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 "Double Tenth incident" (双十節事件 Sōjūsetsu jiken) or "Double Tenth massacre" occurred on 10 October 1943, during the Second World War Japanese occupation of Singapore. The Kenpeitai—Japanese military police—arrested and tortured fifty-seven civilians and civilian internees on suspicion of their involvement in a raid on Singapore Harbour that had been carried out by Anglo-Australian commandos from Operation Jaywick. Three Japanese ships were sunk and three were damaged, but none of those arrested and tortured had participated in the raid, nor had any knowledge of it. Fifteen of them died in Singapore's Changi Prison.

After the war ended, twenty-one of the Kenpeitai involved were charged with war crimes. Eight received the death sentence, seven were acquitted, and the remainder were given prison sentences varying from one year to life. (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 1Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)
Image 2The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)
Image 3Portrait of Stamford Raffles by George Francis Joseph, 1817 (from History of Singapore)
Image 4The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 5The Sultan Mosque, built in 1826 in the Kampong Glam district, is the oldest and one of the largest mosque in Singapore. (from Singaporeans)
Image 6Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 7View of Bukit Batok Estate. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 8Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 9Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 10A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 11Traffic 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 12The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 13A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 14Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 15Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 161955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 17Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 18St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 19Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 20A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 21The 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 22Lieutenant-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 23Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 24Restored 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 25A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 26Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 27Old Supreme Court of Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 28Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 29Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 30Chinese 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 31The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 32Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 33Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 34Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 35Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 36The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 37The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 38Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 39The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)
Image 40Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 411888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)

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Choor Singh Sidhu (19 January 1911 – 31 March 2009), known professionally as Choor Singh, was a Singaporean lawyer who served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore and, particularly after his retirement from the bench, a philanthropist and writer of books about Sikhism. Born to a family of modest means in Punjab, India, he came to Singapore at four years of age. He completed his secondary education in the top class at Raffles Institution in 1929, then worked as a clerk in a law firm before becoming a civil servant in the Official Assignee's office.

Encouraged by the Assistant Official Assignee, James Walter Davy Ambrose (who was later appointed a High Court Judge), to study law, Choor Singh enrolled as an external student at the University of London, passing the matriculation examination and intermediate LL.B. examination. In 1948 he was appointed a coroner, and the following year was elevated to the post of magistrate, becoming the first Indian to hold such a position in colonial Malaya. Following law studies at Gray's Inn on a government scholarship, he became a Barrister-at-Law in 1955. He was appointed a district judge in 1960 and a judge of the Supreme Court in 1963. Especially noted for his criminal judgments, Singh was the first Singapore judge to impose the death penalty on a woman. (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 Neila Sathyalingam Walter Woon Han Sai Por Rex Shelley Feng Tianwei Lee Choon Seng Balaji Sadasivan Kelvin Tan Xiaxue

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that artwork at Shenton Way MRT station depicts everyday people running after an old banknote?
... that S. Iswaran was the first Singaporean cabinet minister to be investigated by the country's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau since 1986?
... that Louis Vuitton helped to develop the visual arts programme for the School of the Arts, Singapore?
... that Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and his son Lee Hsien Loong donated the "unsolicited discounts" from their controversial purchase of condominium units to charity?
... that a number of bus drivers who participated in a strike were unaware that it was illegally held?
... that gynaecologist Oon Chiew Seng, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2013, was the founding chairperson of the first dementia home in Singapore?

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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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Selected panorama

Credit: Sengkeng (12 November 2006)

Sungei Serangoon (Malay for Serangoon River; Chinese: 实龙岗河) is a river in the north-eastern part of Singapore. The 6-kilometre river starts as a canal near Tampines Road, and flows through Hougang, Sengkang, Punggol, Lorong Halus and Pasir Ris, before emptying into the Serangoon Harbour. The river is also known as the Serangoon Estuary.

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Check for latest announcements and updates at the WikiProject Singapore
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