It is always hard to imagine that the modern Singapore that we know of today was once a third world country. Before the skyscrapers were built, before public transport was integrated into part of the society and before restaurants and shops were made, some of the only job opportunities in Singapore were fishing or managing street food vendors.
The birth of modern Singapore was during the time of British colonization. When the British empire was expanding towards South-East Asia, they set up trading posts in Penang and then Singapore in the early 19th century. The Governor-General of India, Lord Hastings had given approval to Sir Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen to establish a trading post there after having surveyed other islands nearby. It was generating revenue as a trading post and soon after beat the trading posts in Penang, which were set up more than 30 years ago. Throughout the rest of the 19th century Singapore not only proved popular for the British but also for immigrants from neighboring countries, Singapore was made up of 13% Malay 16% Indian 61% Chinese and 10% European population. However, the peace was ended after Japan bombed it during World War 2 and Singapore fell into Japanese occupation for 4 years. After World War 2, the British empire returned which led to an uprising involving the PAP (People's Action Party) and the Malayan communists teaming up against the colonization. However the alliance did not prove to be a good idea as both groups broke apart in 1960 while the British gained control of Singapore's Foreign affairs, defense and internal security. Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo formed Malaysia which resolved some of the tension going on. However, only a mere 4 years after, Singapore became an independent and democratic country by itself. Singapore was still struggling to survive on it's own but used its location and its reputable world economy to its advantage and managed to grow by itself and slowly became one of the most successful and well known countries in South-East Asia.
0 Comments
|
AuthorArchivesCategories |