Overview
Island country, Southeast Asia.
Situated off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, it comprises
Singapore island and 60 islets. Area: 269 sq mi (697 sq km). Population
(2005 est.): 4,291,000. Capital: Singapore. Three-fourths of the people
are of Chinese ethnicity; most of the rest are Malays and Indians.
Languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay, Tamil (all official).
Religions: Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism. Currency:
Singapore dollar. Nearly two-thirds of the island’s hilly landscape lies
below 50 ft (15 m) above sea level. It has a hot, humid climate.
Although only about 2% of its land is arable, it is highly productive
cropland. The economy is based largely on international trade and
finance; there are more than 100 commercial banks, most of which are
foreign, and the headquarters of the Asian Dollar Market is located
there. The port is one of the largest in the world, and the country is
one of the world’s leading petroleum refiners. Manufacturing (notably
electronic equipment) is also important. Singapore is a republic with
one legislative house; its chief of state is the president, and the head
of government is the prime minister. Long inhabited by fishermen and
pirates, it was an outpost of the Sumatran empire of Shrivijaya until
the 14th century, when it passed to Java and then Ayutthaya (Siam). It
became part of the Malacca empire in the 15th century. In the 16th
century the Portuguese controlled the area; they were followed by the
Dutch in the 17th century. In 1819 it was ceded to the British East
India Company, becoming part of the Straits Settlements and the centre
of British colonial activity in Southeast Asia. During World War II the
Japanese occupied the island (1942–45). In 1946 it became a crown
colony. It achieved full internal self-government in 1959, became part
of Malaysia in 1963, and gained independence in 1965. Singapore is
influential in the affairs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN). The country’s dominant voice in politics for 30 years after
independence was Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore has become a regional economic
powerhouse.
Profile
Official name Xinjiapo Gongheguo (Chinese); Republik Singapura
(Malay); Cingkappur Kudiyarasu (Tamil); Republic of Singapore (English)
Form of government unitary multiparty republic with one legislative
house (Parliament [941])
Chief of state President2
Head of state government Prime Minister3
Capital Singapore
Official languages Chinese; Malay; Tamil; English
Official religion none
Monetary unit Singapore dollar (S$)
Population estimate (2008) 4,839,0004
Total area (sq mi) 273
Total area (sq km) 707
1Includes 10 nonelective seats.
2Title per constitution is Head of State.
3Has principal executive authority per constitution.
4De facto population includes temporary nonresident workers.
Main
city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, about
85 miles (137 kilometres) north of the Equator. It consists of the
diamond-shaped Singapore Island and some 60 small islets; the main
island occupies all but about 18 square miles of this combined area. The
main island is separated from Peninsular Malaysia to the north by Johor
Strait, a narrow channel crossed by a road and rail causeway that is
more than half a mile long. The southern limits of the state run through
Singapore Strait, where outliers of the Riau-Lingga Archipelago—which
forms a part of Indonesia—extend to within 10 miles of the main island.
Singapore is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the
busiest in the world. It owes its growth and prosperity to its focal
position at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, where it
dominates the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to the
South China Sea. Once a British colony and now a member of the
Commonwealth, Singapore first joined the Federation of Malaysia on its
formation in 1963 but seceded to become an independent state on Aug. 9,
1965.
The land
Relief
Nearly two-thirds of the main island is less than 50 feet (15 metres)
above sea level. Timah Hill, the highest summit, has an elevation of
only 531 feet (162 metres); with other peaks, such as Panjang and Mandai
hills, it forms a block of rugged terrain in the centre of the island.
To the west and south are lower scarps with marked northwest-southeast
trends, such as Mount Faber. The eastern part of the island is a low
plateau cut by erosion into an intricate pattern of hills and valleys.
These physical units reflect their geologic foundations: the central
hills are formed from granite rocks, the scarp lands from highly folded
and faulted sedimentary rocks, and the eastern plateau from uncompacted
sands and gravels.
Drainage and soils
A dense network of short streams drains the island, but floods are
locally severe because the streams have low gradients and because of
excessive water runoff from cleared land. Many streams, especially those
draining northward, have broad mangrove-fringed estuaries that extend
far inland. None of the soils is even reasonably fertile, but those
derived from the granites tend to be better than most. Soils developed
from the sedimentary rocks are variable, but many contain hardpans
(compacted layers) that restrict plant roots and impede soil drainage.
The soils of eastern Singapore are extremely infertile. All have
suffered extensive degradation through erosion as a result of
generations of careless human exploitation.
Climate
Singapore is in the equatorial monsoon region of Southeast Asia, and
its climate is characterized by uniformly high temperatures and nearly
constant precipitation throughout the year. The average monthly
temperature varies from about 81° F (27° C) in June to 77° F (25° C) in
January. The daily range is somewhat greater, averaging about 13° F (7°
C). Singapore’s maritime location and constant humidity, however, keep
maximum temperatures relatively moderate: the highest temperature ever
recorded was only 97° F (36° C).
The seasons are defined by the relative incidence of rainfall, which,
in turn, is determined by the movements of the monsoon air masses. The
wettest and windiest period is during the northeast monsoon
(November–March), with rainfall reaching an average monthly high of more
than 10 inches (250 millimetres) in December. Conversely, the period of
the least amount of rainfall and the lightest winds is during the
southwest monsoon (May–September), with rainfall dropping to a monthly
low of less than 7 inches in July. April and October are intermonsoonal
periods characterized by sluggish air movements and intense afternoon
showers and thunderstorms. Altogether, Singapore’s precipitation
averages about 95 inches annually, and rain falls somewhere on the
island every day of the year.
Plant and animal life
Little remains of the original vegetation or animal life, except for
a few thousand acres of evergreen rain forest preserved around catchment
areas. Some mangrove vegetation survives in the Kranji area on the
northwest side of the island, but elsewhere tracts of scrub or cogon
grass (called lalang locally) are common. Many exotic plants have been
introduced for ornamental use. The largest native animals are the
long-tailed macaque (an Asian species of monkey), the slow loris (a
large-eyed tailless nocturnal lemur), and the scaly anteater. Birds are
numerous, especially those like the Indian mynah bird, the brahminy kite
(a kite with reddish brown plumage and a white head and breast), and the
house swallow that have adapted to a symbiotic relationship with humans.
Reptiles, such as cobras and lizards, also are common. Fringing coral
reefs with their associated fish and wildlife occur around many parts of
the coast.
Settlement patterns
The city of Singapore is situated in the southern portion of the
main island. Over time, urbanization has blurred the differences between
city and country. Built-up areas now cover a large part of the
city-state. The older parts of the city have been substantially
refurbished, especially along the Singapore River but elsewhere as well.
The once-common Chinese shop-house, consisting of living quarters above
a commercial establishment, gradually has been disappearing from the
city. Instead, the government’s Housing and Development Board (HDB) has
relocated commerce into separate districts and has created integrated
residential communities inhabited by people with a mixture of incomes.
About four-fifths of Singapore’s population now resides in high-rise HDB
flats located in housing estates and new towns. The new towns—such as
Woodlands, Tampines, and Yishun—are scattered across the island and are
characterized by easy access to places of employment and shopping
districts. The traditional Malay kampong settlements—consisting of stilt
houses built along the shoreline—are declining in number and are now
found only in select rural areas.
The people
Ethnolinguistic composition
The population of Singapore is diverse, the result of considerable
past immigration. Chinese predominate, making up more than three-fourths
of the total. Malays are the next largest ethnic group, and Indians the
third. None of these three major communities is homogeneous. Among the
Chinese, more than two-fifths originate from Fujian province and speak
the Amoy (Xiamen) dialect, about one-fourth are Teochew from the city of
Shantou in Guangdong province, and a smaller number are from other parts
of Guangdong. The Chinese community as a whole, therefore, speaks
mutually incomprehensible dialects. Linguistic differences are less
pronounced among the Malays, but the group includes Indonesians speaking
Javanese, Boyanese, and other dialects. The Indian group is most
diverse, consisting of Tamils (more than half), Malayalis, and Sikhs; it
also includes Pakistani and Sinhalese communities.
Because of this ethnic diversity, no fewer than four official
languages are recognized—English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil.
English remains the main medium for administration, commerce, and
industry, and it is the primary language of instruction in schools.
Mandarin, the official language of China, transcends dialect barriers,
and its use is strongly promoted; one-third of the school population is
taught in that language. Malay, like English, is widely used for
communication among ethnic groups and plays a particularly useful role
in view of the close ties between Singapore and Malaysia.
Religions
Religious affiliations reflect ethnic patterns. About two-thirds of
all Chinese profess some degree of attachment to Confucianism, Buddhism,
or Taoism or to some combination thereof. Virtually all Malays, and some
Indians, adhere to Islam, which is the formal religion of about
one-sixth of the population. The Christian community has grown rapidly
and now constitutes more than 10 percent of the population; nearly all
Christians are Chinese. Almost all of the remaining population is Hindu.
Demographic trends
Heavily urbanized, Singapore has a high population density, but it
also has been a regional leader in population control. Its birth and
population growth rates are the lowest in Southeast Asia. Singapore’s
high average life expectancy and its low infant-mortality rate reflect
high standards of hygiene and access to a superb health care system. The
low birth rate and greater longevity of the population have raised the
median age, a trend also occurring in other developed nations.
The economy
Singapore, one of the great trading entrepôts of the British empire,
has experienced remarkable economic growth and diversification since
1960. In addition to enhancing its position as a world trade centre, it
has developed powerful financial and industrial sectors. Singapore has
the most advanced economy in Southeast Asia and is often mentioned along
with other rapidly industrializing countries in Asia, notably South
Korea and Taiwan. Singapore’s economy always has differed from those of
the other Southeast Asian countries in that it never has been primarily
dependent on the production and export of commodities.
Economic development has been closely supervised by the Singaporean
government, and it has been highly dependent on investment capital from
foreign multinational corporations. The government holds about
three-fourths of all land and is the chief supplier of surplus capital,
which is derived largely from contributions to the Central Provident
Fund (CPF) social-security savings program. In addition, the government
has attempted to enhance the value and productivity of labour in order
to attract investment and boost export competitiveness. This has been
accompanied by a strong commitment to education and health. Labour
shortages and rising wages have heightened the push for restructuring
the economy even more toward higher value-added production.
The rationale for extensive government intervention in economic
development has weakened. Official policy relies on market forces,
privatization of government enterprise, and more support for domestic
private businesses. Union membership has declined as centralized union
structures have been replaced by smaller industry- and enterprise-based
unions. Greater reliance has been placed on local labour-management
negotiations.
Resources, agriculture, and fisheries
Singapore has few natural resources. There are no natural forests
remaining on the island. Only a tiny fraction of the land area is
classified as agricultural, and production contributes a negligible
amount to the overall economy. Cultivation is intensive, with vegetables
and fruits grown and poultry raised for local consumption. The local
fishing industry supplies only a portion of the total fresh fish
requirement; most of the catch comes from offshore fishing vessels.
There also is a small aquaculture industry that raises groupers, sea
bass, and prawns. Singapore is a major exporter of both orchids and
aquarium fish.
Industry
Since the late 1960s Singapore has pursued a general policy of
export-oriented industrialization. In order to attract foreign
investment, the economy was liberalized, and a series of incentives were
provided to multinational corporations; chief among these was the
establishment of free trade zones. Gradually, production has been
diversifying from such labour-intensive industries as textiles to
high-technology activities like the manufacture of electronics and
precision equipment and oil refining, which yield a much higher added
value to production.
Services and tourism
Singapore has been able to emphasize its comparative advantage in
knowledge-intensive activities—especially communications and information
and financial services—which are less dependent on foreign investment.
Higher productivity and research and development are encouraged through
schemes that provide investment credits and allowances. An effective
economic strategy has been to invest local funds abroad and
simultaneously to export management skills. Singapore has sought to
recruit skilled people, particularly Chinese from the United States and
China (notably Hong Kong).
Tourism has become increasingly important to Singapore’s economy.
Singapore’s central location in Southeast Asia and its excellent
air-transport facilities have been augmented by massive investments in
hotels and shopping centres. Duty-free shopping and a variety of
recreational attractions, along with a refurbished beachfront, are among
the primary attractions.
Finance
Singapore’s financial services are highly sophisticated and are
available through a wide variety of institutions. There is a growing
venture-capital market that offers seed funding to firms that develop or
introduce new technology. The government’s Monetary Authority of
Singapore performs all the functions of a central bank except issuing
currency. A focal point of Singapore’s growth as an international
financial centre has been the Asian Dollar Market, which is essentially
an international money and capital market where currencies other than
the Singapore dollar are traded. The Development Bank of Singapore is
the largest local bank in terms of assets. The Stock Exchange of
Singapore is an important component of the financial activity in the
region.
Trade
Singapore continues to perform its traditional function as a
financial intermediary, shipping raw materials such as rubber, timber,
and spices from the Southeast Asian region in exchange for finished
goods from both within and, especially, outside the region. Major
imports are machinery and transport equipment and crude petroleum, while
machinery and refined petroleum products are the major exports. The
United States, Malaysia, and Japan are Singapore’s principal trading
partners. Entrepôt activities, where goods are transhipped and sometimes
processed or manufactured in the immediate area, account for about
one-third of Singapore’s export trade. Notable in this capacity has been
the oil-refining industry. In an attempt to foster additional trade,
Singapore has become a joint-venture partner in numerous projects with
Malaysia and Indonesia. Investments in the nearby Indonesian island of
Batam have been important in this respect.
Transportation
Singapore has one of the world’s busiest ports in terms of shipping
tonnage. The Port of Singapore Authority oversees all shipping activity
and operates a number of terminals on the island. Containerized cargo
accounts for more than half of the general-cargo tonnage. The island has
a well-developed network of roads and highways, but traffic congestion
frequently is a serious problem. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the
government opened a light-rail mass-transit system that links the major
population centres in the housing estates with employment centres and
the central business district. Singapore is linked by rail to Peninsular
Malaysia via the connecting causeway at Johor. Singapore’s international
airport, Changi, at the eastern end of the main island, is a major
regional and overseas air hub.
Administration and social conditions
Government
Singapore is a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster
model. The government consists of a president who is head of state and a
unicameral Parliament of 81 members who are elected to terms of up to
five years. The parliamentary majority selects the prime minister and
cabinet from its own ranks, and they in turn form the government. Until
1991 the largely ceremonial post of president was filled by
parliamentary election; in that year the constitution was amended to
allow for the direct popular election of the president and for
presidential powers to be expanded. In each constituency there is a
Citizens’ Consultative Committee, designed to link local communities to
the ruling party.
Close liaison is maintained between the political and administrative
arms of government. The administrative structure consists of the various
ministries and statutory boards. These are staffed by civil servants who
are monitored by an independent Public Service Commission.
The political process
Singapore’s electorate includes every adult citizen who is a
registered voter, and voting is compulsory. A number of parties contest
elections, but since 1959 Singaporean politics have been dominated by
the People’s Action Party (PAP). The PAP’s ability to maintain its
control largely has been attributable to Singapore’s rapid economic
growth and improved social welfare. In addition, the PAP often has
suppressed and co-opted domestic opposition—notably through
internal-security laws that allow political dissidents to be held
indefinitely without trial—and it has promoted a national paternalistic
ideology through a variety of laws and corporate institutions. The
emphasis of this ideology has been a rigid public morality focused on
personal appearance and cleanliness, political loyalty, and family
planning.
Justice
Justice is administered by the Supreme Court and by courts of lesser
jurisdiction, such as district and magistrates’ courts. Appeals can be
made from the lower to the higher courts, with final appeal to the
judicial committee of the Privy Council in London. A Sharīʿah court has
jurisdiction in matters of Islāmic law.
Armed forces and security
The armed forces of Singapore are divided into army, air force, and
navy branches. The army is by far the largest of the services and
consists primarily of infantry battalions with supporting artillery,
armour, engineer, and logistics units. The main duties of the air force
are air defense, support of ground forces, and long-range surveillance
and tracking. The navy patrols the country’s coastal waters and protects
shipping lanes. Compulsory military conscription for 18-year-old males
was introduced in 1967. There are two paramilitary forces: the Peoples’
Defence Force, composed mainly of reservists, and the National Cadet
Corps, consisting of high-school and college students.
The police force is responsible for internal security, traffic
management, and crime prevention. It is assisted by a Civil Defence
Force consisting of reservists and volunteers.
Education
Education is highly valued in Singapore, and its education system is
elaborately structured. Primary education is free and lasts from six to
eight years; the language of instruction is English, and students are
required to learn any one of the other three official languages as a
second language. Students at the secondary level are placed into
academic or vocational and commercial tracks. Those on academic tracks
are further channeled into four- or five-year courses of instruction.
Opportunities for higher education are determined by academic
performance and usually involve two or three years of preuniversity
instruction followed by enrollment at a university or technical college.
The National University of Singapore, founded in 1980 by a merger of the
University of Singapore and Nanyang University, is the largest and
best-known institute of higher education.
Health and welfare
Health conditions in Singapore compare favourably with those in
other economically developed nations. The range and quality of medical
services is notably high, with a large number of doctors and dentists.
There are both government and private hospitals, while nonhospital care
is dispensed from numerous outpatient clinics and mobile centres. The
government and voluntary associations, the latter coordinated by the
Council of Social Service, provide welfare services for the aged, sick,
and unemployed.
Cultural life
Cultural activities in Singapore are largely derivative, springing
from one or another of the major civilizations of China, India,
Indonesia, or the West. Traditional Chinese and Indian music, painting,
and drama are practiced by numerous cultural societies and professional
groups. Popular culture, based on modern mass media, is far more
widespread. Malay music, which has adopted the rhythms of Western
orchestras, has general appeal. Musical films that popularize Hindi and
Tamil songs have a considerable following, as do films from Hong Kong,
Taiwan, and the United States.
Several Chinese, English, Indian, and Malay newspapers serve a
largely literate population. Magazines published in the West, Hong Kong,
and Japan also have wide appeal. The government monitors the press to a
certain extent and on occasion places circulation restrictions on
periodicals and newspapers that are critical of its policies. The
government-owned Singapore Broadcasting Corporation controls all local
radio and television broadcasting.
History
Singapore Island originally was inhabited by fishermen and
pirates, and it served as an outpost for the Sumatran empire of
Śrīvijaya. In Javanese inscriptions and Chinese records dating to the
end of the 14th century, the more common name of the island is Tumasik,
or Temasek, from the Javanese word tasek (“sea”). Rājendra, ruler of the
southern Indian Coḷa kingdom, attacked the island in 1025, and there was
another Coḷa raid in 1068. In 1275 the Javanese king Kertanagara
probably attacked Temasek when he raided Pahang on the east coast of the
peninsula. According to a Chinese traveler, Wang Ta-yuan, just before
1349 about 70 Tai war boats besieged Temasek for a month but had to
withdraw. The Javanese epic poem Nāgarakeṛtāgama (written 1365) includes
Temasek among the conquests of the Javanese empire of Majapahit. At the
end of the 14th century, Temasek fell into decay and was supplanted by
Malacca (now Melaka). Yet in 1552 it was still a port of call from which
St. Francis Xavier dispatched letters to Goa, and João de Barros
described its busy shipping activity in his history Décadas da Ásia
(1552–1615).
Rājendra may have named the city Singapura (“Lion City”), later
corrupted to Singapore, or the name may have been bestowed in the 14th
century by Buddhist monks, to whom the lion was a symbolic character.
According to the Sejarah Melayu, a Malay chronicle, the city was founded
by the Śrīvijayan prince Sri Tri Buana; he is said to have glimpsed a
tiger, mistaken it for a lion, and thus called the settlement Singapura.
Robert Ho
Thomas R. Leinbach
East India Company
In January 1819 Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles of the English East
India Company, searching for a trading site, forestalled by the Dutch at
Riau, and finding the Carimon (Karimun) Islands unsuitable, landed at
Singapore. He found only a few Chinese planters, some aborigines, and a
few Malays and was told by the hereditary chief, the temenggong (direct
ancestor of the sultans of modern Johor), that the company could
purchase land. The temenggong, however, was a subordinate of his cousin
Abdul Rahman, sultan of Riau-Johor, who was under Dutch surveillance.
Furthermore, Abdul Rahman was a younger son and not a sultan de jure.
Raffles, disobeying instructions not to offend the Dutch, withdrew his
own recognition of Abdul Rahman’s suzerainty over Singapore and
installed Abdul Rahman’s elder brother, Hussein (Husain), to validate
the purchase of land there on behalf of the company. The Dutch
protested. In London the court of directors, though it decided Raffles
had contravened instructions, took no action.
In 1824 an Anglo-Dutch treaty left Malaya and Singapore in the
British sphere, and in August the whole of Singapore Island was ceded to
the British for a monetary payment. Two years later Singapore, Penang,
and Malacca (Melaka) were combined as the Straits Settlements to form an
outlying residency of India. In 1830 they were reduced to a residency
under Bengal, and two years later Singapore became their capital. When
the East India Company lost its monopoly of the China trade (1833), it
also lost its interest in Malaya. The settlements were transferred to
the direct control of the governor-general of India in 1851. In 1867
they were made a crown colony under the Colonial Office in London.
Development of the port
Meanwhile, Singapore’s trade had suffered after 1842 from British
development of a rival port, Hong Kong, as later it was to suffer from
the French occupation of the Indochinese Peninsula and their development
of Saigon and Haiphong in Vietnam and from the establishment of Dutch
ports and shipping lines in the Dutch East Indies. With the opening of
the Suez Canal in 1869 and the advent of steamships, however, an era of
prosperity began that led eventually to the construction of three miles
of wharves at Tanjong Pagar and finally, in 1921, a naval base. The
economic growth of the Malay states after they became British
protectorates enlarged transit trade.
Sir Richard Olof Winstedt
The demand of the industrial West for tin and rubber was what made
Singapore one of the greatest ports in the world. After World War I,
steps were taken to modernize Malayan defenses and, with the lapsing of
the Anglo-Japanese alliance, to build a large naval base in Singapore.
World War II and the end of colonialism
In early December 1941 the Japanese landed in northern Malaya and
southern Thailand on the Malay Peninsula. They quickly gained air and
naval superiority in the region, and by the end of January 1942 they had
overrun the peninsula and were opposite Singapore Island. The Japanese
crossed the Johor Strait on Feb. 8, 1942, and the British command
surrendered the island and city one week later. Singapore remained in
Japanese hands until September 1945.
Postwar British political plans for Malaya excluded Singapore from a
proposed Malayan Union and later from the Federation of Malaya, mainly
because it was thought that Singapore’s predominantly Chinese population
would be an ethnic obstacle to common citizenship. As a separate crown
colony (from 1946), Singapore made constitutional progress despite the
communist insurrection in Malaya. Elected ministers and a Legislative
Assembly with an elected majority assumed government responsibility in
1955, except for matters of defense and foreign policy. In 1959 the
official and nominated elements were eliminated, and Singapore became
self-governing, although Britain still retained control of defense and
foreign policy.
Singapore since 1963
Singapore joined the Federation of Malaysia on its formation in
September 1963. The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), led by Lee Kuan
Yew, had refused in 1959 to form a government until extreme left-wing
leaders of the party who had been detained by the colonial authorities
were released. These leaders opposed the concept of Malaysia and broke
away from the PAP to form the Socialist Front (Barisan Sosialis), which
was accused of being a communist front organization. The PAP faced fresh
dangers of subversion when Indonesian opposition to Malaysia took the
form of military and economic confrontation (1964).
Confrontation ended in 1966, but Singapore had seceded from Malaysia
in 1965 (at the invitation of the Malaysian government) because of
political friction between the state and central governments. This
conflict had ethnic overtones and continued to affect relations between
Singapore and Malaysia until the mid-1970s, when relations became more
cordial.
In January 1968 the British government had announced that all British
defense forces would be withdrawn from East and Southeast Asia (except
Hong Kong) by the end of 1971. In April Singapore’s unprepared major
opposition parties boycotted an election called seven months before it
was due. The ruling PAP termed its sweep of all parliamentary seats a
mandate for its plans for reducing the economic effects of the British
military withdrawal.
At the end of October 1971, British military presence in Singapore
came to an end. The Anglo-Malayan treaty concluded in 1957, which had
committed Britain to the defense of the region, was terminated, and in
its place a five-power defense arrangement—involving Britain, Australia,
New Zealand, Malaysia, and Singapore as equal partners—came into force.
Since the 1970s Singapore has pursued an aggressive policy of
economic growth based primarily on export manufacturing and trade.
Gradually, it also has taken a more active role in regional diplomacy.
Singapore was a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) in 1967, and by 1980 it had emerged as one of ASEAN’s
leaders. The PAP has continued to dominate Singaporean politics,
although Lee stepped down as prime minister in 1990, and between 1981
and 1991 opposition parties gradually increased their number of seats in
Parliament from one to four. Yet, despite the country’s phenomenal
economic success, resultant high standards of living, and subsequent
goal of internationalization, the government’s policies of developmental
paternalism have bred some discontent among those who have come to
expect greater openness to new ideas and a freer flow of information.
Annajane Kennard
Thomas R. Leinbach