The name Singapore is derived from the Malay words singa (lion)
and pura (city), which were themselves derived from the Sanskrit
words सिंह siṃha and पुर pura.[4]. In Tamil, one of the official
languages of Singapore, Singam means Lion and Puram means City.
Hence, Singapore is also known as the Lion City. The naming is
attributed to a prince named Sang Nila Utama, who according to
folklore, was caught in a terrible storm that did not cease until
he had thrown his crown into the water. The waters calmed
immediately after that, and he sailed to the closest island he
could see. The first animal he saw after he had set foot on the
island was supposedly a lion. Therefore, he decided to name the
island Singapura.[5]
The first records of Singapore's existence are in Chinese texts
from the 3rd century AD. The island was an outpost of the Sumatran
Srivijaya empire and originally bore the Javanese name Temasek
(which means sea town). Temasek (Tumasek) rose to become a
significant trading city, but subsequently declined. There are few
remnants of old Temasek in Singapore, but archaeologists in
Singapore have uncovered evidence of the civilization, as well as
other settlements. Between the 16th and early 19th centuries,
Singapore was a part of the Sultanate of Johore. During the
Malay-Portugal wars in 1613, Singapore was set ablaze by Portuguese
troops. [6]
Statue of Thomas Stamford Raffles by Thomas Woolner, erected at the
spot where he first landed at Singapore. He is recognised as the
founder of modern Singapore.In 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles,
an official with the British East India Company, signed a treaty
with the Sultan of Johore. He also established Singapore as a
trading post and settlement, which saw instant growth and
immigration from various ethnic groups. Singapore was later made a
crown colony by Britain in 1867. After a series of colonial
territorial expansions, the British Empire soon raised Singapore's
status to that of an entrepot town, due to its strategic location
along the busy shipping routes connecting Europe to China.[7]
During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Malaya and
the surrounding region in the Battle of Malaya, which culminated in
the Battle of Singapore. The British were unprepared and swiftly
defeated, despite having more troops. They surrendered to the
Japanese on 15 February 1942. The Japanese renamed Singapore to
Syonan-to, Japanese for "Light of the South", and occupied it until
the British arrived to repossess the island a month after the
Japanese surrender in September 1945.[8]
Singapore became a self-governing state in 1959 with Yusof bin
Ishak as its first Yang di-Pertuan Negara (literally means "head of
state" in Malay) and Lee Kuan Yew from the People's Action Party
(PAP) as its first Prime Minister, after the 1959 elections.
Following the 1962 Merger Referendum of Singapore, Singapore joined
Malaysia along with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak as a state with
autonomous powers in September 1963. 16 September, coincidentally,
is also Lee Kuan Yew's birthday. Singapore was expelled from the
federation after heated ideological conflict developed between the
state government formed by PAP and the federal government in Kuala
Lumpur. It gained official sovereignty on 9 August 1965, which
later became Singapore's National Day. Malaysia was the first
country to recognise it as an independent nation.[9] Yusof bin
Ishak was sworn in as the first President of Singapore and Lee Kuan
Yew remained as prime minister.
The skyline of Singapore.The fledgling nation had to become
self-sufficient, and faced problems including mass unemployment,
housing shortages and lack of land and natural resources such as
petroleum. During Lee Kuan Yew's term as prime minister from 1959
to 1990, his administration immediately curbed unemployment, raised
the standard of living and implemented a large-scale public housing
programme. The country economic infrastructure was developed, the
threat of racial tension was eliminated and an independent national
defence system was created. Singapore evolved from a developing
nation to a global city with first world status towards the end of
the 20th century.[10]
In 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee as Prime Minister. During his
tenure, the country tackled the economic impacts of the 1997 Asian
financial crisis and the 2003 SARS outbreak, as well as terrorist
threats posed by the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) post-September 11 and the
Bali bombings. In 2004 Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Lee Kuan
Yew, became the third prime minister.[11]
