Coolies+-+Information


 * the Chinese population of the island grew rapidly, from 34,000 in 1878 to 103,000 in 1888.
 * the lower classes endured a grim existence marked by poverty, overcrowding, malnutrition, and disease. Malaria, cholera, and opium addiction were chiefly responsible for Singapore's mortality rate, which in 1896 was higher than that of Hong Kong, Ceylon, or India. A 1907 government commission to investigate the opium problem found that the majority of opium deaths were among the poor, who were reduced to smoking the dregs of used opium. [ http://workmall.com/wfb2001/singapore/singapore_history_crown_colony_1867_1918.html **Source: The Library of Congress Country Studies]**