Singapore

Nationnation state

Singapore  link () Sourcewatch
Location	South East Asia, Asia
Type	nation state
Densely populated country in Asia. Tough immigration and opium laws. Former UK colony.

Singapore or the Republic of Singapore, is a (formerly British and Malaysian) small island country and city-state in Southeast Asia which independent gained sovereignty in 1965. It shares their island with Malaysia, bordering China. Citizens live within a very dense populated island, ignoring the other 60+ islands that make up Singapore. The citizens are mostly ethnically Chinese.

History

The British governor Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and soon recognised the island as a natural choice for the new port. The island was then nominally ruled by Tengku Abdul Rahman, the Sultan of Johor. The Treaty of Singapore was signed on 6 February 1819. In 1824, a further treaty with the Sultan led to the entire island becoming a British possession.

Singapore its population swelled from about 1,000 to over 80,000 by 1860. It became a large UK naval base, important because of its commanding position. It was captured by the Japanese during WWII on 15 February 1942. It gained independence from the UK and Malaysia in full from 1965.

Politics

Watch on YouTube

Inside Singapore’s deadly war on drugs - 101 East Documentary - Al Jazeera

The People's Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959.

Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act

In October 2019 the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act came into force, a restriction on online freedom of speech. The bill gives the administration "full discretion" on whether a piece of content is deemed true or false.

War on Drugs

In 2022, Singapore started killing a significantly increasing amount of drug convicted citizens.

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“Singapore is a representation of humanity’s techno future. The city-state is one of the top Asian cities in terms of wealth, with a highly educated population and impressive infrastructure and public services.

But in the past seven months, Singapore has sent at least 11 people to the gallows. And, that should be a concern for rights groups and Christian Churches that campaign against capital punishment. The figure is met with skepticism, as Singapore does not notify the public about every execution it carries out nor does it release information about inmates waiting for their turn to be executed. Prison officials and executioners are bound by the Official Secrets Act not to divulge details of their work.

The death penalty raises many questions as the state decides who lives and dies, and ultimately what message capital punishment conveys to society as a whole.”
UCA News (2022) 

Jab laws

Singapore's Infectious Disease Law state that the director-general of health may direct "any person or class of persons not protected or vaccinated against the disease to undergo vaccination" when "an outbreak of an infectious disease... is imminent" and "it is necessary or expedient to do so for the securing public safety". Penalties for failing to be jabbed under the amendments include a fine of up to 10,000 Singapore dollars (around US$7,760) and a prison term of up to six month for the first "offence", while a second "offence" would see the punishment doubled.

Gas Law

Under the Customs Act 1960, Singapore-registered vehicles are required to have a minimum amount of gasoline (at least three-quarters of the tank) when leaving Singapore via the land checkpoints. This is commonly referred to as the “three-quarter tank rule.

Watch on YouTube

Singapore: The World's Only Successful Dictatorship? - PolyMatter.

Economy

In 2014, Singapore had a GDP of over $50,000, which generally ranks in the world's top 10. Singapore topped the World Bank Group's annual ease of doing business measurement for 10 years in a row.

Singapore model

In 2019, Gallup reported as Singapore as the nation with the world's "Highest Law and Order Index", 97/100. The combination of low rights of individuals, high rights for corporations is termed the "Singapore Model", which Naomi Wolf states arises from the observation that "democracy is bad for business". She summarises the Singapore model as corporate capitalism without even a pretense of democracy: "it has media, it has fashion, it has youth culture, it has consumerism, it just doesn't have any civil rights whatsoever."

Territorial expansion

In the past 40 years Singapore has created an extra 130km² (about 20% of its area) by importing sand and building into the sea. It continues to do so, making it by far the world’s largest sand importer. The collateral environmental damage has been so extreme that Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have all banned exports of sand to Singapore. Sand mining has erased two dozen Indonesian islands since 2005.

References