The Straits Times (Singapore)
September 19, 2009 Saturday

Singapore’s Armenian link

The woman who bred and lent her name to Singapore’s national flower,
the Vanda Miss Joaquim, was Armenian.

So were the founders of Raffles Hotel, the three Sarkies brothers. As
was one of the men who started The Straits Times, Catchick Moses.

Together with about 100 or so other Armenians who lived in Singapore
in the 1800s, they made contributions to the city that were
disproportionately large, considering the size of their community.

By 1821, just two years after Stamford Raffles founded Singapore,
Armenian trading firms had already established themselves here.

In 1835, the Armenian community built Singapore’s first church, the
Armenian Apostolic Church of St Gregory the Illuminator, which still
stands today.

At its peak, the community numbered more than 150, but numbers fell as
many emigrated after World War II. Today, fewer than 50 Armenians
remain, a mix of expatriates and locals.

A landlocked mountainous country in Caucasus, Armenia has a population
of just over three million, far outnumbered by the estimated eight to
10 million who live abroad.

Squeezed between Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, the country is
about 40 times the size of Singapore and has had a turbulent past.

From the 15th century to the 1900s, it was ruled by the Ottoman
Empire. The Soviet Union took over in 1922, and when that broke up in
1991, Armenia reclaimed its independence. Since then, it has moved to
liberalise its economy, the key drivers of which include agriculture
(18per cent) and construction (27per cent). It is looking at building
up new growth areas in IT, communications and tourism.

Armenia trades mainly with Europe, the Middle East and the former
Soviet states. Russia is its biggest trading partner.

LESLIE KOH