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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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 2025 USD) and five deaths. (Full article...)

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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.

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General images

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

Image 1Lieutenant-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 2View of Bukit Batok Estate. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 3The Sultan Mosque, built in 1826 in the Kampong Glam district, is the oldest and one of the largest mosque in Singapore. (from Singaporeans)
Image 4Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 51955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 6Chinese 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 7Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 8Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 9Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 10Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)
Image 111888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)
Image 12Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 13Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 14Traffic 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 15The 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 16Old Supreme Court of Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 17A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 18The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)
Image 19St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 20Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 21Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 22A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 23A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 24Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 25The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 26Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 27The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 28The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 29Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 30Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 31The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)
Image 32The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 33The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 34Restored 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 35A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 36Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 37Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 38Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 39Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 40Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 41Portrait of Stamford Raffles by George Francis Joseph, 1817 (from History of Singapore)

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Edwin Nadason Thumboo B.B.M. and Bar, PJG (born 22 November 1933) is a Singaporean poet and academic who is regarded as one of the pioneers of English literature in Singapore.

Thumboo graduated in English from the University of Malaya in 1956. Although he applied for a position at the university, he was rejected as few locals held academic posts at that time. He therefore worked in the civil service for about nine years before finally joining the university, then renamed the University of Singapore, in 1966 following Singapore's independence. He received a Ph.D. from the university in 1970. Thumboo rose to the position of full professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, heading the department between 1977 and 1993. After the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University in 1980 to form the National University of Singapore (NUS), he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 1980 to 1991, NUS's longest-serving dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Thumboo was the first Chairman and Director of the university's Centre for the Arts from 1993 to 2005, and continues to be associated with the university as an emeritus professor, a position he has held since retiring from full-time teaching in September 1997. (Full article...)

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Ho Yuen Hoe Gan Eng Seng Hugh Hickling Zubir Said Tang Da Wu 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 Choor Singh Kelvin Tan Xiaxue

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the United Ukrainian Ballet Company, consisting of exiled dancers based in The Hague, has toured the UK, Singapore, Australia and the US?
... that Ngiam Tong Dow negotiated Singapore's first and largest purchase of gold from South Africa in 1968 by comparing two halves of a United States one-dollar bill?
... that the Hainanese chicken rice at the Singaporean restaurant Chatterbox was developed by a German chef?
... that Louis Vuitton helped to develop the visual arts programme for the School of the Arts, Singapore?
... that Harold Ingrams said that Yemeni philanthropist Sayyid Abubakr bin Shaikh Al-Kaff could be an embarrassment for wanting Hadhramaut to be ruled by the British like Singapore?
... that Chinese Garden MRT station did not originally have access to the Chinese Garden?

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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 Majestic in Singapore was an opera house built by tin and rubber magnate Eu Tong Sen in 1928 for his wife who was a Cantonese opera fan?

...that Central Fire Station, the oldest existing fire station in Singapore, had only four portable water pumps when it was completed in 1908?

... that Singaporean dancer, choreographer and teacher Neila Sathyalingam, who dances in the classical Indian style, decided to devote her life to dance after performing for Queen Elizabeth II?

... that during the Singaporean parliamentary general election of 2011 the opposition Workers' Party won a Group Representation Constituency for the first time?

...that although archaeologists in Singapore have discovered many artifacts, they do not have government support for their work, and there is no centralised place to store the artifacts?

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Selected panorama

Credit: Sengkang (May 2007)

The National Stadium (Chinese: 国家体育场; Malay: Stadium Nasional Singapura) is located in Kallang. Opened in July 1973, the National Stadium was officially closed on June 30, 2007 and will be demolished in late 2008 to make way for the Singapore Sports Hub which is expected to open in 2011.

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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
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