a
reference to the Straits Settlements, a former British
colony located on the
Strait of Malacca in Southeast
Asia. The Straits Settlements were established in 1826 and consisted of the southern and western
Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands, including
Singapore.
Singapore became a separate
colony in 1946 (and an
independent country in 1965), and the remaining areas came under Australian and Malaysian
control in the 1950s.
a former British
colony in southeastern
Asia.