Singapore - a Modern City State
1945 its Future Looked Bleak, Now it is the Envy of its Neighbours
IOnce a lazy backwater with a seedy waterfront, today Singapore is a Modern City State an island reaping the benefits of an oil and shipping business allied with tourism
In 1959 when ties with Britain were severed, or in 1965 when the tandem with Malaysia collapsed, few thought that Singapore, a colonial backwater as it was then, would grow into this great city where people are fed and housed, public toilets gleam, traffic moves smoothly, and strict health and hygiene laws have banished both malaria and tubercolosis.
There are few brutal crimes in modern Singapore, where its 3.5 million inhabitants enjoy a per capita income higher than that of the USA ($33,590). The stability of the city state continues to attract oil companies, banks, IT industries, hoteliers and retail consortiums, and they in turn attract millions of visitors to this tropical paradise.
Some visitors complain that this modernity was achieved by bulldozing the past away, and it is true that in the 1970’s the wrecking balls of the building boom destroyed most of this unique Asian port, a cornerstone of the British Empire since Sir Stamford Raffles landed there in 1819. The traditional junks and schooners were cleared from the Singapore River, outdoor food stalls were banished and the notorious red light district was pulled down to make way for land reclamation on which the new hotels and condos. sprung up.
But the destruction of the “picturesque” areas has led to a better life for the Singaporeans and visitors can still enjoy the country's five cultures (Chinese, Indians, Malays, Peranakans and Eurasians) whose histories, food, and way of life can be discovered in the ethnic quarters. Turn-of-the-century shophouses and roadside peddlers can be found in the bustling district of Chinatown, which evolved around 1821 when the first Chinese arrived from the Fujian Province, a unique community descended from Chinese settlers who married local Malay women inhabit the Peranakan District, and Little India is just what it says.
But the real secret of Singapore is it's green areas, its rain-forest, and its beautiful islands. In fact, Singapore's got just about something for everyone. (see blog).
