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SINGAPORE: A Short City Biopic
(By SimoTheFinlandized - 2021 CE)
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Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is a
sovereign country as well as a city-state. It is at the
southern end of the Malay Peninsula in Asia, between
the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea.
Singapore is about one degree of latitude (137
kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator. About 5.70
million people live in Singapore. About 3.31 million are
citizens. Most of them are ethnically Chinese, Malay, or
Tamil, as well as a smaller number of other Asians.
Present-day Singapore was founded in 1819 by
Stamford Raffles as a trading post of the British Empire.
During the Second World War, Singapore was taken
over by Japan in 1942, but returned to British control
after Japan surrendered in 1945. Singapore started to
govern itself in 1959, and in 1963 became part of the
new federation of Malaysia, together with Malaya, North
Borneo, and Sarawak. Political and social differences
led to Singapore being removed from the federation two
years later, becoming an independent country on its
own. The symbolic national language of Singapore is
Malay. Other official languages of Singapore are
English, Mandarin and Tamil. English is the language
of choice because it is the language that everyone in
Singapore knows and uses. It is the first language
taught in schools and the language used by the
government and in court. Students are also usually
taught the language of their ethnicity. This means that
the Chinese will learn Mandarin, Malays will learn
Malay, and so on. Students can also choose to learn a
third language in secondary school. As a result, most
Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is also known
as a "Garden City" or a "City in a Garden". It is because
there are plants everywhere, making it look like a
garden. Singapore has one of the highest standards of
living in the world, with very good education,
healthcare, housing, and very low corruption. It is also
known for having many strict rules and punishments,
including fines. This is why it is also sometimes
jokingly called a "fine" city. The government says this
has helped Singapore in being a very safe country.
Singapore is one of the founding members of ASEAN.
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