#SG50

#SG50

9th August

A familiar date to Singaporeans. It marks our independence from Malaysia and this year is a special year for we celebrate our nation's 50 years of Independence and the date is today!

We only get to celebrate this proudly with thanks to the efforts of everyone as a nation to help build this country to what she is now, we too owe it to our Founding Fathers for without them, Singapore's future might not have turned out this way.

Although recently we lost someone important, a father figure to many and a friend to many more, a man of many firsts, we lost the Founding Father of our nation, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. I've no words to express my gratitude for this man and his dedication to the rise of this nation.

Dear Mr Lee,

50 years ago, you cried for the nation.
50 years later, the nation cries for you.
You have sacrificed most of your life in the building of Singapore and I am very thankful for that. Without you, Singapore would not be what she is today and we would definitely not be as fortunate as we are now.

Thank you so much for all you have done. You will be missed

Heidi Chua

Rest in peace Sir for you've deserved it

#SG50 GOODIES!

Onwards, as this year's celebrations are on and going strong! With events to promotions and even gifts! Was unexpected I dare say o:

This one's for students, titled, Building My SG: Reflect, Celebrate, Inspire.
The public can also purchase the set after National Day, price has yet to be fixed.


Click here to see ongoing and future events! | Click here to see the promotions!

Word of caution, the next parts can be long as I will dive into how Singapore becomes what it is now. If you wish to skip, scroll down till picture of Singapore's flag. I will not add in a TL;DR as it's our history and it would be hard to summarize without missing many things but I've shorted as much as I can, missing little.

ONE PEOPLE ONE NATION ONE SINGAPORE

• SINGAPORE'S History
• SINGAPORE'S Later years
• Events that shaped our nation
• Founding Fathers

SINGAPORE'S History in Paragraphs

Once upon a time, there was a man more commonly known as Sang Nila Utama who was a prince of Palembang. He set off searching for lands suitable to build a new city. He set sail and soon came to the Riau Islands, while on a hunting trip one day he spotted a deer and chased it but it vanished. He stood on a large rock in search of it but saw another island instead, the island of Temasek.



He decided to visit Temasek but on the journey there a great storm erupted and the ship started to take in water. To prevent it from sinking they threw all things heavy to lighten the ship but water kept entering. Eventually the prince threw his crown overboard and at once, the storm died down. (Some say his crown was too heavy others say it was a gift to the sea)

When he landed at the mouth of the present-day Singapore River and went inland to hunt wild animals. He saw a strange animal with an orange body, black head and a white neck breast. It was a fine-looking animal and moved with great speed as it disappeared into the jungle.

He asked his chief minister what animal it was and was told it was a Lion.
He was pleased as he viewed it as good omen and thus decided to settle down in Temasek and founded a city. He eventually renamed the city Singapura.

Singa, meaning Lion and Pura, city.

Thus, "Lion City"

In SINGAPORE'S later years 1819 - 1942

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles , Lieutenant Governor of the British colony at Bencoolen arrived in Singapore on 28th January 1819 and soon recognised the island as a natural choice for a new port. He found a small Malay settlement with a population of roughly a thousand by the mouth of the Singapore River, headed by Temenggong Abdu'r Rahman. The island was nominally ruled by the Sultan of Johor, controlled by the Dutch and the Bugis but the Sultanate was weakened by factional division and Temennggong Abdu'r Rahman and his officials were loyal to Tengku Hussein, Rahman's elder brother who was living in exile in Riau.

With Temenggong's help, Raffles managed to smuggle Hussein back and recognized him as rightful Sultan of Johor with yearly payment; in return, Hussein would grant the British the right to establish a trading port in Singapore. A formal treaty was signed on 6th Febuary 1819 and thus modern Singapore was born.

Soon after the signing of the treaty, Raffles returned to Bencoolen and left Major William Farquhar in charge of the new settlement. Farquhar's administration was fairly funded and was prohibited from collecting port duties to raise revenue as Raffles had decided that Singapore would be a free port. Farquhar then invited settlers and traders to Singapore. Due to the free port, many traders flocked to Singapore. Despite the success in leading the settlement in her difficult early years, Farquhar was stripped of his post as he resorted to selling licenses for gambling and sale of opium.



During the subsequent decades, Singapore grew to become an important port in the region. Its success was due to several reasons including the opening of the Chinese market, the advent of ocean-going steamships, and the production of rubber and tin in Malaya.



Despite Singapore's growing importance, the administration governing the island was understaffed, ineffectual and unconcerned with the welfare of the populace. Most people had no access to public health services and diseases such as cholera and smallpox caused severe health problems. As a result, the society was lawless and chaotic. Did you know that in 1850 there were only twelve police officers in the city of nearly 60,000 people?

World War 1 did not deeply affect Singapore as conflict did not spread to Southeast Asia. After the war, British government devoted significant resources into building a naval base in Singapore. Completed in 1939 at a staggering cost of $500m, the naval base boasted what was then the largest dry dock in the world. Unfortunately, it was a base without a fleet. When World War 2 broke out in 1939, it was fully occupied with a British fleet. Lieutenant General Sir William George Shedden Dobbie, appointed governor of Singapore was holding the post based in The Istana until WW2 broke out, he was responsible for forming Dobbie's hypothesis to the fall of Singapore, if was heeded, may have prevented the fall of Singapore during WW2.

Events that Shaped the nation

December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and east coast of Malaya, causing the Pacific War to begin. One of Japan's objectives was to capture Southeast Asia and secure the rich supply of natural resources to feed it's military and industry. Singapore, the main Allied base in the region was perfect as she was flourishing. The British military commanders believed the invasion would be from sea as the dense Malayan jungle up north would serve as a natural barrier. Confident that "Fortress Singapore" would withstand invasion. Confidence further reinforced due to the arrival of British Warships sent to protect Singapore, however the aircraft carrier ran aground, leaving the squadron without air cover.



Two days after the start of the invasion of Malaya, two capital ships were sunk by Japanese bombers as Allied air support did not arrive in time. After this, Singapore and Malaya suffered daily air raids. The Japanese army advanced swiftly southward through the Malay Peninsula, crushing Allied resistance as they did not have tanks, which they considered unsuitable in the tropical rainforest. Thus as their resistance failed against the Japanese and 55 days after the start of the invasion, they conquered the entire Malay Peninsula and were poised to attack Singapore.



Despite blowing up the Causeway linking Johor and Singapore, the Japanese managed to cross in inflatable boats days after and despite several fights by the Allied forces and volunteers of Singapore's population against the advancing Japanese. However with most defenses down and out, Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival surrendered the Allied forces in Singapore and about 130,000 troops became POW.

Singapore, renamed to Syonan-to or "Light of the South Island" was occupied from 1942 to 1945. The Japanese army imposed harsh measures against local population and were particularly ruthless in dealing with the Chinese. There were mass executions that claimed between 25,000 and 50,000 lives in Malaya and Singapore.

Post-War Period

After the Japanese surrendered to the Allies on 15 August 1945, Singapore fell into a brief state of anomie. A British Military Administration was formed to govern the island till March 1946. Much of the infrastructure had been destroyed, including electricity and water supply systems to name a few. High food prices, unemployment and worker's discontent culminated into a series of strikes and by late 1947, the economy began to recover but it would take several more years before the economy recovered entirely.

First of Singapore's elections held March 1948 were limited as only six of twenty-five seats on the Legislative Council were to be elected. British subjects had the rights to vote and only 23,000 or about 10% of those eligible, registered to vote. Others were chosen by the Governor or by the chambers of commerce. Three of the elected seats were won by Singapore Progressive Party (SPP).

A second Legislative Council election was held in 1951 with number of elected seats increased to nine and was dominated by the SPP once more who won six seats. This contributed to the formation of a distinct local government of Singapore. A British Commission, headed by Sir George Rendel proposed a limited form of self-government for Singapore. A new Legislative Assembly with twenty-five out of thirty-two seats chosen by popular election would replace the Legislative Council, from which a Chief Minister as head of government and Council of Ministers as a cabinet would be picked under a parliamentary system.

The election for the Legislative Assembly held on 2nd April 1955, saw to left-leaning Labour Front was the biggest winner and at that time, a new party, People's Action Party (PAP), won three seats.

1955 - 1959

David Marshall, leader of the Labour Front became first Chief Minister of Singapore. He presided over a shaky government and received little cooperation. With Social unrest on the rise, many riots broke out and this increased tension among the locals.

April 1956, he led a delegation to London to negotiate for complete self-rule but the British were reluctant to give up control over Singapore's internal security. They were concerned about communist influence and labour strikes and felt that the local government was ineffective in handling earlier riots. Marshall resigned following the failure of the talk.

Lim Yew Hock, the new Chief Minister launched a crackdown on communist and leftist groups and the British government approved of Lim's tough stance against communist agitators and when a new round of talks were held, they agreed to grant complete internal self-government. A state of Singapore would be created, with her own citizenship. In August 1958, the State of Singapore Act was passed in the UK Parliament providing for the establishment of the State of Singapore.

1959 - 1963

Elections for the new Legislative Assembly were held and the PAP won in a landslide victory by courting the Chinese-speaking majority. It's leader Lee Kuan Yew, a young Cambridge-educated lawyer became first Prime Minister of Singapore.



Their victory was first viewed with dismay by foreign and local business leaders as some party members were pro-communitsts. Many shifted their Headquarters to Kuala Lumpur but despite these ill omens, they embarked on a vigorous program to address Singapore's various economic and social problems. Economic development was overseen by new Minister of Finance Goh Keng Swee, whose strategy was to encourage local and foreign investments with measures ranging from tax incentives to the establishment of a large industrial estate in Jurong. The education system was revamped to train a skilled workforce and English was promoted over Chinese language as the language of instruction. To eliminate labour unrest, existing labour unions were consolidated into a single umbrella organisation called, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

On social front, an aggressive and well-funded public housing program was launched to solve housing issues and more then 25,00 high-rise, low-rise apartments were constructed in first two years.



Despite their successes in governing Singapore, the PAP leaders believed that Singapore's future lay with Malaya as they felt the historic and economic ties were too strong to continue as separate nations. Singapore also lacked natural resources and faced a declining entrepot trade and a growing population which required jobs. It was thought that a merger would benefit the economy by creating a common market and support new industries which would solve unemployment.

Although PAP leadership campaigned vigorously for a merger, the pro-communist wing of the PAP were strongly opposed to it as they feared a loss of influence as ruling party of Malaya, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), were anti-communist and would support the non-communist faction of PAP. The UMNO were skeptical of the idea of a merger as they did not trust the PAP government and were concerned that the large Chinese population in Singapore would alter the racial balance that their political power depended on.

The issue came to a head in 1961 when pro-communist PAP minister Ong Eng Guan defected from the party and defeated a PAP candidate in a subsequent by-election, a move that threatened to bring down Lee's government.

Faced with the prospect of a takeover by the pro-communists, UMNO changed their minds about the merger and on May 27, Malaya's Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, mooted the idea of Federation of Malaysia, comprising existing Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Brunei and the British Borneo territories of Sabah and Sarawwak. UMNO believed that the additional Malay population would offset Singapore's Chinese population. The British believed that the merger would prevent Singapore becoming a haven for communism.

The Malaysia Agreement was signed on 9th July 1963 by leaders of Singapore, Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.

Singapore in Malaysia 1963 - 1965

16th September 1963, the union was rocky from the start and during 1963 Singapore state elections, a local branch of UMNO took part in the election despite earlier agreement with PAP not to participate in state's politics. Although they lost all bids, relations between PAP and UMNO worsened. The PAP challenged the UMNO candidates in the 1964 federal election as part of the Malaysian Solidarity Convention and won a seat in Malaysian Parliament.

There were numerous racial riots as racial tensions increased. The Chinese in Singapore were being discriminated against by the federal policies of affirmative action, which granted special privileges to the Malays guaranteed under Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia. Meanwhile, Malays in Singapore were being incited by the federal government's accusations that the PAP was mistreating them. External political situation was as tense as Indonesian President Sukarno declared a state of confrontation against Malaysia and initiated military and other actions against new nation.



The state and federal governments also had conflicts on the economic front as UMNO leaders feared that economic dominance of Singapore would shift political power away from Kuala Lumpur despite earlier agreement to establish a common market.
The situation escalated to such an extent that talks between UMNO and PAP broke down and seeing no alternative to avoid further bloodshed, Malaysian Prime Minister decided to expel Singapore from the federation. UMNO and PAP representatives worked out the terms of separation in secrecy in order to present the British government with a fait accompli.

On the morning of 9th August 1965, the Parliament of Malaysia voted 126-0 in favor of expelling Singapore from the Federation; hours later, the Parliament of Singapore passed the Republic of Singapore Independence Act, establishing the island as an independent and sovereign republic.

A tearful Lee Kuan Yew announced in a televised press conference that Singapore had become a sovereign, independent nation. In a widely remembered quote, he stated: "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in merger and unity of the two territories."



The new state became the Republic of Singapore and Yusof Bin Ishak, a Singaporean politician was appointed as her first president.
Random fact: His portrait is on Singapore's currency notes Click here to see

1965 - 1979

After gaining independence abruptly, it was a future with uncertainties, confrontations were still on-going and the conservative UMNO faction strongly opposed the seperation. Singapore also faced dangers of attack by the Indonesian military and forcible re-integration back to Malaysia Federation on unfavorable terms. Unemployment, housing, education and lack of natural resources and land were many of the pressing problems and unemployment was ranging between 10-12%.

Singapore immediately sought internation recognition of her sovereignty and the new state joined the UN on 21st September 1965, becoming the 117th member and also joined the Commonwealth in October 1965.



Foreign minister Sinnathamby Rajaratnam headed a new foreign service that helped assert Singapore's independence and establishing diplomatic relations with other countries. 22nd December 1965, the Constitution Amendment Act was passed under which the Head of State became the President and the State of Singapore became the Republic of Singapore. Singapore later co-founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also known as ASEAN.



The Economic Development Board has been set up in 1961 to formulate and implement national economic strategies, focused on promoting Singapore's manufacturing sector. Industrial estates were set up and foreign investment was attracted to the country with tax incentives. The service industry also grew, driven by demand for services by ships = at the port and increasing commerce. This helped alleviate the unemployment crisis. Singapore also attracted big oil companies like Shell and Esso to establish oil refineries. By mid-1070s, Singapore became the third largest oil-refining center in the world. Singapore also heavily invested in an education system that adopted English and emphasized on practical training to develop a competent workforce.

The next few problems to arise was lack of good public housing, poor sanitation and high unemployment led to social problems from crime to health issues. Proliferation of squatter settlements resulted in safety hazards and caused the Bukit Ho Swee Squatter Fire in 1961 that killed four people and left 16,000 homeless. The Housing Development Board (HDB) set up before independence continued to be largely successful and huge building projects sprung up to provide affordable public housing to resettle the squatters. Within a decade, majority of the population had been housed.



The Central Provident Fund (CPF) Housing scheme, introduced in 1968, allows residents to use their compulsory savings account to purchase HDB flats and this increased home ownership in Singapore.

British troops had remained in Singapore following it's independence but in 1968, London announced it's decision to withdraw the forces by 1971 and with the secret aid of military advisers from Israel, Singapore established the Singapore Armed Forces, with the help of national service program introduced in 1967.

1980s and 1990s

Further economic success continued through the 1980s and unemployment rate fell to 3%. During the 1980s, Singapore began to upgrade to higher-technology industries, such as the wafer fabrication sector to complete with neighbors. Singapore Changi Airport was opened in 1981 and Singapore Airlines was developed to become a major airline. Port of Singapore grew to become one of the world's busiest ports and the service and tourism industries also grew. Singapore emerged as an important transportation hub and tourist destination.

HDB continued to promote public housing with new towns in Singapore being designed and built. Today, 80-90% of the population lives in HDB apartments and in 1987, the first Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line began operation, connecting most of these housing estates and city centre.



The PAP continued to win all parliamentary seats in every election between 1966 and 1981 although the PAP rule is termed authoritarian by some activists and opposition politicians who see the strict regulation of political and media activities by the government as an infringement on political rights. The lack of separation of powers between the court system and the government led to further accusations by the opposition parties of miscarriage of justice

The government of Singapore underwent several significant changes and Non-Constituency members of Parliament were introduced in 1984 to allow up to three losing candidates from opposition parties to be appointed as MPs. Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) were introduced in 1988 to create multi-seat electoral divisions, intended to ensure minority representation in parliament.
Just to name a few changes.

In 1990, Lee Kuan Yew passed the reins of leadership to Goh Chok Tong, who became second prime minister of Singapore. Goh Chok Tong presented a more open and consultative style of leadership as the country continued to modernize. In 1997, Singapore experienced the effect of the Asian financial crisis and tough measures were taken, such as cuts in CPF contribution.

2000 - present

Early 2000s, Singapore went through some post-independence crises such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and threat of terrorism in 2001. A plot to bomb embassies and other infrastructure in Singapore was uncovered. Major counter-terrorism measures were put in place to detect and prevent potential terrorism acts and minimize damages should they occur. Emphasis was placed on promoting social integration and trust between different communities.

In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong, eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew became third prime minister of Singapore. He introduced several policy changes such as reduction of national service from two and half years to two and legalization of casino gambling. Other efforts to raise the city's global profile included the reestablishment of Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 and 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.

In 2005, two former Presients died. Mr Wee Kim Wee and Devan Nair.


Wee Kim Wee


Devan Nair

The general election of 2011 was yet another watershed election due to the first time a GRC was lost by the ruling party PAP, to opposition party Worker's Party (WP). Four years later, we lost Lee Kuan Yew.

Happy Birthday Singapore!

For every year, we will recite the anthem and pledge as one nation united during the Parade. It's simply a lovely moment, having attended the parade a total of three times in different years, hearing so many voices loudly singing the anthem and reciting the pledge the sense of togetherness is strong and heartwarming. Honestly tho, I'm most looking forward to the military showcase and fireworks, those are simply awesome.

Singapore National Pledge

We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people,
regardless of race, language, or religion
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation

Singapore National Anthem

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
berjaya Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru,
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

End

Thank you for reading this extremely long thread Credits go to the respective people I've taken images, text and quotes from. Lastly, if there's anything missing do tell me. Have a wonderful day ahead and many more!