Singapore 2003

Singapore Border Map

In 2003, Singapore was a Southeast Asian nation located on the Strait of Malacca. It had a population of around 4 million people and its economy was largely driven by services, finance and manufacturing. The country had adopted a democracy with a strong emphasis on law and order. According to computergees, Singapore maintained strong diplomatic ties with other Asian nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia while it also had close relations with the United States. In 2003, tourism to the country was booming as visitors were drawn to its modern cityscape, vibrant culture, and delicious cuisine. The country offered numerous attractions such as Merlion Park which showcased the unique history of the region, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve which provided opportunities for wildlife viewing, Sentosa Island which offered stunning views of white-sand beaches, and Pulau Ubin which protected native plants and animals. Additionally, there were many opportunities for outdoor activities such as exploring Chinatown or visiting Haw Par Villa Theme Park which is home to diverse sculptures and statues.

Yearbook 2003

Singapore. In the spring, Singapore was affected by the infectious disease SARs, which spread rapidly in several East and Southeast Asian countries. The virus was believed to have reached the country in April via an air hostess infected in Hong Kong. When the World Health Organization WHO in May removed Singapore from the list of countries where the epidemic was classified as acute, 31 people had died of the disease, over 200 had fallen ill and about 3,000 had been quarantined in their homes. According to Countryaah.com, Singapore Independence Day is August 9. The epidemic also hit the tourism industry hard and many hotels had significantly lower occupancy than normal during the epidemic. In total, SARs were estimated to cost Singapore the equivalent of approximately SEK 11 billion.

In the second quarter, the country’s economy shrank by just over 4% compared to the same period in 2002, but already in the quarter thereafter, an increase of 15% was noted. On May 6, Singapore and the United States entered into a free trade agreement, which meant that tariff duties were abolished on US exports to Singapore and that tariff duties on Singaporean exports to the United States were gradually phased out over an eight-year period.

In a speech on August 17, 62-year-old Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong announced that he intended to leave his post as soon as the economic downturn caused by SAR’s ringing off. The successor had been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the son of Singapore’s country father Lee Kuan Yew.

Singapore Border Map

Republic of Singapore Brief Guide

According to AbbreviationFinder, Singapore is a city-state in Southeast Asia. It is located on a small island at the tip of the Malacca Peninsula, south of the state of Johor in Malaysia and north of the Indonesian Riau Islands, just 137 km north of the equator.

The Singapore name is derived from the Malay word Singa (lion), which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word SiMha, and from the Sanskrit word pura (city).

The island is home to almost five million people, about a fifth of whom are migrant workers from neighboring countries. Singapore is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

Climate
Singapore has a tropical monsoon climate and temperatures are fairly the same throughout the year (around 23-35 C). The air is very humid and rainfall is very common. Most rain in Marra in January.

Food and drink
Singapore combines several food cultures, where e.g. Chinese, Indian and Malaysian cuisine. Singapore’s own food specialties include fish head curry, chicken rice, chili crab, which is a crab cooked in chili tomato sauce, and fried noodles Char Kuey teow. The national fruit of Singapore is durian, known for its strong scent. Despite the good level of hygiene in Singapore, it is recommended to use bottled water.

Economic conditions

The economy of Singapore is the result of a historical process of affirmation of the commercial function shaped by the colonial economy. In Southeast Asia, the function of Singapore was originally established as a center for the collection of raw materials and raw products for export (Europe and North America) and for the importation of manufactured products. After independence there was a noticeable change: the country’s opening up to foreign investments (European, American and Japanese), at the very moment of crisis and explosion of the deindustrialization processes of the strong areas of the West, initiated the industrial activity, which has developed so rapidly as to achieve highly positive income and employment results (so much so that Singapore, together with Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, among the so-called ‘dragons’ of the Asian economy).

The rapid modernization of the country and its high degree of competitiveness have attracted the interest of foreign investors, so much so that more than 300 multinationals currently operate in the territory of the state. The economy of Singapore is today essentially a service economy (72.2% of GDP in 2008) which, as in the most advanced Western countries, occupies the vast majority of the population (77.4% in 2007). Among the leading sectors, transport (S. is the first world port for freight traffic and, since 2005, also the first for container traffic), banking and financial activities (S. is, after Tokyo, the second largest stock exchange in East Asia) and tourism (especially congress tourism). Industry (27.8% of GDP and 22.6% of the active population) is thriving in the shipbuilding, petrochemical, textile, electronics and pharmaceutical sectors. Between the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, the last two sectors experienced a notable development, so much so that computer products and biotechnological and pharmaceutical products took on an ever greater weight in exports. Singapore, aiming to present itself as a biomedical center of primary importance worldwide, in 2003 inaugurated Biopolis, a citadel of biomedical sciences where avant-garde research fields are cultivated in the biotechnology sector.

Agricultural production, irrelevant for the purpose of contributing to GDP, provides small quantities of vegetables, fruit, coconuts, sweet potatoes and cassava, completely insufficient to meet internal needs. Some importance is given to farming (poultry and pigs) and fishing. The trade balance in net surplus, the low unemployment rate (2.2%), the high per capita income, higher than that of the United States and most of the European countries, testify to a flourishing economy, albeit recently undermined by the impetuous economic growth of China and India and by growing competition, in Southeast Asia itself, from countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.