Singapore: Southeast Asia Region

I choose Singapore because it is a nice and small city-state but is still very well known in the world. It can hold it’s economic status in the world even though it’s tiny and as almost no natural resources. It’s however a very small city-state and its geographic size is only 278 miles squared which is about half the size of Los Angles. Singapore comprises of its mainland and several other islands and is heavily urbanized. The closest Singapore has to a mountain is Bukit Timah Hill which is 538 ft. and is located in Bukit Panjang. It is the highest natural point in Singapore and only has a few steep and rugged areas. There are no plains as the area is heavily urbanized for city development. Much of Singapore has already been developed and the topography has let to humans building several cities and populating the area.

Singapore is the monsoon region of Southeast Asia and is generally warm throughout the year but also rains constantly. However, because Singapore is near the coast, and because of its constant humidity, temperatures never reach the 100s F. Singapore gets about 95 inches of rain annually and rain is falling everyday on somewhere of the island. This climate is pretty good for humans but except for when it rains excessively and flash floods may happen, killing some people. In this weather, Singapore grows durians, and mushrooms and there are some places that produce eggs, vegetables, poultry, and pork. The last remaining natural vegetation of Singapore are the hardwood trees of Dipterocarp, which are used for buildings, are the last remaining pieces of Singapore’s primary rainforest.

Singapore has almost no natural resources because they have been almost all destroyed in the bid for more land for the purpose of human development and for farming. There are no metals on the island and gas and coal and water are considered scarce or in limited supply.

Earthquakes don’t threaten Singapore because it’s located on a stable continental crust, the Eurasian Plate. Even though Singapore is safe form earthquakes, and volcanoes, it is still shaken by large earthquakes from the nearest plate boundary, which is the Sunda Megathrust. An earthquake stronger enough could knock over the buildings above reclaimed land or sediments.

Singapore doesn’t have it’s own supply of water and has to buy and import it from Malaysia and it’s surrounding countries. Lower rainfall in Singapore and Malaysia affects Singapore heavily and Johor’s Linggiu Reservoir, which Singapore also relies on, is also at a historic low. Singapore is surrounded by saltwater since it’s an island but it’s closest body of water is bordered on the north by the Johor strait and is bordered on the southeast by the Singapore Strait and on the southwest is bordered by the strait of Malacca. The Singapore Strait provides a passage into the Post of Singapore, making it extremely busy and important because of the merchant ships traveling through all day.

Some unique animals to Singapore are the species of lesser mouse deer, which is very witty and smart. Another species are the flying lemurs, which glide rather than fly. The last animal are the dugongs which are the gentle giants of the sea and are also known as sea cows since they eat sea grass. These animals help to attract visitors to Singapore, which earns the city state money.

The most important person in Singapore’s history is fairly recent, who is the Founding Father of Modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. I believe he’s the most important person in the history of Singapore because he led Singapore’s struggling and underdeveloped economy to rapid industrialization and growth within only a few years. He was also the first Prime Minister of Singapore and he governed for three decades, which was a long time to rule. He campaigned for Britain to relinquish Singapore as a colony and merged with other former Britain territories so it formed Malaysia. Later, Singapore separated and became its own city-state. He did many things for Singapore. He has turned Singapore from a small town into a global trading center. The most historical event in Singapore was probably the founding of Singapore by Britain because without that, Singapore wouldn’t exist and be what it is today. I think that the number one achievement made by Singapore was making itself independent from Britain and from Malaysia because I think that was the beginning of making itself truly able to hold its place in the world. Singapore has been traded hands many times, switching from the property of one country to another until it finally became independent. Overall, it has had a good history without too much killing and war but it has had its own setbacks. Singapore has a symbol of a lion head, that can be used by any Singapore individual or company and it represents loyalty and pride toward Singapore. It represents three national values, courage, excellence, and strength.

Singapore’s national language is Malay and other languages of Singapore are Mandarin, English, and Tamil. English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, Mandarin belongs to the Sino-Tibetan Sinitic Mandarin family, Malay belongs to the Austronesian language family, and Tamil belongs to the Dravidian language family. Malay may be the national language, but English is the main working language used in businesses. Singapore is a multilingual society and uses Singlish, a combination of English, and is influenced by Chinese, Malay, and Indian languages. English is most popular and every student learns English and a second language in school and Mandarin is the second most popular. Chinese is the number one ethnic group with Malays as the second ethnic group. They all live together in Singapore and are sorted by the Chinese-Malay-Indian-Other otherwise known as the CMIO system of categorization. There is really no ethnic strife and there is even a Racial Harmony Day in Singapore where the younger generation dress in racial garb and are taught in school about respecting diversity.

Religion in Singapore is very different since Singapore is a global trading hub and many people tend to originate from different countries. The result is a difference in religions completely. The most followed religion would be Buddhism with 33.2 percent of people following it in a recent census. Religion is not particularly a powerful force in Singapore with so many different religions and people that it’s hard for one religion to rise above to the top. Buddhism has been founded by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, and is an important religion in most countries that make up Asia. Chinese immigrants brought Buddhism to Singapore when they entered. The type of Buddhism practiced in Singapore is Mahayana Buddhism, which is practiced more often in Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam. 

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