 In 1320 , the Mongol Empire sent a trade mission to a place called Long Ya Men ( or Dragon 's Tooth Strait ) , which is believed to be Keppel Harbour , at the southern part of the island . The Chinese traveler Wang Dayuan , visiting the island around 1330 , described a small settlement called Dan Ma Xi ( 淡马锡 , from Malay Tamasik ) with Malay and Chinese residents . The Nagarakretagama , a Javanese epic poem written in 1365 , also referred to a settlement on the island called Temasek ( Sea Town ) . Recent excavations in Fort Canning found evidence indicating that Singapore was an important port in the 14th century . Singapore is the oldest location where a Chinese community is known to exist outside China , as corroborated by both historical records and archaeological evidence . 
