History UsefulNotes / Singapore

Neil Humphreys, a thoroughly decent bloke from Dagenham, has written a really good trilogy of books on his life in Singapore, starting with ''Notes from an Even Smaller Island''. [[hottip:*: In case you're wondering, the title references BillBryson's ''Notes From A Small Island'', where the island was UsefulNotes/{{Britain}}.]] He has also [[BigEater gained a lot of weight from enjoying our fine international cuisine]] - but beware of the [[GargleBlaster peanut soup]].

Singapore is ostensibly a representative democracy, although [[{{YourMileageMayVary}} some political science professors would disagree rather vehemently]]. The primary political party, the People's Action Party (PAP), has dominated elections since self-government in 1959 much like Malaysia, but their lead slipped in the 2006 election. However, since the 2008 Malaysian election where opposition parties achieve significant gains, the PAP has become weary changing political tides. In the 2011 election, the PAP's lead slipped once more, with various important constituencies nearly taken by the opposition [[hottip:*: Ah, Marine Parade. The opposition won a good chunk of the votes and almost got the current Prime Minister's team to leave Parliament. Officially, it's because the opposition was just good. Unofficially, one of the PAP members in the running, a young woman named Tin Pei Ling, created a scandal with her apparent lack of intelligence and almost doomed the party. There are currently petitions for her to step down.]] There is speculation that Singapore might end up as a two-party system with the Worker's Party (WP), especially with the first leader of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and unofficial leader of PAP, finally retiring.

Clearly, the writers of ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' hadn't either... the place is depicted as a large town at the close of the era of pirates, when it was in fact a swampy island until being bought up at the start of the era of empires by Sir Stamford Raffles, who was just about the opposite of Lord Cuttler Beckett and quite a guy. To be fair, though, they got other things right: Chinese formed a big part of the population of Singapore when it did exist and the Straits of Malacca by which its sites are even today a (comparative) pirate hotspot.

[[AC:Film]]

Singapore is ostensibly a representative democracy, although [[{{YourMileageMayVary}} some political science professors would disagree rather vehemently]]. The primary political party, the People's Action Party (PAP), has dominated elections since self-government in 1959 much like Malaysia, but their lead slipped in the 2006 election. However, since the 2008 Malaysian election where opposition parties achieve significant gains, the PAP has become weary changing political tides. In the 2011 election, the PAP's lead slipped once more, with various important constituencies nearly taken by the opposition [[hottip:*: Ah, Marine Parade. The opposition won a good chunk of the votes and almost got the current Prime Minister's team to leave Parliament. Officially, it's because the opposition was just good. Unofficially, one of the PAP members in the running, TPL, had created such a scandal with her apparent lack of intelligence, that she almost doomed her party. There are currently petitions for her to step down.]] There is speculation that Singapore might end up as a two-party system with the Worker's Party (WP), especially with the first leader of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and unofficial leader of PAP, finally retiring.

The 15th wealthiest country per capita in the world (5th by purchasing power), it is very densely populated, mostly of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian ethnicity. The general population is going some interesting developments, with local Singaporean emigrating to other countries seeking greener pasture while [[{{MightyWhitey}} foreigners]] coming to country seeking high paying jobs. This has been much of talk of the local population, creating the saying "National Service for the locals, jobs for the foreigners", National Service referring to the mandatory 2 years of fulltime military service for male Singapore citizens.

The 17th wealthiest country per capita in the world, it is very densely populated, mostly of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian ethnicity. The general population is going some interesting developments, with local Singaporean emigrating to other countries seeking greener pasture while [[{{MightyWhitey}} foreigners]] coming to country seeking high paying jobs. This has been much of talk of the local population, creating the saying "National Service for the locals, jobs for the foreigners", National Service referring to the mandatory 2 years of fulltime military service for male Singapore citizens.

* http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/SingaporeansWithStealthFrigates - tropes describing the Singaporean military go here.

* SingaporeansWithStealthFrigates - tropes describing the Singaporean military go here.

It's a somewhat illiberal democracy, with very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place has a population of ''4 million''), including for drug trafficking. The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has some of the most restrictive laws on the planet - criminalizing homosexuality, littering, the possession of porn, the sale of chewing gum, amongst others. William Gibson once memorably described the place as "[[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html Disneyland with the death penalty]]", and the locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and two large casino resorts have recently been completed ([[InsistentTerminology though the term "Integrated Resort" is preferred]]). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

Special mention must be made of the local flavor of "English" - while {{engrish}} is also commonplace due to [[BlindIdiotTranslation lazy translators]], '''Singlish''' is what gives the Singaporean experience its unique, 101% genuine feel ([[DontExplainTheJoke the extra 1% is because we're kiasu (scared to lose out)]]). Singlish is a bizarre frankenstein of a language, made mostly of English with choicy bits of Malay, Mandarin, and various Chinese dialects like Hokkien mixed in. Don't mock the language by speaking it poorly, as it'll only make you sound even sillier than we do.

Singapore is ostensibly a representative democracy, although [[{{YourMileageMayVary}} some political science professors would disagree rather vehemently]]. The primary political party, the People's Action Party (PAP), has dominated elections since self-government in 1959 much like Malaysia, but their lead slipped in the 2006 election. However, since the 2008 Malaysian election where opposition parties achieve significant gains, the PAP has become weary changing political tides. In the 2011 election, the PAP's lead slipped once more, with various important constituencies nearly taken by the opposition [[hottip: Ah, Marine Parade. The opposition won a good chunk of the votes and almost got the current Prime Minister's team to leave Parliament. Officially, it's because the opposition was just good. Unofficially, one of the PAP members in the running, TPL, had created such a scandal with her apparent lack of intelligence, that she almost doomed her party. There are currently petitions for her to step down.]] There is speculation that Singapore might end up as a two-party system with the Worker's Party (WP), especially with the first leader of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and unofficial leader of PAP, finally retiring.

Singapore is ostensibly a representative democracy, although [[{{YourMileageMayVary}} some political science professors would disagree rather vehemently]]. The primary political party, the People's Action Party(PAP), has dominated elections since self-government in 1959 much like Malaysia, but their lead slipped in the 2006 election. However, since the 2008 Malaysian election where opposition parties achieve significant gains, the PAP has become weary changing political tides.

Special mention must be made of the local flavour of "English" - while {{engrish}} is also commonplace due to [[BlindIdiotTranslation lazy translators]], '''Singlish''' is what gives the Singaporean experience its unique, 101% genuine feel ([[DontExplainTheJoke the extra 1% is because we're kiasu (scared to lose out)]]). Singlish is a bizarre frankenstein of a language, made mostly of English with choicy bits of Malay, Mandarin, and various Chinese dialects like Hokkien mixed in. Don't mock the language by speaking it poorly, as it'll only make you sound even sillier than we do.

* ''The Little Nonya'' - A recent, extremely popular drama featuring the local culture of the Straits-born Chinese, or ''Peranakan'' folk. It's popularity has warranted a DVD release of the entire series.

Neil Humphreys, a thoroughly decent bloke from Dagenham, has written a really good trilogy of books on his life in Singapore, starting with ''Notes from an Even Smaller Island''. He has also [[BigEater gained a lot of weight from enjoying our fine international cuisine]] - but beware of the [[GargleBlaster peanut soup]].

* The Siak (pronounced Sok) Republic in GhostInTheShell

Due to the high population density, much of the population live in high-rise government developments. Some of the newer developments are nice enough to be mistaken for private condominiums, although some unsatisfied people have claimed that a few of the newer apartments are as small as the 'pidgeonhole' apartments made back in the old days, only more modern.

A British colony for a while, it was captured by the Japanese in 1942 after they came in via the jungle on bicycles- the naval guns were pointed out to sea. WinstonChurchill called it the worst disaster in British history.

Clearly, the writers of ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' hadn't either... the place is depicted as a large town at the close of the era of pirates, when it was in fact a swampy island until being bought up at the start of the era of empires by Sir Stamford Raffles, who was just about the opposite of Lord Cuttler Beckett and quite a guy. To be fair, though, they got other things right: Chinese formed a big part of the population of Singapore when it did exist and the Straits of Malacca by which its sited are even today a (comparative) pirate hotspot.

Clearly, the writers of ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' hadn't either... the place is depicted as a large town at the close of the era of pirates, when it was in fact a swampy island until being bought up at the start of the era of empires by Sir Stamford Raffles, who was just about the opposite of Lord Cuttler-Beckett and quite a guy. To be fair, though, they got other things right: Chinese formed a big part of the population of Singapore when it did exist and the Straits of Malacca by which its sited are even today a (comparative) pirate hotspot.

It's a somewhat illiberal democracy, with very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place has a population of ''4 million''), including for drug trafficking. The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has some of the most restrictive laws on the planet - criminalizing homosexuality, littering, the possession of porn, the sale of chewing gum, amongst others. William Gibson once memorably described the place as "[[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html Disneyland with the death penalty]]", and the locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and a large casino resort has just been completed (another one is on the way). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

Singapore is ostensibly a representative democracy, although some [=PolitSci=] professors would disagree rather vehemently. The primary political party, the People's Action Party(PAP), has dominated elections since self-government in 1959 much like Malaysia, but their lead slipped in the 2006 election. However, since the 2008 Malaysian election where opposition parties achieve significant gains, the PAP has become weary changing political tides.


Some military analysts rank the Singapore Armed Forces as the best equipped and trained force in the region, since its highly-educated pool of conscripts allows it to invest in more advanced military technology. Recruitment is mostly on a conscription basis using a system similar to Israel's, with able-bodied male citizens above a certain age (sixteen and a half, usually deferred until eighteen after schooling) serving one and a half to two years of National Service, followed by Reservist duty annually. Note that 16-year-olds would be considered child soldiers, according to an optional protocol to the Geneva Convention, although this Troper's 17-year-old sergeant seemed pretty happy with the arrangement.

Singapore is ostensibly a representative democracy, although this troper's [=PolitSci=] professor would disagree rather vehemently. Her words were, "You're from Singapore? That's not a democracy. That's not really a bad thing, compared to most real democracies." The primary political party, the People's Action Party(PAP), has dominated elections since self-government in 1959 much like Malaysia, but their lead slipped in the 2006 election. However, since the 2008 Malaysian election where opposition parties achieve significant gains, the PAP has become weary changing political tides.

It's a somewhat illiberal democracy, with very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place has a population of ''4 million''), including for drug trafficking. The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has some of the most restrictive laws on the planet - criminalizing homosexuality, littering, the possession of porn, the sale of chewing gum, amongst others. The locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and a large casino resort has just been completed (another one is on the way). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

The 17th wealthiest country per capita in the world, William Gibson once described the place as "[[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html Disneyland with the death penalty]]". Very densely populated, mostly of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian ethnicity. The general population is going some interesting developments, with local Singaporean emigrating to other countries seeking greener pasture while [[{{MightyWhitey}} foreigners]] coming to country seeking high paying jobs. This has been much of talk of the local population, creating the saying "National Service for the locals, jobs for the foreigners", National Service referring to the mandatory 2 years of fulltime military service for male Singapore citizens.

It's a somewhat illiberal democracy, with very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place has a population of ''4 million''), including for drug trafficking. The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has some of the most restrictive laws on the planet - criminalizing male homosexuality, littering, the possession of porn, the sale of chewing gum, and ''failure to flush toilets after use''. The locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and a large casino resort has just been completed (another one is on the way). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

* The Siak(pronounced Sok) Republic in GhostInTheShell

There is also the Singapore Civil Defence Force, which started as a normal fire brigade and was made what is has become when the government decided to upgrade the organisation following the infamous Hotel New World incident in the 1980s, coincidentally the time when the murderer [[{{CompleteMonster}} Adrian Lim]] was at large (he has since been made to dance the hemp fandango). The SCDF is also manned by conscripted full-time NS men, and now encompasses the handling of biochemical and radioactive materials, as well as first aid.