Arthur Young starts his term as governor

Arthur Henderson Young was appointed as governor of the Straits Settlements in September 1911.^[1] He had been the longest serving governor when he retired from the post in August 1919. Young died in London in October 1938.^[2]

Young preceded his career in Malaya with a long service in Cyprus, capping it with the post of Chief Secretary of Cyprus in 1895.^[3] In 1906, he moved to Singapore to assume the duties of the Colonial Secretary of the Straits Settlements before serving as Colonial Secretary of the Federated Malay States in 1911. On 2 September 1911, Young arrived in Singapore with his wife, Lady Evelyn, to begin his term as British High Commissioner of the Federated Malay States and Governor of the Straits Settlements, replacing John Anderson.^[4]

Young’s administration in Singapore was tested by major international developments such as the 1911 Republican revolution in China, which fanned the nationalist fervour of the local Chinese community in Singapore.^[5] This resulted in the 1919 May Fourth Movement riots in Singapore and Malaya. Young also had to deal with the February 1915 Indian mutiny in Singapore during the time when Britain was engaged in the Great War (World War I) in Europe.^[6]

Several major municipal projects were completed to Young’s credit. The island’s shipping received a tremendous boost by the modernisation of the harbour that resulted in the completion of two major docks – King’s Dock (1913) at Keppel Harbour^[7] and the Empire Dock (1917) at Tanjong Pagar.^[8] In March 1912, Young officiated at the opening of the Peirce Reservoir that supplied water to Singapore Town.^[9] Young also presided over Singapore’s centenary celebrations in 1919.^[10] He was succeeded by Laurence Nunns Guillemard as governor in 1920.^[11]

References
1. Wilson, H. E. (1978). Social engineering in Singapore: Educational policies and social change, 1819–1972 (p. 35). Singapore: Singapore University Press. Call no.: RSING 379.5957 WIL.
2. Piper plays Irish airs at Sir A.Young’s funeral. (1938, October 31). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
3. Yong, C. F., & McKenna, R. B.  (1984). Sir Arthur Young and political control of the Chinese in Malaya and Singapore, 1911–1919.  Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 57, No. 2 (247), 1.  Retrieved February 18, 2014, from JSTOR. 
4. Yong & McKenna, 1984, pp. 1–2.
5. Yong & McKenna, 1984, pp. 4, 7, 10, 20.
6. Proclamations.  (1915, February 24).  The Singapore Free Press, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. The King’s Dock. (1913, August 27). The Straits Times, p. 10. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
8. Empire Dock.  (1919, February 7).  The Straits Times, p. 47. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
9. Singapore waterworks. (1912, March 20). The Straits Times, p. 7; Our water supply. (1912, March 27). The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (1884–1942), p. 12; Singapore’s water. (1912, March 27). The Straits Times, p. 7. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
10. Makepeace, W., Brooke, G. E., & Braddell, R. S. J. (Eds.). (1991). One hundred years of Singapore.  Singapore: Oxford University Press (Vol. 2, pp. 573–578). Call no.: RSING 959.57 ONE-[HIS].
11. Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard arrives.  (1920, February 3).  The Straits Times, p. 7.  Retrieved from NewspaperSG.