SINGAPORE

IN PARTIAL REQUIREMENT IN THE SUBJECT OF THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

(PRELIM)

SUBMITTED BY: LEAH MARIZ S. ROCA

STUDENT

SUBMITTED TO: BRANDON M. PADO

SUBJECT TEACHER
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Map of Singapore ……………………………………………………………………………………… 1

Flag of Singapore ……………………………………………………………………………………… 1
GDP of Singapore ……………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Per Capita of Singapore ………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Currency of Singapore ………………………………………………………………………………... 1
History of Singapore …………………………………………………………………………………... 2
Political History of Singapore ……………………………………………………………………...… 4
Economic ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
Education ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
Tourism …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7
Industry …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
 Country: Singapore

Flag of Singapore:

GDP: According to official data from the World Bank, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in
Singapore was worth 396.99 billion US dollars in 2021. The GDP value of Singapore represents 0.07
percent of the world economy.

Per -Capita: According to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts’ expectations, the
GDP per capita in Singapore is expected to reach 61000.00 USD by the end of 2022. In the long-
term, the Singapore GDP per capita is projected to trend around 61000.00 USD in 2023.

Currency: Singapore Dollar (SGD)

 HISTORY OF SINGAPORE

The history of Singapore and the records of how Singapore was formed are shrouded in
time, but a third-century Chinese record refers to it as the island at the end of a peninsula in the
Malay language. Later, the city was referred to as Temasek or Sea town and the during the 14th
century it earned the name of Singapore and there is an ancient legend behind it.  

It is believed that Singapore was founded by a prince from Sumatra when he landed on
the island and saw an auspicious lion. Assuming it to be a good omen, he founded a city there
and named it Singapura which translates to 'the lion city'. There is no recorded proof of this
legend but it has been told for centuries. However, Singapore then was a small trading port with
a small population until the European settlement. It was a small Malay fishing village; whose
major inhabitants were only a several hundred indigenous Orang Laut people. 

Modern Singapore was founded in late 1818 when Lord Hasting, the British Governor-
General of India appointed Sir Raffles to establish a trading station at the southern tip of Malay
peninsula. When he landed on the island of Singapore after surveying the nearby islands, he
discovered swamps and jungles with very little population, which made him realize that it could
be transformed into a useful port. In no time, Singapore emerged as an important centre for
commerce and British military forces.

Singapore was the third acquisition of British East India in Malay after Penang and
Malacca and they established a new trading post in Singapore which showed rapid growth.
People from Europe, India, China and Malaysia came to work and live here. The population rose
in Singapore and by 1867, it became a crown colony under the rule of the British government
rather than East India company. A lot of grand buildings were constructed during this period and
the Suez Canal was established too.

In January 1942, the Japanese conquered Malaysia and rapidly gained air and naval
superiority in the area. By the end of January, they had completely captured over the peninsula
and crossed the Johor Strait on February 8, 1942, to overrun Singapore as well.

The British had no option but to surrender the island and they did so within a week.
Singapore remained in the hands of the Japanese until September 1945. The Japanese were
tyrants and they executed thousands of Chinese Singaporeans. British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill declared it as the worst disaster and the largest ever capitulation in British history.
Singapore faced massive unemployment, staggering economic growth, inadequate housing,
labor strikes, social unrest and dwindling infrastructure. However, after 3 years, the Japanese
surrendered and the British reoccupied Singapore. 

On 15th August 1945, the Japanese surrendered to the British but Singapore continued to
remain in a brief state of violence, disorder, looting and revenge killings. British troops returned
to Singapore, received the official surrender from the Japanese forces and formed an
administration to govern the island. However, the population of the island still suffered from
electricity and water supply issues, telephone services and loss of harbour facilities at the Port of
Singapore. Much of the infrastructure of the country was lost and there was a massive shortage
of food too, which led to the rise in malnutrition, diseases and death. Crime and violence
persisted.

The rise in the prices of commodities and unemployment led to a number of rebellious
strikes which in turn led to stoppages in transport and other services. The economy started to
improve by late 1947, but it would still take years to stabilize the economy like the pre-war time.
The British had lost the confidence of Singaporeans as they failed to defend the country. This led
to a state of political awakening among the local population and there was a rise in the number
of anti-colonial groups and parties who came up with a myriad of nationalist slogans fighting for
'Merdeka' or independence in the Malay language. 

It was 1945 when Singapore separated from Malaysia, the Strait settlements were
dissolved and Singapore moved towards independence. In 1954, the People's Action Party was
formed and it drove the Singaporean politics rapidly to the extent that in 1955, a new constitution
was introduced. In 1959, Singapore became a self-governing state under the British Government
with the leader of the People's Action Party, Lee Kuan Yew taking over as the Prime Minister.

In August 1963, Singapore declared independence from the British rule and joined the
federation of Malaysia along with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak. However, after ideological
conflicts between the federation and the Singapore government's major political party, People's
Action Party (PAP), Singapore left the federation in 1965 and on 9th August in the same year
gained sovereignty officially. Singapore became completely independent, and Yusof Bin Ishak
was sworn in as its first president while Lee Kuan Yew continued as prime minister.  

The merger with Malaysia proved unsuccessful. Singapore left Malaysia and on 9 August
1965 became an independent and sovereign democratic nation. Even today, Singapore
preserves the remnants of its multicultural, colonial and wartime past in the form of monuments,
museums and memorials.

In addition to an ultra-industrialized society that Singapore is, it is also thriving in the

tourism industry attracting millions of tourists every year. The port of Singapore has surpassed
the ports of Hong Kong and Rotterdam and is the world's busiest transshipment port today. The
nation's medical to, as well as culinary tourism industries, have remarkably grown over the years
becoming quite marketable - thankful of the advance medical technology and mosaic of cultural
heritage.
 POLITICAL HISTORY

The Government in Singapore is modelled after the Westminster system, with 3 separate
branches: The Legislature (which comprises the President and Parliament), the Executive (which
comprises Cabinet Ministers and office-holders, and is led by the Prime Minister) and the Judiciary.
The Legislature makes the laws of the land. The Executive administers the law. The Judiciary
interprets the law through the Courts. The Prime Minister is the Head of Government and the
President is the Head of State. Being unicameral, the Parliament of Singapore has only one House.
The Members of Parliament (MPs) are voted in at regular General Elections. The leader of the
political party that secures the majority of seats in Parliament will be asked by the President to
become the Prime Minister (PM). The PM will then select his Ministers from elected MPs to form the
Cabinet.

When the new Parliament meets for the first time after a General Election, the Speaker will be
elected. The "life" of each Parliament is 5 years from the date of its first meeting or Sitting. A General
Election must be held within 3 months of the dissolution of Parliament.

Under the parliamentary system, the President is ostensibly the head of state, but the post is
largely ceremonial. The real leader of the government is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is
selected by the President as the member of Parliament thought best situated to lead. In Singapore,
that has always been the leader of the political party with the most elected members. Lee Kuan Yew
was prime minister of Singapore from 1959 until 1990. Currently, Lee Hsien Loong is the third and
incumbent prime minister of Singapore. He took office on 12 August 2004 when his predecessor Goh
Chok Tong stepped down as prime minister.

Two types of elections occur in Singapore, Presidential, and Parliamentary. Participation in

every election held in Singapore is mandatory. All Singapore citizens over the age of 21 must vote, or
risk losing the right to vote in subsequent elections. The Prime Minister nominates all Presidential
candidates, but the nomination must be approved by the Presidential Elections Committee. In the
event there is only one approved nomination for President; the candidate is declared elected with no
vote necessary. If more than one candidate is nominated, the President is chosen by the citizens of
Singapore.

Singapore is a stable, well-functioning democratic country. It has a parliamentary system of

government where an elected President acts as the Head of State. The Singapore Parliament
consists of a single house, which is elected every five years through a general election. The
President appoints the person who is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the
Members of Parliament as the Prime Minister of the country. Although Singapore is a multi-party
nation, the People’s Action Party (PAP) has been the dominant force since independence, regularly
winning well over 60% of the vote.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Singapore is a high-income economy with a gross national income of US$54,530 per capita,
as of 2017. The country provides one of the world’s most business-friendly regulatory environment for
local entrepreneurs and is ranked among the world’s most competitive economies.

In the decades after independence, Singapore rapidly developed from a low-income country to
a high-income country. GDP growth in the city-state has been amongst the world’s highest, at an
average of 7.7% since independence and topping 9.2% in the first 25 years.

After rapid industrialization in the 1960s catapulted the island nation’s development trajectory,
manufacturing became the main driver of growth. In the early 1970s, Singapore reached full
employment and joined the ranks of Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea, and Taiwan a decade later
as Asia’s newly industrializing economies. The manufacturing and services sectors remain the twin
pillars of Singapore’s high value-added economy.

The overall growth of the Singapore economy was 3.2% in 2018. Value-added manufacturing,
particularly in the electronics and precision engineering sectors, remain key drivers of growth, as are
the services sector, particularly the information and communications industries, which grew 6.0%
year-on-year, and the finance & insurance industries, which grew 5.9% year-on-year.  Economic
growth is expected to moderate in 2019, with the government forecasting a range of 1.5% to 3.5%,
projecting the rate to be slightly below the middle of the forecast range.

In 2017, Singapore launched the regional finance hub ‘Asia’s Infrastructure Exchange’: “the
go-to place where infrastructure demand and supply can connect, where infrastructure expertise and
financing can be obtained and infrastructure needs are met.” In its announcement, the government
highlighted the country’s strong ecosystem, one that integrates infrastructure players along the whole
value chain – multilateral banks, private financiers, lawyers, accountants, engineers and other
professional services.

In the most recent World Bank Human Capital Index, Singapore ranks the best country in the
world in human capital development. This means that a child born today in Singapore will be 88% as
productive when she grows up, as if she enjoyed complete education and full health. Together with
strong financial support from the government, the country continues to strengthen the nimbleness
and flexibility of its workforce by providing continuing education such as the Skillsfuture initiative.
Government spending on continuing education will nearly double, to more than S$1 billion yearly. 

EDUCATION

Education in Singapore is managed by the Ministry of Education (MOE). It controls the

development and administration of state schools receiving taxpayers' funding, but also has an
advisory and supervisory role in respect of private schools. For both private and state schools, there
are variations in the extent of autonomy in their curriculum, scope of taxpayers' aid and
funding, tuition burden on the students, and admission policy.

Education spending usually makes up about 20 per cent of the annual national budget, which
subsidizes state education and government-assisted private education for Singaporean citizens and
funds the Edusave programme. Non-citizens bear significantly higher costs of educating their children
in Singapore government and government-aided schools. In 2000, the Compulsory Education
Act codified compulsory education for children of primary school age (excepting those with
disabilities), and made it a criminal offence for parents to fail to enroll their children in school and
ensure their regular attendance. Exemptions are allowed for homeschooling or full-time religious
institutions, but parents must apply for exemption from the Ministry of Education and meet a minimum
benchmark.

In Singapore, the system includes six years of primary school, followed by four to six years of
secondary school, and one to three years of postsecondary school. The curriculum for primary
schools is common for all students in years one to four. For years five and six, students can take
individual courses at the foundation or standard level. Foundational level courses are designed to
provide more support for students. As they enter secondary school, students, their parents, and their
teachers jointly agree on one of three bands or “streams” they will join: Express, Normal (Academic),
and Normal (Technical). All streams offer the same course of study, but Express is accelerated and
Normal (Technical) offers more applied work. In most cases, students’ scores on the Primary School
Leaving Examination (PSLE) are the primary determinant of the stream they will join, but parents and
students can advocate for different streams if they demonstrate accelerated learning or need more
help. Singapore is piloting and implementing a system under which students choose streams for
specific subjects, rather than their overall course of study, a practice known as subject-based
banding. For example, a student could pursue a technical stream in mathematics, but an express
stream in English. Subject-based banding currently exists in all primary schools, and the goal is to
have full subject-based banding in all secondary schools by 2024. 
 TOURISM

Tourism in Singapore is a major industry and contributor to the Singaporean economy,

attracting 18.5 million international tourists in 2018, more than three times Singapore's total
population. It also claims to be environmentally friendly, and maintains natural and heritage
conservation programs. Along with this, it also has one of the world's lowest crime rates.
As English is the dominant one of its four official languages, it is generally easier for tourists to
understand when speaking to the local population of the country, for example,
when shopping. Transport in Singapore exhaustively covers most, if not all public venues in
Singapore, which increases convenience for tourists. This includes the well-known Mass Rapid
Transit (MRT) system. Singapore is the 5th most visited city in the world, and 2nd in Asia-Pacific.

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks Singapore 13th out of 136

countries overall, which was the third best in Asia only behind Japan (ranked 4th) and Hong
Kong (ranked 11th). The report ranks Singapore's business environment, international openness,
also travel and tourism policy and enabling conditions as the best in the world (ranked 1st). However,
the island nation scored rather low in natural and cultural resources sub-index (ranked 40th).

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, River Wonders and 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, while the River
Wonders, features 10 different ecosystems around the world, including the River Nile, Yangtze
River, Mississippi, Amazon as well as the Tundra and has 300 species of animals, including
numerous endangered species.

Jurong Bird Park is another zoological garden centred on 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, which attracted 19 million
visitors in 2011, is 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.
 INDUSTRY

Important industries: electronics, chemicals, financial services, oil drilling equipment,

petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship
repair, offshore platform construction, life sciences, entrepot trade.

Singapore’s economy is dependent on exports. In 2012, Singapore’s biomedical industry

overtook electronics as the biggest contributor to manufacturing, making up 25.5 percent
compared to the other cluster’s 25 percent. In 2005 electronics accounted for 32 of Singapore’s
manufacturing, pharmaceuticals were 19 percent. [Source: Sharon Chen, Bloomberg February 26,
2013]

GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 0 percent; industry: 26.8 percent; services: 73.2
percent (2012 est.). Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 0.1 percent; industry: 19.6 percent
services: 80.3 percent; Industrial production growth rate: 0.1 percent (2012 est.) country
comparison to the world: 143. [Source: CIA World Factbook =]

Industry accounted for 33.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005.
Singapore’s primary industries in order of value were electronics, chemicals, oil drilling equipment,
petroleum refining, rubber processing and rubber products, processed food and beverages, ship
repair, and offshore platform construction. Manufacturing output grew by 12.8 percent in 2005 and
employed 20.5 percent of the workforce. [Source: Library of Congress, 2006]

Singapore is a major oil refining and distribution center, major supplier of electronic
components and a leader in shipbuilding and repairing. It is also a leader in precision engineering.
It produces the world's best ball bearings. Singapore is also a leader in chemicals, especially
petrochemicals. A number of foreign chemical companies have operations in Singapore. Jurong
island is being developed as a center of the chemical industry. Singapore also makes stamps for
many countries.