Singapore is located at the southern tip of mainland Malaysia, between the Johor and Singapore Straits. It is made up of a main island surrounded by 63 much smaller islands. The total square footage of all the islands combined is only 700 square kilometers.<\/p>\n
During the colonial era, the Dutch, Portuguese and English were all vying for Asian trading ports. The English set up a few ports in the general area, including one in Malaysia, China (Hong Kong) and Sumatra (Indonesia). Sir Stamford Raffles, a British lieutenant governor, believed that the key location for a port was south of the Malaysia peninsula. At that time, Singapore was controlled by the Johor empire of southern Malaysia, and locally governed by a chieftain. In 1819, Raffles struck a deal with the Johor sultan, as well as the local chieftain, to set up a free trade port in Singapore. At the time the island was nothing more than a swamp and dense jungle, but Raffles had big plans to turn Singapore into a “place of considerable magnitude and importance”\u009d.<\/p>\n
Under British rule, Singapore did indeed flourish. Within 2 years the population went from about 150 to 10,000 and became a booming trade port. People came from all over the Middle East and Asia. Wide streets, ship yards, churches, houses, government buildings, botanical gardens, and so forth were erected in the rapidly growing city. But it was also plagued with problems, including poor sanitation, disease, opium addiction and piracy. Even before World War II, there was a growing dissatisfaction with British rule within the colony.<\/p>\n
Singapore was easily captured by the Japanese on February 15, 1942 and remained in Japanese control until the Japanese surrendered in 1945. The Japanese were ruthless, killing, imprisoning and systematically abusing the locals. After the war ended, the British were welcomed back, but after the trials of the war, there was a strong desire among the people to be an independent nation. The British encouraged their colonies to set up independent governments. In 1959 Lee Kuan Yew became the first elected Prime Minister, though still technically under British rule.<\/p>\n
England encouraged Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore to unify into one nation. Malaysia had already been granted independent status by the English. Brunei had recently become very wealthy from oil, and opted not to join the union because they did not want to share their resource, choosing instead to stay under the England’s wing. Singapore and Malaysia’s union lasted only two years because of differing ideologies and visions on how the government should be run.<\/p>\n
Within a few years of the\u00a0Singapore and Malaysia split, Singapore was recognized as a completely independent nation. Lee and his cabinet moved forward with his ambitious plans to advance Singapore to a first world utopia.\u00a0They set about modernizing and upgrading the infrastructure.\u00a0They created strict laws regarding social behaviors with severe penalties for crimes and misdemeanors.\u00a0They made everyone equal, regardless of race or religion, and celebrated ethnic diversity. Singapore is made up primarily of Chinese, Malay and Indians, with many people from other cultures in the mix. Lee succeeded in creating his utopia. Today Singapore is the largest shipping port in the world, one of the cleanest and most modern cities in the world, one of the safest cities in the world, and has the highest percentage of home ownership in the world.<\/p>\n
Like Suharto in Indonesia, Lee was democratically elected, and then changed the laws to ensure he remained in power, using measure such as\u00a0restricting media from any ideas that oppose Lee and\u00a0suppressing other political parties. Lee was in power for 31 years. Both\u00a0Lee and Suharto\u00a0succeded in creating what they set out to build. Lee created a great place for his people to live. Suharto created great personal wealth for himself.\u00a0Lee’s successor, Goh Chok Tong,\u00a0was in power for 14 years. In 2004, Lee’s son, Lee Hsien Loong,\u00a0took power. Both successors to the throne have ruled in the same manner as Lee did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Singapore is located at the southern tip of mainland Malaysia, between the Johor and Singapore Straits. It is made up of a main island surrounded by 63 much smaller islands. The total square footage of all the islands combined is … Continue reading