Many artists starting out or even artist that have been releasing music for awhile struggle to grow an audience and reach a large number of people with their music. How did you grow your audience when you were first starting out and what advice you give artists looking to build a following?
It's a hard struggle. One that can be immensely frustrating when you're proud of what you're making as well! For me, ToneDen was invaluable for growing my soundcloud base. Releasing music consistently as a free download for a follow really helped boost my audience. By far, the most important thing is to be making great music. From there, it's all about being open with your music and sending it to a lot of people. Do your best to find producers of a similar calibre and style to you and reach out to them. Let them know you like their stuff. Build a family of people that can support you, repost you, and help you with your productions. Their fans will become your fans, their success your success. Don't fixate on one avenue of success: yes I'm sure getting on Monstercat would be great for you, but don't set that as your one and only goal.
For many producers finding an avenue to make money from their passion is a struggle. What are some ways that you were able to make money with your music in order to keep your career going?
It is a big struggle for sure! My number one piece of advice is to make sure that you sign up for a distributor and get all the music you are releasing on spotify ASAP! You never know when a song will blow up and get playlisted. This means consistent revenue for you that'll help keep you going. If you're making great music others will want to learn from you/work with you, so be open to those new experiences. For me setting myself as a self-employed musician has been tough but external work really saw me through the early days. I made a lot of sample packs for companies that I still receive royalties for today! On top of that I also teach students production over skype which has been a great regular source of income and something I really love doing, plus I often do external work for projects I find interesting when approached – TV and Film work is always fun, and I'm currently in talks for editing some music for a live electronic music theatre production! Make sure to broaden your horizons and work with as many people as possible, you never know where that next opportunity will come from!
What's next for Anki? An EP, touring, an album?
I'm currently working on polishing up 2 LPs – one very special one that I've been working with a best friend and long time collaborator with for nearly 3 years and one solo one. Plus I'm finishing up some older singles and collaborations that'll be out nice and soon! From there the plan is to tour whichever LP gets released first and come over to the states to party with you all!
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Joanna Ruocco is the author of Another Governess/The Least Blacksmith-A Diptych (FC2, 2012). A Compendium of Domestic Incidents (Noemi Press, 2011), Man's Companions (Tarpaulin Sky Press, 2010), and the The Mothering Coven (Ellipsis Press, 2009). A recipient of the Pushcart Prize in 2013 and winner of the Catherine Doctorow Innovative Fiction Prize, Ruocco is also a graduate of the MFA program in Literary Arts at Brown, and a recent graduate of the Ph.D. program in creative writing at University of Denver. She co-edits Birkensnake, a fiction journal, with Brian Conn.


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The size of the pie matters, not just how you slice it.
So said a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts' Philadelphia Research Initiative, which looked at 10 big city school districts across the country and compared how the states' funding formulas of each affected funding at the district level.
A funding formula, essentially a plan for the state's distribution of its education dollars between districts, often takes into account factors including student needs and demographics at the district level.
The project director of the Philadelphia Research Initiative for Pew, Larry Eichel, spelled out two main questions the report set out to answer. The first is how per-pupil funding in Philadelphia stacks up against other big city districts.
The second? "Since there's been so much talk about the absence of a state funding formula in Pennsylvania, how much of a difference do those formulas make on other big city districts?" said Eichel.
Researchers chose the 10 comparison cities (Boston, Milwaukee, Cleveland, New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Tampa and Dallas) for their structural and/or demographic similarities to Philadelphia. Each receives state funding determined via a funding formula. As the report highlighted, Pennsylvania is one of only three states that does not allot its state education money with the help of a funding formula. Philadelphia students received less in per-pupil funding overall than seven of the 10 comparison cities.
In all of these comparisons, the Pew report focused largely on one point.
To that point, looking at some of the comparison districts — within Pennsylvania and in nation-wide group — those with a high proportion of state aid still had relatively low levels of per-pupil spending.
With the exception of a short spell under former-Gov. Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania has not had a funding formula for 20 of the last 23 years.
But there is some residual needs-based allocation left over from past funding formulas through the state's "hold harmless" rule, which ensures that districts will not receive less funding than the year before, regardless of changes to enrollment.
The report looked at several urban, rural and suburban districts in Pennsylvania to examine how Philadelphia compared in percentage of state aid and total per-pupil funding from the state.
Take the example of Pittsburgh, which "has seen a pretty big drop in student enrollment," said Eichel. As the next largest school district in the state, Pittsburgh serves fewer than one-seventh the number of students as Philadelphia. And while Pittsburgh may appear to get less money from the state percentage-wise — about 41 percent of its funding versus almost 45 percent of Philadelphia's — Pittsburgh still receives more money per student from the state ($8,649 versus $6,574).
Across the sample districts in Pennsylvania, rural and urban districts received more state and federal funding than wealthy suburban districts.
But that didn't mean that rural and urban districts necessarily received funding on par with wealthy suburban districts. Under the current funding system, Erie and Reading — the other urban districts in Pennsylvania considered by the report – both received more than 50 percent of their funding from the state.
Even so, Erie and Reading had the lowest amount of total funding per-pupil from all sources (local, state and federal) of the Pennsylvania cities considered, less than Philadelphia and the rural districts.
Strict percentage-wise thinking is exactly what the Pew report findings question.
"So much of the conversation in Pennsylvania has been about the formula question," said Eichel. He urged a more holistic take on state education spending.
The report also did not make any recommendations, stating that "the variances and intricacies of school-funding formulas make it difficult to assess what would happen if any one of these formulas were applied to Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia school district." But, the report did say that a funding formula would almost certainly result in more money for Philadelphia schools.
Pennsylvania already has a Basic Education Funding Commission – basic education funding being the budget line item that the formula would apply to – devising a formula recommendation. Its report is due in June.
Several Republican state legislators, including Rep. Brad Roae, have argued that increasing school spending "is not the answer" to help cash-strapped districts or improve school performance.
The report did not address the relationship between funding formulas and school performance.


text:
About Beth Moore
As a native of North Atlanta, I understand firsthand the character of House District 95, the spirit of our community and the challenges we face.
After graduating high school from Wesleyan, undergrad at UGA and law school at GSU, I knew I wanted to return to where I lived out my childhood dreams along the banks of the Chattahoochee. In 2015, my husband Lorie and I purchased our forever home in House District 95 in the vibrant neighborhood of Lockridge Forest, full of amazing people who look out for one another. We call areas of our district Peachtree Corners, Norcross, Berkeley Lake, Duluth and Johns Creek, but for those of us living in here, we simply call it home.
I decided to run for the Georgia House of Representatives to not only preserve the beauty and prosperity of our district, but also to prepare it for smart growth into the 21st century. It's more important than ever that we fight hard to keep the progress we've made in the South and to protect the American dream for those living here now and for those who are yet to come. I want our leadership at the Capitol to represent the diverse, welcoming, entrepreneurial spirit that embodies our American values.
I consider myself a living example of the success Georgia can achieve by investing in its people. The generosity of the HOPE Scholarship allowed me and my husband to graduate college debt-free, pursue successful careers of our choice and ultimately purchase a home in which to raise our future family. Unfortunately the HOPE Scholarship is now a fraction of its original incarnation and is becoming more and more difficult for students and families to access, with fewer benefits for those who do qualify. We have failed to live up to that unspoken American covenant to ensure our children and grandchildren have better and broader opportunities than we had.
Georgia's bold investment in film, television and music allows Georgians young and old, including myself, to generate and grow thousands of coveted entertainment industry jobs that were formerly the sole province of Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. We took a risk on an exciting new direction for our state, and that investment is now paying back billions of dollars in dividends and is shining a bright light of hope and opportunity on Georgia. I support the expansion of economic investments in a wide array of job markets, like those in the entertainment field, which add long-lasting value to our community and cannot be outsourced or automated.
As a millennial, many of my colleagues and clients are experiencing enormous financial difficulties accessing affordable health insurance, as our generation navigates the new norms of the "gig economy." Because of this, I am also running to ensure every hard-working resident of our district has access to quality, affordable healthcare to keep them healthy, productive and out of poverty. With this year's class of new leadership, we can finally start to do this by closing the Medicaid gap, redirecting our federal tax dollars back to Georgia, and establishing the long overdue Georgia-based individual health market exchange. Not only will these steps create more jobs in the healthcare sector and help revitalize Georgia's rural hospitals, it will also make Georgia's overall economy more competitive with the majority of other states that have actively sought to expand healthcare coverage for its residents. From a neighborly perspective, it's also the right thing to do.
Georgia's population is projected to nearly double by 2030, yet political leaders of the past have continually turned a blind eye to our pleas to expand mass transit and to relieve us of constant, insufferable traffic. The unpredictability of traffic congestion means those of us in House District 95 can't interview for jobs in Smyrna; a student in Johns Creek can't attend class at Georgia State; employers in Tech Park can't hire software programmers in midtown; and a mom in Norcross can't take her kids to after-school activities in Lawrenceville even though they're both in Gwinnett County. Public transportation is a quality of life issue that other states and major metropolitan cities have been addressing for decades. As your house representative, I'm committed to finding a solution to Georgia's traffic problem.