This article surveys close to three centuries of references to Singapore and its adjacent straits in European printed materials between 1511 and 1819. It indicates that Singapore was visible to the reading public in Europe as a significant location for trade and navigation in southeastern Asia long before Thomas Stamford Raffles established a British settlement on the island. Besides categorizing these references, the article identifies thematic impressions of Singapore as a place of danger, geographical division and transition, antiquity, and concentration. The prevalence of these references suggests that British colonial scholarship after 1819 deliberately dismissed earlier accounts as part of an effort to legitimize Britain's imperial presence.

The following sections are included: Introduction, How then Does One Write History with a Purpose — The Purpose of Nation-building?, Pre-colonial Temasek-Singapura in the Insular Malay World: An Island Entrepôt, Raffles’ Pre-1819 Singapore as the Navel of the Malay Countries, Pre-colonial Cosmopolis and Hybridised Malays, Colonial Period Malay Engagement with Globalisation and European Modernity, Final Thoughts.

The following sections are included: Introduction, Traditional Narrative History through Folktales, Sang Nila Utama, Badang, The Nameless Boy in the Attack of the Swordfish, Relevance and Importance of Traditional Narratives in Modern Context, Bibliography.

The following sections are included: Part 1: Before 1819, Part 2: After 1819, Bibliography.