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 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...)

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"Disneyland with the Death Penalty" is a 4,500-word article about Singapore written by William Gibson. His first major piece of non-fiction, it was first published as the cover story for Wired magazine's September/October 1993 issue (1.4).

The article followed Gibson's observations of the architecture, phenomenology and culture of Singapore, and the clean, bland and conformist impression the city-state conveyed during his stay. Its title and central metaphor — Singapore as Disneyland with the death penalty — was a reference to the authoritarian artifice the author perceived the city-state to be. Singapore, Gibson detailed, was lacking any sense of creativity or authenticity, absent of any indication of its history or underground culture. He found the government to be pervasive, corpocratic and technocratic, and the judicial system rigid and draconian. Singaporeans were characterized as consumerists of insipid taste. The article was accentuated by local news reports of criminal trials by which the author illustrated his observations, and bracketed by contrasting descriptions of the Southeast Asian airports he arrived and left by. (Full article...)

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Selected picture

Credit: William Cho (31 January 2011)

Resorts World Sentosa, one of the two Integrated Resorts in Singapore. This view is from the Tiger Sky Tower. 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 2The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 3Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 4Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 5Traffic 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 6The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 7The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)
Image 8Restored 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 9The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 10Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 11The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 12Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 13St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 14Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 15A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 16Chinese 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 17Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 18Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 19Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 20The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 21The Sultan Mosque, built in 1826 in the Kampong Glam district, is the oldest and one of the largest mosque in Singapore. (from Singaporeans)
Image 22A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 23Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 24Lieutenant-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 25The 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 26Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 27A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 28Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)
Image 291888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)
Image 30Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 31View of Bukit Batok Estate. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 32Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 33Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 34Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 35Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 36Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 37A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 38The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)
Image 39Engraving of Sir Stamford Raffles by James Thomson
Image 401955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 41Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)

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Fandi playing in a charity friendly match with the Singapore Masters in 2017

Fandi bin Ahmad PBM (born 29 May 1962) is a Singaporean professional football manager and former player. He is the current technical advisor and head coach of Malaysia Super League club Sri Pahang. During his professional career, he played mainly as a striker, but also occasionally as a midfielder. Along with the Singapore FA, he also played for Malaysia Cup state sides Kuala Lumpur FA and Pahang FA, and won titles with all three, including two doubles in 1992 and 1994, as well as the Golden Boot in 1988. Fandi also played for Indonesia's Niac Mitra, Netherlands' Groningen as well as local Singaporean clubs Geylang United and SAFFC.

Internationally with the Singapore national team, Fandi earned 101 caps and scored 55 goals, a record he holds today, as well as winning three Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) silver medals while being captain from 1993 to 1997. After his retirement, he began his managerial career in 2000 by helming his former playing club SAFFC, before moving on to Indonesia's Pelita Raya and Malaysia's Johor Darul Takzim, while also serving as the assistant national coach on numerous occasions while and running his own Fandi Ahmad Academy. (Full article...)

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Ho Yuen Hoe Gan Eng Seng Hugh Hickling Zubir Said Tang Da Wu Edwin Thumboo Teresa Hsu 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 Singaporean zoologist Bernard Harrison was disliked by an orangutan?
... that COVID-19 lockdown restrictions caused a 37-percent increase in infections of dengue fever in Singapore's 2020 outbreak?
... 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 Singaporean swimmer Marc Tay served in the Gulf War as an eye surgeon?
... that the United Ukrainian Ballet Company, consisting of exiled dancers based in The Hague, has toured the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US?
... that Singaporean former lawyer David Yong learned Korean and moved to South Korea to become a K-pop singer?

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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.

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More did you know - show different entries

... that people making speeches at Speakers' Corner in Singapore (pictured) must use one of Singapore's four official languages – English, Malay, Mandarin or Tamil – or a related dialect?

... that the Bukit Timah Monkey Man is a Singapore cryptid said to inhabit the centrally forested Bukit Timah area?

... that under the Vandalism Act of Singapore, a person convicted for the first time of vandalism by defacing property using an indelible substance such as paint must be sentenced to caning?

... that Runme Shaw, philanthropist and founder of the Shaw Organisation, started his Singapore movie business in a makeshift timber cinema known as The Empire in 1927?

... that The Float@Marina Bay, a venue of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, hosts the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games as the world's largest floating stage?

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Selected panorama

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
Create or improve on the articles listed in the to do list
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