199 years ago today, July 5, 1826 (June 1, 1826 in the lunar calendar), British politician Stanford Raffles passed away. British politician Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles was born on July 6, 1781 and died on July 5, 1826. At the age of 14, he joined London to work for the British East India Company, a semi-official company responsible for British colonial activities in the Far East. In 1805, he was sent by the company to present-day Penang, Malaysia, and his friendship with Southeast Asia began. He was an important politician during the British colonial period. His main contributions include establishing Singapore as an international port between Europe and Asia. In 1815, Britain returned Java to the Netherlands, and in exchange for Sumatra, Raffles returned to Britain; in 1818, he came to Sumatra again and established a free trade port on a small island at the southern tip of the Malayan Peninsula, today's Singapore. On the same day, he announced that the East India Company had obtained the right to govern Singapore from the Sultan, but in fact the right to govern was not completely legal: the legitimate Sultan at that time did not agree to Raffles 'demands, and Raffles acquired Singapore after overthrowing the Sultan and appointing the Sultan's brother as the nominal ruler. Raffles became Governor General of Singapore until he left office in 1823 and returned to London. He was the first chairman of the Zoological Society of London and was knighted in 1817. In Singapore, his name has been passed down, and today's top universities in Singapore, Raffles College, Raffles Girls 'High School and Raffles Junior College are named after him. In addition, Raffles Hotel is one of the best five-star hotels in Singapore. Other places named after him include Raffles Place Subway Station, Stanford Road, Raffles City, etc. A real estate project invested by Temasek Holdings in Shanghai was also named "Raffles Plaza".