Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a
sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
and
city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
in
maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the
equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...
, off the southern tip of the
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
, bordering the
Strait of Malacca to the west, the
Singapore Strait to the south, the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
to the east, and the
Straits of Johor to the north. The country's territory is composed of one
main island,
63 satellite islands and islets, and
one outlying islet; the combined area of these has increased by 25% since the country's independence as a result of extensive
land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
projects. It has the
third highest population density in the world. With a multicultural population and recognising the need to respect cultural identities of the major ethnic groups within the nation, Singapore has four
official languages
An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
:
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
,
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, and
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
. English is the
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
and numerous
public service
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
s are available only in English.
Multiracialism
Multiracialism is a conceptual framework used to theorize and interpret identity formation in global multiracial populations. Multiracialism explores the tendency for multiracial individuals to identify with a third category of 'mixed-ness' as op ...
is enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape
national policies in education, housing, and politics.
Singapore's
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
dates back at least a millennium, having been a maritime
emporium
Emporium may refer to:
Historical
* Emporium (antiquity), a trading post, factory, or market of Classical antiquity
* Emporium (early medieval), a 6th- to 9th-century trading settlement in Northwestern Europe
* Emporium (Italy), an ancient town ...
known as ''
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
'' and subsequently as a major constituent part of several successive
thalassocratic
A thalassocracy or thalattocracy sometimes also maritime empire, is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples ...
empires. Its contemporary era began in 1819 when
Stamford Raffles established Singapore as an
entrepôt trading post of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. In 1867, the colonies in Southeast Asia were reorganised and Singapore came under the direct control of Britain as part of the
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...
. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Singapore was
occupied by Japan in 1942, and returned to British control as a separate
Crown colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
following
Japan's surrender in 1945. Singapore gained
self-governance
__NOTOC__
Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...
in 1959 and in 1963 became part of the new federation of
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, alongside
Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
,
North Borneo
North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...
, and
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...
.
Ideological differences, most notably the perceived encroachment of the
egalitarian "
Malaysian Malaysia
The phrase "Malaysian Malaysia" was originally used in the mid-1960s as the rallying motto of the Malaysian Solidarity Convention, a coalition of political parties led by Lee Kuan Yew of the People's Action Party (PAP) that served as an Opposit ...
" political ideology led by
Lee Kuan Yew into the other constituent entities of Malaysia—at the perceived expense of the ''
bumiputera'' and the policies of ''
Ketuanan Melayu''—eventually led to Singapore's expulsion from the federation two years later; Singapore became an independent
sovereign country
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined terri ...
in 1965.
After early years of
turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...
whilst lacking natural resources and a
hinterland
Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...
, the nation rapidly developed to become one of the
Four Asian Tigers based on
international trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy)
In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...
and
economic globalisation
Economic globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two others being political globalization and cultural globalization, as well as the general term of globalization.
Econom ...
, integrating itself within the
world economy
The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans of the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities which are conducted both within and between nations, including production, consumption, ...
through
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
with minimal-to-no
trade barriers or
tariff
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and poli ...
s,
export-oriented industrialisation, and the large accumulation of
received foreign direct investments,
foreign-exchange reserves
Foreign exchange reserves (also called forex reserves or FX reserves) are cash and other reserve assets such as gold held by a central bank or other monetary authority that are primarily available to balance payments of the country, influence ...
, and
assets held by sovereign wealth funds. A highly
developed country
A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
, it is tied at 11th on the UN
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...
and has the
second-highest GDP per capita (PPP) in the world. Identified as a
tax haven, Singapore is the only country in
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
with a AAA
sovereign credit rating
A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government), predicting their ability to pay back the debt, and an implicit forecast of the likelihood of the debtor defaulting.
...
from
all major rating agencies. It is a major
aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...
,
financial
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
, and
maritime shipping
Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used throug ...
hub, and has consistently been ranked as one of the
most expensive cities to live in for
expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
s and
foreign workers. Singapore is placed highly in key social indicators:
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
,
healthcare
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
,
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
,
personal safety Human security is a paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities whose proponents challenges the traditional notion of national security through military security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be at the human rather th ...
,
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
, and
housing
Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...
, with a
home-ownership rate of 88 percent.
Singaporeans enjoy one of the
longest life expectancies,
fastest Internet connection speeds,
lowest infant mortality rates, and
lowest levels of corruption in the world.
Singapore is a
unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation
* Unitarity (physics)
* ''E''-unitary inverse semigroup ...
parliamentary republic
A parliamentary republic is a republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch (the government) derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature (the parliament). There are a number ...
with a
Westminster system of
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
parliamentary government, and its legal system is based on
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
. Although the country is a
multi-party democracy with
free elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
, the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
under the
People's Action Party (PAP) wields significant control and dominance over
politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
and
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
. The PAP has governed the country continuously since full internal
self-government was achieved in 1959, with 83 out of 104 seats in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
as of the
2020 general election
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...
. One of the five founding members of
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
, Singapore is also the headquarters of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. (APEC) Secretariat, the
Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Secretariat, and is the host city of many
international conferences and events. Singapore is also a member of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
(UN),
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
(WTO),
East Asia Summit
The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian and Oceanian regions, based on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations#ASEAN Plus Three and A ...
(EAS),
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
The movement originated in the aftermath o ...
(NAM), and the
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...
.
Name and etymology
The
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
name of "Singapore" is an
anglicisation
Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
of the native
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
name for the country, ''
Singapura
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borderin ...
'', which was in turn derived from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
word for "lion city" (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
: सिंहपुर;
romanised: ''
Siṃhapura'';
Brahmi
Brahmi (; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such ...
: 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀳𑀧𑀼𑀭; literally "lion city"; ''
siṃha'' means "lion", ''
pura
Pura may refer to:
Places
* Pura, Kushtagi, a village in Koppal district, Karnataka, India
* Pura, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran
* Pura, Tarlac, a municipality in the Philippines
* Pura, Switzerland, a municipality in Ticino, Swit ...
'' means "city" or "fortress"). A Chinese account from the third century referred to a place as ''
Pú Luó Zhōng'' (), which sounds like
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
for "island at the end of
a peninsula."
Early references to the name
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
(or Tumasik) are found in the
Nagarakretagama, a
Javanese eulogy written in 1365, and a
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
ese source from the same time period. The name possibly means "Sea Town", being derived from the
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
''tasek'', meaning "sea" or "lake".
The
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
traveller
Wang Dayuan Wang Dayuan (, fl. 1311–1350), courtesy name Huanzhang (), was a Chinese traveller of the Yuan dynasty from Quanzhou in the 14th century. He is known for his two major ship voyages.
Wang Dayuan was born around 1311 at Hongzhou (present-day Nanch ...
visited a place around 1330 named ''Danmaxi'' () or ''Tam ma siak'', depending on pronunciation. ''Danmaxi'' may be a transcription of
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
, alternatively, it may be a combination of the
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
''Tanah'' meaning "land" and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
''Xi'' meaning "tin," which was traded on the island.
Variations of the name ''Siṃhapura'' were used for a number of cities throughout the region prior to the establishment of the
Kingdom of Singapura. In
Hindu-Buddhist culture, lions were associated with power and protection, which may explain the attraction of such a name. The name ''Singapura'' supplanted
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
sometime before the 15th century, after the establishment of the
Kingdom of Singapura on the island by a fleeing Sumatran ''
Raja
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
'' (prince) from
Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...
. However, the precise time and reason for the name change is unknown. The semi-historical
Malay Annals
The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...
state that
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
was christened ''Singapura'' by
Sang Nila Utama, a 13th-century Sumatran ''
Raja
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
'' from
Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...
.
The Annals state that
Sang Nila Utama encountered a strange beast on the island that he took to be a lion. Seeing this as an omen, he established the town of ''Singapura'' where he encountered the beast. The second hypothesis, drawn from
Portuguese sources, postulates that this mythical story is based on the real life
Parameswara of
Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...
.
Parameswara declared independence from
Majapahit
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...
and mounted a Lion Throne. After then being driven into exile by the
Javanese, he usurped control over
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
. It is possible that he rechristened the area as ''Singapura'', recalling the throne he had been driven from.
Under
Japanese occupation, Singapore was renamed , meaning "Light of the South." Singapore is sometimes referred to by the nickname the "Garden City", in reference to its parks and tree-lined streets. Another informal name, the "
Little Red Dot
"Little red dot" (or "The Red Dot", or "Little Red Dot") is a nickname often used in the media, and in casual conversation, as a reference to Singapore. It refers to how the nation is depicted on many maps of the world and of Asia as a red dot. T ...
", was adopted after an article in the ''
Asian Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal Asia'', a version of ''The Wall Street Journal'', was a newspaper that provided news and analysis of global business developments for an Asian audience. Formerly known as ''The Asian Wall Street Journal'', it was founde ...
'' of 4 August 1998 said that
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n President
B. J. Habibie
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice preside ...
referred to Singapore as a red dot on a map.
History
Ancient Singapore
In 1299, according to the
Malay Annals
The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...
, the
Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by
Sang Nila Utama. Although the historicity of the accounts as given in the
Malay Annals
The ''Malay Annals'' (Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: سجاره ملايو), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and demise of the gr ...
is the subject of academic debates, it is nevertheless known from various documents that Singapore in the 14th century, then known as
Temasek
Temasek (also spelt Temasik) is an early recorded name of a settlement on the site of modern Singapore. The name appears in early Malay and Javanese literature, and it is also recorded in Yuan and Ming Chinese documents as ''Danmaxi'' ( or ). ...
, was a trading port under the influence of both the
Majapahit
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...
Empire and the
Siamese kingdoms, and was a part of the
Indosphere
Indosphere is a term coined by the linguist James Matisoff for areas of Indian linguistic and cultural influence in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is commonly used in areal linguistics in contrast with Sinosphere.
Influence
The Tibeto-Burma ...
.
These Indianised kingdoms were characterised by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. Historical sources also indicate that around the end of the 14th century, its ruler
Parameswara was attacked by either the
Majapahit
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...
or the
Siamese, forcing him to move to
Malacca
Malacca ( ms, Melaka) is a state in Malaysia located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, next to the Strait of Malacca. Its capital is Malacca City, dubbed the Historic City, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site si ...
where he founded the
Sultanate of Malacca. Archaeological evidence suggests that the main settlement on
Fort Canning was abandoned around this time, although a small trading settlement continued in Singapore for some time afterwards.
In 1613,
Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, and the island faded into obscurity for the next two centuries.
By then, Singapore was nominally part of the
Johor Sultanate
The Johor Sultanate ( ms, Kesultanan Johor or ; also called the Sultanate of Johor, Johor-Pahang, or the Johor Empire) was founded by Malaccan Sultan Mahmud Shah's son, Sultan Alauddin Riayat Shah II in 1528. Johor was part of the Malaccan ...
.
The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period after the
Dutch conquest of Malacca.
British colonisation
![Combine images (3)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Combine_images_%283%29.jpg)
The British governor
Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and soon recognised the island as a natural choice for the new port.
The island was then nominally ruled by
Tengku Abdul Rahman, the
Sultan of Johor
The Sultan of Johor is a hereditary seat and the sovereign ruler of the Malaysian state of Johor. In the past, the sultan held absolute power over the state and was advised by a ''bendahara''. Currently, the role of ''bendahara'' has been take ...
, who was controlled by the
Dutch and the
Bugis
The Bugis people (pronounced ), also known as Buginese, are an ethnicity—the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassar and Toraja), in the south-western province of Sulawe ...
.
However, the
Sultanate was weakened by factional division:
Abdul Rahman
Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عبد الرحمن, translit=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman''; also Abdul Rahman) is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', '' ...
, the
Temenggong of Johor to Tengku Abdul Rahman, as well as his officials, were loyal to the Sultan's elder brother
Tengku Long
Sultan Hussein Mua'zzam Shah ibni Mahmud Shah Alam (1776 – 5 September 1835) was the 18th ruler of Johor-Riau. He signed two treaties with Britain which culminated in the founding of modern Singapore; during which he was nominally given recog ...
, who was living in
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
in
Penyengat Island
Penyengat Island ( id, Pulau Penyengat, wasp island) is an island in Tanjung Pinang, capital of the Riau Islands, Indonesia. It lies just off Bintan Island, close to the downtown of Tanjung Pinang.
The island has historical significance, dating ba ...
,
Riau Islands
The Riau Islands ( id, Kepulauan Riau) is a province of Indonesia. It comprises a total of 1,796 islands scattered between Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo including the Riau Archipelago. Situated on one of the world's busiest shipping la ...
. With the Temenggong's help, Raffles managed to smuggle Tengku Long back into Singapore. Raffles offered to recognise Tengku Long as the rightful Sultan of Johor, under the title of
Sultan Hussein, as well as provide him with a yearly payment of $5000 and another $3000 to the Temenggong; in return, Sultan Hussein would grant the British the right to establish a trading post on Singapore.
A formal treaty was signed on 6 February 1819.
In 1824, a further treaty with the Sultan led to the entire island becoming a British possession.
In 1826, Singapore became part of the
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...
, then under the jurisdiction of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. Singapore became the regional capital in 1836. Prior to Raffles' arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous
Malays
Malays may refer to:
* Malay race, a racial category encompassing peoples of Southeast Asia and sometimes the Pacific Islands
** Overseas Malays, people of Malay race ancestry living outside Malay archipelago home areas
** Cape Malays, a communit ...
along with a handful of
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
.
By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, more than half being
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
.
Many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and
gambier plantations. In 1867, the Straits Settlements were separated from
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, coming under the direct control of
Britain. Later, in the 1890s, when the rubber industry became established in
Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
and Singapore, the island became a global centre for rubber sorting and export.
Singapore was not greatly affected by the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1914–18), as the conflict did not spread to
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
. The only significant event during the war was the
1915 Singapore Mutiny
The 1915 Singapore Mutiny, also known as the 1915 Sepoy Mutiny or the Mutiny of the 5th Light Infantry, was a mutiny involving up to half of a regiment of 850 Indian Muslim sepoys against the British in Singapore during the First World War. Th ...
by
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
sepoys from British India, who were garrisoned in Singapore.
After hearing rumours that they were to be sent to fight the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, a Muslim state, the soldiers rebelled, killing their officers and several British civilians before the mutiny was suppressed by non-Muslim troops arriving from
Johore and
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
.
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the British built the large
Singapore Naval Base
His Majesty's Naval Base, Singapore, also Her Majesty's Naval Base, Singapore (HMNB Singapore), alternatively known as the Singapore Naval Base, Sembawang Naval Base and HMS Sembawang, was situated in Sembawang at the North Region, Singapore, no ...
as part of the defensive
Singapore strategy.
Originally announced in 1921, the construction of the base proceeded at a slow pace until the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Costing $60 million and not fully completed in 1938, it was nonetheless the largest
dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
in the world, the third-largest
floating dock
Floating may refer to:
* a type of dental work performed on horse teeth
* use of an isolation tank
* the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched
* ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes
* Floating (psychological phe ...
, and had enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months.
The base was defended by heavy naval guns stationed at
Fort Siloso,
Fort Canning and Labrador, as well as a
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
airfield at
Tengah Air Base.
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
touted it as the "
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
of the East", and military discussions often referred to the base as simply "
East of Suez
East of Suez is used in British military and political discussions in reference to interests beyond the European theatre, and east of the Suez Canal, and may or may not include the Middle East. ". However, the
British Home Fleet was stationed in Europe, and the British could not afford to build a second fleet to protect their interests in Asia. The plan was for the Home Fleet to sail quickly to Singapore in the event of an emergency. As a consequence, after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
broke out in 1939, the fleet was fully occupied with defending Britain, leaving Singapore vulnerable to
Japanese invasion.
World War II
![Evacuation of British POWs, Kallang Airport, Singapore - 19450908](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Evacuation_of_British_POWs%2C_Kallang_Airport%2C_Singapore_-_19450908.jpg)
During the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
, the Japanese
invasion of Malaya
The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles betwee ...
culminated in the
Battle of Singapore
The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...
. When the British force of 60,000 troops surrendered on 15 February 1942, British prime minister Winston Churchill called the defeat "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". British and Empire losses during the fighting for Singapore were heavy, with a total of nearly 85,000 personnel captured. About 5,000 were killed or wounded, of which
Australians
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...
made up the majority. Japanese casualties during the fighting in Singapore amounted to 1,714 killed and 3,378 wounded. The occupation was to become a major turning point in the histories of several nations, including those of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Britain, and Singapore. Japanese newspapers triumphantly declared the victory as deciding the general situation of the war. Between 5,000 and 25,000 ethnic Chinese people were killed in the subsequent
Sook Ching massacre. British forces had
planned to liberate Singapore in 1945; however, the war ended before these operations could be carried out.
Post-war period
After the
Japanese surrender to the Allies on 15 August 1945, Singapore fell into a brief state of violence and disorder; looting and revenge-killing were widespread. British, Australian, and Indian troops led by Lord
Louis Mountbatten
Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...
returned to Singapore to receive the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the region from General
Seishirō Itagaki on behalf of General
Hisaichi Terauchi on 12 September 1945.
Meanwhile,
Tomoyuki Yamashita
was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquering ...
was tried by a US military commission for war crimes, but not for crimes committed by his troops in Malaya or Singapore. He was convicted and hanged in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
on 23 February 1946.
Much of Singapore's infrastructure had been destroyed during the war, including those needed to supply utilities. A shortage of food led to malnutrition, disease, and rampant crime and violence. A series of strikes in 1947 caused massive stoppages in public transport and other services. However, by late 1947 the economy began to recover, facilitated by a growing international demand for tin and rubber.
The failure of Britain to successfully defend its colony against the Japanese changed its image in the eyes of Singaporeans.
British Military Administration ended on 1 April 1946, with Singapore becoming a separate
Crown Colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...
.
In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and the election of six members of the Legislative Council was scheduled in the following year.
During the 1950s,
Chinese communists, with strong ties to the trade unions and Chinese schools, waged a
guerrilla war
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...
against the government, leading to the
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...
. The
1954 National Service riots
In December 1953, the British colonial government in Singapore passed the National Service Ordinance, requiring all male British subjects and Federal citizens between the ages of 18–20 to register for part-time National Service. The deadli ...
,
Hock Lee bus riots, and
Chinese middle schools riots in Singapore were all linked to these events.
David Marshall, pro-independence leader of the
Labour Front, won Singapore's first general election in 1955. He led a delegation to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, and Britain rejected his demand for complete self-rule. He resigned and was replaced by
Lim Yew Hock in 1956, and after further negotiations Britain agreed to grant Singapore full internal
self-government for all matters except defence and foreign affairs.
During the subsequent
May 1959 elections, the
People's Action Party (PAP) won a landslide victory.
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Sir
William Allmond Codrington Goode served as the first
Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State).
Within Malaysia
![SingaporeRiver-bumboats-196009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/SingaporeRiver-bumboats-196009.jpg)
PAP leaders believed that Singapore's future lay with Malaya, due to strong ties between the two. It was thought that reuniting with Malaya would benefit the economy by creating a common market, alleviating ongoing unemployment woes in Singapore. However, a sizeable pro-communist wing of the PAP was strongly opposed to the merger, fearing a loss of influence, and hence formed the
Barisan Sosialis, splitting from the PAP. The ruling party of Malaya,
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...
(UMNO), was staunchly anti-communist, and it was suspected UMNO would support the non-communist factions of PAP. UMNO, initially sceptical of the idea of a merger due to distrust of the PAP government and concern that the large ethnic Chinese population in Singapore would alter the racial balance in Malaya on which their political power base depended, became supportive of the idea of the merger due to joint fear of a communist takeover.
On 27 May 1961, Malaya's prime minister,
Tunku Abdul Rahman, made a surprise proposal for a new Federation called
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, which would unite the current and former British possessions in the region: the
Federation of Malaya
The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Empire, British Straits Settlements, P ...
, Singapore,
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
,
North Borneo
North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...
, and
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...
.
UMNO leaders believed that the additional Malay population in the Bornean territories would balance Singapore's Chinese population.
The British government, for its part, believed that the merger would prevent Singapore from becoming a haven for communism. To obtain a mandate for a merger, the PAP held a
referendum on the merger. This referendum included a choice of different terms for a merger with Malaysia and had no option for avoiding merger altogether. On 16 September 1963, Singapore joined with Malaya, the North Borneo, and Sarawak to form the new Federation of Malaysia under the terms of the
Malaysia Agreement. Under this Agreement, Singapore had a relatively high level of autonomy compared to the other states of Malaysia.
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
opposed the formation of Malaysia due to its own claims over Borneo and launched
''Konfrontasi'' (Confrontation in Indonesian) in response to the formation of Malaysia. On 10 March 1965,
a bomb planted by Indonesian saboteurs on a mezzanine floor of MacDonald House exploded, killing three people and injuring 33 others. It was the deadliest of at least 42 bomb incidents which occurred during the confrontation. Two members of the
Indonesian Marine Corps, Osman bin Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun bin Said, were eventually convicted and executed for the crime. The explosion caused US$250,000 () in damages to MacDonald House.
Even after the merger, the
Singaporean government and the Malaysian central government disagreed on many political and economic issues.
Despite an agreement to establish a common market, Singapore continued to face restrictions when trading with the rest of Malaysia. In retaliation, Singapore did not extend to
Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...
and
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...
the full extent of the loans agreed to for economic development of the two eastern states. Talks soon broke down, and abusive speeches and writing became rife on both sides. This led to communal strife in Singapore, culminating in the
1964 race riots
The 1964 race riots in Singapore involved a series of communal race-based civil disturbances between the Malays and Chinese in Singapore following its merger with Malaysia in 1963, and were considered to be the "worst and most prolonged i ...
. On 7 August 1965, Malaysian prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, seeing no alternative to avoid further bloodshed (and with the help of secret negotiations by PAP leaders, as revealed in 2015)
advised the
Parliament of Malaysia that it should vote to expel Singapore from Malaysia.
On 9 August 1965,
the Malaysian Parliament voted 126 to 0 to move a bill to amend the constitution, expelling Singapore from Malaysia, which left Singapore as a newly independent country.
Republic of Singapore
![Lee Kuan Yew](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Lee_Kuan_Yew.jpg)
After being expelled from Malaysia, Singapore became independent as the Republic of Singapore on 9 August 1965,
with
Lee Kuan Yew and
Yusof bin Ishak as the first prime minister and president respectively. In 1967, the country co-founded the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
(ASEAN). Race riots
broke out once more in 1969. Lee Kuan Yew's emphasis on rapid economic growth, support for business entrepreneurship, and limitations on internal democracy shaped Singapore's policies for the next half-century.
Economic growth continued throughout the 1980s, with the unemployment rate falling to 3% and real GDP growth averaging at about 8% up until 1999. During the 1980s, Singapore began to shift towards high-tech industries, such as the
wafer fabrication sector, in order to remain competitive as neighbouring countries began manufacturing with cheaper labour.
Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...
was opened in 1981 and
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...
was formed. The
Port of Singapore
The Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade and handles Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world since 2015. Currently the world's se ...
became one of the world's busiest ports and the service and tourism industries also grew immensely during this period.
The PAP, which has remained in power since independence, is believed to rule in an
authoritarian manner by some activists and opposition politicians who see the strict regulation of political and media activities by the government as an infringement on political rights. In response, Singapore has seen several significant political changes, such as the introduction of the Non-Constituency members of parliament in 1984 to allow up to three losing candidates from opposition parties to be appointed as MPs. Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) were introduced in 1988 to create multi-seat electoral divisions, intended to ensure minority representation in parliament. Nominated members of parliament were introduced in 1990 to allow non-elected non-partisan MPs.
[Ho Khai Leong (2003). ''Shared Responsibilities, Unshared Power: The Politics of Policy-Making in Singapore''. Eastern Univ Pr. ] The
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
was amended in 1991 to provide for an
Elected President who has veto power in the use of
Past Reserves and appointments to certain public offices.
In 1990,
Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee and became Singapore's second prime minister. During Goh's tenure, the country went through the
1997 Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...
and the 2003
SARS outbreak.
In 2004,
Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of
Lee Kuan Yew, became the country's third prime minister.
Lee Hsien Loong's tenure included the
2008 global financial crisis
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
, the resolution of a
dispute over land ownership at
Tanjong Pagar railway station
Tanjong Pagar railway station ( ms, Stesen Keretapi Tanjong Pagar; ; ta, தஞ்சோங் பகார் ரயில் நிலையம்), also called Singapore railway station ( ms, Stesen Keretapi Singapura; ; ta, சிங் ...
between Singapore and Malaysia, and the introduction of the 2
integrated resort
An integrated resort (IR) is a major resort property that includes a hotel with a casino, together with convention facilities, entertainment shows, theme parks, luxury retail and fine dining. The term is largely Singaporean.
Earlier IR lice ...
s (IRs), located at the
Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands (abbreviation: MBS) is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. The resort is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and at its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino prop ...
and
Resorts World Sentosa
Resorts World Sentosa (abbreviation: RWS) is an integrated resort
An integrated resort (IR) is a major resort property that includes a hotel with a casino, together with convention facilities, entertainment shows, theme parks, luxury r ...
. The
People's Action Party (PAP) suffered its
worst ever electoral results in 2011, winning just 60% of votes, amidst debate over issues including the influx of foreign workers and the high cost of living. On 23 March 2015, Lee Kuan Yew
died
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
, and a one-week period of public mourning was observed nationwide.
Subsequently, the PAP regained its dominance in Parliament through the
September general election, receiving 69.9% of the popular vote,
although this remained lower than the 2001 tally of 75.3%
and the 1968 tally of 86.7%.
The
2020 election held in July saw the PAP drop to 61% of the vote, while the opposition
Workers' Party took 10 of the 93 seats, the highest number ever won by an opposition party.
Government and politics
![Speakers' Corner, Singapore 20220218 081547](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Speakers%27_Corner%2C_Singapore_20220218_081547.jpg)
Singapore is a
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
republic based on the
Westminster system. The
Constitution of Singapore is the supreme law of the country, establishing the structure and responsibility of governance. The
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
is
head of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
and exercises many executive powers on the
advice of the
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
with some exceptions including the appointment of the Prime Minister and the withholding of consent to a request for a dissolution of Parliament. The
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
is
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...
and is appointed by the President from among the Members of Parliament. The
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
consists of the Prime Minister and such other Ministers as appointed by the President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
The governance of Singapore is
separated into three branches:
*
Executive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dire ...
: The President is
commander-in-chief of the armed forces, can veto laws before they become effective (subject to parliamentary overruling), and holds limited
discretionary powers of oversight over the government. The Cabinet has the general direction and control of the Government and is collectively responsible to Parliament.
*
Legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
: The President assents to Bills (draft laws) passed by Parliament. The President can refuse to give assent to certain Bills. The
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
writes laws, approves budgets, and provides a check on government policy. Parliament can overrule the President's refusal to give assent to certain Bills.
*
Judiciary
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
: The
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
and
State Courts adjudicates in civil disputes between persons, convicts or acquits accused persons in criminal prosecutions, and
interprets laws to decide on its constitutionality. Any law or provision of a law found to be unconstitutional can be struck down by the Supreme Court.
The president is directly elected by popular vote for a renewable six-year term. Requirements for this position, which were enacted by the PAP government, are extremely stringent, such that only a handful of people qualify for the candidacy.
These qualifications include that a candidate needs to be a person at least 45 years of age who is no longer a member of a political party, to either have held
public office
Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...
for at least 3 years in a number of specific public service leadership roles, or to have 3 years experience as chief executive of a fully profitable
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The ...
company with at least S$500 million in
shareholders’ equity, be a resident in Singapore for at least 10 years, not have a criminal record, and more.
Candidates must also "satisfy" the
Presidential Elections Committee
The Presidential Elections Committee was set up by the Government of Singapore to ensure that each candidate running for the office of President of Singapore has the qualifications needed — referred in Article 19 of the Constitution of Singapore. ...
(PEC) that he or she is a person of integrity, good character and reputation.
The Constitution requires that presidential elections be "
reserved" for a racial community if no one from that ethnic group has been elected to the presidency in the five most recent terms. Only members of that community may qualify as candidates in a reserved presidential election. In the
2017 presidential election, this combination of stringent requirements and a reserved election that required the candidate to be of the 13%
Malay ethnic group led to a single person being qualified for the office;
Halimah Yacob, considered part of the Malay community, won in an uncontested election. She also became Singapore's first female president.
Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected at least every five years (or sooner in the case of a
snap election). The 14th and
current Parliament has 103 members; 93 were directly elected from the
31 constituencies, nine are nonpartisan
nominated members appointed by the president, and three are
non-constituency members from opposition parties who were not elected in the last general election but appointed to the legislature to increase opposition party representation. In
group representation constituencies (GRCs), political parties assemble teams of candidates (rather than nominate individuals) to contest elections. At least one MP in a GRC must be of an ethnic minority background. All elections are held using
first-past-the-post voting
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
.
The
People's Action Party (PAP) occupies a dominant position in Singaporean politics, having won large parliamentary majorities in every election since
self-governance
__NOTOC__
Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...
was granted in 1959, promulgating limits on
assembly
Assembly may refer to:
Organisations and meetings
* Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions
* General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...
,
association
Association may refer to:
*Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal
*Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry
*Voluntary associatio ...
,
expression and the
press
Press may refer to:
Media
* Print media or news media, commonly called "the press"
* Printing press, commonly called "the press"
* Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers
* Press TV, an Iranian television network
People
* Press (surname), a famil ...
except for the
Speakers' Corner.
Even its candidates who lose elections are often turned to by constituency residents for assistance. The most effective opposition party is the
Workers' Party.
The judicial system is based on
English common law, continuing the legal tradition established during
British rule and with substantial local differences.
Criminal law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
is based on the
Indian Penal Code
The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India. It is a comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects of criminal law. The code was drafted on the recommendations of first law commission of India established in ...
originally intended for
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, and was at the time as a crown colony also adopted by the British colonial authorities in Singapore and remains the basis of the criminal code in the country with a few exceptions, amendments and repeals since it came into force.
Trial by jury
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions.
Jury trials are used in a significant ...
was abolished in 1970. Both
corporal punishment (
caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or ha ...
) and
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
(by
hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...
) are legal penalties.
The right to freedom of speech and association is guaranteed by
Article 14(1) of the Constitution of Singapore, although there are provisions in the subsequent subsection (2) of the same Article that regulate them. The government has attempted to restrict
freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
and
freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
as well as some
civil
Civil may refer to:
*Civic virtue, or civility
*Civil action, or lawsuit
* Civil affairs
*Civil and political rights
*Civil disobedience
*Civil engineering
*Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism
*Civilian, someone not a membe ...
and political rights. In 2022, Singapore was ranked 139th out of 180 nations by
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
on the global
Press Freedom Index.
Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
ranks Singapore as "partly free" in its ''
Freedom in the World'' report,
and the
Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...
ranks Singapore as a "flawed democracy", the second best rank of four, in its "
Democracy Index".
In the
Corruption Perceptions Index
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is an index which ranks countries "by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys." The CPI generally defines corruption as an "abuse of entru ...
which ranks countries by "perceived levels of public sector corruption", Singapore has consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt. Singapore's unique combination of a strong, almost authoritarian government with an emphasis on
meritocracy
Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...
and good governance is known as the "Singapore model", and is regarded as a key factor behind Singapore's political stability, economic growth, and harmonious social order.
In 2021, the
World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index ranked Singapore as 17th overall among the world's 193 countries for adherence to the
rule of law
The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
. Singapore ranked high on the factors of order and security (#3), absence of corruption (#3), regulatory enforcement (#4), civil justice (#8), and criminal justice (#7), and ranked significantly lower on factors of
open government
Open government is the governing doctrine which sustain that citizens have the right to access the documents and proceedings of the government to allow for effective public oversight. In its broadest construction, it opposes reason of state and ...
(#34), constraints on government powers (#32), and
fundamental rights (#38). All public gatherings of five or more people require police permits, and protests may legally be held only at the
Speakers' Corner. In 2021, six individuals were given warnings by the police after protesting outside the
Ministry of Education headquarters at
Buona Vista
Buona Vista is a housing estate located in the subzones of one-north and Holland Drive in the residential township of Queenstown in Singapore. The housing estate is served by the Buona Vista MRT station which links it up with the MRT system. ...
. They were warned as the protest was considered unauthorised having not been held at the Speakers' Corner. The protests were in regards to demanding more
trans rights and support such as
gender dysphoria
Gender dysphoria (GD) is the distress a person experiences due to a mismatch between their gender identitytheir personal sense of their own genderand their sex assigned at birth. The diagnostic label gender identity disorder (GID) was used until ...
in the Singaporean educational system.
Foreign relations
![2017 G20 Hamburg summit leaders group photo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/2017_G20_Hamburg_summit_leaders_group_photo.jpg)
Singapore's stated foreign policy priority is maintaining security in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
and surrounding territories. An underlying principle is political and economic stability in the region.
It has diplomatic relations with more than 180 sovereign states.
As one of the five founding members of
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
, Singapore is a strong supporter of the
ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA); it is also the host of the APEC Secretariat. Singapore maintains membership in other regional organisations, such as
Asia–Europe Meeting
The Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an Asian–European political dialogue forum to enhance relations and various forms of cooperation between its partners.
It was officially established on 1 March 1996 at the 1st ASEM Summit (ASEM1) in Bangk ...
, the
Forum for East Asia-Latin American Cooperation, the
Indian Ocean Rim Association
The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international organisation consisting of 23 states bordering the Indian Ocea ...
, and the
East Asia Summit
The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian and Oceanian regions, based on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations#ASEAN Plus Three and A ...
.
It is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
and the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
. While Singapore is not a formal member of the
G20
The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, ...
, it has been invited to participate in G20 processes in most years since 2010. Singapore is also the location of the
Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Secretariat.
In general, bilateral relations with other ASEAN members are strong; however, disagreements have arisen,
and relations with neighbouring
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
have sometimes been strained.
Malaysia and Singapore have clashed over the delivery of
fresh water
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
to Singapore,
and access by the
Singapore Armed Forces
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...
to Malaysian airspace.
Border issues exist with Malaysia and Indonesia, and both have banned the sale of marine sand to Singapore over disputes about Singapore's land reclamation. Some previous disputes, such as the
Pedra Branca dispute
The Pedra Branca dispute was a territorial dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over several islets at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait, namely Pedra Branca (previously called Pulau Batu Puteh and now Batu Puteh by Malaysia), ...
, have been resolved by the
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
. Piracy in the
Strait of Malacca has been a cause of concern for all three countries.
Close economic ties exist with
Brunei
Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...
, and the two share a pegged currency value, through a Currency Interchangeability Agreement between the two countries which makes both
Brunei dollar
The Brunei dollar ( sign: B$, Malay: ''ringgit Brunei'', currency code: ''BND''), has been the currency of the Sultanate of Brunei since 1967. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from othe ...
and
Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar (sign: S$; code: SGD) is the official currency of the Republic of Singapore. It is divided into 100 cents. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currenci ...
banknotes and coins legal tender in either country.
The first
diplomatic contact with China was made in the 1970s, with full diplomatic relations established in the 1990s. China has been Singapore's largest trading partner since 2013, after surpassing Malaysia. Singapore and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
share a long-standing close relationship, in particular in defence, the economy, health, and education. Singapore has also increased co-operation with ASEAN members and China to strengthen regional security and fight terrorism, and participated in ASEAN's first joint maritime exercise with China in 2018. It has also given support to the US-led coalition to fight terrorism, with bilateral co-operation in counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation initiatives, and joint military exercises.
As Singapore has diplomatic relations with both the United States and
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
, and was one of the few countries that have relationships with both countries, in June 2018, it hosted
a historic summit between US President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
and
North Korean leader
The supreme leader () of North Korea is the ''de facto'' paramount leader of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. The title has not been written into the national constitution as a separate office, but it currently ...
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
, the first-ever meeting between the sitting leaders of the two nations. It also hosted the
Ma–Xi meeting
On 7 November 2015, Ma Ying-jeou, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan; ROC), and Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and President of the People's Republic of China (Mainland China; PRC), met in Singapore. ...
in 2015, the first meeting between the political leaders of the two sides of the
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide.
The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...
since the end of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
in 1950.
Military
![Flag lowering by Singapore troops, Kiwi Base, Bamyan Province, Afghanistan - 20101027](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Flag_lowering_by_Singapore_troops%2C_Kiwi_Base%2C_Bamyan_Province%2C_Afghanistan_-_20101027.jpg)
The Singaporean military, arguably the most technologically advanced in Southeast Asia,
consists of the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, the
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
, the
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
and the
Digital and Intelligence Service
The Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) is the digital service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible in providing military intelligence to the armed forces, building up the country's digital defence, and protecting the psy ...
. It is seen as the guarantor of the country's independence, translating into Singapore culture, involving all citizens in the country's defence.
The government spends 4.9% of the country's GDP on the military—high by regional standards
—and one out of every four dollars of government spending is spent on defence.
After its independence, Singapore had only two
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
regiments commanded by British officers. Considered too small to provide effective security for the new country, the development of its military forces became a priority.
In addition, in October 1971, Britain pulled its military out of Singapore, leaving behind only a small British, Australian and New Zealand force as a token military presence. A great deal of initial support came from
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
,
a country unrecognised by Singapore's neighbouring
Muslim-majority
The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...
nations of Malaysia and Indonesia. The
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
(IDF) commanders were tasked by the Singapore Government to create the
Singapore Armed Forces
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are the military services of the Republic of Singapore, responsible for protecting and defending the security interests and the sovereignty of the country. A military component of the Ministry of Defence (MINDE ...
(SAF) from scratch, and Israeli instructors were brought in to train Singaporean soldiers. Military courses were conducted according to the IDF's format, and Singapore adopted a system of conscription and reserve service based on the
Israeli model.
Singapore still maintains strong security ties with Israel and is one of the biggest buyers of Israeli arms and weapons systems, with one recent example being the
MATADOR
A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...
anti-tank weapon.
The SAF is being developed to respond to a wide range of issues in both conventional and unconventional warfare. The
Defence Science and Technology Agency
Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Singapore.
DSTA is responsible for performing acquisitions management, systems management, systems developm ...
(DSTA) is responsible for procuring resources for the military.
The geographic restrictions of Singapore mean that the SAF must plan to fully repulse an attack, as they cannot fall back and re-group. The small size of the population has also affected the way the SAF has been designed, with a small active force and a large number of reserves.
![Black Knight Singapore 1 (12537881585)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Black_Knight_Singapore_1_%2812537881585%29.jpg)
Singapore has
conscription
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
for all able-bodied males at age 18, except those with a criminal record or who can prove that their loss would bring hardship to their families. Males who have yet to complete pre-university education, are awarded the
Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship, or are pursuing a local medical degree can opt to defer their draft. Though not required to perform military service, the number of women in the SAF has been increasing: since 1989 they have been allowed to fill military vocations formerly reserved for men. Before induction into a specific branch of the armed forces, recruits undergo at least 9 weeks of basic military training.
Because of the scarcity of open land on the main island, training involving activities such as live firing and
amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...
are often carried out on smaller islands, typically barred to civilian access. However, large-scale drills, considered too dangerous to be performed in the country, have been performed in other countries such as Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and the United States. In general, military exercises are held with foreign forces once or twice per week.
Due to airspace and land constraints, the
Republic of Singapore Air Force
The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is the aerial service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for controlling and defending the airspace of the country, and providing air support to the Army and Navy. It was establish ...
(RSAF) maintains a number of overseas bases in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. The RSAF's 130 Squadron is based in
RAAF Base Pearce,
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, and its
126 Squadron is based in the
Oakey Army Aviation Centre
Oakey Army Aviation Centre is situated approximately from the town centre of Oakey in Queensland, Australia. It provides a training establishment for Australian Army Aviation, and also hosts the Republic of Singapore Air Force's "Cougar" 12 ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. The RSAF has one squadron—the 150 Squadron—based in
Cazaux Air Base in southern France. The RSAF's overseas detachments in the United States are:
Luke Air Force Base in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
Marana Marana may refer to:
* Maraña, a village in León, Spain
* Maraṇa, the Pali/Sanskrit term for death
* Marana, Arizona, a town in Pima County, Arizona, United States
* Marana, Estonia, a village in Estonia
* Marana, Syria, a village in Syria
...
in Arizona,
Mountain Home Air Force Base
Mountain Home Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation in the western United States. Located in southwestern Idaho in Elmore County, the base is southwest of Mountain Home, which is southeast of Boise via Interstate ...
in
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
, and
Andersen Air Force Base
Andersen Air Force Base (Andersen AFB, AAFB) is a United States Air Force base located primarily within the village of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam. The host unit at Andersen AFB is the 36th Wing (36 WG), assigned to the Pacific ...
in
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
.
The SAF has sent forces to assist in operations outside the country, in areas such as
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
, and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, in both military and civilian roles. In the region, they have helped to stabilise
East Timor
East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
and have provided aid to
Aceh
Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...
in Indonesia following the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
. Since 2009, the
Republic of Singapore Navy
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the naval service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any sea-borne threats, and the protection of its sea lines of communications, that would comprom ...
(RSN) has deployed ships to the
Gulf of Aden
The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...
to aid in countering
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
efforts as part of
Task Force 151. The SAF also helped in relief efforts during
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
, and
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...
. Singapore is part of the
Five Power Defence Arrangements
The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) are a series of bilateral defence relationships established by a series of multi-lateral agreements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, all of which are Commonwe ...
(FPDA), a military alliance with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
In 2022, the nation was placed 9th most peaceful country on the
Global Peace Index
Global Peace Index (GPI) is a report produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) which measures the relative position of nations' and regions' peacefulness. The GPI ranks 163 independent states and territories (collectively accountin ...
.
Human rights
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
is a legal and enforced penalty in Singapore. The country is
one of four in the
developed world to retain the death penalty, along with the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. Its
use against drug trafficking has been a source of contention with various
non-governmental organisations, regarded by some as a
victimless crime
A victimless crime is an illegal act that typically either directly involves only the perpetrator or occurs between consenting adults. Because it is consensual in nature, whether there involves a victim is a matter of debate. Definitions of vic ...
. The government has responded that it has "no doubts" that it is the right policy and that there is "clear evidence" of serious deterrence, and that the law should be looked at upon in the context of "saving lives".
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
has said that some legal provisions of the Singapore system for the death penalty conflict with "the right to be
presumed innocent until proven guilty".
The government has disputed Amnesty's claims, stating that their "position on abolition of the death penalty is by no means uncontested internationally" and that the report contains "grave errors of facts and misrepresentations".
From 1938 to 2022, sexual relations between men were technically illegal under
Section 377A of the Penal Code, first introduced during British colonial rule. During the last few decades, the law was unenforced and pressure to repeal this law increased as homosexuality became more scientifically understood. Meanwhile, sexual relations between women had always been legal. In 2022, Prime Minister
Lee Hsien Loong announced that Singapore would scrap 377A for good, effectively decriminalising it. Nevertheless, he added that the repeal will not affect the recognition of "traditional familial and societal norms", including how marriage is defined—putting the legalisation of
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
on the back-burner at least for now, although the possibility of
civil unions
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
was not officially ruled out. He added this was a compromise between the
conservative (and often religious) and
progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
elements of Singaporean society to prevent fracturing it.
Pimps often
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
women from neighbouring countries such as
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
at their
brothels
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub pa ...
as well as rented
apartment
An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...
s and
hostels
A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ba ...
for higher profit margins when they get a cut from customers. In response, amendments were made to the
Women's Charter
The Women's Charter 1961 is an Act of the Singaporean Parliament passed in 1961. The Act was designed to improve and protect the rights of females in Singapore and to guarantee greater legal equality for women in legally sanctioned relationship ...
by the government in 2019 to legislate more serious punishments for traffickers, including imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of S$100,000.
Abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
has been legal in Singapore since 1969, and it is available on request.
Economy
Singapore has a highly developed
market economy
A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...
, based historically on extended
entrepôt trade. Along with
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, Singapore is one of the
Four Asian Tigers, and has surpassed its peers in terms of
Gross Domestic Product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
(GDP) per capita. Between 1965 and 1995, growth rates averaged around 6 per cent per annum, transforming the living standards of the population.
The Singaporean economy is regarded as free, innovative,
dynamic and business-friendly. For several years, Singapore has been one of the few countries with an
AAA credit rating from the
big three, and the only Asian country to achieve this rating. Singapore attracts a large amount of foreign investment as a result of its location, skilled workforce, low tax rates, advanced infrastructure and zero-tolerance against corruption. It is the world's most competitive economy in 2019, according to the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
's ranking of 141 countries, with the 2nd
highest GDP per capita. Roughly 44 percent of the Singaporean workforce is made up of non-Singaporeans. Despite market freedom, Singapore's government operations have a significant stake in the economy, contributing 22% of the GDP. The city is a popular location for conferences and events.
The currency of Singapore is the
Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar (sign: S$; code: SGD) is the official currency of the Republic of Singapore. It is divided into 100 cents. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currenci ...
(SGD or S$), issued by the
Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). It has been interchangeable with the
Brunei dollar
The Brunei dollar ( sign: B$, Malay: ''ringgit Brunei'', currency code: ''BND''), has been the currency of the Sultanate of Brunei since 1967. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively B$ to distinguish it from othe ...
at
par value since 1967.
MAS manages its
monetary policy
Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...
by allowing the Singapore dollar
exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
to rise or fall within an undisclosed trading band. This is different from most
central banks
A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union,
and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
, which use
interest rates
An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, th ...
to manage policy. Singapore has the world's eleventh
largest foreign reserves, and one of the highest
net international investment position per capita.
Singapore has been identified as a
tax haven for the wealthy due to its low tax rates on personal income and tax exemptions on foreign-based income and capital gains. Individuals such as Australian millionaire retailer
Brett Blundy
Brett Blundy (born 1959/1960) is an Australian billionaire businessman. He is the founder and former chairman of BB Retail Capital, which owns companies such as Sanity Entertainment, Bras N Things, and Aventus Property Group. He is part-owner of ...
and multi-billionaire Facebook co-founder
Eduardo Saverin are two examples of wealthy individuals who have settled in Singapore. In 2009, Singapore was removed from the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...
(OECD) "liste grise" of tax havens, and ranked fourth on the
Tax Justice Network's 2015
Financial Secrecy Index
The Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) is a report published by the advocacy organization Tax Justice Network (TJN) which ranks countries by ''financial secrecy indicators'', weighted by the economic flows of each country.
It looks at how wealthy ...
of the world's off-shore financial service providers, banking one-eighth of the world's offshore capital, while "providing numerous tax avoidance and evasion opportunities".
In August 2016, ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
'' reported that Indonesia had decided to create tax havens on two islands near Singapore to bring Indonesian capital back into the tax base. In October 2016, the Monetary Authority of Singapore admonished and fined
UBS
UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...
and
DBS
DBS may refer to:
Music groups
* The dB's, a power pop band of the '70s and '80s
*d.b.s., a Canadian punk rock band from 1992 to 2001
* Death by Stereo, an American heavy metal/punk rock group from California
Companies and organizations
Schools ...
and withdrew
Falcon Private Bank's banking licence for their alleged role in the Malaysian Sovereign Fund scandal.
Singapore has the world's highest percentage of millionaires, with one out of every six households having at least one million US dollars in disposable wealth. This excludes property, businesses, and luxury goods, which if included would increase the number of millionaires, especially as property in Singapore is among the world's most expensive. In 2016, Singapore was rated the world's most expensive city for the third consecutive year by the
Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...
, and this remained true in 2018. The government provides numerous assistance programmes to the homeless and needy through the
Ministry of Social and Family Development
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF; ms, Kementerian Pembangunan Sosial dan Keluarga; zh, 社会及家庭发展部; ta, சமுதாய, குடும்ப மேம்பாட்டு அமைச்சு) is a ministr ...
, so acute poverty is rare. Some of the programmes include providing between S$400 and S$1000 of financial assistance per month to needy households, providing free medical care at government hospitals, and paying for children's tuition. Other benefits include compensation for gym fees to encourage citizens to exercise, up to S$166,000 as a
baby bonus for each citizen, heavily subsidised healthcare, financial aid for the disabled, the provision of reduced-cost laptops for poor students, rebates for costs such as public transport and utility bills, and more. As of 2018 Singapore's ranking in the
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...
is 9th in the world, with an HDI value of 0.935.
Employment
Singapore has a
low unemployment rate for a developed country, with the rate not exceeding 4% from 2005 to 2014, and reaching highs of 3.1% in 2005 and 3% during the
2009 global financial crisis; it fell to 1.8% in the first quarter of 2015. Singapore does not have a
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
, believing that it would lower its competitiveness. It also has one of the
highest income inequalities among
developed countries
A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...
. Although recognising that foreign workers are crucial to the country's economy, the government has considered placing limits on inflows of these workers, as foreign workers make up 80% of the construction industry and up to 50% of the service industry.
Geography
![CIA World Factbook map of Singapore (English)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/CIA_World_Factbook_map_of_Singapore_%28English%29.png)
Singapore consists of
63 islands, including the main island,
Pulau Ujong
Singapore Island, or Mainland Singapore, is the main constituent island of the sovereign island country and city-state of the Republic of Singapore. It is located at the southern tip of Malay Peninsula, in-between the Straits of Malacca and the ...
. There are two man-made connections to
Johor
Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
: the
Johor–Singapore Causeway
The Johor–Singapore Causeway is a causeway consisting of a combined railway and motorway bridge that links the city of Johor Bahru in Malaysia across the Straits of Johor to the district and town of Woodlands in Singapore. Historically f ...
in the north and the
Tuas Second Link
Tuas is a planning area located within the West Region of Singapore. It is bounded by the Western Water Catchment to its north, Pioneer to its east and the Straits of Johor to its west. Tuas also shares a maritime boundary with the Western Islan ...
in the west.
Jurong Island
Jurong Island is an island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore. It was formed from the amalgamation of seven offshore islands, the islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek ...
,
Pulau Tekong,
Pulau Ubin and
Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's smaller islands. The highest natural point is
Bukit Timah Hill at . Under British rule,
Christmas Island and the
Cocos Islands were part of Singapore, and both were transferred to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1957.
Pedra Branca is the nation's easternmost point.
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
projects have increased Singapore's land area from in the 1960s to by 2015, an increase of some 22% (130 km
2).
The country is projected to reclaim another . Some projects involve merging smaller islands through land reclamation to form larger, more functional and habitable islands, as has been done with Jurong Island.
The type of sand used in reclamation is found in rivers and beaches, rather than deserts, and is in great demand worldwide. In 2010 Singapore imported almost 15 million tons of sand for its projects, the demand being such that Indonesia, Malaysia, and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
have all restricted or barred the export of sand to Singapore in recent years. As a result, in 2016 Singapore switched to using
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed
# Flood plains s ...
s for reclamation, in which an area is enclosed and then pumped dry.
Nature
Singapore's urbanisation means that it has lost 95% of its historical forests,
and now over half of the naturally occurring
fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
and
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
in Singapore is present in nature reserves, such as the
Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
The Sungei Buloh Wetland Reservoir (Chinese: 双溪布洛湿地保护区, Malay: ''Kawasan Simpanan Alam Semulajadi Sungei Buloh'', Tamil: சுங்காய் புலோ ஈரநில வளம்) is a nature reserve in the northwest a ...
, which comprise only 0.25% of Singapore's land area.
In 1967, to combat this decline in natural space, the government introduced the vision of making Singapore a "garden city", aiming to improve quality of life. Since then, nearly 10% of Singapore's land has been set aside for parks and
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
s. The government has created
plans to preserve the country's remaining wildlife. Singapore's well known gardens include the
Singapore Botanic Gardens
The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a -year-old tropical garden located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden, to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...
, a 161-year-old tropical garden and Singapore's first
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
Climate
Singapore has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...
(
Köppen: ''Af'') with no distinctive seasons, uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity, and abundant rainfall. Temperatures usually range from . While temperature does not vary greatly throughout the year, there is a wetter
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
season from November to February.
From July to October, there is often
haze
Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and other dry particulates suspended in air obscure visibility and the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification ...
caused by
bush fire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
s in neighbouring Indonesia, usually from the island of
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
. Singapore follows the GMT+8 time zone, one hour ahead of the typical zone for its geographical location. This causes the sun to rise and set particularly late during February, where the sun rises at 7:15 am and sets around 7:20 pm. During July, the sun sets at around 7:15 pm. The earliest the sun rises and sets is in late October and early November when the sun rises at 6:46 am and sets at 6:50 pm.
Singapore recognises that climate change and
rising sea levels
Rising may refer to:
* Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique)
*Elevation
* Short for Uprising, a rebellion
Film and TV
* "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starga ...
in the decades ahead will have major implications for its low-lying coastline. It estimates that the nation will need to spend $100 billion over the course of the next century to address the issue. In its 2020 budget, the government set aside an initial $5 billion towards a Coastline and Flood Protection Fund. Singapore is the first country in Southeast Asia to levy a
carbon tax on its largest carbon-emitting corporations producing more than 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, at $5 per ton.
To reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels, it has ramped up deployment of solar panels on rooftops and vertical surfaces of buildings, and other initiatives like building one of the world's largest floating solar farms at
Tengeh Reservoir in
Tuas
Tuas is a planning area located within the West Region of Singapore. It is bounded by the Western Water Catchment to its north, Pioneer to its east and the Straits of Johor to its west. Tuas also shares a maritime boundary with the Western Island ...
.
Water supply
Singapore considers water a national security issue and the government has sought to emphasise conservation. Water access is universal and of high quality, though the country is projected to face significant water-stress by 2040. To circumvent this, the Public Utilities Board has implemented the
"four national taps" strategy – water imported from neighbouring Malaysia, urban rainwater catchments, reclaimed water (NEWater) and seawater desalination. Singapore's approach does not rely only on physical infrastructure; it also emphasises proper legislation and enforcement, water pricing, public education as well as research and development.
Singapore has declared that it will be water self-sufficient by the time its 1961 long-term water supply agreement with Malaysia expires in 2061. However, according to official forecasts, water demand in Singapore is expected to double from 380 to 760 million US gallons (1.4 to 2.8 billion litres; 1.4 to 2.8 million cubic meters) per day between 2010 and 2060. The increase is expected to come primarily from non-domestic water use, which accounted for 55% of water demand in 2010 and is expected to account for 70% of demand in 2060. By that time, water demand is expected to be met by reclaimed water at the tune of 50% and by desalination accounting for 30%, compared to only 20% supplied by internal catchments.
Singapore is expanding its recycling system and intends to spend $7.4 billion (Sg$10 billion) in water treatment infrastructure upgrades. The Ulu Pandan wastewater treatment was specially built to test advanced used-water treatment processes before full deployment and won the ''Water/Wastewater Project of the Year Award'' at the 2018 Global Water Awards in Paris, France. Operation started in 2017 and was jointly developed by PUB and the Black & Veatch + AECOM Joint Venture.
Transport
Land
![ERPBugis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/ERPBugis.JPG)
Singapore has a
road system covering , which includes
of expressways. The
Singapore Area Licensing Scheme
The Singapore Area Licensing Scheme (ALS), (Malay : Skim Perlesenan Kawasan Singapura) was a road pricing scheme introduced in 1975 to 1998, charged drivers who were entering downtown Singapore, and thereby aimed to manage traffic demand. This w ...
, implemented in 1975, became the world's first
congestion pricing scheme, and included other complementary measures such as stringent car ownership quotas and improvements in mass transit. Upgraded in 1998 and renamed
Electronic Road Pricing
The Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system is an electronic toll collection scheme adopted in Singapore to manage traffic by way of road pricing, and as a usage-based taxation mechanism to complement the purchase-based Certificate of Entitleme ...
(ERP), the system introduced
electronic toll collection, electronic detection, and video surveillance technology. A satellite-based system was due to replace the physical gantries by 2020, but has been delayed until 2026 due to global shortages in the supply of semiconductors. As Singapore is a small island with a high population density, the number of private cars on the road is restricted with a pre-set car population quota, to curb pollution and congestion. Car buyers must pay for Additional Registration Fees (ARF) duties of either 100%, 140%, 180% or 220% of the vehicle's Open Market Value (OMV), and bid for a Singaporean
Certificate of Entitlement (COE) (that varies twice a month in supply based on the number of car registrations and de-registrations), which allows the car to be driven on the road for maximum period of 10 years. Car prices are generally significantly higher in Singapore than in other English-speaking countries.
As with most Commonwealth countries, vehicles on the road and people walking on the streets keep to the left (
left-hand traffic).
Singapore's public transport network is shaped up with trains (consisting of the
MRT
MRT may refer to:
Transport Rapid Transit Systems
* Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation)
* MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore
* MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand
* Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...
and
LRT systems),
buses
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
and
taxis. There are currently six MRT lines (
North South MRT line,
East West MRT line,
North East MRT line
The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the n ...
,
Circle MRT line
The Circle MRT Line (CCL) is a medium-capacity Mass Rapid Transit line in Singapore operated by SMRT Corporation. It runs in a currently incomplete loop from Dhoby Ghaut station in the city area of Singapore to HarbourFront station in the so ...
,
Downtown MRT line
zh, 滨海市区地铁线 ta, டவுன்டவுன் எம்ஆர்டி வழி
, color =
, logo = Downtown Line logo.svg
, logo_width = 250px
, image = DT17 Downtown Platform B 1.jpg
, i ...
and
Thomson-East Coast MRT line), three LRT lines serving the neighbourhoods of Bukit Panjang and Choa Chu Kang (Bukit Panjang LRT line), Sengkang (Sengkang LRT line) and Punggol (Punggol LRT line), and more than 300 bus routes in operation. Taxis are a popular form of transport as the fares are relatively affordable when compared to many other developed countries, whilst cars in Singapore are the most expensive to own worldwide.
The
Johor–Singapore Causeway
The Johor–Singapore Causeway is a causeway consisting of a combined railway and motorway bridge that links the city of Johor Bahru in Malaysia across the Straits of Johor to the district and town of Woodlands in Singapore. Historically f ...
(connecting Singapore with Johor Bahru,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
) is the Border checkpoint#Land, busiest international land border crossing in the world, whereby approximately 350,000 travellers cross the border checkpoints of both Woodlands Checkpoint and Sultan Iskandar Building daily (with an annual total of 128 million travellers).
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is responsible for all land transport-related infrastructure and operations in Singapore.
Air
Singapore is a major international transport hub in Asia, serving some of the busiest sea and air trade routes. Changi Airport is an aviation centre for Southeast Asia and a stopover on Qantas' Kangaroo Route between Sydney and London. There are two civilian airports in Singapore,
Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...
and Seletar Airport. Singapore Changi Airport hosts a network of over 100 airlines connecting Singapore to some 300 cities in about 70 countries and territories worldwide. It has been rated one of the best international airports by international travel magazines, including being rated as the world's best airport for the first time in 2006 by Skytrax. Singapore Changi Airport also had the second- and third-List of busiest passenger air routes#The world's busiest international air routes by origin-and-destination passenger volume (airport pairs), busiest international air routes in the world; the Jakarta-Singapore airport pair had 4.8 million passengers carried in 2018, whilst the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur airport pair had 4.5 million passengers carried in 2018, both trailing only behind Hong Kong-Taipei (6.5 million).
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...
, which is the flag carrier of Singapore, has been regarded as a 5-star airline by Skytrax and been in the world top 10 list of airlines for multiple consecutive years. Changi Airport had also been rated as the world's best airport from 2013 to 2020 before being superseded by Hamad International Airport in Doha
Sea
The
Port of Singapore
The Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade and handles Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world since 2015. Currently the world's se ...
, managed by port operators PSA International and Jurong Port, was the world's second-busiest port in 2019 in terms of shipping tonnage handled, at 2.85 billion gross tons (GT), and in terms of container (cargo), containerised traffic, at 37.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
It is also the world's second-busiest, behind Shanghai, in terms of cargo tonnage with 626 million tons handled. In addition, the port is the world's busiest for transshipment traffic and the world's biggest ship refuelling centre.
Industry sectors
![Singapore Product Exports (2019)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Singapore_Product_Exports_%282019%29.svg)
Singapore is the world's 3rd-largest foreign exchange market, foreign exchange centre, 6th-largest financial centre,
2nd-largest casino gambling market,
3rd-largest oil-refining and trading centre, largest oil-rig producer and hub for ship repair services, and largest logistics hub. The economy is diversified, with its top contributors being financial services, manufacturing, and oil-refining. Its main exports are refined petroleum, integrated circuits, and computers, which constituted 27% of the country's GDP in 2010. Other significant sectors include electronics, chemicals, mechanical engineering, and biomedical sciences. Singapore was ranked 7th in the Global Innovation Index in 2022. In 2019, there were more than 60 semiconductor companies in Singapore, which together constituted 11% of the global market share. The semiconductor industry alone contributes around 7% of Singapore's GDP.
Singapore's largest companies are in the telecommunications, banking, transportation, and manufacturing sectors, many of which started as state-run statutory corporations and have since been publicly listed on the Singapore Exchange. Such companies include Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), Singapore Technologies Engineering, Keppel Corporation, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), Development Bank of Singapore (DBS), and United Overseas Bank (UOB). In 2011, amidst the global financial crisis, OCBC, DBS and UOB were ranked by ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' as the world's 1st, 5th, and 6th strongest banks in the world, respectively. It is home to the headquarters of 3 Fortune Global 500, ''Fortune'' Global 500 companies, the highest in the region.
The nation's best known global companies include
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...
, Changi Airport, and the
Port of Singapore
The Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade and handles Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world since 2015. Currently the world's se ...
, all of which are among the most-awarded in their respective fields. Singapore Airlines was ranked as Asia's most-admired company, and the world's 19th most-admired company in 2015 by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune''’s annual "50 most admired companies in the world" industry surveys. Other awards it has received include the US-based ''Travel + Leisure''’s Best International Airline award, which it has won for 20 consecutive years. Changi Airport connects over 100 airlines to more than 300 cities. The strategic international air hub has more than 480 World's Best Airport awards , and is known as the most-awarded airport in the world. Over ten free-trade agreements have been signed with other countries and regions.
Singapore is the second-largest foreign investor in India. It is the 14th largest exporter and the 15th largest importer in the world.
Tourism
![Singapore Skyline 2019-10](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Singapore_Skyline_2019-10.jpg)
Tourism is a major industry and contributor to the Economy of Singapore, Singaporean economy, attracting 18.5 million international tourists in 2018, more than three times Singapore's total population. Singapore is the 5th most visited city in the world, and 2nd in the Asia-Pacific. In 2019 tourism contributed directly to about 4% of Singapore's GDP,
down from 2016, when tourism contributed, directly and indirectly, to around 9.9% of Singapore's GDP.
Altogether, the sector generated approximately 8.6% of Singapore's employment in 2016.
![Singapore skyline at sunset viewed from Gardens by the Bay East - 20120426](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Singapore_skyline_at_sunset_viewed_from_Gardens_by_the_Bay_East_-_20120426.jpg)
In 2015, Lonely Planet and ''The New York Times'' listed Singapore as their top and 6th-best world destinations to visit, respectively. Well-known landmarks include the Merlion, the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Esplanade,
Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands (abbreviation: MBS) is an integrated resort fronting Marina Bay in Singapore. The resort is owned by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and at its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino prop ...
, Gardens by the Bay, Jewel Changi Airport, CHIJMES,
National Gallery Singapore,
the Singapore Flyer,
the Orchard Road shopping belt,
the resort island of
Sentosa, and the
Singapore Botanic Gardens
The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a -year-old tropical garden located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden, to be honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Th ...
, Singapore's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is the statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore), Ministry of Trade and Industry which is tasked with the promotion of the country's tourism industry. In August 2017 the STB and the Economic Development Board (EDB) unveiled a unified brand, Singapore – Passion Made Possible, to market Singapore internationally for tourism and business purposes. The Orchard Road district, which contains multi-storey shopping centres and hotels, can be considered the centre of shopping and tourism in Singapore.
Other popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo, River Wonders and Night Safari, Singapore, Night Safari. The Singapore Zoo has embraced the open zoo concept whereby animals are kept in enclosures, separated from visitors by hidden dry or wet moats, instead of caging the animals, and the River Wonders has 300 species of animals, including numerous endangered species. Singapore promotes itself as a medical tourism hub, with about 200,000 foreigners seeking medical care there each year. Singapore medical services aim to serve at least one million foreign patients annually and generate US$3 billion in revenue.
Demographics
As of mid-2018, the estimated population of Singapore was 5,638,700 people, 3,471,900 (61.6%) of whom were Singaporean nationality law, citizens, while the remaining 2,166,800 (38.4%) were Permanent residency in Singapore, permanent residents (522,300) or international students,
foreign workers, or dependants (1,644,500).
According to the country's 2010 census, nearly 23% of Singaporean residents (i.e. citizens and permanent residents) were foreign born; if non-residents were counted, nearly 43% of the total population were foreign born.
["Trends in international migrant stock: The 2008 revision"](_blank)
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2009).
The same census also reports that about 74.1% of residents were of Chinese descent, 13.4% of Malay descent, 9.2% of Indian descent, and 3.3% of other (including Eurasians in Singapore, Eurasian) descent.
Prior to 2010, each person could register as a member of only one race, by default that of his or her father, therefore mixed-race persons were solely grouped under their father's race in government censuses. From 2010 onward, people may register using a multi-racial classification, in which they may choose one primary race and one secondary race, but no more than two.
The median age of Singaporean residents was 40.5 in 2017,
and the total fertility rate is estimated to be 0.80 children per woman in 2014, the lowest in the world and well below the 2.1 needed to replace the population. The government Population planning in Singapore, has attempted to increase fertility with limited success, as well as adjusting immigration policy to maintain its working-age population.
91% of resident households (i.e. households headed by a Singapore citizen or permanent resident) own the homes they live in, and the average household size is 3.43 persons (which include dependants who are neither citizens nor permanent residents).
However, due to scarcity of land, 78.7% of resident households live in Public housing in Singapore, subsidised, high-rise, public housing apartments developed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). Also, 75.9% of resident households live in properties that are equal to, or larger than, a four-room (i.e. three bedrooms plus one living room) HDB flat or in private housing.
Live-in foreign domestic workers are quite common in Singapore, with about 224,500 foreign domestic workers there, as of December 2013.
Religion
Most major religious denominations are present in Singapore, with the Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore (IRO) recognising 10 major religions in the city state. A 2014 analysis by the Pew Research Center found Singapore to be the world's most religiously diverse nation.
Buddhism in Singapore, Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in Singapore: 31% of the resident population declared themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next-most practised religion is Christianity in Singapore, Christianity, followed by Islam in Singapore, Islam, Taoism in Singapore, Taoism, and Hinduism in Singapore, Hinduism. 20% of the population did not have a religious affiliation. The proportion of Christians, Taoists, and non-religious people increased between 2000 and 2010 by about 3 percentage points each, while the proportion of Buddhists decreased. Other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population.
There are monasteries and Dharma centres from all three major traditions of Buddhism in Singapore: Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Most Buddhists in Singapore are Chinese and are of the Mahayana tradition, missionaries having come into the country from China for several decades. However, Buddhism in Thailand, Thailand's Theravada Buddhism has seen growing popularity among the populace (not only the Chinese) during the past decade. The religion of Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese Buddhist organisation, is practised by many people in Singapore, and mostly by those of Chinese descent. Tibetan Buddhism has also made slow inroads into the country in recent years.
Languages
Singapore has four official languages:
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
, Standard Chinese, Mandarin, and
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
.
[, s7.]
English is the
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
[Tan, Sherman, p. 340-341. "The four recognised official languages are English, Mandarin, Tamil, and Malay, but in practice, English is Singapore's default lingua franca."] and the main language used in business, government, law and education.
The
Constitution of Singapore and all government legislation is written in English, and Language interpretation, interpreters are required if a language other than English is used in the Judicial system of Singapore, Singaporean courts. Statutory corporations conduct their businesses in English, while any official documents written in a non-English official language such as Malay, Mandarin, or Tamil are typically translated into English to be accepted for use.
[Dixon, L. Quentin. (2005). The Bilingual Education Policy in Singapore: Implications for Second Language Acquisition. In James Cohen, J., McAlister, K. T., Rolstad, K., and MacSwan, J (Eds.), ''ISB4: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism''. p. 625-635, Cascadilla Press, Somerville, MA.]
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
was designated as a national language by the Singaporean government after independence from Britain in the 1960s to avoid friction with Singapore's Malay-speaking neighbours of Malaysia and Indonesia.
It has a symbolic, rather than functional purpose.
It is used in the national anthem ''Majulah Singapura'', in citations of Singaporean orders and decorations and in military commands.
Singaporean Malay is officially written in the Latin-based Rumi script, though some Singaporean Malays also learn the Arabic-based Jawi alphabet, Jawi script. Jawi is considered an ethnic script for use on Singaporean identity cards.
Singaporeans are mostly bilingual, typically with English as their common language and their mother-tongue as a second language taught in schools, in order to preserve each individual's ethnic identity and values. According to the 2020 census, English was the language most spoken at home, used by 48.3% of the population; Mandarin was next, spoken at home by 29.9%.
Nearly half a million speak other ancestral Southern varieties of Chinese, mainly Hokkien, Teochew dialect, Teochew, and Cantonese, as their home language, although the use of these is declining in favour of Mandarin or just English.
Singapore Chinese characters are written using simplified Chinese characters.
Singapore English, Singaporean English is largely based on British English, owing to the country's status as a former Colony of Singapore, crown colony. However, forms of English spoken in Singapore range from Singapore Standard English, Standard Singapore English to a colloquial form known as Singlish, which is discouraged by the government as it claims it to be a substandard English-based creole language, English creole that handicaps Singaporeans, presenting an obstacle to learning standard English and rendering the speaker incomprehensible to everyone except to another Singlish speaker. Standard Singapore English is fully understandable to all Standard English speakers, while most English-speaking people do not understand Singlish. An interview with a Singlish speaker shown on English-language television therefore requires translated Standard English subtitles. Nevertheless, Singaporeans have a strong sense of identity and connection to Singlish, whereby the existence of Singlish is recognised as a distinctive cultural marker for many Singaporeans.
As such, in recent times, the government has tolerated the diglossia of both Singlish and Standard English (only for those who are fluent in both), whilst continuously reinforcing the importance of Standard English amongst those who speak only Singlish (which is not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible with the Standard English of other English-speaking country, English-speaking countries).
Education
![Singapore Management University 17, Aug 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Singapore_Management_University_17%2C_Aug_06.JPG)
Education for primary, secondary, and tertiary levels is mostly supported by the state. All institutions, public and private, must be registered with the
Ministry of Education (MOE). English is the language of instruction in all public schools, and all subjects are taught and examined in English except for the "mother tongue" language paper. While the term "mother tongue" in general refers to the first language internationally, in Singapore's education system, it is used to refer to the second language, as English is the first language. Students who have been abroad for a while, or who struggle with their "Mother Tongue" language, are allowed to take a simpler syllabus or drop the subject.
Education takes place in three stages: primary, secondary, and pre-university education, with the primary education being compulsory. Students begin with six years of primary school, which is made up of a four-year foundation course and a two-year orientation stage. The curriculum is focused on the development of English, the mother tongue, mathematics, and natural science, science.
Secondary school lasts from four to five years, and is divided between Express, Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical) streams in each school, depending on a student's ability level.
The basic coursework breakdown is the same as in the primary level, although classes are much more specialised. Pre-university education takes place at either the 21 Junior college (Singapore), Junior Colleges or the Millennia Institute, over a period of two and three years respectively.
As alternatives to pre-university education, however, courses are offered in other post-secondary education institutions, including the 5 polytechnics and 3 ITE colleges. Singapore has six public universities, of which the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University are among the top 20 universities in the world.
National examinations are standardised across all schools, with a test taken after each stage. After the first six years of education, students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE),
which determines their placement at secondary school. At the end of the secondary stage, Singapore-Cambridge GCE Ordinary Level, O-Level or Singapore-Cambridge GCE Normal Level, N-Level exams are taken; at the end of the following pre-university stage, the Singapore-Cambridge GCE Advanced Level, GCE A-Level exams are taken. Some schools have a degree of freedom in their curriculum and are known as autonomous schools, for Secondary education in Singapore, secondary education level and above.
Singapore is also an education hub, with more than 80,000 international students in 2006. 5,000 Malaysian students cross the
Johor–Singapore Causeway
The Johor–Singapore Causeway is a causeway consisting of a combined railway and motorway bridge that links the city of Johor Bahru in Malaysia across the Straits of Johor to the district and town of Woodlands in Singapore. Historically f ...
daily to attend schools in Singapore. In 2009, 20% of all students in Singaporean universities were international students—the maximum cap allowed, a majority from
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
, China and India.
Singapore students have excelled in many of the world education benchmarks in maths, science and reading. In 2015, both its primary and secondary students rank first in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD's global school performance rankings across 76 countries—described as the most comprehensive map of education standards. In 2016, Singapore students topped both the Program International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In the 2016 EF English Proficiency Index taken in 72 countries, Singapore place 6th and has been the only Asian country in the top ten.
Healthcare
![KRW Facade2 final](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/KRW_Facade2_final.jpg)
Singapore has a generally efficient healthcare system, even though health expenditures are relatively low for developed countries.
The World Health Organization, World Health Organisation ranks Singapore's healthcare system as 6th overall in the world in its World Health Report.
Singapore has had the List of countries by infant mortality rate, lowest infant mortality rates in the world for the past two decades.
In 2019, Singaporeans had the longest life expectancy of any country at 84.8 years. Women can expect to live an average of 87.6 years with 75.8 years in good health. The averages are lower for men. Singapore is ranked 1st on the Global Food Security Index.
As of December 2011 and January 2013, 8,800 foreigners and 5,400 Singaporeans were respectively diagnosed with HIV, but there are fewer than 10 annual deaths from HIV per 100,000 people. There is a high level of immunisation. Adult obesity is below 10%.
In 2013, the
Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...
ranked Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and sixth overall in the world.
The government's healthcare system is based upon the "3M" framework. This has three components: Medifund, which provides a safety net for those not able to otherwise afford healthcare; Medisave, a compulsory national medical savings account system covering about 85% of the population; and Medishield, a government-funded health insurance program. Public hospitals in Singapore have a considerable autonomy in their management decisions, and notionally compete for patients, but remain in government ownership. A subsidy scheme exists for those on low income. In 2008, 32% of healthcare was funded by the government. Healthcare accounts for approximately 3.5% of Singapore's GDP.
Culture
![Sri Mariamman Temple Singapore 3 amk](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Sri_Mariamman_Temple_Singapore_3_amk.jpg)
Despite its small size, Singapore has a diversity of languages, religions, and cultures.
Former prime ministers of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have stated that Singapore does not fit the traditional description of a nation, calling it a society-in-transition, pointing out the fact that Singaporeans do not all speak the same language, share the same religion, or have the same customs.
Singaporeans who speak English as their native language would likely lean toward Western culture (along with either Christian culture or secularism), while those who speak Chinese as their native language mostly lean toward Chinese culture, which has linkages with Chinese folk religion, Buddhism in Singapore, Buddhism, Taoism in Singapore, Taoism and Confucianism. Malay-speaking Singaporeans mostly lean toward Malays (ethnic group)#Culture, Malay culture, which itself is closely linked to Islamic culture. Tamil-speaking Singaporeans mostly lean toward Tamil culture, which itself is mostly linked to Hinduism, Hindu culture. Racial and religious harmony is regarded as a crucial part of Singapore's success, and played a part in building a Singaporean identity.
When Singapore became independent from the United Kingdom in 1963, most Singaporean citizens were transient Migrant worker, migrant labourers who had no intention of staying permanently.
There was also a sizeable minority of middle-class, locally born people—known as Peranakans or Baba-Nyonya-descendants of 15th- and 16th-century Chinese immigrants. With the exception of the Peranakans who pledged their loyalties to Singapore, most of the labourers' loyalties lay with their respective homelands of British Malaya, Malaya, China and India. After independence, the government began a deliberate process of crafting a uniquely Singaporean identity and culture.
Singapore has a reputation as a nanny state. The government also places a heavy emphasis on
meritocracy
Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people based on talent, effort, and achiev ...
, where one is judged based on one's ability.
The national flower of Singapore is the Hybrid plant, hybrid orchid, Vanda 'Miss Joaquim', named in memory of a Singapore-born Armenian woman, who crossbred the flower in her garden at Tanjong Pagar in 1893. Singapore is known as the ''Lion City'' and many national symbols such as the coat of arms of Singapore, coat of arms and the lion head symbol of Singapore, lion head symbol make use of a lion. Major religious festivals are Public holidays in Singapore, public holidays.
Arts
![National Gallery 2 (31322988764)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/National_Gallery_2_%2831322988764%29.jpg)
During the 1990s the National Arts Council (Singapore), National Arts Council was created to spearhead the development of performing arts, along with visual and literary art forms. The National Gallery Singapore is the nation's flagship museum with some 8,000 works from Singaporean and other Southeast Asian artists. The Singapore Art Museum focuses on contemporary art. The Red Dot Design Museum celebrates exceptional art and design of objects for everyday life, hosting more than 1,000 items from 50 countries. The lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum hosts touring exhibitions that combine art with the sciences. Other major museums include the Asian Civilisations Museum, the Peranakan Museum, and The Arts House. Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, The Esplanade is Singapore's largest performing arts centre. In 2016 alone, it was the site of 5,900 free art and culture events.
Literature of Singapore, or "SingLit", comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans written chiefly in the country's four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. Singapore is increasingly regarded as having four sub-literatures instead of one. Many significant works have been translated and showcased in publications such as the literary journal ''Singa'', published in the 1980s and 1990s with editors including Edwin Thumboo and Koh Buck Song, as well as in multilingual anthologies such as ''Rhythms: A Singaporean Millennial Anthology Of Poetry'' (2000), in which the poems were all translated three times each. A number of Singaporean writers such as Tan Swie Hian and Kuo Pao Kun have contributed work in more than one language.
Singapore has a diverse music culture that ranges from pop and rock, to folk and classical. Western classical music plays a significant role in the cultural life in Singapore, with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) instituted in 1979. Other notable western orchestras in Singapore include Singapore National Youth Orchestra which is funded by the Ministry of Education and the community-based Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra. Many orchestras and ensembles are also found in secondary schools and junior colleges. Various communities have their own distinct ethnic musical traditions: Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Eurasians. With their traditional forms of music and various modern musical styles, the fusion of different forms account for the musical diversity in the country.
The nation's lively urban musical scene has made it a centre for international performances and festivals in the region. Some of Singapore's best known pop singers include Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, Liang Wern Fook, Taufik Batisah and Dick Lee, who is famous for composing National Day theme songs, including ''Home''.
Pink Dot SG, an event held in support of the LGBT community, has drawn thousands of people annually since 2009 with increasing attendance. According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies (Singapore), Institute of Policy Studies in 2019, Singaporean society has become more liberalism, liberal on LGBT rights. In the survey, more than 20% of people said that sexual relations between adults of the same sex were not wrong at all or not wrong most of the time, up from 10% in 2013. The survey found that 27% felt the same way about same-sex marriage (an increase from 15% in 2013) and 30% did so about same-sex couples adopting a child (an increase from 24% in 2013). In 2021, 6 Singaporeans protested for improved trans rights, trans protections in the educational system outside the
Ministry of Education headquarters at
Buona Vista
Buona Vista is a housing estate located in the subzones of one-north and Holland Drive in the residential township of Queenstown in Singapore. The housing estate is served by the Buona Vista MRT station which links it up with the MRT system. ...
.
Cuisine
Singapore's diversity of cuisine is touted as a reason to visit the country, due to its combination of convenience, variety, quality, and price.
Local food items generally relate to a particular ethnicity – Chinese, Malay and Indian; but the diversity of cuisine has increased further by the hybridisation of different styles (e.g., the Peranakan cuisine, a mix of Chinese and Malay cuisine). In hawker centres, cultural diffusion is exemplified by traditionally Malay hawker stalls also selling Tamil food. Chinese stalls may introduce Malay ingredients, cooking techniques, or entire dishes into their range of catering.
Hainanese chicken rice, based on the Hainanese dish Wenchang chicken, is considered Singapore's national dish.
The city-state has a burgeoning food scene ranging from hawker centres (open-air), food courts (air-conditioned), coffee shops (open-air with up to a dozen hawker stalls), cafes, fast food, simple kitchens, casual, celebrity and high-end restaurants.
Cloud kitchens and food delivery are also on the rise, with 70% of residents ordering from delivery apps at least once a month. Many international celebrity chef restaurants are located within the
integrated resort
An integrated resort (IR) is a major resort property that includes a hotel with a casino, together with convention facilities, entertainment shows, theme parks, luxury retail and fine dining. The term is largely Singaporean.
Earlier IR lice ...
s. Religious dietary strictures exist (Muslims do not eat pork and Hindus do not eat beef), and there is also a significant group of vegetarians. The Singapore Food Festival which celebrates Singapore's cuisine is held annually in July.
Prior to the 1980s, street food was sold mainly by immigrants from China, India, and Malaysia to other immigrants seeking a familiar taste. In Singapore, street food has long been associated with hawker centres with communal seating areas. Typically, these centres have a few dozen to hundreds of food stalls, with each specialising in one or more related dishes.
While street food can be found in many countries, the variety and reach of centralised hawker centres that serve heritage street food in Singapore is unique.
In 2018, there were 114 hawker centres spread across the city centre and heartland housing estates. They are maintained by the National Environment Agency, which also grades each food stall for hygiene. The largest hawker centre is located on the second floor of Chinatown Complex, and contains over 200 stalls.
The complex is also home to the cheapest Michelin-starred meal in the world – a plate of soya-sauce chicken rice or noodles for S$2 (US$1.50). Two street food stalls in the city are the first in the world to be awarded a Michelin star, obtaining a single star each.
Sport and recreation
![Joseph Schooling Kazan 2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Joseph_Schooling_Kazan_2015.jpg)
The development of private sports and recreation clubs began in the 19th century colonial Singapore, with clubs founded during this time including the Cricket Club, the Singapore Recreation Club, the Singapore Swimming Club, and the Hollandse Club. Weightlifter Tan Howe Liang was Singapore's first Olympic medalist, winning a silver at the 1960 Summer Olympics, 1960 Rome Games.
Indoor and water sports are some of the most popular sports in Singapore. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Joseph Schooling won Singapore's first Olympic gold medal, claiming the Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre butterfly, 100-metre butterfly in a new Olympic record time of 50.39 seconds.
Singapore sailors have had success on the international stage, with their Optimist (dinghy), Optimist team being considered among the best in the world. Despite its size, the country has dominated swim meets in the Southeast Asia Games. Its men's water polo team won the SEA Games gold medal for the 27th time in 2017, continuing Singapore sport's longest winning streak. Singapore hosted the inaugural 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, in which 3,600 athletes from 204 nations competed in 26 sports.
The island is home to ONE Championship, the biggest Mixed Martial Arts promotion in Asia. Singapore's women's table tennis team were silver medalists at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They became world champions in 2010 when they beat China at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in Russia, breaking China's 19-year winning streak. In 2021, Singapore's Loh Kean Yew achieved a "World Champion" status when he won a badminton gold at the 2021 BWF World Championships 2021 BWF World Championships – Men's singles, men's singles, which is one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments alongside the Badminton at the Summer Olympics, Summer Olympics badminton tournaments.
Singapore's association football, football league, the Singapore Premier League, was launched in 1996 as the S.League and comprises eight clubs, including one foreign team. The Singapore Slingers, formerly the Hunter Pirates in the Australian National Basketball League, is one of the inaugural teams in the ASEAN Basketball League, which was founded in October 2009. Kranji Racecourse is run by the Singapore Turf Club and hosts several meetings per week, including international races—notably the Singapore Airlines International Cup.
Singapore began hosting a round of the Formula One World Championship, the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in 2008. It was the inaugural F1 night race,
and the first F1 street race in Asia.
It is considered a signature event on the F1 calendar.
Media
![Singapore Former-Hill-Street-Police-Station-02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Singapore_Former-Hill-Street-Police-Station-02.jpg)
Companies linked to the government control much of the domestic media in Singapore.
MediaCorp operates most Television in Singapore, free–to–air television channels and List of radio stations in Singapore, free–to–air radio stations in Singapore. There are a total of six free–to–air TV channels offered by MediaCorp. StarHub TV and Singtel TV also offer IPTV with channels from all around the world. SPH Media Trust, a body with close links to the government, controls most of the newspaper industry in Singapore.
Singapore's media industry has sometimes been criticised for being overly regulated and lacking in freedom by human rights groups such as
Freedom House
Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
.
Self-censorship among journalists is said to be common.
In 2022, Singapore was ranked 139 on the Press Freedom Index published by
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
, up from 160 the previous year. The Media Development Authority regulates Singaporean media, claiming to balance the demand for choice and protection against offensive and harmful material.
Private ownership of TV satellite dishes is banned.
Internet in Singapore is provided by state–owned Singtel, partially state–owned Starhub and M1 Limited as well as some other business internet service providers (ISPs) that offer residential service plans of speeds up to 2 Gbit/s as of spring 2015. Equinix (332 participants) and the Singapore Internet Exchange (70 participants) are Internet exchange points where Internet service providers and Content delivery networks exchange Internet traffic between their networks (Autonomous system (Internet), autonomous systems) in various locations in Singapore. In the mid-1980s to 1990s, Singaporeans could also use the locally based videotext service Singapore Teleview to communicate with one another.
The phrase ''Intelligent Island'' arose in the 1990s in reference to the island nation's early adaptive relationship with the internet.
In 2016, there were an estimated 4.7 million internet users in Singapore, representing 82.5% of the population. The Singapore government does not engage in widespread censoring of the internet, but it maintains a list of one hundred websites—mostly pornographic—that it blocks as a "symbolic statement of the Singaporean community's stand on harmful and undesirable content on the Internet". As the block covers only home internet access, users may still visit the blocked websites from their office computers. Singapore has the world's highest smartphone penetration rates, in surveys by Deloitte and the Google Consumer Barometer — at 89% and 85% of the population respectively in 2014.
Overall mobile phone penetration rate is at 148 mobile phone subscribers per 100 people.
See also
* Index of Singapore-related articles
* Outline of Singapore
Notes
References
Citations
; Attribution
* ''This article incorporates public domain text from the websites of the
Singapore Department of Statistics
/span>, the United States Department of State, the Library of Congress, United States Library of Congress and ''The World Factbook''.''
Works cited
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Further reading
* Abshire, Jean. ''The History of Singapore'' (ABC-CLIO, 2011).
* Barr, Michael D. ''Singapore: A Modern History'' (2019)
* Corfield, Justin J. ''Historical dictionary of Singapore'' (2011
online
* Ghesquière, Henri C. ''Singapore's success: engineering economic growth'' (2007)
* Heng, Chye Kiang. ''50 Years of Urban Planning in Singapore'' (2016)
*
* Huff, W. G. ''The Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth Century'' (1995)
*
*
* Mun, Chia Wai. ''Singapore and Asia in a Globalized World: Contemporary Economic Issues and Policies'' (2008)
* Perry, John Curtis. ''Singapore: Unlikely Power'' (Oxford University Press, 2017).
* Singh, Bilveer. ''Understanding Singapore Politics'' (2017)
*
*
* Yew, Lee Kuan. ''From Third World To First: The Singapore Story: 1965–2000''. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. .
External links
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*
*
Singapore Government Online Portal
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs''
*
Singapore profile
from the BBC News
*
*
WikiSatellite view of Singapore at WikiMapia
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