Portal:Singapore

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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 GDP per capita (PPP) 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...)

More about Singapore...

View new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Tropical Storm Vamei near landfall in Malaysia on 27 December

Tropical Storm Vamei (also known as Typhoon Vamei) was a Pacific tropical cyclone that formed at about 85 nautical miles (100 mi; 160 km) from the equator—closer than any other tropical cyclone on record. The last storm of the 2001 Pacific typhoon season, Vamei developed on 26 December at 1.4° N in the South China Sea. It strengthened quickly and made landfall along extreme southeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Vamei rapidly weakened into a remnant low over Sumatra on 28 December, and the remnants eventually re-organized in the North Indian Ocean. Afterward, the storm encountered strong wind shear once again, and dissipated on 1 January 2002.

Though Vamei was officially designated as a tropical storm, its intensity is disputed; some agencies classify it as a typhoon, based on sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph) and the appearance of an eye. The storm brought flooding and landslides to eastern Peninsular Malaysia, causing $3.58 million in damage (2001 USD, $6.16 million 2024 USD) and five deaths. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

edit

Selected picture

Singapore National Day Parade

Photograph credit: Chensiyuan

The Singapore National Day Parade is a national ceremony in Singapore that takes place each year on 9 August to commemorate the country's independence. The firework display seen here was part of the festivities in 2011, held at The Float @ Marina Bay, the world's largest floating stage and football stadium, located on the waters of the Marina Reservoir. In the foreground on the right is the lotus-flower-shaped ArtScience Museum, situated within Marina Bay Sands, an integrated resort that opened in the same year.

More selected pictures

General images

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

Image 1Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 2Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 3The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 4Traffic 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 5A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 6A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 7Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 8The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 9Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 10Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 11The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)
Image 12Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 13Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 14Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 151955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 16Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 17The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 18Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 19The 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 20View of Bukit Batok Estate. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 21St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 221888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)
Image 23A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture 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 25Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 26The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 27Lieutenant-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 28The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 29Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 30A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 31Restored 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 32The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)
Image 33Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 34Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)
Image 35Chinese 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 36Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 37Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 38Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 39Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 40Engraving of Sir Stamford Raffles by James Thomson
Image 41Old Supreme Court of Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)

Selected biography - show another

The smaller of two pieces making up Han's Seeds (2006), at the National Museum of Singapore

Han Sai Por (Chinese: 韓少芙; born 19 July 1943) is a Singaporean sculptor. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), East Ham College of Art, Wolverhampton College of Art (now the School of Art and Design of the University of Wolverhampton), and Lincoln University, New Zealand, she worked as a teacher and later as a part-time lecturer at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, and the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, before becoming a full-time artist in 1997.

Han has participated in exhibitions locally and abroad, including events in China, Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and South Korea. Her first solo exhibition, entitled Four Dimensions, was held at the National Museum Art Gallery in 1993. Her sculptures can be found around the world, in Osaka and Shōdoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, in Japan; Kuala Lumpur and Sarawak in Malaysia; and Washington, D.C., in Singapore, sculptures commissioned from her can be seen at Capital Tower, the Defence Science Organisation National Laboratories, the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, the National Museum of Singapore, Revenue House, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, Suntec City Mall, and Woodlands Regional Library. In 2001, Han was the founding President of the Sculpture Society (Singapore) and remains its Honorary President. She was the first artist in residence at the Society's Sculpture Pavilion at Fort Canning Park in 2009, where she worked on sculptures made from the trunks of tembusu trees. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
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 Rex Shelley Feng Tianwei Lee Choon Seng Balaji Sadasivan Choor Singh Kelvin Tan Xiaxue

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Singaporean zoologist Bernard Harrison was disliked by an orangutan?
... that a number of bus drivers who participated in a strike were unaware that it was illegally held?
... that Singaporean singer Dawn Gan played herself in a television drama about aspiring singers?
... that the annual energy cost of a single fume hood in Singapore can be up to US$9,300?
... that S. Iswaran was the first Singaporean cabinet minister to be investigated by the country's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau since 1986?
... that Chinese missionary Tan See Boo moved to Singapore to work for the Presbyterian Church, but later returned to China to persuade Christians to leave the Presbyterian Church?

edit

In this month

7 November 1987: The first section of Singapore's MRT system on the North South MRT Line opens.
22 November 1990: Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 begins operation.
28 November 1990: Goh Chok Tong becomes the second Prime Minister of Singapore, marking the first handover of power since Singapore's independence.

More Anniversaries...

edit

More did you know - show different entries

...that the Singapore Government has introduced the "Punggol 21-plus" plan to re-vitalise Punggol New Town (pictured), after an unsuccessful attempt in the late 1990s?

... that Catherine Lim's 1994 essay The PAP and the people - A Great Affective Divide invoked such a strong response from the Singapore government, its then-PM Goh Chok Tong outlined which topics were permissible for public discussion?

... that Tang Choon Keng, who established Tangs and built the former Dynasty Hotel, was also known as the "Tin Trunk Man" in Singapore for his rags to riches legacy?

... that four Japanese War Memorials found in the Japanese Cemetery Park were built without knowledge of the British colonial government of Singapore?

... that the Former Singapore Badminton Hall was marked as a historical site by Singapore's National Heritage Board in 1999, as it held two Thomas Cup tournaments and was the vote counting station for a landmark 1962 referendum?

More...

edit

Selected panorama

Credit: Sengkang (8 July 2006)

The Changi Beach Park (Chinese: 樟宜海滨公园) is a beach park located at the northeastern tip of Singapore. The 28-hectare Changi Beach Park is one of the oldest coastal parks in Singapore. The park is 3.2 km long with stretches of sandy beaches between Changi Point and Changi Ferry Road.

More selected panoramas • Read more...

edit

Singapore topics

edit

Related portals

Southeast Asia

Other Countries

edit

Tasks

Things you can do

Check for latest announcements and updates at the WikiProject Singapore
Make yourself known as a Singaporean Wikipedian
Create or improve on the articles listed in the to do list
Share with us your level of proficiency in Singlish by putting one of the 4 Singlish Babel tags (1 2 3 4) onto your user page
(More...)