Portal:Singapore

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Welcome to the Singapore Portal

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south along with the Riau Islands in Indonesia, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor along with the State of Johor in Malaysia to the north.

Singapore's history dates back at least eight hundred years, having been a maritime emporium known as Temasek and subsequently a major constituent part of several successive thalassocratic empires. Its contemporary era began in 1819, when Stamford Raffles established Singapore as an entrepôt trading post of the British Empire. In 1867, Singapore came under the direct control of Britain as part of the Straits Settlements. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan in 1942 and returned to British control as a separate Crown colony following Japan's surrender in 1945. Singapore gained self-governance in 1959 and, in 1963, became part of the new federation of Malaysia, alongside Malaya, North Borneo, and Sarawak. Ideological differences led to Singapore's expulsion from the federation two years later; Singapore became an independent sovereign country in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation rapidly developed to become one of the Four Asian Tigers.

As a highly developed country, it has one of the highest PPP-adjusted GDP per capita in the world. It is also identified as a tax haven. Singapore is the only country in Asia with a AAA sovereign credit rating from all major rating agencies. It is a major aviation, financial, and maritime shipping hub and has consistently been ranked as one of the most expensive cities to live in for expatriates and foreign workers. Singapore ranks highly in key social indicators: education, healthcare, quality of life, personal safety, infrastructure, and housing, 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. It has the third highest population density of any country in the world, although there are numerous green and recreational spaces as a result of urban planning. With a multicultural population and in recognition of the cultural identities of the major ethnic groups within the nation, Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. English is the common language, with exclusive use in numerous public services. Multi-racialism is enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape national policies in education, housing, and politics.

Singapore is a parliamentary republic in the Westminster tradition of unicameral parliamentary government, and its legal system is based on common law. While the country is de jure a multi-party democracy with free elections, the government under the People's Action Party (PAP) wields widespread control and political dominance. The PAP has governed the country continuously since full internal self-government was achieved in 1959, and holds a supermajority in Parliament. One of the five founding members of ASEAN, Singapore is also the headquarters of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Secretariat, and is the host city of many international conferences and events. Singapore is also a member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the East Asia Summit, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Commonwealth of Nations. (Full article...)

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The Singapore Stone is a fragment of a large sandstone slab which originally stood at the mouth of the Singapore River. The large slab, which is believed to date back to at least the 13th century and possibly as early as the 10th or 11th century, bore an undeciphered inscription. Recent theories suggest that the inscription is either in Old Javanese ,Sanskrit or in Tamil, which suggested a possibility that the island was an extension of the Majapahit civilization in the past.

It is likely that the person who commissioned the inscription was Sumatran. The slab may be linked to the legendary story of the 14th-century strongman Badang, who is said to have thrown a massive stone to the mouth of the Singapore River. On Badang's death, the Rajah sent two stone pillars to be raised over his grave "at the point of the straits of Singapura". (Full article...)

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Credit: Yeo Kok Leong (20 February 2009)

Henderson Waves, a 274-metre (900-foot) long pedestrian bridge connecting Mount Faber Park and Telok Blangah Hill Park. At 36 metres (120 feet) above Henderson Road, it is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. Read more...

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General images

The following are images from various Singapore-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 2The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 3The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)
Image 4St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 5The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 6Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 7The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 8The Mao Kun map from Wubei Zhi which is based on the early 15th century maps of Zheng He showing Temasek (淡馬錫) at the top left, and Long Ya Men (龍牙門) on the right panel. (from History of Singapore)
Image 9Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 10Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 11Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 12Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 13Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 14Portrait of Stamford Raffles by George Francis Joseph, 1817 (from History of Singapore)
Image 15Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 16The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 17Old Supreme Court of Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 18Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 19View of Bukit Batok Estate. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 20Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 21A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 22A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 231888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)
Image 24The Sultan Mosque, built in 1826 in the Kampong Glam district, is the oldest and one of the largest mosque in Singapore. (from Singaporeans)
Image 25Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 261955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 27The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)
Image 28Traffic in Singapore, 1981. Prior to the introduction of the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) in 1990, vehicles per capita in Singapore was the highest in ASEAN. (from History of Singapore)
Image 29Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 30Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 31Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival, led by a Japanese officer, marches under a flag of truce to negotiate the capitulation of Allied forces in Singapore, on 15 February 1942. It was the largest surrender of British-led forces in history. (from History of Singapore)
Image 32Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 33Restored shophouses running along a street in Chinatown, which reflects the Victorian architecture of buildings built in Singapore during the earlier colonial period, with styles such as the painted ladies. (from History of Singapore)
Image 34The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 35Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 36A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 37Chinese community in Singapore carrying the Flag of the Republic of China (written Long live the motherland) to celebrate the victory, also reflected the Chinese identity issues at that time. (from History of Singapore)
Image 38Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 39A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 40Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 41Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)

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Edwin Nadason Thumboo B.B.M. and Bar, PJG (born 22 November 1933) is a Singaporean poet and academic who is regarded as one of the pioneers of English literature in Singapore.

Thumboo graduated in English from the University of Malaya in 1956. Although he applied for a position at the university, he was rejected as few locals held academic posts at that time. He therefore worked in the civil service for about nine years before finally joining the university, then renamed the University of Singapore, in 1966 following Singapore's independence. He received a Ph.D. from the university in 1970. Thumboo rose to the position of full professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, heading the department between 1977 and 1993. After the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University in 1980 to form the National University of Singapore (NUS), he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 1980 to 1991, NUS's longest-serving dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Thumboo was the first Chairman and Director of the university's Centre for the Arts from 1993 to 2005, and continues to be associated with the university as an emeritus professor, a position he has held since retiring from full-time teaching in September 1997. (Full article...)

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Ho Yuen Hoe Gan Eng Seng Hugh Hickling Zubir Said Tang Da Wu Teresa Hsu Fandi Ahmad Denise Phua Li Jiawei Glenn Knight Laurentia Tan Tao Li Yip Pin Xiu Neila Sathyalingam Walter Woon Han Sai Por Rex Shelley Feng Tianwei Lee Choon Seng Balaji Sadasivan Choor Singh Kelvin Tan Xiaxue

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that S. Iswaran was the first Singaporean cabinet minister to be investigated by the country's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau since 1986?
... that Alan Choe was tasked with developing Queenstown, Singapore's first satellite town, after its British architects left the country in the mid-1950s?
... that eight cardboard white elephants were put up as a form of public protest to lobby for the opening of Buangkok MRT station in Singapore?
... that Wee Toon Boon remained a member of the Parliament of Singapore even after he began serving a prison sentence for corruption?
... that COVID-19 lockdown restrictions caused a 37-percent increase in infections of dengue fever in Singapore's 2020 outbreak?
... that Chinese Garden MRT station did not originally have access to the Chinese Garden?

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In this month

29 January 1819: Sir Stamford Raffles arrives in Singapore.
29 January 1983: The Singapore Cable Car disaster occurs, killing 7 people and trapping another 13 people in the cable car cabins.
31 January 1974: The Japanese Red Army bombs petroleum tanks at Pulau Bukom and hijacks a ferry boat in what is known as the Laju incident.

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... that the Buddhist Library (pictured), which is located in a shophouse, is Singapore's first dedicated Buddhist library and is unique in that it is neither an association nor a temple?

... that John Martin Scripps was the first Briton in Singapore to be sentenced to death by hanging?

... that Saint Jack, a 1979 fiction film about a prostitute in Singapore and the only Hollywood film about Singapore to be shot on location, was banned in the country until 2006?

... that the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, a Singaporean body that ensures laws do not discriminate against racial or religious minorities, has not issued an adverse report since its creation?

... that Ah Meng, a Sumatran Orangutan and tourism icon of Singapore, had breakfast with celebrities including the Duke of Edinburgh and pop star Michael Jackson?

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Credit: Sengkang (19 November 2006)

Jurong Island is a man-made island located to the southwest of the main island of Singapore, off Jurong Industrial Estate. It was formed from the amalgamation of several offshore islands, chiefly the seven main islands of Pulau Ayer Chawan, Pulau Ayer Merbau, Pulau Merlimau, Pulau Pesek, Pulau Pesek Kecil, Pulau Sakra and Pulau Seraya.

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Check for latest announcements and updates at the WikiProject Singapore
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