Introduction of Singapore

PROFILE:Geography Area: 712.4 sq. km. Cities: Capital--Singapore (country is a city-state). Terrain: Lowland. Climate: Tropical.

People :Singapore is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The annual population growth rate for 2011 was 2.1%, including resident foreigners. Singapore has a varied linguistic, cultural, and religious heritage. Malay is the national language, but Chinese, English, and Tamil also are official languages. English is the language of administration and also is widely used in the professions, businesses, and schools. The government has mandated that English be the primary language used at all levels of the school systems, and it aims to provide at least 10 years of education for every child. In 2010, primary and secondary school students totaled about 478,294, or 9.4% of the entire population. In 2010, enrollment at public universities was 74,534 (full-time/part-time) and 83,542 at the polytechnics. The Institute of Technical Education for basic technical and commerce skills has 24,789 students. The country's literacy rate is 95.9%. Singapore generally allows religious freedom, although religious groups are subject to government scrutiny, and some religious sects are restricted or banned. Almost all Malays are Muslim; other Singaporeans are Taoists, Buddhists, Confucianists, Christians, Hindus, or Sikhs.

Singapore's status as a newly industrializing economy ( NIE) was signaled by its landscaped complexes of owner-occupied apartments and streets blocked by the private cars of affluent citizens. The citizens increasingly considered themselves Singaporeans rather than Chinese or Indians or Malays, and the multiethnic population increasingly used English as the common speech in schools, offices, and the armed forces. By late 1989 Singapore was cosmopolitan, prosperous, modernized, and orderly. Its population was educated in English, worked for multinational corporations, and consumed a worldwide popular culture of film, music, and leisure activities. English was, however, a second language for most, and many distinctively Chinese, Indian, and Malay customs, practices, and attitudes continued. In contrast to many countries of the region, Singapore's avowed social values were secular, democratic (within certain limits), and nondiscriminatory. As Singapore is a small and relatively modern amalgam of Chinese, Malay, Indian and European immigrants, the culture of Singapore expresses the diversity of the population as the various ethnic groups continue to celebrate their own cultures while they intermingle with one another. For example, one can find a Malay wedding taking place beside a Chinese funeral at a void deck, on the ground floor of a HDB apartment block. This can be said to be due to the policies of the HDB which tried to

make sure all public housing have a diverse mix of races. However, Singapore has achieved a significant degree of cultural diffusion with its unique combination of these ethnic groups, and has given Singapore a rich mixture of diversity for its young age. Singapore has several distinct ethnic neighborhoods, including Little India, Chinatown and Kampong Glam, formed by the Raffles Plan of Singapore in the early 19th century to segregate the new immigrants into specific areas. Although the population is no longer segregated in distribution, mainly due to the policies of the Housing Development Board and the ruling People's Action Party, these ethnic neighborhoods retain unique elements of their specific culture. The usage of such neighborhoods is mostly commercial or for cottage industry specific to the culture of its ethnic neighborhood and no longer plays a large part in housing the population, although it was once used for that purpose. Hence, these neighborhoods have patronage of all races who wish to either eat or buy something specific to that culture. For example, Little India is known and patronized by all races within the population for its thalis-South Indian "buffets" that are vegetarian and served on the traditional banana leaves. These neighborhoods are accessible by public transport, especially by Mass Rapid Transit (MRT).

Festivals-:
Singapore multi-ethnicity is represented in many ways, including commemorative postage stamps illustrating festivals originated from different culture. The major public holidays reflect the mentioned racial diversity, including Chinese New Year, Buddhist Vesak Day, Muslim Eid ul-Fitr and Hindu Diwali. Christians constitute a large minority, and Christmas Day, Good Friday, and New Year's Day are also public holidays. On August 9, Singapore celebrates the anniversary of its independence.

Language-:
There are four official languages in Singapore: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. In general, English tends to be the language spoken widely in the business, education and government sector of Singapore. But colloquially, the Singaporean also speaks a diverse and mixed language that can involve English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil, depending on the circle one is associated with, the age group, the race and the location. The English used is primarily British English, with some American English influences. The local colloquial dialect of English is known formally as Singapore Colloquial English though it is more commonly called "Singlish". Mandarin Chinese is the second most commonly-spoken language Chinese population. among the Singaporean

SOCIAL LIFE OF PEOPLE-:

Singapore is easy when it comes to adjust to a foreign country. Expatriates say it is Asia in a nutshell as it introduces you to the many cultures in a safe and modern environment. Young expatriates often see Singapore as a professional launch pad and often remain in the region. The huge melting pot of international companies generates a mood of tolerance in terms of multiethnicity and young professionals in their 20s and 30s like the variety of cross-cultural experiences. In 2005 Singapore was rated the top Asian city for expatriates (ECA International) with the wide use of English a key factor for the top billing. Other factors were the high quality of transport, communications and health facilities, the low health risks and low crime rate and its excellent infrastructure in a cosmopolitan environment. Working and living in Singapore stress the fact that Singapore has a very low crime rate and the streets are safe during day and at night. Sport, travel and entertainment opportunities are very good and the food is a dream! A slight minus: information via TV and media is restricted due to Government control. Foreign magazines and newspapers are very expensive. But with its fast, reliable and inexpensive broadband services Singapore's reach out to the world of information is no longer limited at all. Due to the fact that Singapore is a 24 hour city, you will find it very easy to move around from place to place day and night

through means of open transportation such as MRT, Bus and Taxi, all of which are cheap and very convenient.

EDUCATION-:
The general literacy rate rose from 84% in 1980 to 92.5 % in 2001(male 96.4%, female 88.7%) there are 17 autonomous and 8 private fee paying secondary schools. Tertiary education at 16 years in divided into 3 branches. Junior college leading to university, 4 polytechnics and 10 technical institutes. There are three universities are as fallows-: 1) National University of Singapore 2) Nayang Technological University 3) Singapore Management university