Original subtitles

200 years ago, a young man set sail from England on a voyage east. He left his home in search

of fame and fortune, but also with great expectations. He was looking to make his mark

on the world. It was the beginning of a remarkable journey, one that would change the course

of Southeast Asian history.

This journey would transform the slumbering island of Singapore into a glittering economic

powerhouse. It turned this unknown man into a global icon, Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles.

Remember today is the founder of modern Singapore? Raffles has achieved a level of fame that

he could scarcely have imagined. Abided by many, he is derided, even despised by some.

Hero or Scoundrel, Raffles is an enduring enigma.

Buried under centuries of myth and legend is a life of adventure and discovery, scandal

and ruthless ambition. I'm chasing the shadow of Raffles across the world from London to Singapore,

through the spice markets of Calcutta to the faded colonial glory of Panangya Malacca,

across the wilds of northern Scotland, into the plains of Java and the steamy jungles

of Sumatra. This is my search for the untold story of the real Raffles, the man behind the legend.

My family has been in Singapore for four generations. As a child, I used to love to read

stories about explorers and adventurers. Raffles was part of that pantheon of heroes to admire

and emulate. But he's best remembered today is the founder of modern Singapore.

Today, the name of Raffles is stronger than ever. He's evolved into a Singaporean brand

that exudes class, exclusivity and excellence. Despite being a British imperialist, Raffles

remains an icon of our modern city state. It's so far as the island of Singapore is

gone, they never forgot him. He's there in the very beginning of the colonial story of Singapore,

and effectively in people's memories, he becomes part of the Singapore DNA. For many, Raffles

represents a bygone era of heroic ideals and humanitarianism. So why do some people accuse

him of corruption, ruthless ambition, even incitement to murder? The answer lies in

Raffles' extraordinary but murky past.

One summer morning in 1826, Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles was found dead at his home in England.

He was just one day away from his 45th birthday. Raffles was discovered by his second wife,

Lady Sophia. It was the end of an extraordinary life to ever stayton by a relentless tragedy.

In his last years, Raffles suffered crippling headaches, pushing him to the brink of torment

and despair. His mind and the grip of haunting nightmares.

I've been confined to my room by a severe fever which fell on my brain and broke me

almost to madness. My heart is sick and I've broken.

Raffles died a shattered man and looked set to fade into obscurity. But Sophia Raffles had

other plans. She was determined her husband would never be forgotten. She transformed his

legacy by penning a glowing memoir of his life. Editing his past, Sophia highlighted

the good and it raised the bad. The noble figure suffering and working against

adversity and everything goes against him but he struggles nevertheless and succeeds

but dies young. These are the perfect attributes of a hero story.

Sophia's memoir helped establish Raffles as one of the great men of the age.

His statues were erected, glorifying biographies written and his name was enshrined as the genius

founder of Singapore.

In death, Raffles's celebrity reached dazzling heights but in his life what was fact and

what was fiction. To uncover the real Raffles, I'm leaving behind my home in Singapore to

travel to where his story began. 18th century London was a sprawling metropolis

where young men came to find power and money. The London that Raffles grew up in was the

centre of a vast commercial empire with trade links extending to every corner of the

globe and the River Thames was like this great archery of trade by which the riches of the

world poured into the heart of the capital. For the population of one million, London

was booming and driving this wealth was an astonishing multi-billion dollar corporation,

the East India Company. The great power in the land was the East India Company, the country's

biggest employer which generated more revenue, more money than the rest of the nation put

together. It was the greatest commercial enterprise the world has ever seen.

The East India Company is often described as the first major multinational and that's

probably the best way of understanding it. It has a huge influence on the markets in London

but it also had outposts and interests and influence around the globe. The East India

Company was in many ways a kind of hybrid thing. It wasn't just a trading company, it had its

own army. These were basically government sanctioned corporate bodies that were given

the right to go out into the world, trade with other communities to secure markets for their

own commercial interests but who at times acted in the name of the nation as well.

Formed by a group of powerful London merchants in 1600, the East India Company or EIC traded

in the lucrative commodities of tea, textiles and spices.

What's impossible for us to imagine today is simply table spices were then worth literally

their weight in gold. Things like nutmeg and cloves had very high prices attached to them

so the more you could produce, I mean the market was never satiated. But the EIC had

a dark side, presiding over the world's largest drug zempa. Free trade at that time

also meant selling weapons, selling opium. They had no problem whatsoever selling opium

to China that would, you know, debilitate the population of China so whether it's selling

drugs or selling arms, you know, I mean everything was justifiable in the name of profit for

the company.

The EIC's mission was new trading opportunities at any price.

With the lure of great riches, the company enticed young men with drive and ambition.

Through family connections, Raffles entered the EIC at the age of 14 and he was determined

to succeed.

My family at this time suffered in obscurity and distress. My earnings went to their relief

but it was insufficient. Long standing debt calls me many a bitter moment.

Raffles came from very humble background in terms of his grandparents being housekeepers.

It seems like the fear of slipping back into poverty was something that was always present

in his mind.

He was poor so he needed to get somewhere to make a find a place for himself, make a name

for himself and I think that ambition drove him.

Oh this is going to be a very good shine, I can see that.

Thank you, Sam.

As a young man, Raffles was a great one for self-improvement. A clerk by day he studied

at night, he taught himself French, he read as widely as he could and from his social

betters he acquired Polish and finesse. This was a man on the way up.

For Raffles, the EIC provided a job for life. It was the start of a journey that would

lead him from London, across the oceans to Penang, Laka and Java and into a world of

power, conflict and death.

In London, young Raffles was employed as a lowly clerk by the trading giant at East India Company.

Once the site of East India House, today the place where he worked is home to another

financial power, Lloyd's of London.

Back then it was a labyrinth of corridors and passageways, a hive of human activity

and on the upper floors the clerks crammed six to a cubicle hunched over their desks

scribbling away. Ten years of this and it's not surprising that it left Raffles with a

droopy eye and a ponent stoop.

Work was tough but Raffles was in the right place to meet men with power and influence.

Raffles's connection is movement up the company hierarchy. It was very much a consequence

of his ability to forge connections.

Raffles best friend at East India House was one William Ramsey, whose father, William

Ramsey Sr, was none other than secretary to the honourable company.

The Ramses were his golden ticket into elevated social circles and Raffles acquired the manners

of a London gentleman.

And here we see the beginnings of a pattern that was to run through Raffles entire life.

He meets someone of power and influence and they are able to help him on with the next

stage in his career.

In this instance, spectacular promotion.

It was William Ramsey who put Raffles name forward to be assistant secretary to the Governor

and Penang and this meant a salary increase of 20 fold.

Raffles star was definitely in the ascendance.

With promotion, Raffles now needed a wife and at this time he met Olivia.

At first glance, Olivia would seem to have been a surprising choice of pride for Raffles,

a widow with a past that was as scandalous as it was mysterious. There were ruelling

moments of illicit affairs and illegitimate child. The very fact that she was 10 years

older than Raffles would have been enough to have started tongue swagging.

There was a story circulating in East India House that she was actually the mistress of

Raffles boss William Ramsey and that Raffles had received his stunning promotion as a reward

for taking her off his hands.

Olivia may have had a colourful past but Raffles was utterly bewitched by her beauty.

It was natural that I should secure one bosom friend, one companion on my journey who would

sues the adverse ballast of misfortune and glad in the sunshine of prosperity.

Raffles in Olivia were married at this altar in St George's Church, Bloomsbury.

A month later they set sail for a new life in the East. For both of them it was a fresh

start, the chance of a new beginning. The future was theirs for the taking and they were determined

to grab it with both hands.

I'm leaving London to follow Raffles in Olivia to their first posting in Southeast Asia.

And I...

Founded in 1786 by Sir Francis Light, this settlement was an important port on the maritime trade

route between India and China.

My family is from Singapore.

After six gruelling months at sea, Raffles in Olivia finally arrived in Penang. The office

of Assistant Secretary was only a moderate position in the EIC hierarchy but it was all

that Raffles needed to prove his talent to the honourable company and also his phenomenal

capacity for hard work.

MOGERS LANGDUN is an expert on Penang history and my guides are Raffles early years on the island.

Well, he must have been over-award to Raffles that was a totally new experience. I can imagine

him standing on the deck there in his heavy East India company uniform sweating profusely,

waiting for the Tonkungs to take them to shore.

Raffles was paid his $500 a month in Spanish dollars.

So $500 a month? What was he doing to get paid that money?

Well, he was actually appointed as the Assistant Secretary to the government. But soon after

his arrival, the secretary became ill and Raffles took on his responsibilities as well. So in

the Gills Raffles style, he tended to show the war responsibility that he was appointed for.

Churning out hundreds of letters, he carefully developed close relations with Malay nobles.

Young scribe, when she had Dulla, noticed Olivia was always by Raffles' side.

It was her character and industry that fitted her to do her husband's work and be his helper.

For Ola, he had joined together the pair of them of one mind, like a ruler and his minister,

like a ring and a jewel set in, like sugar in milk.

Day to day life in George term was limited. But Raffles and Olivia enjoyed a merry-go-round

of alcohol-filled dinners and dances.

So social life, what did they do for fun?

There'd be a lot of food. The table would be spread with multiple numbers of dishes.

There'd be an awful lot of alcohol consumed and quite often dancing through until dawn.

And Raffles and Olivia, how were they received? Were they well liked?

Yes, I think they were quite popular. They were both very intelligent and good company.

Of course, Olivia had a dark past. She had an illegitimate child.

And rumor and gossip followed her.

At this time, Raffles and Olivia made friends with the Scottish poet and linguist John Layden.

Layden stayed with them whilst recovering from an illness and formed an intense bond with the couple.

And so began this extraordinary friendship between Layden, Raffles and Olivia.

Layden, the brilliant scholar, a poet, a man of science.

Raffles, a man with a voracious appetite for knowledge, understanding the world he was living in.

Olivia, a lively intelligence who was more than a match for both of them.

Certainly, Layden was smitten by her and she was equally enthralled by him.

In the steamy confines of Penang, this intellectual menor-jatoire flourished.

Raffles, for his part, seems to have been quite happy to have indulged this blossoming love affair between Layden and Olivia.

And it was a love affair. You can tell from the letters they exchanged and the poems that they wrote each other.

Raffles was delighted by the fact that Layden thought his wife was so wonderful.

Layden wrote this mass of purple pions to Olivia and celebrated Raffles, and it was a great loving.

Raffles was utterly besotted with Layden. Layden was utterly besotted with Olivia.

For Raffles, he found a kindred scholarly spirit in Layden.

So Raffles himself looked upon Layden as a mentor.

And as Layden studied the Malay language, his Layden translated a book which came to be known as the Malay Annals.

Raffles saw this as almost a guide, as someone he could follow in his activities.

He had long conversations about matters relating to oriental subjects.

Layden and Raffles both were convinced that Britain needed to start an imperial project in this part of the world beyond continental India.

Layden recovered from his illness and returned to the EIC's capital Calcutta.

It was here that Layden brought Raffles to the attention of a powerful man who had changed both their destinies.

Lord Minto, Governor General of Bengal. Together with Lord Minto and Layden, Raffles hatched the most daring plan of his career, the British Invasion of Java.

We would see Raffles reach new heights of power and influence, but a gathering storm of bloody battles, scandal and corruption was looming on the horizon.

Raffles had a vision of expanding British influence in Southeast Asia, but he needed a mentor to make this dream a reality.

Raffles took a trip to Calcutta, a close friend John Layden introduced him to Lord Minto.

As Governor General of Bengal, Lord Minto was the most powerful man in Asia.

A charismatic Scot, he was deeply impressed by Raffles' understanding of the Malay world and the two men hit it off instantly.

And one thing they had in common was that they both had plans for Java.

Java was the jewel and the crown of the Dutch East Indies, but the French had overrun the Netherlands, placing Java in the hands of Napoleon.

The British were concerned that the French and their arch-enemies would use the island to expand their power base in Asia.

Raffles argued that there were rich commercial opportunities in Java, but first the island had to be taken by force.

And he persuaded Minto that he had the knowledge, that he knew the people on the ground, that he had the connections to make this possible.

Minto promoted Raffles and Hina Livia left Penang for the ancient port city of Malacca.

From this moment all my views, all my plans and all my mind were devoted to create such an interest regarding Java, as should lead to its annexation to our Eastern Empire.

When Raffles was based in Malacca, he was explicitly asked to send letters and emissaries to surrounding Malay rulers of the Straits of Malacca,

to gauge their response for support for the British invasion of Java.

Now the protege of Minto, the move to Malacca was another major advance in Raffles career. He was styled Secretities of the Governor General, no less, but there was actually a bit of a smoke screen for what he was really up to in Malacca, which was a kind of cloak and dagger operation to prepare for the invasion of Java.

By travels bringing to Java and the city of Jakarta, known to the Dutch as Batavia.

The British task force set sail from Malacca in June 1811. It must have been a really extraordinary moment for Raffles. He virtually masterminded the invasion of Java single-handedly.

Now the fleet was at sea and there was no turning back.

On the way to Java, the fleet passed Singapore. This was the first time Raffles saw this untamed island.

It was a place that he would never forget.

After landing, the British forces seized Batavia, but faced tough resistance from French and Dutch defenders beyond the city.

Raffles military commander, Colonel Robert Rolo Gillespie, headed the attacks.

Gillespie was a daring Anglo-Irish aristocrat who led his troops from the front.

The engagement was ferocious. A thousand dead, 5,000 taken prisoner. The rivers ran with blood.

The invasion of Java was a military success, but Minto and Raffles had disobeyed their orders.

The EIC and the British government had one plan and Raffles and Minto had another.

The directions from the EIC was actually very clear. They were simply interested in getting rid of the French and Dutch in Java.

So their directions to Minto and Raffles was actually go and expel the enemies from the seas and then give it back to the native princes and people.

Raffles, however, had a very different idea. He actually wrote that it is his wish, his mission and all of his work was so that Java could be annexed to the British Empire.

Raffles was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Java. It was another stunning promotion.

Raffles career is quite unique in terms of really the levels that he achieves as Governor in Java.

It took a particular degree of energy and commitment and a degree of luck as well I would suggest to really to derive so stratospherically.

Raffles was now the most powerful man on an island full of promise.

Then as now, Jakarta, Batavia acted like a giant magnet attracting people from across the archipelago.

They all came here to trade, do business, exchange ideas. It was the happening place.

Raffles recognized this and he saw it as a golden opportunity.

But his vision of a new Java had a disaster start.

Raffles had dreamed of ruling Java with his great friend John Layden, but tragedy struck Layden suddenly fell ill and within a couple of days he was dead.

Raffles was devastated and Olivia broken hearted.

John Layden's death was a stark reminder of the constant dangers of living in Batavia.

Batavia was overcrowded and polluted.

The biggest problem was the network of Dutch style canals which brought disease into the heart of the city.

The canals filled up with rubbish and became sinking, fetid, stagnant waterways.

The most perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The Dutch had unwittingly unleashed a malarial death trap.

In search of a healthier climate, raffles and Olivia escaped to their official residence at Witten's Hall, known today as Bogor.

It was the perfect paradise to rule over Java.

Raffles ran Java from Witten's Orb, a bit like an English country squire, managing his estates.

Life up here was very different to Batavia and raffles and Olivia they like to entertain a lot, so the house was always full of guests.

It was a very glamorous existence and for a brief moment in their lives, raffles and Olivia had it all.

With ultimate power in Java, raffles imposed his vision for change. He banned gambling and abolished slavery.

Gaming and cock fighting and slavery were the principal evils which required a remedy, distasteful and repugnant to the British character and government.

Raffles also tried to restrict the important sale of opium.

Opium has extended its malignant influence to the morals of the people and is degrading their character.

As long as the European government shall allow a paltry addition to their finances to outweigh all regard to the ultimate happiness and prosperity of the country.

He was played by the rules if it suited him and when it didn't quite suit him, if he thought that he had a higher purpose, he would deviate from the rules.

In his mind, there were some very clear things that were of higher purpose than company regulation.

The East India Company of course had no interest in absolutely any of this. They just wanted raffles to make money.

And this was something that he singularly failed to do.

As raffles imposed his ideals on the island, past decisions came back to haunt him.

Before the invasion of Java, raffles had sent out letters to all the local princes urging them to rise up against their Dutch overlords.

The news was received that the Sultan of Glembal had massacred the entire Dutch residency there, including women and children.

Raffles was accused of having instigated their murder.

From the dawn of raffles's letters, it was very clear he was trying to incite some kind of panic and a reaction in the Palimbang Sultan.

They were put in the ship, taking down the river and murdered and thrown out into the sea.

Once word of this then reached Java, reached raffles, a great sense of manufactured outrage was cooked up.

Raffles sent Gillespie and a fleet to Palimbang up the Moosey River.

The Sultan was unseated, a puppet Sultan was established.

Resistance to British rule was growing, especially at the sacred royal palace of Jogjakarta.

It was here in the Craton at Jogja that raffles came head to head with the local rulers of Java.

They'd seen the arrival of the British as an opportunity to regain their authority.

But his plans for Java required the absolute subjugation of all the people, and that included the local princes.

The Sultan of Jogja wasn't having any of this. He refused absolutely to sign any treaty with the British.

So raffles sent in the troops.

For the defenders it was a terrifying moment. You can just imagine the scene.

Buildings are blaze, dead bodies strewn everywhere, and these madmen rushing here and there.

The fierce faces, blazing eyes, uttering blood curdling war cries. It was mayhem.

The British forces spat out of control unleashing chaos and destruction.

Glessby's men, sea-poise of British soldiers alike, went on a wild looting spree, helping themselves to the palace treasures, the sacred heirlooms of the royal house of Jogja.

The blow, which has been struck at Jogjakarta, has afforded so decisive approval to the native inhabitants of Java of the strength and determination of the British government.

He ordered this attack to teach them a lesson. And this was just a world-chattering event for the Japanese aristocracy. Nothing like this had happened before. It was profoundly humiliating.

What raffles have basically done was say that you native rulers of Asia no longer have a choice. You must cooperate with the ECN company. You must give us what we want.

It was a tremendously powerful statement, and it sent out a dire warning to any other local prince who might dare to oppose him. Don't mess with raffles.

British supremacy was stamped across Java, but conflict and personal tragedy would push raffles to breaking point.

And it's not a way to do it.

Raffles was one of the most powerful men in Southeast Asia, but Java was not the goalmind he promised the EIC.

The dwindling market for Javanese coffee and spices collapsed, and the country went broke.

As Java slipped into ever greater debt, raffles found relief by making a study of the island's rich and ancient history.

The central Javan plain was literally started with ruined temples, and everywhere there was evidence of a golden age in Javanese history.

A classical world to rival that of ancient Greece.

Raffles' passion for the past flourished as he immersed himself in Java's rich cultural heritage.

For centuries, the temple of Barobador lay hidden under a green mantle.

Dating from the 9th century, Barobador stands as the largest Buddhist monument in the world.

Raffles is credited for discovering the temple, but it was perfectly well known to the Javanese.

Covered by trees for hundreds of years, the site remained a buried treasure.

If anyone deserves credit for having rediscovered Barobador, it's actually Colonel Mackenzie of the Madras Engineers.

When he came across Barobador in early 1812, he immediately understood the historical importance of the temple, and straight away sent word to raffles.

Raffles' genius was that he understood the necessity of making a proper, thorough, scientific study of the site,

and it is for this reason that he is recognized as the father of Javanese archaeology.

Raffles was very clever, man. He used his power to employ his servant to collect all of the material all around Indonesia.

So overall, how important is Raffles in relation to Javanese history and culture?

There's an amazing appreciation from the public. People are more aware about his contribution in the past.

Raffles are very important.

Look at what his legacy is now.

What he collected and what he compiled from all over Indonesia in terms of Montreal culture now become useful,

and even now many scholars rely on his legacy.

Raffles, his time in Java, became an entrancing exploration into the island's ancient past.

He studied Javanese culture and spent his time collecting manuscripts, sculptures, textiles, chrisas and musical instruments.

Today the British Museum is home to the Raffles collection. When first displayed in 19th century London,

these Javanese artifacts caused a sensation.

Raffles was a completely unrepentant imperialist.

So the whole point of collecting this material from Java was to show that Java was one of the great civilizations of the world,

entirely on a par with ancient Greece and Rome, and therefore deserved the ultimate accolade,

which was being permanently incorporated into the British Empire.

So all this stuff was collected very, very purposefully.

On a personal basis, how does all this endeavour reflect on the man?

Everywhere he saw his job and the company's job as to increase civilization.

So that's really the mission that he saw himself engaged in,

and unlike many people at that time, he never thought that civilization had to have a white face.

Back in Java, the treasury was empty, and to save money, Raffles returned British soldiers to India.

The head of the military, Colonel Gillespie, was enraged.

There was no love lost between the two men.

Gillespie was this dashing man of action, a man who was as famous for his conquests in the bed chamber,

as he was for his acts of reckless heroism on the field of battle.

Raffles was an ideas man, an idealist in a feat pen pusher in the estimation of Gillespie.

The tension between soldier and civilian was poisonous.

It got to the point where anything Gillespie wanted, Raffles would deny it, anything that Raffles proposed.

Gillespie would raise complaints against, it was a phenomenal mess, it was a catastrophe.

Gillespie was replaced as military commander and returned to Calcutta.

Fair, he accused Raffles of dishonesty, greed and corruption.

The most serious charge levelled against Raffles had to do with his sale of state land.

Officially, he had no right to permanently dispose of state land in this way.

Not only that, but he'd actually participated in the auction himself.

And so had his friends, they too had profited.

The whole setup, leaked of cronyism, and Raffles looked like a man caught with his hand in the till.

Raffles started to engulf Raffles. His mentor, Lord Minto, retired but soon caught a fever and died.

Raffles had lost his greatest supporter.

His beloved Olivia was also consumed by illness.

A few weeks later, she fell into a terrible fever and passed away.

Her body was brought down to Vitavia, where she was buried in great pomp and circumstance, and a huge public outpouring of grief.

It must have been a very poignant moment for Raffles to see his beloved wife laid to rest beside his great friend, John Layden.

For Layden, well, of course Olivia had been the love of his life.

For Olivia, she was at least lying beside a man who had loved her every bit as much as her husband.

They were at least united in death.

For Raffles, with Olivia's passing, he was left utterly alone.

Raffles was returned to the world.

Times were changing in Europe, and Napoleon was finally defeated.

It was at this moment that Raffles's own world was turned upside down.

Raffles was recalled. Raffles, in fact, was sucked from Java, you could say, recalled to London.

By the end of 1815, the Javanese economy was in dire straits.

As far as the East India Company was concerned, the island had been oversold and under-delivered by Raffles.

And with the final defeat of Napoleon, they were very happy to return Java to the Dutch.

Having to surrender Java back to the Dutch was such a bitter experience for him, because he genuinely believed that the East India Company, the British East India Company, had done a much better job of governing Java in six years than the Dutch East India Company had done for a century.

With Java, Raffles experienced a heady rush of absolute power, the tragic loss of his wife and best friend, and he was charged with misconduct by his employers.

Raffles, standing with the East India Company, was at rock bottom.

The brilliance of his early career now tarnished by suspicions of corruption and incompetence.

It was time for Raffles to go back to London and clear his name.

My character, my future happiness, require my presence in England. For here, I am a lonely man, like wondered as long since been dead.

Raffles returned home under a cloud, but he would stage an astonishing comeback.

Nighted by royalty and lionised by London society, his journey would take him back across the oceans to the jungles of Sumatra, and to the island of Singapore and his destiny.