Singapore, the Dragon

Singapore was founded as a British trading colony in 1819. It joined the Malaysian Federation in 1963 but separated two years later and became independent. It subsequently became one of the world\'s most prosperous countries with strong international trading links (its port is the world\'s busiest in terms of tonnage handled) and with per capita GDP equal to that of the leading nations of Western Europe.

Singapore achieved prominence with the iron-hand leadership of strongman Lee Kuan Yew, who rescued the state’s image from Asia’s swamps to an economic dynamo of the Pacific. With the former Prime Minister’s voluntary retirement in 1990, this tiny country’s stringent political and sanitary policies were relaxed but are to this day, still enforced. For example, it’s still illegal to bring chewing gum into the country. You can still go to jail if you are caught not flushing the toilet in public places like shopping malls—but with the advent of automatic-flush toilet bowls, who is scared of the Singapore police?

Singapore’s weather is tropical: meaning hot, humid, and rainy. There are two distinct monsoon seasons—the Northeastern monsoon from December to March and the Southwestern monsoon from June to September. The inter-monsoon is characterized by frequent afternoon and early evening thunderstorms.

Singapore’s current pressing problems are industrial pollution; limited natural fresh water resources; limited land availability presents waste disposal problems; and seasonal smoke or haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing. It was hard hit between 2001 and 2003 by the global recession caused by the slump in the technology sector. The government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle but is unlikely to abandon efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia\'s financial and high-tech hub. Fiscal stimulus, low interest rates, and global economic recovery should lead to much improved growth in 2005.

Likely to keep this city-state on the roll are its highly developed and successful free market economy; remarkably open and corruption-free environment; stable prices, and, a high per capita GDP.

While we often admire countries for their chameleon-like or ever changing qualities, Singapore is quite the opposite. It is a country that doesn’t seem to change, but in a good way. The traffic is predictable because the government limits car ownership with an iron fist. Being a tiny country that can be walked comfortably from end to end in one morning, adding more vehicles on the roads can certainly spell virtual gridlock. Singapore’s trees don’t look real—or if they are, they look more like rubber trees. The houses and buildings are also spotlessly clean—looking more like toy houses from afar. All this cleanliness comes at the price of great discipline at the penalty of whipping or jail time if breached.

Singapore’s modern workers sometimes decry the lack of freedom during a drink at a bar, but everyone knows that the country could not have attained the pinnacle of success were it not for freedom’s sacrifice. While most of Asia still waddles in sluggish economic performance due to corruption, dictatorship, or the vestiges of colonialism, this country has forged ahead by curing itself free of the highly communicable social cancer in the region.

Dansde Porag is the webmaster of singapore singapore http://www.ftvsingapore.com