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Main articles: Politics of Singapore and Laws of Singapore
Singapore is a republic with a Westminster system of a unicameral parliamentary government, with the bulk of the executive powers resting in the hands of a cabinet of ministers led by a prime minister. The office of the president was, historically, a ceremonial one as head of state, but the Constitution was amended in 1991 to create the position of a popularly elected president and also to grant the president veto powers in a few key decisions such as the use of the national reserves and the appointment of key judiciary positions. The legislative branch of government is the Parliament.
Politics of Singapore have been dominated by the People's Action Party (PAP) since its independence in 1965. Critics have called Singapore a de facto one party state and have accused the PAP of taking harsh actions against opposition parties to impede their success, including gerrymandering and the filing of civil suits against the opposition for libel or slander. Critics claim that Singaporean courts have favoured the government and the PAP in these lawsuits, although there have been a few cases in which the opposition won. They consider the form of government in Singapore to be closer to authoritarianism rather than true democracy, and could be considered an illiberal democracy or procedural democracy.
The media arm of the Government applies a monopolistic grip on the local mainstream media, often subjecting it to stringent censorship. As a result, opposition political parties in Singapore usually do not get any mention or coverage. Reporters Without Borders ranked Singapore 140th out of 167 countries in its 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index.[1]
Despite these political issues, Singapore has what its Government considers to be a highly successful and transparent market economy. The PAP's policies contain some aspects of socialism, including a large scale public housing programme, a public education system, and the dominance of government-controlled companies in the local economy. Although dominant in its activities, the government has a clean, corruption-free image, and has consistently been rated as the least-corrupt country in Asia and amongst the top ten cleanest in the world by Transparency International since its first annual survey conducted in 1995.
Although Singapore's laws are inherited from British and British Indian laws, the PAP has also consistently rejected wholesale Western democratic values, with former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew citing incompatibilities with "Asian values." Singapore's position is that there should not be a "one-size-fits-all" solution to a democracy. Most recently, the PAP has relaxed some of its socially conservative policies and encouraged entrepreneurship.
Singapore enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the world because of its strict laws, which has often been cited by foreign companies as one of the reasons for investing in Singapore. As the tiny city-state is a multi-racial society, materials that may breed ill-will among its population or cause religious disharmony are not tolerated, even on the Internet. For example, in September 2005, three bloggers were charged with sedition for posting racist remarks targeting minorities; after they admitted their guilt, the punishments handed down ranged from community service and fines to the maximum imprisonment of a month.
Some offences can lead to heavy fines or United States.
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Main article: Economy of Singapore
 The Central Area is the central business district and hub of economic transactions in Singapore, and is also the home of the Singapore Exchange, Asia-Pacific's first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange.
The Central Area is the central business district and hub of economic transactions in Singapore, and is also the home of the Singapore Exchange, Asia-Pacific's first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange.
Singapore has a very highly developed market-based economy, which allows the state to a play major role in Asia. It has one of the highest per capita gross domestic products in the world and is one of the "East Asian Tigers". Domestic demand is relatively low, and the economy depends heavily on exports produced from refining imported goods in a form of extended entrepot trade. This is especially true in electronics and manufacturing.
Singapore was hit hard in 2001 by the global recession and the slump in the technology sector, which caused the GDP that year to contract by 2.2 %. The Economic Review Committee (ERC), set up in December 2001, made key recommendations in remaking Singapore's economy.
Singapore introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on April 1, 1994, starting at 3 %. This has substantially increased government revenue as well assisted in maintaining the stability of the government's finances to spend on reforming the economy into more services and value added goods instead of relying on electronics manufacturing. The taxable GST was increased to 4 % in 2003 and to 5 % in 2004.
The economy has since recovered from the recessions in response to improvements in the world economy, and grew by 6.4% in 2005. In the longer term the government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle than the current export-led model, but is unlikely to abandon efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub. The per capita GDP in 2005 is US$30,228. Recently, in January 2006, the unemployment rate was 2.5 %. [2] According to the Budget 2006 speech delivered by Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 17 February 2006, the economy is expected to grow by 4-6% in the year 2006.[3]
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 The Merlion is one of the best-known tourist icons of Singapore
The Merlion is one of the best-known tourist icons of Singapore
 The Singapore Visitors Centre is located in the centre of Orchard Road
The Singapore Visitors Centre is located in the centre of Orchard Road
Main article: Tourism in Singapore
Singapore as a travel destination has become noted among many international travellers, making tourism one of its largest industries. In 2005, a total of 9.05 million tourists visited Singapore. Much of its attraction can be attributed to its cultural diversity that reflects almost 200 years of colonial history as well as immigrant cultures from Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Arab ethnicities. Singapore's cuisine is the most general attraction for tourists; it is also touted by the Singapore Tourist Board as the business hub of Southeast Asia. The Orchard Road district, which is dominated by multi-storey shopping centres and hotels, can be considered the centre of tourism in Singapore.
Other popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari, which allows people to explore Asian, African and American habitats at night without any visible barriers between guests and the wild animals. The Singapore Zoo has embraced the 'open zoo' concept whereby animals are kept in enclosures, separated from visitors by hidden dry or wet moats, instead of caging the animals. Jurong Bird Park is another zoological garden centred around birds, which is dedicated towards exposing the public to as much species and varieties of birds from around the world as possible, including a flock of one thousand flamingos. The tourist island of Sentosa, located in the south of Singapore, consists of about 20-30 landmarks, such as Fort Siloso, which was built as a fortress to defend against the Japanese during World War II. Guns from the World War II era can be seen at Fort Siloso, from a mini-sized to a 16-pound (7 kg) gun. Recently, the island has built the Carlsberg Sky Tower, which allows visitors to view the whole of Sentosa, as well as the Sentosa Luge, a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleighs supine and feet-first. Steering is done by shifting the weight or pulling straps attached to the sled's runners. Singapore will have two integrated resorts with casinos in 2009, one at Marina Bayfront and the other at Sentosa which the government announced during a parliament session on April 18, 2005.
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 Built in 1843, the Sri Mariamman Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Singapore. It is also one of the many religious buildings marked as national monuments for their historical value.
Built in 1843, the Sri Mariamman Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Singapore. It is also one of the many religious buildings marked as national monuments for their historical value.
Main articles: Demographics of Singapore and Religion in Singapore
Singapore is the second most densely populated independent country in the world. Eighty-four percent of Singaporeans live in public housing provided by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
Singapore's population, though small at 4.42 million as of Baweans and Minangkabau. Indians are the third largest ethnic group at 7.9 %, consisting of several groups—Tamils, who form the largest Indian group, and others such as Malayalees, Punjabis and Bengalis. The rest are made up of smaller groups such as Arabs, Jews, Thais, Japanese, and the Eurasian community.
Singapore is a multi-religious country, due mainly to its location on one of the world's major transportation routes. More than 40 % of Singaporeans profess that they adhere to Buddhism. This large percentage may be due to a lack of distinction between Taoism and Buddhism; Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and ancestral worship are merged into one religion by most of the Chinese population. Most Muslims are Malay. Christianity in Singapore consists of Roman Catholicism and various Protestant denominations, and comprises approximately 14% of the population. Other religions include Sikhism and Hinduism followed mainly by those of Indian descent.
The Singapore Government has been careful to maintain ethnic harmony after racial riots erupted in the 1960s. Racial harmony has been emphasized in all aspects of society, including education, military and housing. So far the policy has been largely successful, and there have been few signs of ethnic tension since the early 1970s. Current issues include the ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf in public schools. In October 2005, a man was sentenced to one month in jail for making racist comments on an online blog.
The national language of Singapore is Malay for historical reasons, and it is used in the national anthem. The official languages are English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. English has been promoted as the country's language of administration since independence, and it is spoken by the majority of the population, although with concurrent Speak Mandarin Campaigns, most public signs, advertising and print media tend to be in English and Chinese only.
To promote Chinese culture and the use of Mandarin among the Chinese, the government has introduced a China, and were linguistically isolated into "dialects" such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hokchia, Teochew, Hakka, Hokchiu and Hainanese. Malay was thus often used at that time as a common language. However, during the Speak Mandarin campaign, Mandarin became a unifying factor at the cost of usage of Malay among the younger generation. Recently, there has been a "Speak Bahasa Melayu" campaign.
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Main articles: Politics of Singapore and Laws of Singapore
Singapore is a republic with a Westminster system of a unicameral parliamentary government, with the bulk of the executive powers resting in the hands of a cabinet of ministers led by a prime minister. The office of the president was, historically, a ceremonial one as head of state, but the Constitution was amended in 1991 to create the position of a popularly elected president and also to grant the president veto powers in a few key decisions such as the use of the national reserves and the appointment of key judiciary positions. The legislative branch of government is the Parliament.
Politics of Singapore have been dominated by the People's Action Party (PAP) since its independence in 1965. Critics have called Singapore a de facto one party state and have accused the PAP of taking harsh actions against opposition parties to impede their success, including gerrymandering and the filing of civil suits against the opposition for libel or slander. Critics claim that Singaporean courts have favoured the government and the PAP in these lawsuits, although there have been a few cases in which the opposition won. They consider the form of government in Singapore to be closer to authoritarianism rather than true democracy, and could be considered an illiberal democracy or procedural democracy.
The media arm of the Government applies a monopolistic grip on the local mainstream media, often subjecting it to stringent censorship. As a result, opposition political parties in Singapore usually do not get any mention or coverage. Reporters Without Borders ranked Singapore 140th out of 167 countries in its 2005 Worldwide Press Freedom Index.[1]
Despite these political issues, Singapore has what its Government considers to be a highly successful and transparent market economy. The PAP's policies contain some aspects of socialism, including a large scale public housing programme, a public education system, and the dominance of government-controlled companies in the local economy. Although dominant in its activities, the government has a clean, corruption-free image, and has consistently been rated as the least-corrupt country in Asia and amongst the top ten cleanest in the world by Transparency International since its first annual survey conducted in 1995.
Although Singapore's laws are inherited from British and British Indian laws, the PAP has also consistently rejected wholesale Western democratic values, with former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew citing incompatibilities with "Asian values." Singapore's position is that there should not be a "one-size-fits-all" solution to a democracy. Most recently, the PAP has relaxed some of its socially conservative policies and encouraged entrepreneurship.
Singapore enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the world because of its strict laws, which has often been cited by foreign companies as one of the reasons for investing in Singapore. As the tiny city-state is a multi-racial society, materials that may breed ill-will among its population or cause religious disharmony are not tolerated, even on the Internet. For example, in September 2005, three bloggers were charged with sedition for posting racist remarks targeting minorities; after they admitted their guilt, the punishments handed down ranged from community service and fines to the maximum imprisonment of a month.
Some offences can lead to heavy fines or United States.
|
Main article: Economy of Singapore
The Central Area is the central business district and hub of economic transactions in Singapore, and is also the home of the Singapore Exchange, Asia-Pacific's first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange.
The Central Area is the central business district and hub of economic transactions in Singapore, and is also the home of the Singapore Exchange, Asia-Pacific's first demutualised and integrated securities and derivatives exchange.
Singapore has a very highly developed market-based economy, which allows the state to play a major role in Asia. It has one of the highest per capita gross domestic products in the world and is one of the "East Asian Tigers". Domestic demand is relatively low, and the economy depends heavily on exports produced from refining imported goods in a form of extended entrepot trade. This is especially true in electronics and manufacturing.
Singapore was hit hard in 2001 by the global recession and the slump in the technology sector, which caused the GDP that year to contract by 2.2 %. The Economic Review Committee (ERC), set up in December 2001, made key recommendations in remaking Singapore's economy.
Singapore introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on April 1, 1994, starting at 3 %. This has substantially increased government revenue as well assisted in maintaining the stability of the government's finances to spend on reforming the economy into more services and value added goods instead of relying on electronics manufacturing. The taxable GST was increased to 4 % in 2003 and to 5 % in 2004.
The economy has since recovered from the recessions in response to improvements in the world economy, and grew by 6.4% in 2005. In the longer term the government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle than the current export-led model, but is unlikely to abandon efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub. The per capita GDP in 2005 is US$30,228. Recently, in January 2006, the unemployment rate was 2.5 %. [2] According to the Budget 2006 speech delivered by Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 17 February 2006, the economy is expected to grow by 4-6% in the year 2006.[3]
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The Merlion is one of the best-known tourist icons of Singapore
The Merlion is one of the best-known tourist icons of Singapore
The Singapore Visitors Centre is located in the centre of Orchard Road
The Singapore Visitors Centre is located in the centre of Orchard Road
Main article: Tourism in Singapore
Singapore as a travel destination has become noted among many international travellers, making tourism one of its largest industries. In 2005, a total of 9.05 million tourists visited Singapore. Much of its attraction can be attributed to its cultural diversity that reflects almost 200 years of colonial history as well as immigrant cultures from Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Arab ethnicities. Singapore's cuisine is the most general attraction for tourists; it is also touted by the Singapore Tourist Board as the business hub of Southeast Asia. The Orchard Road district, which is dominated by multi-storey shopping centres and hotels, can be considered the centre of tourism in Singapore.
Other popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari, which allows people to explore Asian, African and American habitats at night without any visible barriers between guests and the wild animals. The Singapore Zoo has embraced the 'open zoo' concept whereby animals are kept in enclosures, separated from visitors by hidden dry or wet moats, instead of caging the animals. Jurong Bird Park is another zoological garden centred around birds, which is dedicated towards exposing the public to as much species and varieties of birds from around the world as possible, including a flock of one thousand flamingos. The tourist island of Sentosa, located in the south of Singapore, consists of about 20-30 landmarks, such as Fort Siloso, which was built as a fortress to defend against the Japanese during World War II. Guns from the World War II era can be seen at Fort Siloso, from a mini-sized to a 16-pound (7 kg) gun. Recently, the island has built the Carlsberg Sky Tower, which allows visitors to view the whole of Sentosa, as well as the Sentosa Luge, a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleighs supine and feet-first. Steering is done by shifting the weight or pulling straps attached to the sled's runners. Singapore will have two integrated resorts with casinos in 2009, one at Marina Bayfront and the other at Sentosa which the government announced during a parliament session on April 18, 2005.
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Built in 1843, the Sri Mariamman Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Singapore. It is also one of the many religious buildings marked as national monuments for their historical value.
Built in 1843, the Sri Mariamman Temple is the largest Hindu temple in Singapore. It is also one of the many religious buildings marked as national monuments for their historical value.
Main articles: Demographics of Singapore and Religion in Singapore
Singapore is the second most densely populated independent country in the world. Eighty-four percent of Singaporeans live in public housing provided by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
Singapore's population, though small at 4.42 million as of Baweans and Minangkabau. Indians are the third largest ethnic group at 7.9 %, consisting of several groups—Tamils, who form the largest Indian group, and others such as Malayalees, Punjabis and Bengalis. The rest are made up of smaller groups such as Arabs, Jews, Thais, Japanese, and the Eurasian community.
Singapore is a multi-religious country, due mainly to its location on one of the world's major transportation routes. More than 40 % of Singaporeans profess that they adhere to Buddhism. This large percentage may be due to a lack of distinction between Taoism and Buddhism; Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and ancestral worship are merged into one religion by most of the Chinese population. Most Muslims are Malay. Christianity in Singapore consists of Roman Catholicism and various Protestant denominations, and comprises approximately 14% of the population. Other religions include Sikhism and Hinduism followed mainly by those of Indian descent.
The Singapore Government has been careful to maintain ethnic harmony after racial riots erupted in the 1960s. Racial harmony has been emphasized in all aspects of society, including education, military and housing. So far the policy has been largely successful, and there have been few signs of ethnic tension since the early 1970s. Current issues include the ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf in public schools. In October 2005, a man was sentenced to one month in jail for making racist comments on an online blog.
The national language of Singapore is Malay for historical reasons, and it is used in the national anthem. The official languages are English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. English has been promoted as the country's language of administration since independence, and it is spoken by the majority of the population, although with concurrent Speak Mandarin Campaigns, most public signs, advertising and print media tend to be in English and Chinese only.
To promote Chinese culture and the use of Mandarin among the Chinese, the government has introduced a China, and were linguistically isolated into "dialects" such as Hokkien, Cantonese, Hokchia, Teochew, Hakka, Hokchiu and Hainanese. Malay was thus often used at that time as a common language. However, during the Speak Mandarin campaign, Mandarin became a unifying factor at the cost of usage of Malay among the younger generation. Recently, there has been a "Speak Bahasa Melayu" campaign.
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Hotels in Singapore - Singapore >>
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