ABSTRACT

The most influential sporting institution in Singapore during the nineteenth century was the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC). The British members, aided by a significant military garrison, introduced a separatist system of sport that supported their private requirements for recreation yet excluded other racial communities. The inclusion of Chinese, Malay and Eurasian sportsmen was merely seen as a form of imperial civilising influence. It was only in the 1880s that a rich diversity of games superseded the traditional elite activities of shooting, sailing and horse riding as the activities of choice. Modern team games, lawn tennis and golf became well established as organised competitive sport that generated a means of bonding with other British colonies and settlements. The 1890s marked the start of a period of greater inclusion when Eurasian, Chinese and Malay athletes could challenge the hegemony of the British rather than be mere bystanders. The dominance of the British sportsman and the SCC member began to slowly dissipate.