Zhonghua Secondary School

Secondary 1 Express

Historical Investigation
Topic:
Unit 1 Chapter 2: What can historical evidence tell
us about Singapores connections with the world up
to the 19th century?

Inquiry Question:
Why were pirates drawn to
Singapore from the 13th to 19th
century?
Research Sites:
The Internet & The
Maritime Experiential Museum
This Booklet Belongs to:
Name
Class:

What is Historical Investigation (HI)?

Introduction

HI inquiry is a cyclical process that begins with the asking of guiding historical
questions. This is followed by locating and analyzing historical sources to
establish historical evidence. The historical evidence is then used to construct
historical interpretations that seek to answer the guiding historical question.

Students will examine and understand the HI question. Plan their steps to answer
the question by gathering, selecting and examining resources and constructing
their responses to the HI question, as well as to communicate their findings.

Why were pirates drawn to Singapore

from the 13th to 19th century?
Singapore functioned as an important port of call in the region during the 13 th to 19th
century when Maritime trade was in its heyday. Besides traders journeying the seas to
conduct their commercial activities, the shores beyond Singapore was also rife with the
problem of pirates who lurked in wait for their victim.
Piracy also remains a modern problem in some regions of the world. Somalia has been
notorious for pirates attacking and stealing from commercial vessels. Recently, Pirates
had seized a commercial ship on 19 Jan 2014 in its first successful hijack since the last in
2012. The United Nations has been helping to patrol the Somali waters in an effort to curb
the activities of these pirates.
In this HI, imagine that your Dad has been selected as a naval officer to help in the UN
mission to patrol the shores of Somalia. History would prove invaluable to him, as it is a
fact that Singapore had once been a haven for pirates. You wish to help your dad by
delving into the past and finding out why pirates were drawn to early Singapore and why
they survived till the 19th century. Your end products will therefore shed some light on
piracy and pirates to your dad so that he can use this knowledge in his dealings with the
Somalian pirates.

What are the aims of this Historical Investigation?

The aims of this HI is for you to:
Acquire knowledge and be able to explain the issue of piracy around Singapore from
the 13th to 19th century
Apply historical skills in selecting and analyzing relevant sources/artefacts to answer
the inquiry question.
Work collaboratively in groups to produce an end product related to the inquiry
question.

Stage 1: In order to answer the Inquiry question, you would need

to ask more questions. Generate the guiding questions you think
are required to answer the inquiry question :

Stages 2-3: To answer the Inquiry question, you will engage in

some online research as well as field work at the Maritime
Experiential Museum to gather sources as evidence.
Websites that may be useful for your research:
1) Singapore & Piracy
http://kweeboon.blogspot.sg/2007/04/pirates-of-singapore.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_history_of_Singapore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_in_the_Strait_of_Malacca
http://blog.nus.edu.sg/seanews/2013/11/11/review-of-singapore-the-silk-road-of-the-sea1300-1800-by-asad-latif-for-the-straits-times/
http://www.worldoftemasek.com/index.php/article/organization
2) History of Piracy
http://pirateshipwrecks.com/history_of_piracy
http://www.geni.com/projects/Pirates-and-Privateers/978
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates
3) Piracy in the past and present Methods used
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/general-studies/piracy-at-sea-past-and-present.php
4) List of Pirates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pirates#Decline_of_Piracy:_1730-1900
5) Famous Asian Pirates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cai_Qian
6) Malay Pirates
http://www.sabrizain.org/malaya/straits5.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuanku_Abbas
7) Female Asian Pirates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng_Yi_Sao
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_piracy#19th_Century_Pirates
8) Youtube Videos of Piracy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3IF2hSUkRo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrFf1rp4cA0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9p1kO3fu1k

Maritime Experiential Museum

4

You will be viewing displays such as:

Maritime Silk Trade Route
Maritime Artefacts from Ship wreckages
Admiral Zheng Hes maritime journey
You will also be experiencing a 60min
workshop on handling and learning from
Maritime Artefacts.

More about this Museum:

An innovative, interactive and multisensorial museum, The Maritime
Experiential Museum is the only
museum in Singapore where visitors
can experience Asias rich maritime
history and discover Singapores past as
a trading port. This trip back in time
begins along the ancient Maritime Silk
Route, which recreates the sights,
sounds and scents of the bustling
bazaars and where you can interact with
the exhibits. See a fascinating trove of
precious artefacts from the Bakau
shipwreck and Temasek archaeological
site that can be found at the Maritime
Archaeology Gallery. View life-sized ship
replicas of Asian sailing vessels from the
docks at the Historic Ship Harbour, and
learn more about Asias maritime and
cultural heritage.

Stages 4-5: After examining the sources you gathered from the
previous stages, you will start to create your individual and group
end products to answer the inquiry question.
At the end of the Historical Investigation, you should submit the
following:
1.

Individual Contribution
(Annex A)

1) Analysis of 4 sources selected by

you, which are relevant to the
inquiry question.

15 marks

2) A Mini Essay based on your

source analysis answering the HI
question Why were pirates
drawn to Singapore from the 13th
to 19th century?

2.

Group End-Product
(Annex B)

Word Limit: Min 300 words

Max 500 word
(Arial Font 12)
A Pirates Treasure Chest containing
items that are associated with the
inquiry. Each item should come with a
small note explaining how the item
helps you understand why pirates
were drawn to Singapore in the 13th
-19th century.

15 marks

Note: These items can be real

objects or handcrafted items.
Examples of such items include
valuable items that pirates were
looking for during that period,
weapons that pirates used, vessels
used by pirates to navigate etc.
Minimum: 8 items

Stage 6: Submission of Individual and Group End Product

Submission Date
29th August 2015, Monday by 5pm

Key Instructions for the Individual task

6

1. Refer to Annex A for an example of a template you may use for your source
analysis. You need to analyze a minimum of 4 sources but you may exceed this
number if you have more relevant sources.

Key Instructions for Group tasks

1. Your Group should consist of 4 members.
2. Collect or create items related to piracy around Singapore in the 13 th to 19th century.
These may be authentic/real items or created/fictional items.
Examples of Real items:
- Trade Items coveted by Pirates
Examples of fictional items:
- Fictional diary account of a pirate
- A miniature of weapons used by pirates
- A miniature pirate vessel
- Maps revealing strategic areas for pirates to navigate
3. The above items need to be placed in a small box which can be fashioned to
resemble a treasure chest.
4. Each item needs to be listed and described and an explanation should be provided
on how the item helps you to understand why pirates were drawn to Singapore in
the 13th to 19th century. You may use the template in Annex B as a guide.

Part of Academic Honesty and Integrity is the proper acknowledgement of your

sources. Below are ways to cite for written sources and artefacts:
Written sources:

Artefacts:

When the British arrived in Singapore in 1819, a

spring of water gushed from the slope of the
Forbidden Hill (now known as Fort Canning Hill)
overlooking the Singapore River. According to Munshi
Abdullah, the Temenggong, who was then the chief of
Singapore, had told William Farquhar that the spring
was the bathing place of princesses of ancient
Singapore.
Account by Wang Dayuan, a Chinese Explorer from
1349, taken from the HistorySg website:
http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/61d49d33
-d5cd-48fc-b91b-652ca64e87c4

Octagonal footed gold cup from the

Belitung Shipwreck, displayed in the Arts
Science Museum

Assessment Rubrics for Individual Product (15 marks)

Comprehend and
Select information
which is relevant to the
HI question
Max: 4 m

Band 1
(4-5m)

Band 2
(3m)

Band 3
(2m)

All the information

identified is
relevant evidence
for helping to
answer the HI
question.

Most of the
information
identified is
relevant evidence
for helping to
answer the HI
question.

Made some efforts

to ensure that
information
identified is
relevant evidence
for helping to
answer the HI
question.

Able to make
varied inferences

Acknowledge use of
selected information
properly
Max: 3m

Analyze the
information and use
the evidence to
support the responses
to the HI question in a
mini essay.
Max: 8m

Band 4
(1m)

Band 1
(2m)
Properly
acknowledged all
or most of the
sources.

Able to make 2
different
inferences
Band 2
(1m)
Has not properly
acknowledged
the selected
information.

Band 1
(7-8m)
Inferences are
supported with
suitable evidence
from the sources

Band 2
(5-6m)
Inferences are
supported with
some evidence
from the sources

Band 3
(3-4m)
Inferences are not
backed with
relevant evidence
from the sources.

Is well able to
corroborate the
sources and use
inferences to
answer/explain
the HI question
with relevant
evidence.

Is able to
corroborate the
sources and use
inferences to
answer the HI
question with
relevant evidence

Is not able to
corroborate the
sources and does
not show how
inferences help to
answer the HI
relevantly.

Shown little a
at ensuring th
information
selected is re
to the HI que

No Inference
Same Inference
Band 3

Band 4

Band 4
(1-2m)
Sources are
paraphrased
response lac
inferences bu
mere listing o
source inform

Assessment Rubrics for Group Product (15 marks)

Band 1
(5m)

Band 2
(3-4m)

Band 3
(2m)

All items are

logically selected
to support the
inquiry question.

Most items are

logically selected
to support the
inquiry question.

Some items are

logically selected to
support the inquiry
question.

Items seem
randomly cho
with little
connection to
inquiry quest

Present clear
explanations on how
the items relate to the
inquiry question.
Max: 5m

Band 1
(5m)
Clear and
convincing
explanations
provided for all
items on their
relevance to the
inquiry question.

Band 2
(3-4m)
Mostly clear and
convincing
explanations
provided for most
items on their
relevance to the
inquiry question.

Band 3
(2m)
Attempts to make
convincing
explanation but
many items are not
explained well in
relation to the
inquiry question.

Band 4
(1m)
Little or no at
to explain the
relevance of
items to the i
question.

Creativity & Aesthetic

Appeal
Max: 5m

Band 1
(5m)
The end product
displays high
effort, creativity
and has great
visual appeal.

Band 2
(3-4m)
Generally, the
end product
displays effort,
creativity and has
visual appeal.

Band 3
(2m)
The end product is
not presented in an
organized manner
and lacks visual
appeal.

Band 4
(1m)
The end prod
messy and h
visual appeal

Show clear logic in the

selection of items.
Max: 5 m

Band 4
(1m)

Detach this Page and submit to your History Teacher

Forming your groups
Form a group comprising four members. This will help you plan and complete the historical
investigative tasks.
Number
1
2
3
4

Roles
Name of Member
Photographer
(Group Leader)
Our Group Plan.
Note-taker
Use this space to plan a time line for yourself of how and when you
Photographer
plan to accomplish the various tasks involved in your Historical
Investigation.
Note-taker
For example: Targets to be completed during the pre trip lessons and
post trip lessons.
Group leader to start a whatsapp group to facilitate
group discussions.
Delegation of tasks.
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________

For Teachers Use:

Group End Product Assessment
Logic
Explanation
10

for items
related to
inquiry
Aesthetic
Appeal
Total

Remarks

11