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 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), Middle Rocks and South Ledge. The dispute began in 1979 and was largely resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2008, which opined that Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore and Middle Rocks belonged to Malaysia. Sovereignty over South Ledge belongs to the state in the territorial waters of which it is located.

In early 1980, Singapore lodged a formal protest with Malaysia in response to a map published by Malaysia in 1979 claiming Pedra Branca. In 1989 Singapore proposed submitting the dispute to the ICJ. Malaysia agreed to this in 1994. In 1993, Singapore also claimed the nearby islets Middle Rocks and South Ledge. In 1998 the two countries agreed on the text of a Special Agreement that was needed to submit the dispute to the ICJ. The Special Agreement was signed in February 2003, and the ICJ formally notified of the Agreement in July that year. The hearing before the ICJ was held over three weeks in November 2007 under the name Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge (Malaysia v. Singapore). (Full article...)

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Credit: Sengkang (23 October 2005)

The Jurong BirdPark (Chinese: 裕廊飞禽公园; Malay: Taman Burung Jurong), is a tourist attraction in Singapore managed by Widlife Reserves Singapore. It is a landscaped park, built on the western slope of Jurong Hill. It is located within the Boon Lay Planning Area of the Jurong district and has an area of 202,000 square metres. Read more...

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General images

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

Image 1Old Supreme Court of Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 2St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 3Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 4Chinese 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 5Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 6The Sultan Mosque, built in 1826 in the Kampong Glam district, is the oldest and one of the largest mosque in Singapore. (from Singaporeans)
Image 7Portrait of Stamford Raffles by George Francis Joseph, 1817 (from History of Singapore)
Image 8Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)
Image 9A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 10Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 11Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 12Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 13Lieutenant-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 14Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 15The 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 16The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 17Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 18A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 19The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 20The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)
Image 21Restored 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 22Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 231888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)
Image 24The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 25A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 26Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 271955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 28Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 29Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 30Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 31A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 32The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 33Traffic 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 34The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 35Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 36Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 37View of Bukit Batok Estate. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 38Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 39Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 40Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 41The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)

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Neila Sathyalingam (8 February 1938 – 9 March 2017) was a Singaporean classical Indian dancer, choreographer and instructor of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. An alumna of Kalakshetra in Madras (now Chennai) under the tutelage of Srimathi Rukmini Devi Arundale, she emigrated with her family to Singapore in 1974. In 1977 she and her husband founded the performance arts company Apsaras Arts, which has staged performances throughout the world. She was the company's artistic director and continued to teach dance.

In 1983, Neila was appointed the dance instructor and choreographer for the Indian Dance Group of the People's Association (PA)—a state board in Singapore—where she remained a resident choreographer. She was also an artistic adviser to Singapore's National Arts Council. For her contributions to dance, Neila was awarded the Singaporean Cultural Medallion in 1989. She became a Singapore citizen in 1994. (Full article...)

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Ho Yuen Hoe Gan Eng Seng Hugh Hickling Zubir Said Tang Da Wu Edwin Thumboo Teresa Hsu Fandi Ahmad Denise Phua Li Jiawei Glenn Knight Laurentia Tan Tao Li Yip Pin Xiu 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 Singaporean chef and restaurateur Tan Kue Kim cooked while wearing a S$40,000 gold Rolex watch?
... that Singaporean former lawyer David Yong learned Korean and moved to South Korea to become a K-pop singer?
... that Wee Toon Boon remained a member of the Parliament of Singapore even after he began serving a prison sentence for corruption?
... that Singaporean performance artist Josef Ng was fined S$1,000 for partially exposing his buttocks and snipping his pubic hair during a public performance?
... that Bayfront MRT station in Singapore has public art that features ships powered by whales and dragons, hand-drawn by children?
... that a number of bus drivers who participated in a strike were unaware that it was illegally held?

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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 Golden Mile Complex (pictured), which was designed as an avant-garde building with a stepped terrace structure, was once described as a "vertical slum" by a Singapore Nominated Member of Parliament?

... that Singapore's Ee Hoe Hean Club, a century-old millionaires' club for Chinese businessmen, became a headquarters of an anti-Japanese movement in Southeast Asia from 1937-1942?

... that in her début at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Tao Li broke the Asian record for the 100m butterfly twice and became the first Singaporean swimmer to enter an Olympic final?

... that Farrer Park is where Singapore's first racecourse was built and the island's aviation history began?

... that at the age of 10, Megan Zheng became the first Singaporean to win a Golden Horse Award?

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Credit: Sengkang (20 February 2006)

Clarke Quay is a historical riverside quay in Singapore that is situated upstream from the mouth of the Singapore River and Boat Quay. In this picture, Clarke Quay is pictured on the left bank while the Riverside Point is on the right bank. The bridge on the right of the picture is the Ord Bridge.

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Check for latest announcements and updates at the WikiProject Singapore
Make yourself known as a Singaporean Wikipedian
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