William George Stirling, the Assistant Protector of Chinese in Singapore between 1921 to 1931 amassed a group of secret societies’ artefacts leading to the formation of a collection bearing his namesake. Many of the items were seized during the implementation of the 1889 Societies Ordinance, reproduced by Stirling as research materials or handed down by William Pickering, the first Chinese Protector.The scroll was usually kept by the Master of the secret society and read out to new initiates. The oaths are meant to be read from top to bottom and from right to left.
