Singapore

(Dr Sajid Khakwani, Islamabad)

In The Name Of Allah The Almighty
(9 August: National Day)

Republic of Singapore, city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, about 85 miles north of the Equator. It consists of the diamond-shaped Singapore Island and some 60 small islets, for a combined area of about 240 square miles; the main island occupies all but about 18 square miles of this territory. The main island is separated from Peninsular Malaysia to the north by Johor Strait, a narrow channel crossed by a road and rail causeway that is more than half a mile long. The southern limits of the state run through Singapore Strait, where outliers of the Riau-Lingga Archipelago—which forms a part of Indonesia—extend to within 10 miles of the main island.

Singapore Island originally was inhabited by fishermen and pirates, and it served as an outpost for the Sumatran Empire of Śrīvijaya. In Javanese inscriptions and Chinese records dating to the end of the 14th century, the more common name of the island is Tumasik, or Temasek, from the Javanese word tasek (“sea”). Rājendra, ruler of the southern Indian Coḷa kingdom, attacked the island in 1025. Rājendra may have named the city Singapura (“Lion City”), later corrupted to Singapore, or the name may have been bestowed in the 14th century by Buddhist monks, to whom the lion was a symbolic character. According to the Sejarah Melayu, a Malay chronicle, the city was founded by the Śrīvijayan prince Sri Tri Buana; he is said to have glimpsed a tiger, mistaken it for a lion, and thus called the settlement Singapura.

Singapore is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest in the world. It owes its growth and prosperity to its focal position at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, where it dominates the Strait of Malacca, which connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. Once a British colony and now a member of the Commonwealth, Singapore first joined the Federation of Malaysia on its formation in 1963 but seceded to become an independent state on Aug. 9, 1965.

The city of Singapore is situated in the southern portion of the main island. About four-fifths of Singapore's population now resides in high-rise government's Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats located in housing estates and new towns. The new towns are scattered across the island and are characterized by easy access to places of employment and shopping districts. The island has a well-developed network of roads and highways, but traffic congestion frequently is a serious problem. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the government opened a light-rail mass-transit system that links the major population centers in the housing estates with employment centers and the central business district. Singapore is linked by rail to Peninsular Malaysia via the connecting causeway at Johor. Singapore's international airport, Changi, at the eastern end of the main island, is a major regional and overseas air hub.

The traditional Malay kampong settlements—consisting of stilt houses built along the shoreline—are declining in number and are now found only in select rural areas. The population of Singapore is diverse, the result of considerable past immigration. Chinese predominate, making up more than three-fourths of the total. Malays are the next largest ethnic group, and Indians the third. None of these three major communities is homogeneous. The Indian group is most diverse, consisting of Tamils (more than half), Malayalis, and Sikhs; it also includes Pakistani and Sinhalese communities. Because of this ethnic diversity, no fewer than four official languages are recognized—English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. English remains the main medium for administration, commerce, and industry, and it is the primary language of instruction in schools. Malay, like English, is widely used for communication among ethnic groups and plays a particularly useful role in view of the close ties between Singapore and Malaysia. Religious affiliations reflect ethnic patterns. About two-thirds of all Chinese profess some degree of attachment to Confucianism, Buddhism, or Taoism or to some combination thereof. Virtually all Malays, and some Indians, adhere to Islam, which is the formal religion of about one-sixth of the population. The Christian community constitutes 10 percent of the population; nearly all Christians are Chinese. Almost all of the remaining population is Hindu.

Singapore, one of the great trading seaports of the British empire, has experienced remarkable economic growth and diversification since 1960. In addition to enhancing its position as a world trade centre, it has developed powerful financial and industrial sectors. Singapore has the most advanced economy in Southeast Asia and is often mentioned along with other rapidly industrializing countries in Asia, notably South Korea and Taiwan. Singapore's economy always has differed from those of the other Southeast Asian countries in that it never has been primarily dependent on the production and export of commodities. Singapore has few natural resources. There are no natural forests remaining on the island. Only a tiny fraction of the land area is classified as agricultural, and production contributes a negligible amount to the overall economy. Cultivation is intensive, with vegetables and fruits grown and poultry raised for local consumption. The local fishing industry supplies only a portion of the total fresh fish requirement; most of the catch comes from offshore fishing vessels. There also is a small aquaculture industry that raises groupers, sea bass, and prawns. Singapore is a major exporter of both orchids and aquarium fish. The largest native animals are the long-tailed macaque (an Asian species of monkey), the slow loris (a large-eyed tailless nocturnal lemur), and the scaly anteater. Birds are numerous, especially those like the Indian mynah bird, the brahminy kite (a kite with reddish brown plumage and a white head and breast), and the house swallow that have adapted to a symbiotic relationship with humans. Reptiles, such as cobras and lizards, also are common.

Since the late 1960s Singapore has pursued a general policy of export-oriented industrialization. In order to attract foreign investment, the economy was liberalized, and a series of incentives were provided to multinational corporations; chief among these was the establishment of free trade zones. Major imports are machinery and transport equipment and crude petroleum, while machinery and refined petroleum products are the major exports. The United States, Malaysia, and Japan are Singapore's principal trading partners.

Singapore is a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster model. The government consists of a president who is head of state and a unicameral Parliament of 81 members who are elected to terms of up to five years. The parliamentary majority selects the prime minister and cabinet from its own ranks, and they in turn form the government. Until 1991 the largely ceremonial post of president was filled by parliamentary election; in that year the constitution was amended to allow for the direct popular election of the president and for presidential powers to be expanded. In each constituency there is a Citizens' Consultative Committee, designed to link local communities to the ruling party. These are staffed by civil servants who are monitored by an independent Public Service Commission. Singapore's electorate includes every adult citizen who is a registered voter, and voting is compulsory. Justice is administered by the Supreme Court and by courts of lesser jurisdiction, such as district and magistrates' courts. Appeals can be made from the lower to the higher courts, with final appeal to the judicial committee of the Privy Council in London. A Shariah court has jurisdiction in matters of Islamic law.

Islam is the religion of about 15% of Singapore's population; mainly the sizeable Malay minority, who constitute about 13.9% of the country's population. Other adherents include Tamil, Pakistani and Arab Muslim communities together with a tiny number of Chinese and Eurasian followers of Islam. Tamil Muslim traders pioneered the settlement of Serangoon in early 19th century. Today, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura) plays a very important role in the organization of Islamic affairs and therefore of the Muslim community. Authorized by the 1966 Administration of Muslim Law Act, the council, composed of members nominated by Muslim societies but appointed by the President of Singapore, is formally a statutory board that advises the president on all matters relating to the Muslim religion. It acts to centralize and standardize the practice of Islam. The council administers all Muslim trusts (wakaf); organizes a computerized and centralized collection of tithes and obligatory gifts (zakat); and manages all aspects of the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The council also helped the government reorganize the mosque system after redevelopment. The new central mosques can accommodate 1,000 to 2,000 persons and provide such services as kindergartens, religious classes, family counselling, leadership and community development classes, tuition and remedial instruction for school children, and Arabic language instruction. The government has been regulating Muslim marriages and divorces since 1880, however, the 1957 Muslim Ordinance authorized the establishment of a centralized Sharia Court. The court attempts to consistently enforce sharia law, a standard Islamic law as set out in the Qur'an and the decisions of early Muslim rulers and jurists, and to reduce the high rate of divorce among Malays.

In 1989 the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore took direct control of the subjects taught in Islamic schools and of the Friday sermons given at all mosques. Many non-Muslim business owners in Singapore put up signs stating "No Pork No Lard" or "No Pork No Lard Only Vegetable Oil" to indicate that the food they serve or sell do not contain pork or lard, in an attempt to cater to customers who follow religious restrictions on the consumption of pork. Some consumers and businesspeople treat it as an alternative to halal certification. The Muslim Converts' Association of Singapore published an article in its magazine to remind their readers that "No Pork No Lard" is not the same as halal.

Dr Sajid Khakwani
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