in this article we will know, how singapore became successful, when singapore separated from malaysia, how singapore got rich, how singapore developed, where singapore is located, where singapore airlines fly to, why singapore is rich, which singapore bank is best, singapore for families, singapore with kids,
Hello, friends! Imagine a country where there is heavy poverty and unemployment. There is a lot of crime. There are problems of drugs. There are riots. And there is overpopulation and illiteracy. You can imagine how bad the situation of a country would be. But there's no need to imagine too much. Because this was the reality of the country of Singapore in 1965. But in the next 25 years, there was such a terrible turnaround that the world kept looking at it. Singapore became a highly developed, high-income country. Today, it is considered one of the top 5 richest countries in the world. One of the cleanest countries of the world. Not equal to corruption, not equal to crime. In other words, probably the number one country in Asia.
But how could this be possible? Who is the hero of our story? In today's article, let's find out the miraculous story of Singapore. Singapore is a small country, friends. So small that it's difficult to find it on the map. If you look at the map of Southeast Asia, Indonesia is clearly visible. The Philippines is very clear. Malaysia can also be easily identified. But if you come below it, you'll see a small island, Singapore.
A small water body, straight off Johor, separates Malaysia and Singapore. If you look at it area-wise, Singapore is actually half the size of Delhi. But approximately 5700,000 people live in this small area. The total area is 710 sq km. This means that Singapore's population density is 8,028 people per sq km. We consider India to be an overpopulated country, but for comparison, India's population density is 446 people per sq km. Singapore is 18 times more densely populated than India. Overall, it is the 3rd most densely populated country in the world. Only Monaco and Macau are on top of it. An interesting fact, the name of Singapore is derived from the Sanskrit word, Singpur. Sing means Lion, and Pur means City. So Singapore was called the Lion City.
And Lion reminds us that Singapore is counted among the 4 Asian Tigers. The 4 highly developed countries in Asia. South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Interestingly, the population density of these 4 countries is higher than that of India. Some people will find it shocking that many people blame the population of India for not being so developed. But the GDP of these 4 Asian Tigers is higher than that of India, and the population density is also higher. If we talk about the people living here, Singapore is a very diverse country. People of different religions live together. There are 5 major religions. Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Taoists, and Hindus. Apart from this, there's a very small population of Jewish Zoroastrians, Jains, and Sikhs. The second-largest group here are those who don't believe in any religion, they're Atheists.
But apart from religion, Singapore is very diverse in terms of ethnicity. The largest majority are Chinese ethnic people, 74.5%. After that, there are Malays, 13.5%. And 9% of Indians. In the Indians, the population of Tamils, Bengalis, and Punjabis is the highest. And the remaining 3% are Eurasians and Arabs. Talking about people, we shouldn't forget Orang Laut, who are the original inhabitants of Singapore for centuries. The tribal people. So overall, unity in diversity is the reality of Singapore today. But it wasn't always like this. Let's go back in history. In early history, Singapore's island was used as a trading outpost for centuries by Malay, Thai, Chinese, Indian, Arab, and Javanese traders. Throughout the history, there was the occupation of the Indo-Nation Maharaja. The Portuguese occupied it.
The Dutch occupied it through their Dutch East India Company. And in 1819, a very ambitious officer of the British East India Company, Thomas Raffles, bought Singapore from the Sultan of Johor. You heard it right, the British bought this island and entered it. Thomas Raffles made Singapore a free port. The ships that were passing by, didn't need to pay any fees. For this reason, free trade was seen in Singapore. In 1869, the Swiss Canal was opened. The ships didn't need to travel around Africa. Because of this, more ships started arriving on the island of Singapore. Most of the ships used Singapore as a refuelling station. In the neighbouring Malaysia, the industry of two main things was very popular. Tin and rubber production. Because Singapore was very close to home,
became the hub for rubber processing. It seemed like there was a lot of development in Singapore. But there was a dark side to it as well. The thing is, the British used to grow opium in Bengal. And they used to bring the opium processing to Singapore. The British employed Chinese coolies in Singapore. And opium was one of the lowest grades here. The Chinese working in these factories, were far away from their homes, there was no entertainment. they became opium addicts. Thousands of opium addicts were found in Singapore. Due to drug addiction, crime increased. People started stealing. In 1941, it was estimated that there were 16,500 opium addicts in Singapore. If we talk about the 1940s, it was the era of the Second World War.
15th February 1942, The Japanese invaded Singapore and Malaysia. The people living there surrendered to the Japanese. For the next 3.5 years, the Japanese ruled Singapore. And the Japanese rule destroyed Singapore completely. There were brutal murders. Not only in the field, but even inside the hospitals. Many soldiers were tortured as prisoners of war. Thousands of people were used as forced labour. Women were used as commodities. Thousands of women are brought from Korea, China, Indonesia, and Malaysia to Singapore, in comfort stations, where they are present for Japanese soldiers. By the time the Japanese lose the war in 1945, and leave Singapore, there are more than 30,000 opium addicts in Singapore. There is gambling and prostitution everywhere. The buildings have been completely destroyed. Poverty is high.
Unemployment is high. And diseases are rampant. There's a shortage of food, people are starving, there's crime, there's violence, and Singapore has become a slum colony. After the end of World War II, the British take over Singapore again, and the British military administration tries to control things to some extent. Basic gas, water, and electricity services are restored. Canteens are opened for people to deal with the problem of starvation. The opinions of the British people living in Singapore were very favourable and positive, if you compare it with countries like India. The main reason behind this was that the British defeated the Japanese, and the Japanese tortured the people of Singapore more. The second major reason was that in July 1945, the power in the UK changed.
The Conservative Party was removed from power, and the Labour Party came into power. Which was against imperialism to a large extent. The British rule on Singapore gradually changed to self-governance. I won't go into too much detail on what happened here, because it can be dragged on for a long time. In 1948, the first elections took place. Only a few seats were elected. The Constitution of Singapore was made. It was revised twice, in 1955 and 1958. And in 1959, proper full-scale elections were held. These elections were won by a young leader, Lee Kuan Yew. who was the Secretary General of the People's Action Party. PAP. Remember him, because you'll read a lot about him later in the article. He became Singapore's first Prime Minister.
In the beginning, Lee Kuan Yew believed that Singapore wouldn't be able to survive like an independent country. They should be connected to Malaysia. And in 1963, he did the same thing. He merged Singapore with Malaysia. But our story now has a shocking twist. The government in Malaysia did not like Singapore becoming a part of their country. The biggest reason behind this was that in 1964, the elections that were to take place in Malaysia, the PAP decided to contest those elections. The Malaysian politicians did not like that a political party from Singapore would contest the national elections of Malaysia. On the other hand, the people living in Singapore were not happy with this merging. Because there was an agreement that Singapore would give 40% of its revenue to the central government of Malaysia, even though the population of Singapore is only 17% of the total population.
The people of Singapore found this unfair. Apart from this, under Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution, Malays were given special rights and privileges. The Chinese and other non-Malay ethnicities of Singapore, did not like this discrimination. They saw how Malaysia was being made a Malay Malaysia. Only Malay people have Malaysia. The other minor minorities are not given the same rights and equality. They want a Malay Malaysia, where the Malays are on top, in charge of everything. We want it gradually, not immediately. A Malaysian Malaysia, where as citizens, we share the burden and the rewards. Because of these differences, in 1964, communal tensions increased, and riots were seen in the name of race. Things that each other, So I waged my soldiers in between them, and we fired a few tear gases.
Because of these riots, in 1965, it was decided that Singapore would be separated from Malaysia. And it would become an independent country. The Republic of Singapore. At this point in time, the British still had some control over Singapore. In 1967, the British announced that they would withdraw all troops from Singapore. and leave the country completely. You thought it was a good thing, but for the government of Singapore, and the people of Singapore, it was a very problematic thing. The British had a huge contribution to running the country. The British forces provided many jobs to many Singaporeans. Apart from that, Singapore didn't even have its own army. It didn't have its own Defence Forces. If the British went, they couldn't defend themselves. For this reason, Lee Kuan Yew told the British to stay for a few more days.
to give them a chance to transition. And the British actually agreed. The British were set to leave the country in 1971. That is, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had 4 years to take care of his country. A country that was already struggling with the problems of poverty, unemployment, and drug addiction. On top of that, there were riots in the country. And at the same time, Malaysia had just separated the country from itself. They didn't have their own natural resources. on how to bring this country on the right track. This is where our miraculous story begins. A story whose hero is Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. He immediately gets to work. First of all, peace should be created with the surrounding countries, and geopolitical problems should be solved.
In 1967, he established the ASEAN Group. Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Five foreign ministers from 5 countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, come together and sit together. The purpose of this is for all countries to collaborate, to cooperate in different fields, so that peace and stability remain in the region. But this doesn't mean that there is no need for an army in the country. Secondly, for the defense of the country, Lee Kuan Yew introduces the National Service in the same year. Every 16-year-old boy in the country, will have to register for the National Service. After the age of 18, he may have to enlist on some day. Basically, every 18-year-old boy in the country was made compulsory to join the Army, Defence Forces, or the National Service.
For a few years. If any country wants to be developed in the right way, education should be the first thing to focus on. And Singapore did that. The country has compulsory primary education, public education, high quality, Education is a basic but the main difference between developing and developed countries. Practical skills, is very essential to develop any country. Singapore also focused on vocational training. But unfortunately, most people in our country don't even know the basic practical skills. We should also try our best to learn these skills, constantly learn, and become lifelong learners. Going in front of the Singaporeans, they made a promise. That Singapore would be a multi-racial nation. They would rise up as an example in front of the world. We are not a Malay nation.
We are not a Chinese nation. We are not an Indian nation. Our country is not being formed in the name of any religion, language, or culture. We are a secular country where everyone is equal. We work together. And you want Singapore to remain a sane, stable place. But writing secular in the Constitution isn't enough. It won't bring about equality in the country. People have doubts. When people of different religions and ethnicities are living in the country, and the communal tensions are high, people have doubts about each other. People won't get along with each other. To solve this problem, Lee Kuan Yew said that he would take a proactive approach regarding assimilation. They introduced their Ethnic Integration Policy. According to this policy, the ratio of people living in government buildings will be fixed in the name of ethnicity.
If there is one building, then 22% Malays should live in it, 84% Chinese, 10% Indians, and other minority groups. The percentage of ethnicities in the country, should also be in a building. So that Chinese, Malays, and Indians live in the same building. And this is an amazing move, friends. Because what happens in reality, If you allow people to do whatever they want, the people who are already communally brainwashed, will never want to live with each other. They make their own ghettos. This is the Hindu area, only Hindus live here. This is the Muslim area, only Muslims live here. A division takes place within a city. To stop this division, people from different ethnicities were stopped in one building, so that everyone could see each other, become neighbours, and live together.
In 1990, the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act was passed. Under this Act, Singapore created a Presidential Council for Religious Harmony. Two-thirds of its members were representatives of major religions. The job of these representatives was to ensure that the different religions in the country, were getting along. Apart from this, Singapore also introduced a Racial Harmony Day. Every year, on 21st July, school children dress up in Singapore, in the traditional costumes of other religions. If there's a Hindu, he'll wear a Muslim traditional costume, and if there's a Muslim, he'll wear a Hindu traditional costume. Along with that, they read the Declaration of Religious Harmony. From school, the children are taught the principles of secularism, diversity, and unity, and how to uphold them in the country.
These are some small steps that are very effective, and with which our country can definitely learn a lot. Next point, Lee Kuan Yew said that if the country has to be developed, then the country has to be clean. In his opinion, cleanliness is a hallmark of civilization. So he launched the Swachh Singapore campaign. On 1st October 1968, a nationwide Keep Singapore Clean campaign was launched by the Prime Minister. We have built, we have progressed. But there is no hallmark of success more distinctive and more meaningful and achieving our position as the cleanest and greenest city in South Asia." This campaign took place every 1-2 years between 1958-1988. It wasn't a show-off event where he came in front of the camera, shook the leaves, and printed ads in the name of Swachh Singapur.
No. It was a concrete campaign. Multiple steps were taken. Public waste collectors were licensed by the National Environment Agency. Blue recycling bins were installed in every public housing estate. Many public toilets were built, and special programs were run, like the Happy Toilet Program, so that the toilets were kept clean and well-maintained. In 1992, chewing gum was banned in Singapore. There was no compromise in the name of cleanliness. Apart from this, Big laws were made with heavy fines. If someone was spitting in public, spreading garbage, smoking. The first offense was a fine of $1,000 in Singapore dollars. The second offense was a fine of $2,000. And the third offense was a fine of $5,000 in Singapore dollars. The next problem was slums. Singapore was filled with slums.
What could be done about it? More than 26,000 families were relocated from slums. High-rise buildings were built. Public housing was built. During this time, water supply, electricity and gas services were provided to free public housing. And all these things improved. As of 2021, around 80% of the people in Singapore live in public housing provided by the government. Because of this, homelessness in the country has almost ended. Last year, only 616 people about 600 people were sleeping on the streets. After this, urban planning was focused. The people standing on the side of the roads with the radios on, are an important part of the informal economy. But at the same time, in the name of cleanliness and beautification, they don't give the city a good look.
It is important to organise them. In Singapore, more than 4,900 hawkers were relocated to food centres. The people who sold vegetables, created new wholesale markets for them. For beautification, the pig and duck farms were phased out of the catchment areas. The rivers were cleared out. Less dependent, at that time, I did not believe I could be totally independent, but less dependent on Malaysian supplies, so the quest began for water independence. More than 2,800 industries were relocated. Now, the focus on healthcare is very important. Public or private healthcare is very cheap in Singapore. Under the Ministry of Health, thousands of beds have been provided in government hospitals. and Medisave, MediShield, and Medifund is their healthcare system, which is quite innovative. In a small country like Singapore, where the population density is so high, and there are so few places for people to live, if roads are built for cars, then a lot of places will be wasted.
If every person living in the country owns a car, then there won't be any space left for anyone to live, only roads will remain in the country. So it was important to discourage cars, and it was important to increase public transportation. That's why Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world, if you want to buy a car. A heavy tax is imposed on buying a car. There can be a limited number of cars on the roads in the whole country. If you want to add a new car to the roads, you'll have to get rid of a car first. On the other hand, public transportation, like buses and metro, is one of the least expensive public transport in the world.
It is affordable for the people, and it is one of the cleanest and one of the safest as well. From what I've heard so far, it seems that they are offering very cheap things. Education, healthcare, public transportation, housing. People are being given these things at a very low cost. They are being made affordable. So how is the government getting the money? Does the government charge people more tax rates? Like in many European countries, where the tax rate crosses up to 50%. In countries like Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Austria. But no, the income tax rates in Singapore are quite low. Between 2% and 24%. So how is their government managing it? Where is the money coming from? Here, we talk about the primary principles of the government of Singapore.
They focus a lot on sustainability and fiscal discipline. For example, look at the website of this company. Temasek Holdings. It looks like a big MNC. More than 900 employees. 33 nationalities. Its net portfolio in March 2022 was $403 billion. But who owns this company? The answer to this is the government. It is a government company. The government of Singapore owns many companies that work in the transport, power and media sectors. Many of these companies are subsidiaries of Temasek. And Temasek invests in other national and international companies to derive profits. When we hear about government companies in India, they are so mismanaged that they are privatised by the government. Government has no business to be in business. But privatisation means that the profits of the company will go to a private owner, to a billionaire.
But if the government company is run properly, if the government company is managed properly, the profits will go to the government. The benefit of which will eventually go to the public. Apart from this, I told you where the tax is high. The tax on vehicles is very high. So that became a means for the government to earn more money. Then the government has imposed wealth tax. There's property tax and GST as well. But overall, the government of Singapore lives in a fiscal surplus for most of the years. That is, they earn more money than they spend. The rules of fiscal discipline are also written in their constitution. But on an individual level, there are some people who are not very careful about their money.
They spend unnecessarily. They don't save money properly. For this, the government has created a Central Provident Fund. People will deposit some of their savings in this fund. This exists in India as well. In total, there are more than 42 lakh Central Provident Fund members as of September 2022. With the help of this, Singapore has one of the highest savings rates in the world. In 2021, Gross Domestic Savings was 57.5% of the GDP. This comes from the top 3 countries in the world. So managing money properly is not only being done by the government, but also by the citizens of the country. But let's go back in time, I had told you that there are no natural resources in Singapore, which can be exploited to sell and earn money.
So the question arises, from where do people earn money in Singapore? At the time of independence, their land was a barren land. In such cases, the economy has to kick-start. It can be done in two ways. First, the government should spend heavily. Build big infrastructure projects. Build big PSUs. And second, the government should open up the economy so that foreign companies can invest in the country. Lee Kuan Yew did both. He invested in big infrastructure projects. Like building world-class ports. If you look at the airport today, you'll be surprised. It's probably the best airport in Singapore. The entire city is located inside the airport. Building houses for the workers. They created the Housing Development Board. The Economic Development Board. All these projects gave a lot of employment to the people, and became the backbone of the economy.
Since the country didn't have any natural resources, it meant that the country's location was the only advantage. A small island, could never be self-reliant on its own. This meant that its economy would have to be opened up, and the outside world would have to take advantage of Singapore. In history, I had already told you that Singapore had always been a port for ships. For international trading. This is what the government of Singapore did. By building a great airport, and a hub where connecting flights could be made, international trading could be done. To attract foreign investments, Singapore should be a stable country where it is easy to do business. So what did they do? They reduced the tax rates. They ended the red-tapism that there would be no useless paperwork.
They built a single-trade window. They threw out people like Babu from the government agencies. They called international business people. They made the processes very easy. And the result was that today, in the name of ease of doing business, Singapore is the number 2 country in the world. after New Zealand. A major condition for this to happen is that corruption should be eradicated from the country. If there's corruption, it won't be easy to do business with it. Today, out of 180 countries, Singapore is the 4th least corrupt country in the world. The only Asian country to rank in the top 10 in the last 10 years. So what magic did Lee Kuan Yew do to eradicate corruption? First of all, he increased the salaries of government employees.
And the politicians, the ministers, they also raised their salaries. They are given such a high salary that you won't believe it. The Prime Minister of Singapore today, Lee Hsien Loong, is the son of Lee Kuan Yew. Do you know that he is the highest paid Prime Minister in the world? His salary is $1.6 million. Much higher than that of US President Joe Biden. much more than the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The same thing is done with the government employees. They are given a very good salary. The logic behind this is that if you pay these high salaries to government employees and ministers in government, they won't be encouraged to commit corruption. They are already getting a lot of money. Apart from this, the salary also has a performance-related component.
for government ministers and employees. Only if they perform well, will they get a good salary. Thirdly, if a minister is so greedy that even after getting a high salary, he is still committing corruption, he will be punished heavily. A fine of up to $100,000 and jail for up to 5 years. In 1960, the PAP introduced the Prevention of Corruption Act. Prevention of Corruption Act was passed today. While directed mainly Corruption in the public services. The Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau was given more powers. It was made more independent. Basically, it is an agency that investigates corruption. It has been given operational autonomy. Even though it comes under the Prime Minister's office, the Prime Minister cannot interfere in its work. There can be no interference of any political leaders, with the help of which this agency remains independent.
Autonomy is very important here, because with the help of this, if a politician in the government commits corruption, this agency can take action against him. Talking about the environment, in 1972, the government of Singapore launched the Tree Planting Day Initiative. It was a specific day, the day when people from all over the country would come and plant trees. This initiative was so successful that within 10 years, the number of trees planted was as many as the number of people living in Singapore. Within just 10 years, they had cleaned their river as well. And today, you'll find the best indoor gardens in the world in Singapore. Look at the amazing greenery that has been made here. Singapore's greenery has become a tourist attraction today.
If we talk about the specific sectors, Singapore started with textile and petrochemical refining. But Lee Kuan Yew didn't want his country to become a low-cost factory for the whole world. They ensured that Singaporeans learn skills in technical schools and internships. By law, it was mandatory for all employers in the country, that they give their employees a monthly skill development levy. It was sent to the Skills Development Fund, through which many workforce upgrading programs were supported. With the help of skill development, by the 1990s, Singapore had become a part of the global supply chain in very sophisticated technologies. Like biotech engineering, aerospace, integrated circuits, pharmaceuticals, petroleum chemicals, semiconductors. It taught its citizens such good education and skills, that they started working in industries where there was no need for natural resources in the country.
Even after all this, friends, do you know what's amazing? Lee Kuan Yew knew that he couldn't allow a personality cult around him to develop under any circumstances. His focus was on developing the country. Not on improving his image. Today, if you go to Singapore, you won't find any Lee Kuan Yew statues anywhere. You won't find any monuments that are honoring him. No temples have been built in his name. Literally, he took a country from one place to another, Yet, no monument has been built on him. Why is that? The current Prime Minister of Singapore, gave a statement on this in April 2015. A month after Lee Kuan Yew's death. Mr. Lee made it very clear throughout his life that he did not need and did not want any monument.
Mr. Lee was very careful never to allow a personality cult to grow around him, and much less to encourage one himself. He developed Singapore in such a miraculous way that if he wanted to, he could portray himself as a superhero. If he wanted to, he could make people his own blind devotees. He could say, I am the God here. I took the country from one place to another. But he didn't do all that. Lee Kuan Yew was an educated and pragmatic person. He didn't feel strongly about any ideology. It is said that his ears were always open. He would always listen to suggestions from others. And these are qualities that are rarely found in politicians. Today, many people put Lee Kuan Yew in the category of a benevolent dictator.
Because in a sense, he was strictly against freedom of speech. Singapore improved in many different ways, but in the name of the Press Freedom Index, its ranking is not that good. Things have been changing in the last few years, but at the time of the Leak 1U, there was almost no press freedom in Singapore. Many people take a wrong lesson from this story, that they were a benevolent dictator, so they wanted a dictator in their country, who could stop all freedom and work at his will. But in most cases, free media is very important, because it can be kept accountable and checked by the authorities. Singapore's case is an exceptional case because Lee Kuan Yew knew how to keep himself accountable. He listened to others.
