Located on the tip of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore was founded in the 13th century by a Sumatran prince. He named it Singa Pur (Sanskrit for "city of the lion"). Evidently he mistook a tiger for a lion, because lions have never existed there. However, the city eventually took the Merlion, half lion, half ocean creature, as their symbol. (Author: An accurate representation. A city full of wannabe lions with no real substance of their own. A shadow world based in money that takes itself to be real.)
To indicate Singapore's early importance, Marco Polo even visited me on his way home from China in the late 1200s. In the 14th century I was sacked by the Javanese, at which time port trade shifted to Malacca a hundred miles away on the Western side of the peninsula. (Author: So that’s how Malacca became an important city.)
Singapore's modern history began in January of 1819 when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, visited. With a vision of the city's strategic potential he convinced Great Britain to purchase the territory, which they did in 1824. To stimulate development Raffles turned Singapore into a free port - no tariffs or duties. To indicate his commitment to the city, he was also know as Raffles of Singapore. The city quickly became a major British trading port in Southeast Asia.
Singapore became a British crown colony, along with Malacca, George Town and Sabah in 1867. These 4 port cities were called the Straits Settlement as a group. Excluding Sabah, these port cities are located on the Straits of Malacca, a major trading route between the Malay peninsula and Sumatra. The Straits of Malacca has been the connection by sea between the East and West. These straits connected the cultures of Southeast Asia, China and Japan in the East with the cultures of India, Ceylon, Arabia, Northern Africa, and Europe in the West. The last port city of the group, Sabah, is located on the tip of Borneo in the South China Sea. The British East India Trading Company administered these properties. The ports of the Straits Settlement were the cities through which Britain wielded her power in Southeast Asia.
With the increased prosperity due to the British influence, Chinese, Indian and Malays began immigrating to Singapore in large numbers. The Chinese quickly outnumbered the rest. Despite the fact that the British were a minority, they continued to run Singapore as a colony for the next 100 years. The Japanese occupied all of Southeast Asia during World War II. After the end of the war, Singapore was returned to the British. International business dominated by Americans merged with and took over the strictly British run company. America is now Singapore's largest trading partner - with 40% of my business.
In 1959 - due to widespread revolt, Britain finally granted her colonies self rule. In 1963, Singapore became a semiautonomous state within the Federation of Malaysia. Then in 1965 this properous port city was asked to leave the federation to become an independent republic.
To understand why Singapore was asked to leave the federation, let us examine the life of Lee Kuan Yew - the undisputed founding father of this modern nation. He was prime minister from Singapore's inception in 1959 to 1990 - 31 years. Further his political party, the People's Action Party (PAP), which he led, has completely dominated the country's politics since birth.
Educated at Cambridge in England, Lee Kuan Yew was exposed to the British Labor Party. This introduced him to the ideas of worker rights, the liberation of women, and self-determination. He returned to Singapore to work for these ideals. His efforts were cut short by World War II when the Japanese conquered Singapore. He was a witness to their atrocities against the Chinese - almost akin to genocide. The Japanese occupation, while brief, exposed the vulnerability of the British.
After the war the Singaporians, with Lee Kuan Yew as their leader, began demanding independence. The left leaning members of Lee’s party, including some Communists, broke off presumably because Lee didn’t go far enough in terms of workers’ rights. This led to permanent animosity between his party and theirs.
He and his pro-business party, the PAP, won the first elections in 1959. After his party assumed control, he began censoring dissenting newspapers and suppressing political opposition. A law was even passed giving the government the right to imprison anyone suspected of sedition. In Lee's defense, Communism was being actively propagated from China. Further their extreme social experiments, i.e. eliminating families and religion, the purging of professionals, and the elimination of dissent, were well known and feared.
Because his country was so small, he joined the Malaysian league in 1963 for protection. However, when he entered his party in Malaysian politics in 1965. The Malays began rioting.
Possibly the Malays feared Lee Kuan Yew as a popular demagogue - or maybe they were afraid that his primarily Chinese state would align with populist interests of Communist China or the business interests of Nationalist China, Taiwan - or perhaps they were nervous that the Chinese from Singapore would form an unhealthy alliance with the Chinese business leaders of Malaysia itself. Whatever the specifics the Malays were afraid of the powerful Chinese business community. The result was that Singapore was asked to leave the Federation. Lee Kuan Yew tearfully withdrew.
Still anxious because of Singapore’s tiny size, Lee Kuan Yew then turned to the international business community for protection.
Lee: “Give Singapore relative political autonomy and I’ll give you a secure place to do business. Using the dictatorial powers that you grant me, I will eliminate corruption and turn Singapore into the safest city-state in the world. To accomplish this task I must unfortunately sanitize the nation. No more prostitution, no more drugs, no more obvious black market, no more drinking, no more spitting, and while we’re at it no more chewing gum. I’ve always hated that habit.”
On the positive side, Lee was committed to increasing women’s rights, ethnic harmony, universal education and economic modernization. On the negative side, this meant restricting personal freedoms, including political dissent. He ruled autocratically - pathologically suppressing any opposition to his policies. In attempting to clean up Singapore’s slums, he also eliminated some traditional neighborhoods, because they didn’t pass the test of modernity. They weren’t attractive enough for the businesses he was trying to attract.
However his pro-business strategy has led to an eco-disaster for the island. The construction of modern highways with skyscrapers has denuded the island of its tropical forests. Today only 5% 000fbff0000fdff0000feff0000fcff0000f4ff0000e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000f5ff0300ffff00e1 ff030000ff00eaff0000f6ff0000f7ff0000fdff0000feff010000fdff0000feff0000fcff010000fdff0400ffff0000fdff0000feff0000fcff0000feff0000 fbff0000fdff0000feff0000fcff0000f4ff0000009a000000ff839400000000000100e500000004000000000048000000480000001000200003000800000000 04e268c404e268c800000000000100e500310000003200e500000111e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000f2ff0000e1ff0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fb ff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fbff0300ffff00eeff0000e8ff0000feff0000f8 ff0000f2ff0000e1ff0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000fe ff0000fcff0000fbff0300ffff00eeff0000e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000f2ff0000e1ff0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000 feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fbff0300ffff00eeff000000009a000000ff839400000000000100e50000 000400000000004800000048000000100020000300080000000004e268c404e268c800000000000100e500320000003300e500000114e8ff0400ff00ff00f8ff 0000f2ff0000e1ff0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff 0000fcff0000fbff0000feff0000efff0000e8ff0400ff00ff00f8ff0000f2ff0000e1ff0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000 feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fbff0000feff0000efff0000e8ff0400ff00ff00f8ff0000f2ff0000e1ff 0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fbff 0000feff0000efff0000009a000000ff839400000000000100e50000000400000000004800000048000000100020000300080000000004e268c404e268c80000 0000000100e500330000003400e500000144e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000fbff0100fffe0005ff00ffff00fffd00fbfffd00fcfffc00faff0300ffff00eaff00 00f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcfff900fdfffd00f3ff0000e8ff 0000feff0000f8ff0000fbff0100fffe0005ff00ffff00fffd00fbfffd00fcfffc00faff0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000 feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcfff900fdfffd00f3ff0000e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000fbff0100fffe0005ff00 ffff00fffd00fbfffd00fcfffc00faff0300ffff00eaff0000f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ff ff00fcff0000feff0000fcfff900fdfffd00f3ff0000009a000000ff839400000000000100e50000000400000000004800000048000000100020000300080000 000004e268c404e268c800000000000100e500340000003500e500000156e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000fbff010000fdff0400ffff0000fdff0000fdff0000fd ff0000feff0000fcff0000fbff020000ffe800f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000 feff0000fcff0000f2ff0000f4ff0000e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000fbff010000fdff0400ffff0000fdff0000fdff0000fdff0000feff0000fcff0000fbff02 0000ffe800f6ff0000f8ff0000fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000fcff0300ffff00fbff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fcff0000f2ff0000f4ff 0000e8ff0000feff0000f8ff0000fbff010000fdff0400ffff0000fdff0000fdff0000fdff0000feff0000fcff0000fbff020000ffe800f6ff0000f8ff0000fb ff0300ffff00fcff0000feff0000fc