Singapore

Lion City!

“Asian tigers” is a term used to describe high performing economies in Southeast Asia consisting of Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. The starting point of this was the late 60’s. These tigers achieved high levels of GDP, Per capita income, and a low level of poverty.

A primary reason for their success is the free market economy, international investors, stable governance, and low level of corruption.

Singapore, the Lion City, so named in Tamizh, deserves special mention as it is a small country with no great resources. Devastated during WW2 and subsequent internal strife it has shown the way to succeed through hard work and innovation.

Little Kingdom to Asian Tiger

“Sulalatus Salatin” is a genealogy of kings written in Malay language. It is a romanticized literary work and considered as a source of history in the region. As per this great work a Kingdom of Singapura was founded in the year 1299. In the 14th century, known as Temasek, this port city was under the control of some of the powerful kingdoms in the region. The citizens of this port city were known for administrative ability, political integrity, and resilience.

Later, in the 16th century European powers Portuguese burnt the settlement leading to a period of obscurity. In the 19th century there was revival with the British governor recognizing the potential of the city and developing it as a port of immense importance.

Working on the internal divisions in the kingdom, the British got permission to set up a port. A few years later the British took possession of the island in full. For more than century and few decades and half the British controlled the country although there were occasional disturbances. In the 1940’s Japanese invasion happened with the British troops fully surrendering without a fight. This led to dissatisfaction among the citizens of Singapore.

Singapore became a crown colony in 1946 and formed a council of legislature to govern themselves. Due to revolution by Chinese communists inspired violence emergency was proclaimed. In 1961 a confederation of Malaya was formed with ruling party of Malaya UMNO to ensure there no communist take over of the city. Due to differences on policies Singapore proclaimed its total independence from Malaya in 1965.

Currently Singapore has a democratic set up controlled totally by one part which has got more than 70% vote.

Economy & Education

The economy of Singapore is built upon the foundations of a free market, innovation, dynamism, and a friendly business environment. The GDP has grown at an average of 6% YOY between 1965 to 1995. There was decline for a few years during the 2008 bubble and covid 19. The economy has grown by 3% in 2022 and forecasted to grow at 2.3% in 2023.

The Singaporean government contributes 22% of the GDP which is a very high percentage. A significant reason for the performance of the economy is apparently the infrastructure, low corruption and government spending in health and poverty. Being a tax haven high net worth individuals contribute to economy. It is also a prime location for conferences and events.

The education system is primarily a copy of the British system. It is government driven and primarily in English. Nanyang Technologies University and National University of Singapore are among the top 20 QS ranked institutions.