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The Republic of Singapore (Chinese
新加坡共和国, Xīnjīapō Gònghéguó; Malay Republik Singapura; Tamil
சிங்கப்பூர்
குடியரசு, Cingkappūr Kudiyarasu), is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, at latitude
1°17'35"N longitude 103°51'20"E, situated on the southern tip of Malay
Peninsula, south of the state of Johor of Peninsular Malaysia and north of the Indonesian islands
of Riau.
History
Main article: History of Singapore
Singapore's history dates at least as far back as the 14th century. At that time, it emerged as Temasek, a port and fortified city of some importance. It was part of the Sri Vijaya Empire based in Sumatra, which was undergoing a
protracted period of decline. While the written historical records of the Malays (the 'Sejarah Melayu', or Malay Annals) tend to
exaggerate claims of the city's greatness, recent archaeological evidence does point to an urban settlement and trading centre of
some importance. Following the decline of Sri Vijayan power, Temasek was claimed by rival emerging regional powers such as the
Majapahit Empire in Java and the Ayuthia Kingdom in Thailand. The city's fortifications allowed it to withstand at least one attempted Thai invasion. Around this
time, at start of the 15th century, Temasek was also renamed 'Singapura', which means 'Lion City' in Sanskrit. The modern city of Singapore was founded in 1819 by Sir
Thomas Stamford Raffles as a British trading settlement. For most parts of the 19th and 20th century, Singapore was a British colony, part of the Straits Settlement together with Penang and Malacca. The British surrendered Singapore to Japan in 1942 during World War II, and it
was returned to British administration in 1945. Self-government was
granted by the British in 1959. In 1963, Singapore
joined Malaysia but separated from it in 1965
and was re-instituted as an independent republic. It has subsequently become one of
the world's most prosperous countries, with strong international trading links (its port is one
of the world's busiest) and with per capita GDP above
that of the leading nations of Western Europe. During the early years, it was led by prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, whose policies were responsible for Singapore's prosperity and authoritarianism.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Singapore
Singapore has a Westminster-style constitution. There is an appointed figurehead president, with true executive power resting with the
prime minister who leads the majority party in the elected parliament.
In practice, politics is dominated by the People's
Action Party which has ruled since Independence. Over the years the PAP has instituted several harsh laws that discourage and
impede the creation and success of effective opposition parties. The mode of government is perhaps closer to authoritarianism than true democracy. Paradoxically (for political scientists), Singapore has a highly successful, corruption-free, and transparent market economy.Singapore is officially known as a Socialist Democracy.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Singapore
Singapore enjoys a highly developed and successful free-market economy, characterised by a remarkably open and corruption-free
environment, stable prices, and one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and
manufacturing, and was hard hit in 2001 by the global recession and the slump in the
technology sector. In 2001, GDP contracted by 2.2%. The economy is expected to recover in 2002 in response to improvements in the US economy, and GDP growth for 2002 is projected to be 3% to 4%. In the longer
term the government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle than the
current export-led model, but is unlikely to abandon efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech
hub.
The Economic Review Committee (ERC), set up in December 2001, made key recommendations to remake Singapore into:
- a globalised economy where Singapore is the key node in the global network, linked to all the major economies;
- a creative and entrepreneurial nation willing to take risks to create fresh businesses and blaze new paths to success;
and
- a diversified economy powered by the twin engines of manufacturing and services, where vibrant Singapore companies complement
MNCs, and new startups co-exist with traditional businesses exploiting new and innovative ideas.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Singapore
Singapore's main territory is a diamond-shaped piece of land that would be an island, if it was not connected to the city of Johor Bahru in
the state of Johor (Malaysia) by a man-made
causeway to the north. This causeway is set to be replaced through the
construction of a new bridge to Johor Bahru. There is also a second link in the form of a bridge to Johor to the west in the Tuas
area. Singapore also has dozens of smaller islands, of which Jurong
Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest. Since Singapore basically
consists of only one city, there are no further administrative divisions.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of
Singapore
Apart from the much smaller Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated
independent country in the world. 85% of the population live in public
housing provided by the Housing and
Development Board (HDB). Source: Dept of Statistics
Singapore's population is diverse. Chinese account for 76.8% of the
population, Malays 13.9% who were the indigenous or native group of the
country. Indians are the third largest ethnic group at 7.9%. Source: Singapore Department of Statistics
Census 2000 .
The official languages are English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Malay is also Singapore's national language but this is largely
symbolic, being the language of the national anthem. The ruling
PAP (People's Action Party) has preferred to promote
English as the country's lingua franca, with Malay being confined largely to its native speakers, with relatively few of
the majority Chinese and Indian Singaporeans speaking it.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Singapore
Since Singapore is a small and relatively modern amalgam of Chinese, Malay and Indian settlers, there appears little in the way of specifically Singaporean culture. In an entirely unique fashion,
the various ethnic groups continue to celebrate their own cultures. It is probably the only place in the world where you can find
a Malay Wedding taking place beside a Chinese wedding at a void deck, for
example. The major holidays reflect how the local culture celebrate this diversity. Unlike many other multi-cultural societies,
major public holidays include the Georgian Calendar New Year, Chinese
New Year, Hari Raya Haji and Deepavali.
Laws
Laws are often strict (there is a saying "Singapore is a 'fine' country", where the "fine" is of the monetary
kind):
- The sale of chewing gum was forbidden for 12 years until May of 2004.
However, those that buy chewing gum must show their ID and give their name. If the pharmacist that sells the gum does not take
the name of the buyer, they face a $3,000 fine.
- Heavy fines and community service are levied on people who litter or discard items in public areas.
- Car ownership is curbed through a government scheme in which car owners
must bid for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE).
- Eating and drinking on buses and metro trains (also known as the Mass Rapid Transit system) also carries heavy fines.
- Vandalism and graffiti are punishable by mandatory caning.
- There is tough (by western standards) censorship:
- Some foreign newspapers and magazines, such as the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic
Review have had their circulation or sale restricted. Malaysian newspapers are not allowed to be sold in Singapore (and
vice versa)
- pornography is not allowed; depiction of sex and nudity is restricted,
e.g. Playboy and certain other 'adult' magazines such as Cosmopolitan Magazine are not allowed. Sex and nudity, if
allowed at all, must be relevant to the context; movies containing nudity, sex or high levels of violence are usually categorised
as Mature 18 (M18).
- It is of note that the government has shown some interest in laxing these standards, and has in recent times introduced a new
movie category allowing 18-year-olds to view more mature content (M18).
- Private ownership of satellite dishes is banned, and
international TV broadcasts (such as CNN, BBC, etc) can
only be received by cable.
- Certain political material is not allowed.
- Material which may disturb religious and racial harmony is not allowed.
- Narcotics laws are very strict.
- Anyone caught with more than or equal to 13-14 g (0.5 ounces) of heroin, 28 g (1
ounce) of morphine or 480 g (17 ounces) of cannabis faces mandatory capital punishment.
From 1991-2004, 400 people have been hanged in Singapore, mostly for drug trafficking, the highest execution rate in the world
relative to population. See Singapore Government's response to its capital punishment.
- Sex deemed by the Government to be "against the order of nature", including oral sex and homosexual penetration, is illegal.
In 2003, the Censorship Review Committee recommended that the ban on Cosmopolitan Magazine be lifted but that the one
on Playboy be continued because the Singaporean community is not ready for Playboy's liberal use of sexually explicit
photographs.
In recent years, the Singaporean government relaxed some of the stricter laws. For example, bungy jumping is no longer
illegal. Film censorship has also been relaxed. There are also signs that the government is considering relaxing a number of laws
concerning sex.
It is of note that while some strict (and to the point of being ludicrous) laws exist in theory, the government (usually) does
not deliberately enforce these laws. For instance, while possession of pornography is illegal, no known checks have been made.
Neither has the government tried to enforce a rule stating that oral sex be performed only as a precursor to sexual
intercourse.
Capital punishment
The Singapore government has released figures giving a breakdown of the
numbers of executions that have taken place over the past five years. Executions by hanging occur every Friday morning in Changi prison;
relatives are informed of the date of the execution four days before it is scheduled to take place, seven to fourteen days
beforehand in the case of foreigners as is detailed in the Singapore government's response to Amnesty International on the
subject.
Trivia
- Traffic drives on the left.
- Officially, the English used is modelled on British English (spelling and grammar), though some American English vocabulary and other influences are present. (As an
example, British newspapers have "sport pages" while they are called "sports pages" locally.) The local version of English,
Singlish, a combination of English with Hokkien accents and a smattering of words
from other local languages, is popular, but frowned upon in official contexts.
- Date format: DD/MM/YYYY
- Postal code: 6 digits.
- Telephone prefixes: 6xxx-xxxx land lines; 8xxx-xxxx (from April 2004) and
9xxx-xxxx mobile lines.
- System of units: SI (Metric)
- Voltage: 220-240V, 50 Hz; Power connector: 3-pin rectangular (British)
Miscellaneous topics
Reference
- This article incorporates public domain text from the CIA
World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
External links
Panorama of Singapore from Boat Quay
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