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Republic of Singapore
Singapore is a tiny but prosperous island nation in South East Asia. It has a
land mass of only 267 sq miles which is about 692 sq km and that is including
its 63 smaller islands.
Singapore is straddled between far larger neighbors like Malaysia
to the north and Indonesia
flanking the country's west and south. The country, although small in size is
a thriving metropolis with tropical rainforest nature reserves, ethnic
enclaves, sandy beaches, industrial parks, international financial district
and recreation parks.
Singapore has a population of slightly more than 4 million people of
which one million are not citizens, but foreigners in this amazing country to
work, study or are tourists. The goverment is aiming to grow the population to
6 million in a couple of years time by encouraging child births, granting more
permanent residencies and citizenships to eligible foreigners.
The ancestors of Singapore are mostly migrants from China
, Indonesia , Malaysia and India
. This is reflected today by the rich cultural diversity, vibrant but
peaceful ethnic mix of this island nation.
Singapore History
Sir Stamford Raffles developed Singapore as a trading center for the East
India Company in 1819. This was also viewed as an extension of the British
Empire and politically, it was supposed to thwart the expanding colonies of
the Dutch and the Portuguese in South East Asia.
Singapore 's strategic location on the Straits of Malacca and
its safe anchorage in the south western harbor at the mouth of the Singapore
River made it ideal port for international maritime trade even back then. This
was why merchants from all over the world such as from USA, Europe and Arab
countries flocked to Singapore for trading businesses.
As a traditional British strategy in
ruling its colonies, Sir Stamford Raffles implemented the "divide and rule" to
control the early population of Singapore. He segregated the various races
into different districts such as the Chinese in Chinatown , Malays in Geylang
area and the Indians to what is now known as Little India (this is where I am
typing this article now).
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All these ethnic enclaves are now tourist attractions in their own
rights.
Singapore Chinatown
Although Chinatown today is a colorful and a bustling tourist attraction, its
history was of blood, sweat and toil of immigrants from mainland China . The
Chinese was what Singapore's trade depended on.
Arriving with no money and in debt to boat captains who brought them
here, the Chinese immigrants settled down in the Boat Quay and Clarke Quay
areas (both these areas are now favorite attractions offering a smorgasbord of
dining and entertainment experiences) and Chinatown was born. By living close
to the river, the Chinese found work as coolies, port workers, laborers and
much arduous physical demanding work.
Today, Singapore is a bustling and thriving modern city. It still keeps
its free trade tradition of the past and that is why it has one of the busiest
port in the world. It amazingly transformed itself from a third world country
to first in just one generation thanks to its visionary leaders and
hardworking population.
The Republic of Singapore is also rated as one of the most peaceful and
safe to visit country in the world and that is why, the country continues to
draw tourists on holiday vacation from all over the world because of this
reputation. - This Singapore tourist information article was
posted in Oct 2007
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