Kallang River
When Raffles arrived in Singapore, there were already thousands of indigenous Malays living there. The waters of Telok Blangah, the Kallang River and other rivers had been home to the Orang Laut or "Sea Nomads" for a very long time. There were also Malay settlements along the Kallang River Basin and the Singapore River. Turnbull reported that there was an estimated 1,000 people living in Singapore. There were about 500 Orang Kallang, 200 Orang Seletar, 150 Orang Gelam, 100 Orang Lauts, 20–30 Malays who were the followers of Temenggong Abdul Rahman.