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.