 After Singapore was founded in 1819 , she was under the jurisdiction of British rule . For a long time , representative democracy was non @-@ existent . In 1920 , a select committee which was established to reform the Legislative Council argued that Singapore was not ready for democratic ideas – to allow people to elect members into the Legislative Council might result in giving the " professional politician the opportunity of obtaining power by playing on religious and social prejudices " . Even though the Council lacked popular representation of the locals , the population was generally satisfied with the system and the policies of the Governor of the Straits Settlements were influenced by opinions expressed by the public and in the press . 
