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 maritime Southeast Asia. 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.

The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet; the combined area of these has increased by approximately 25% since the country's independence as a result of extensive land reclamation projects. 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'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. With its growth based on international trade and economic globalisation, it integrated itself with the world economy through free trade with minimal trade barriers and tariffs, export-oriented industrialisation, and the large accumulation of received foreign direct investments, foreign exchange reserves, and assets held by sovereign wealth funds. As a highly developed country, it has one of the highest GDP per capita (PPP) 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.

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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Money No Enough (Chinese: 钱不够用; pinyin: Qián Bǔgòu Yòng) is a 1998 Singaporean comedy film written by Jack Neo, directed by Tay Teck Lock, and produced by JSP films. The movie stars Neo, Mark Lee and Henry Thia as three close and best friends who start a car polishing business together to resolve their financial problems. Released in cinemas on 7 May 1998, the film received mixed reviews from critics but earned over S$5.8 million and was the all-time highest-grossing Singaporean film until 2012. Its success helped revive the Singaporean film industry and pave the way for the emergence of other Singaporean cultural phenomena.

It was followed by a second standalone installment titled Money No Enough 2, which was directed by Neo, and also starring Thia, Lee and Neo himself, and was released during the National Day period on 31 July 2008. A third standalone installment titled Money No Enough 3, was also directed by Neo and also stars Lee, Thia and Neo himself, and was released during Chinese New Year period on 1 February 2024. (Full article...)

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Credit: Huaiwei (9 August 2004)

The Tanglin Police Division (or 'E' Division, Chinese: 东陵警区) is a police division of the Singapore Police Force. It manages a varied, highly urbanised area of central Singapore, which includes the public housing towns of Bishan, Toa Payoh and parts of Kallang, large areas of private housing areas such as those in Bukit Timah and Novena, as well as key commercial areas such as Orchard Road and Clarke Quay. Read more...

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General images

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

Image 1Fireworks over the Marina Bay skyline following the conclusion of the 2015 National Day Parade on 9 August 2015. (from History of Singapore)
Image 2The 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 3A statue of Raffles by Thomas Woolner now stands in Singapore, near Raffles's landing site in 1819. (from History of Singapore)
Image 4Old Supreme Court of Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 5The Plan of the Town of Singapore, or more commonly known as the Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan. (from History of Singapore)
Image 6Upper Seletar Reservoir (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 7A hawker centre in Lavender, Singapore (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 8Japanese POWs are taken to work where they were made to clear up the city during the British reoccupation in September 1945
Image 9The Sultan Mosque, built in 1826 in the Kampong Glam district, is the oldest and one of the largest mosque in Singapore. (from Singaporeans)
Image 10The country celebrates its National Day on 9 August each year. (from History of Singapore)
Image 11Shophouses in Singapore (from Singaporeans)
Image 12Jurong Industrial Estate, Singapore, with Jurong Island in the background (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 13Mass Rapid Transit (from History of Singapore)
Image 141888 German map of Singapore (from History of Singapore)
Image 15Lieutenant-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 16Sign board with warnings in Singapore's four main languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 17Restored 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 18Chinese 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 19Baedeker map of the city and environs, c. 1914
Image 20St Andrew's Cathedral (from Singaporeans)
Image 21Centre square of Raffles Place (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 22The Jurong Industrial Estate was developed in the 1960s to industrialise the economy. (from History of Singapore)
Image 23Hainanese chicken rice (from Singaporeans)
Image 24Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 25Traffic 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 261955 stamp with the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (from History of Singapore)
Image 27A fragment of the Singapore Stone, inscribed with an Indic script, c. 10th to 13th century. (from History of Singapore)
Image 28The Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 29Men of various ethnicities - Chinese, Malay, and Indian gather at a street corner in Singapore, circa 1900. (from Singaporeans)
Image 30The old and the new Singapore as seen from an alley behind Boat Quay (2023) (from History of Singapore)
Image 31Enlargeable, detailed map of Singapore (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 32A busy Victoria Dock, Tanjong Pagar, in the 1890s. (from History of Singapore)
Image 33Singapore's urban geography is often characterised by extensive use of HDB flats, which the majority of citizens reside in. (from Geography of Singapore)
Image 34Top view of Bukit Batok West. Large scale public housing development has created high housing ownership among the population. (from History of Singapore)
Image 35Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum (from Singaporeans)
Image 36Engraving of Sir Stamford Raffles by James Thomson
Image 37Quadrilingual sign (from Singaporeans)
Image 38Deepavali decorations in Singapore. (from Culture of Singapore)
Image 39The Thian Hock Keng, completed in 1842, served as a place of worship for early immigrants. (from History of Singapore)
Image 40The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort. Opened in 2010, it has become a key feature of Singapore's modern skyline. (from History of Singapore)
Image 41Afternoon thunderstorms are a frequent occurrence in Singapore, which has an equatorial climate. (from Geography of Singapore)

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The smaller of two pieces making up Han's Seeds (2006), at the National Museum of Singapore

Han Sai Por (Chinese: 韓少芙; born 19 July 1943) is a Singaporean sculptor. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), East Ham College of Art, Wolverhampton College of Art (now the School of Art and Design of the University of Wolverhampton), and Lincoln University, New Zealand, she worked as a teacher and later as a part-time lecturer at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, and the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, before becoming a full-time artist in 1997.

Han has participated in exhibitions locally and abroad, including events in China, Denmark, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and South Korea. Her first solo exhibition, entitled Four Dimensions, was held at the National Museum Art Gallery in 1993. Her sculptures can be found around the world, in Osaka and Shōdoshima, Kagawa Prefecture, in Japan; Kuala Lumpur and Sarawak in Malaysia; and Washington, D.C., in Singapore, sculptures commissioned from her can be seen at Capital Tower, the Defence Science Organisation National Laboratories, the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, the National Museum of Singapore, Revenue House, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3, Suntec City Mall, and Woodlands Regional Library. In 2001, Han was the founding President of the Sculpture Society (Singapore) and remains its Honorary President. She was the first artist in residence at the Society's Sculpture Pavilion at Fort Canning Park in 2009, where she worked on sculptures made from the trunks of tembusu trees. (Full article...)

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Ho Yuen Hoe Gan Eng Seng Hugh Hickling Zubir Said Tang Da Wu Edwin Thumboo Teresa Hsu Fandi Ahmad Denise Phua Li Jiawei Glenn Knight Laurentia Tan Tao Li Yip Pin Xiu Neila Sathyalingam Walter Woon Rex Shelley Feng Tianwei Lee Choon Seng Balaji Sadasivan Choor Singh Kelvin Tan Xiaxue

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that Singaporean performance artist Josef Ng was fined S$1,000 for partially exposing his buttocks and snipping his pubic hair during a public performance?
... that Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann declined a request from Lee Kuan Yew to help design Singapore?
... that Bayfront MRT station in Singapore has public art that features ships powered by whales and dragons, hand-drawn by children?
... that Singapore's Upper Thomson MRT station is decorated with 88 animal figures, most of which are crab-eating macaques?
... that Singaporean singer Dawn Gan played herself in a television drama about aspiring singers?
... that Singaporean swimmer Marc Tay served in the Gulf War as an eye surgeon?

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In this month

1 September 1993: Ong Teng Cheong becomes the first directly-elected President in Singapore.
1 September 2000: The Speakers's Corner is launched at Hong Lim Park.
3 September 1988: Group representation constituencies, a type of political division unique to Singapore, are introduced at the 1988 General Elections.
21 September 1965: Singapore is admitted into the United Nations as its 117th member.
27 September 1943: Operation Jaywick, a sabotage attempt by Special Operations Australia, was launched. 7 Japanese ships in Singapore Harbour were sunk.

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More did you know - show different entries

... that the architecture of the Singapore Power Building (pictured) was influenced by Gerhad M. Kallmann's Boston City Hall and Le Corbusier's Sainte Marie de La Tourette?

... that Liang Wern Fook, a pioneer of Singapore's xinyao movement, has composed over 200 songs?

... that Singaporean citizenship was first granted in 1957 when Singapore was a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom?

... that the first Director of Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department, Glenn Knight, was also the first legal officer in the country to be charged for corruption?

... that Dragon's Teeth Gate, an ancient navigational landmark, was documented in one of the earliest historic records of Singapore?

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Selected panorama

Credit: Chensiyuan

The skyline of Singapore's Central Business District in daytime. Notable landmarks in the picture includes the new and old Supreme Court of Singapore and the skyscrapers in the Marina Bay area.

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Related portals

Southeast Asia

Other Countries

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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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