 Despite Singapore 's growing importance , the administration governing the island was understaffed , ineffectual and unconcerned with the welfare of the populace . Administrators were usually posted from India and were unfamiliar with local culture and languages . While the population had quadrupled during 1830 to 1867 , the size of the civil service in Singapore had remained unchanged . Most people had no access to public health services and diseases such as cholera and smallpox caused severe health problems , especially in overcrowded working @-@ class areas . As a result of the administration 's ineffectiveness and the predominantly male , transient , and uneducated nature of the population , the society was lawless and chaotic . In 1850 there were only twelve police officers in the city of nearly 60 @,@ 000 people . Prostitution , gambling , and drug abuse ( particularly of opium ) were widespread . Chinese criminal secret societies ( analogous to modern @-@ day triads ) were extremely powerful , and some had tens of thousands of members . Turf wars between rival societies occasionally led to hundreds of deaths and attempts to suppress them had limited success . 
