Francis Light
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Thirty-eight years, three negotiations, three islands—the British didn't fight their way in; they talked their way in
From 1786 to 1824, the British took thirty-eight years to negotiate their way into three islands: Penang, Malacca, and Singapore. Every time, the entry ticket was the same—a Malay ruler needed foreign assistance, the British offered a promise on paper, and then didn't deliver, or delivered in a way that differed from what that ruler had understood. Thirty-eight years later, a treaty was signed in London, dividing this sea in two. Neither of the two signing parties was from here.