In response, the PAP introduced several significant political changes, including the creation of the Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) scheme from the 1984 election, which allowed a limited number of the best performing losing opposition candidates to be appointed as MPs. Lee’s government capitalised on Singapore’s favourable geographical position to develop the Port of Singapore into one of the world’s busiest ports, while the service and tourism industries also expanded significantly during this period. 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. After its expulsion 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.
However, according to official forecasts, water demand in Singapore is expected to double from 1.4 to 2.8 billion litres (1.4 to 2.8 million cubic metres; 370 to 740 million US gallons) per day between 2010 and 2060. 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. In its 2020 budget, the government set aside an initial $5 billion towards a Coastline and Flood Protection Fund. From July to October, there is often haze caused by bush fires in neighbouring Indonesia, usually from the island of Sumatra. Some projects involve merging smaller islands through land reclamation to form larger, more functional and habitable islands, as has been done with Jurong Island. Some of the programmes include providing financial assistance to needy households, providing free medical care at government hospitals, and paying for children’s tuition.
Community Development Councils of Singapore Map
Singapore is a major international transport hub in Asia, serving some of the busiest sea and air trade routes. 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. 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. Water access is universal and of high quality, though the country is projected to face significant water-stress by 2040. 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. 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.
Timah Hill, the highest summit, has an elevation of only 531 feet (162 metres); with other peaks, such as Panjang and Mandai hills, it forms a block of rugged terrain in the centre of the island. Nearly two-thirds of the main island is less than 50 feet (15 metres) above sea level. Singapore is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest in the world.
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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. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is the statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry which is tasked with the promotion of the country’s tourism industry. Its main exports are refined petroleum, integrated circuits, and computers, which constituted 27% of the country’s GDP in 2010.
Pulau Ubin Island Of Singapore
Singapore is the world’s third-largest foreign exchange centre, sixth-largest financial centre, second-largest casino gambling market, third-largest oil-refining and trading centre, largest oil-rig producer and hub for ship repair services, and largest logistics hub. The Port of Singapore, 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 containerised traffic, at 37.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Its hub, 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. Changi what is accrued revenue Airport hosts a network of over 100 airlines connecting Singapore to some 300 cities in about 70 countries and territories worldwide.
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. Winston Churchill touted it as the “Gibraltar of the East”, and military discussions often referred to the base as simply “East of Suez”. Costing $60 million and not fully completed in 1938, it was nonetheless the largest dry dock in the world, the third-largest floating dock, and had enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months. Later, in the 1890s, when the rubber industry became established in Malaya and Singapore, the island became a global centre for rubber sorting and export. Prior to Raffles’ arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese.
Water supply
According to the Sejarah Melayu, a Malay chronicle, the city was founded by the Srīvijayan prince Sri Tri Buana; he is said to have glimpsed a tiger, mistaken it for a lion, and thus called the settlement Singapura. Rajendra may have named the city Singapura (“Lion City”), later corrupted to Singapore, or the name may have been bestowed in the 14th century by Buddhist monks, to whom the lion was a symbolic character. Rajendra Chola I, ruler of the southern Indian Chola kingdom, attacked the island in 1025, and there was another Chola raid in 1068.
- Singapore has the world’s eleventh largest foreign reserves, and one of the highest net international investment position per capita.
- In August the country observed the 50th anniversary of its secession from the Federation of Malaysia with a gala celebration throughout Singapore.
- Hainanese chicken rice, based on the Hainanese dish Wenchang chicken, is considered Singapore’s national dish.
- Singapore (officially, Republic of Singapore) is a unitary state and is divided into 5 Community Development Councils (CDCs).
- In the 2016 EF English Proficiency Index taken in 72 countries, Singapore placed 6th and has been the only Asian country in the top 10.
With their traditional forms of music and various modern musical styles, the fusion of different forms account for the musical diversity in the country. Other notable western orchestras in Singapore include Singapore National Youth Orchestra and the community-based Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra. The Red Dot Design Museum celebrates exceptional art and design of objects for everyday life, hosting more than 1,000 items from 50 countries. Singapore is known as the Lion City and many national symbols such as the coat of arms and the lion head symbol make use of a lion. The national flower of Singapore is the 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. After independence, the government began a deliberate process of crafting a uniquely Singaporean identity and culture.
A City in Nature
Its territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet.
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%. Singaporean Malay is officially written in the Latin-based Rumi script, though some Singaporean Malays also learn the Arabic-based Jawi script. The Constitution of Singapore and all government legislation is written in English, and interpreters are required if a language other than English is used in the Singaporean courts. Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese Buddhist organisation, is practised by many people in Singapore, and mostly by those of Chinese descent. The proportion of Christians, Muslims, and the nonreligious slightly increased between 2010 and 2020, while the proportion of Buddhists and Taoists slightly decreased; Hinduism and other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population. Christianity was the second largest religion at 18.9%, followed by Islam (15.6%), Taoism and Chinese Traditional Beliefs (8.8%) and Hinduism (5.0%).
- UMNO leaders believed that the additional Malay population in the Bornean territories would balance Singapore’s Chinese population.
- Singapore’s unique combination of a strong, soft authoritarian government with an emphasis on meritocracy is known as the “Singapore model”, and is regarded as a key factor behind Singapore’s political stability, economic growth, and harmonious social order.
- The PAP faced fresh dangers of subversion when Indonesian opposition to Malaysia took the form of military and economic confrontation (1964).
- Numerous parks and reserves occupy the island, so while it is an urban environment, there is significant greenery contending for space.
- The Marina Bay Reservoir, for instance, is a significant body of water located in the heart of the city.
Economy
Particularly, its use against drug trafficking has been a source of contention with non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The SAF has sent forces to assist in operations outside the country, in areas such as Iraq, and Afghanistan, in both military and civilian roles. 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. Because of the scarcity of open land on the main island, training involving activities such as live firing and amphibious warfare are often carried out on smaller islands, typically barred to civilian access.
The legacy of Asian values and the limited political culture within Singapore has led to the country being described as “classic illustration of soft authoritarianism”, and “profoundly illiberal”. The fact that “neither the public nor elites had experience with democracy” helped create Singapore’s political culture, as dominated by status-focused hierarchies committed to economic development. The long-standing hegemony of the PAP has led to Singapore being described by academics as an illiberal democracy, or a soft-authoritarian state in which the PAP faces little to no feasible political competition to its rule of the country.
In Javanese inscriptions and Chinese records dating to the end of the 14th century, the more-common name of the island is Tumasik, or Temasek, from the Javanese word tasek (“sea”). Currently, the government and the cabinet are led by by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong while President Tharman Shanmugaratnam is the Head of State. Since its independence in 9 August 1965, the country has adopted a parliamentary democracy system. Singapore is a sunny, tropical island in Southeast Asia, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Getting to Singapore International Cyber Week 2025
Land
In 2004, Amnesty International claimed 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 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 wider context of “saving lives”, particularly citizens. The country is one of four in the developed world to retain the death penalty, along with the United States, Japan and Taiwan. According to the 2024 Global Peace Index, Singapore is the 5th most peaceful country in the world. Singapore is part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), a military alliance with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the explaining hollywood: how to get a production accountant job los angeles times United Kingdom.
Culture
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. 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. 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 how to calculate monthly accrued interest styles (e.g., the Peranakan cuisine, a mix of Chinese and Malay 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.
East India Company
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 sailors have had success on the international stage, with their Optimist team being considered among the best in the world. Many international celebrity chef restaurants are located within the integrated resorts. Hainanese chicken rice, based on the Hainanese dish Wenchang chicken, is considered Singapore’s national dish.