Learning and Catch-Up in Singapore Lessons for Developing Countries
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Country Report Singapore
Country Report Singapore Natural Disaster Risk Assessment and Area Business Continuity Plan Formulation for Industrial Agglomerated Areas in the ASEAN Region March 2015 AHA CENTRE Japan International Cooperation Agency OYO International Corporation Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. CTI Engineering International Co., Ltd. Overview of the Country Basic Information of Singapore 1), 2), 3) National Flag Country Name Long form : Republic of Singapore Short form : Singapore Capital Singapore (city-state) Area (km2) Total: 716 Land: 700 Inland Water: 16 Population 5,399,200 Population density(people/ km2 of land area) 7,713 Population growth (annual %) 1.6 Urban population (% of total) 100 Languages Malay (National/Official language), English, Chinese, Tamil (Official languages) Ethnic Groups Chinese 74%, Malay 13%, Indian 9%, Others 3% Religions Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism GDP (current US$) (billion) 298 GNI per capita, PPP (current international $) 76,850 GDP growth (annual %) 3.9 Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) +0 Industry, value added (% of GDP) 25 Services, etc., value added (% of GDP) 75 Brief Description Singapore is a city-state consisting of Singapore Island, which is located close to the southern edge of the Malay Peninsula, and 62 other smaller outlying islands. Singapore is ranked as the second most densely populated country in the world, after Monaco. With four languages being used as official languages, the country itself is a competitive business district. Therefore, there are many residents other than Singaporean living in the country. Singapore is one of the founding members of ASEAN (founded on August 8, 1967), and the leading economy in ASEAN. Cooperation with ASEAN countries is a basic diplomatic policy of Singapore. -
1 Singapore's Dominant Party System
Tan, Kenneth Paul (2017) “Singapore’s Dominant Party System”, in Governing Global-City Singapore: Legacies and Futures after Lee Kuan Yew, Routledge 1 Singapore’s dominant party system On the night of 11 September 2015, pundits, journalists, political bloggers, aca- demics, and others in Singapore’s chattering classes watched in long- drawn amazement as the media reported excitedly on the results of independent Singa- pore’s twelfth parliamentary elections that trickled in until the very early hours of the morning. It became increasingly clear as the night wore on, and any optimism for change wore off, that the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) had swept the votes in something of a landslide victory that would have puzzled even the PAP itself (Zakir, 2015). In the 2015 general elections (GE2015), the incumbent party won 69.9 per cent of the total votes (see Table 1.1). The Workers’ Party (WP), the leading opposition party that had five elected members in the previous parliament, lost their Punggol East seat in 2015 with 48.2 per cent of the votes cast in that single- member constituency (SMC). With 51 per cent of the votes, the WP was able to hold on to Aljunied, a five-member group representation constituency (GRC), by a very slim margin of less than 2 per cent. It was also able to hold on to Hougang SMC with a more convincing win of 57.7 per cent. However, it was undoubtedly a hard defeat for the opposition. The strong performance by the PAP bucked the trend observed since GE2001, when it had won 75.3 per cent of the total votes, the highest percent- age since independence. -
A Special Issue to Commemorate Singapore Bicentennial 2019
2019 A Special Issue to Commemorate Singapore Bicentennial 2019 About the Culture Academy Singapore Te Culture Academy Singapore was established in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth to groom the next generation of cultural leaders in the public sector. Guided by its vision to be a centre of excellence for the development of culture professionals and administrators, the Culture Academy Singapore’s work spans three areas: Education and Capability Development, Research and Scholarship and Tought Leadership. Te Culture Academy Singapore also provides professional development workshops, public lectures and publishes research articles through its journal, Cultural Connections, to nurture thought leaders in Singapore’s cultural scene. One of the Academy’s popular oferings is its annual thought leadership conference which provides a common space for cultural leaders to gather and exchange ideas and best practices, and to incubate new ideas. It also ofers networking opportunities and platforms for collaborative ideas-sharing. Cultural Connections is a journal published annually by the Culture Academy Singapore to nurture thought leadership in cultural work in the public sector. Te views expressed in the publication are solely those of the authors and contributors, and do not in any way represent the views of the National Heritage Board or the Singapore Government. Editor-in-Chief: Tangamma Karthigesu Editor: Tan Chui Hua Editorial Assistants: Geraldine Soh & Nur Hummairah Design: Fable Printer: Chew Wah Press Distributed by the Culture Academy Singapore Published in July 2019 by Culture Academy Singapore, 61 Stamford Road #02-08 Stamford Court Singapore 178892 © 2019 National Heritage Board. All rights reserved. National Heritage Board shall not be held liable for any damages, disputes, loss, injury or inconvenience arising in connection with the contents of this publication. -
Jaclyn L. Neo
Jaclyn L. Neo NAVIGATING MINORITY INCLUSION AND PERMANENT DIVISION: MINORITIES AND THE DEPOLITICIZATION OF ETHNIC DIFFERENCE* INTRODUCTION dapting the majority principle in electoral systems for the ac- commodation of political minorities is a crucial endeavour if A one desires to prevent the permanent disenfranchisement of those minorities. Such permanent exclusion undermines the maintenance and consolidation of democracy as there is a risk that this could lead to po- litical upheaval should the political minorities start to see the system as op- pressive and eventually revolt against it. These risks are particularly elevat- ed in the case of majoritarian systems, e.g. those relying on simple plurality where the winner is the candidate supported by only a relative majority, i.e. having the highest number of votes compared to other candidates1. Further- more, such a system, while formally equal, could however be considered substantively unequal since formal equality often fails to recognize the es- pecial vulnerabilities of minority groups and therefore can obscure the need to find solutions to address those vulnerabilities. Intervention in strict majoritarian systems is thus sometimes deemed necessary to preserve effective participation of minorities in political life to ensure a more robust democracy. Such intervention has been considered es- pecially important in societies characterized by cleavages such as race/ethnicity, religion, language, and culture, where there is a need to en- sure that minority groups are not permanently excluded from the political process. This could occur when their voting choices almost never produce the outcomes they desire or when, as candidates, they almost never receive the sufficient threshold of support to win elections. -
Religious Harmony in Singapore: Spaces, Practices and Communities 469190 789811 9 Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore
Religious Harmony in Singapore: Spaces, Practices and Communities Inter-religious harmony is critical for Singapore’s liveability as a densely populated, multi-cultural city-state. In today’s STUDIES URBAN SYSTEMS world where there is increasing polarisation in issues of race and religion, Singapore is a good example of harmonious existence between diverse places of worship and religious practices. This has been achieved through careful planning, governance and multi-stakeholder efforts, and underpinned by principles such as having a culture of integrity and innovating systematically. Through archival research and interviews with urban pioneers and experts, Religious Harmony in Singapore: Spaces, Practices and Communities documents the planning and governance of religious harmony in Singapore from pre-independence till the present and Communities Practices Spaces, Religious Harmony in Singapore: day, with a focus on places of worship and religious practices. Religious Harmony “Singapore must treasure the racial and religious harmony that it enjoys…We worked long and hard to arrive here, and we must in Singapore: work even harder to preserve this peace for future generations.” Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore. Spaces, Practices and Communities 9 789811 469190 Religious Harmony in Singapore: Spaces, Practices and Communities Urban Systems Studies Books Water: From Scarce Resource to National Asset Transport: Overcoming Constraints, Sustaining Mobility Industrial Infrastructure: Growing in Tandem with the Economy Sustainable Environment: -
Report of the Official Parliamentary Delegation to Singapore and Indonesia 28 October—8 November 2008
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia Report of the Official Parliamentary Delegation to Singapore and Indonesia 28 October—8 November 2008 March 2009 Canberra © Commonwealth of Australia 2009 ISBN 978-0-642-79153-5 Contents FRONTPAGES Membership of the Delegation.............................................................................................................vi Objectives .........................................................................................................................................viii Singapore..................................................................................................................................viii Indonesia ..................................................................................................................................viii List of abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ix REPORT 1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................1 Singapore—Background Information...................................................................................... 1 Geography and Population ......................................................................................................... 1 Political Structure ........................................................................................................................ 2 Economic Overview ................................................................................................................... -
Singapore Local Government System Falls Broadly Within the Allan Model of Virtual Local Government
Virtual Local Government in Practice: * The Case of Town Councils in Singapore Brian Dollery School of Economics University of New England ARMIDALE NSW 2351 Wai Ho Leong Lin Crase Barclays Capital School of Business Level 28, One Raffles Quay La Trobe University South Tower WODONGA VIC 3689 SINGAPORE 048583 Scholars of governance have long sought to develop taxonomic systems of local government that encompass all conceivable institutional arrangements for delivering local goods and services under democratic oversight. A complete typology of this kind would include not only observable real-world municipal models, but also theoretically feasible prototypes not yet in existence. However, despite a growing literature in the area, no universally accepted taxonomy has yet been developed. Notwithstanding this gap in the conceptual literature, existing typological schema have nevertheless proved valuable for both the examination of the characteristics of actual local government systems as well as for comparative studies of different municipal institutional arrangements. For instance, Dollery and Johnson’s (2005) taxonomy of Australian local government has formed the basis of an embryonic literature that seeks to locate the many new municipal * Brian Dollery acknowledges the financial support provided by Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP0770520. The authors would like to thank Mr Chong Weng Yong of the Singapore Housing and Development Board for his kind and valuable assistance in the research for this paper. The views expressed in the paper are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not represent the views of any organization. © Canadian Journal of Regional Science/Revue canadienne des sciences régionales, XXXI: 2 (Summer/Été 2008), 289-304. -
Impact of Public Housing Upgrading on Residents
APNHR CONFERENCE Housing and Social Development: Emerging Theoretical Issues in Asia-Pacific 5-6 February 2004 The University of Hong Kong Impact of Public Housing Upgrading on Residents Shi-Ming YU Department of Real Estate National University of Singapore Abstract The upgrading of HDB flats has a direct impact on residents in many ways. First, from the economic perspective, they have to make a financial commitment with the aim to enhance the value of their assets as a result of upgrading. Second, as the upgrading works are carried out with occupation, they will have to cope with the attendant problems and inconvenience of upgrading. And third, from the social and community perspective, upgrading provides the precinct and neighbourhood an opportunity to create an identity and improve the overall living environment. Given this impact, residents must play a direct and active role in the upgrading process. This paper discusses the impact of upgrading through residents’ perception as well as the mechanisms, methods and management of resident participation in the upgrading projects. While upgrading and renewal are an important component of public housing, they need to be carried out with a complete understanding of residents’ needs and perceptions, which may change over time. Key words: HDB upgrading, impact on residents, resident participation Introduction Upgrading of flats built by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in Singapore has gained significance over the last decade as the majority of flats built in the 1960s, 70s and 80s have become less attractive when compared to the new HDB flats built since the 1990s. Given the terminability of the life cycle of buildings, upgrading has become imperative if these older flats are to be able to continue to provide the standard of living environment comparable to that being provided by the new flats. -
Annual Report 2020
TANJONG PAGAR TOWN COUNCIL Annual Report 2019/2020 Tanjong Pagar Town Council | Annual Report 2019/2020 Tanjong Pagar Town Council Audited Financial Statements, Auditor’s Report and Annual Report for FY 2019/2020 S. 107 of 2021 12 March 2021 Contents Page Chairman's Message 3 主席的话 4 Amanat Pengerusi 7 தலைவ쏍 செயத鎿 8 Composition and Structure 10 Financial Statements 11 - 53 1 Tanjong Pagar Town Council | Annual Report 2019/2020 Chairman’s Message Dear Residents, I hope that you are staying well during these trying times. COVID-19 has been a test of our social fabric, and our strong collective response is testament to the strong community bonds that we have fostered over the years. But the fight against the pandemic will be long, and I hope that everyone continues to remain vigilant. In recent months, Tanjong Pagar Town Council has been working hard to ensure that our neighbourhoods remain a safe space for all, while preparing to further improve our estates in the coming years. Initiatives such as increasing the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting of common areas, observing safe distancing and crowd control at markets are some of the precautionary measures taken by our Town Council’s frontline workers. We also launched our new Town Council 5-year Masterplan. In the coming years, one of our key focus areas is to enhance the biodiversity within our Town so that our residents can enjoy more green spaces in their neighbourhoods for recreation and leisure activities. Cleanliness of our estates will continue to be an important focus, and we will work with you to make our Town one of the cleanest estates in Singapore. -
Government, National Identity, and the Arts in Singapore
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2013-2014: Penn Humanities Forum Undergraduate Violence Research Fellows 5-2014 State of the Arts: Government, National Identity, and the Arts in Singapore Shawn Teo University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2014 Part of the Asian History Commons, and the Cultural History Commons Teo, Shawn, "State of the Arts: Government, National Identity, and the Arts in Singapore" (2014). Undergraduate Humanities Forum 2013-2014: Violence. 1. https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2014/1 This paper was part of the 2013-2014 Penn Humanities Forum on Violence. Find out more at http://www.phf.upenn.edu/annual-topics/violence. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/uhf_2014/1 For more information, please contact [email protected]. State of the Arts: Government, National Identity, and the Arts in Singapore Abstract In the 1960s, countries in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia and Malaysia were wreaked by ethnic violence. Race riots broke out in Malaysia in 1969 between Chinese and Malays. In 1973 and 1974 anti- Chinese riots and pogroms erupted in Indonesia. Amidst a sea of ethnic unrest, the Singaporean government became aware that the multiethnic nature of Singapore rendered it vulnerable to riots.Memories of the 1964 race riots and the 1950 Maria Hertogh riots were still fresh. The government hoped that the creation of a cohesive national identity would reduce the risk of ethnic and racial violence. In this project I examine the development of national identity in Singapore from 1965-1990 to see how the government and civil society interacted to create a national identity. -
Singapore Constitution 1963
ICL - Singapore - Constitution Page 1 of 57 Singapore - Constitution { Adopted on: 16 Sep 1963 } { ICL Document Status: 24 March 1995 } Part I Preliminary Article 1 Citation This Constitution may be cited as the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. Article 2 Interpretation (1) In this Constitution, unless it is otherwise provided or the context otherwise requires, - "Cabinet" means the Cabinet constituted under this Constitution; - "Civil List" means the provision made under Article 22j for the maintenance of the President; - "citizen of Singapore" means any person who, under the provisions of this Constitution, has the status of a citizen of Singapore; - "commencement", used with reference to this Constitution, means the day on which this Constitution comes into operation; - "Consolidated Fund" means the Consolidated Fund established by this Constitution; - "Council of Presidential Advisers" means the Council of Presidential Advisers constituted under Part - "existing law" means any law having effect as part of the law of Singapore immediately before the commencement of this Constitution; - "Government" means the Government of Singapore; - "Judge of the Supreme Court" includes the Chief Justice, a Judge of Appeal, and a Judge of the High Court; - "law" includes written law and any legislation of the United Kingdom or other enactment or instrument whatsoever which is in operation in Singapore and the common law in so far as it is in operation in Singapore and any custom or usage having the force of law in Singapore; - "Legal Service -
Economics Explorer #1: Monetary Authority of Singapore
Economics Explorer Series Monetary Authority of Singapore 1 MONETARY AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE A brief history of MAS, its roles and functions as well as its organisation structure. Economics Explorer Series Monetary Authority of Singapore Brief History of Prior to 1971, the various monetary functions associated with a central bank were performed by several government MAS departments and agencies in Singapore. As the country progressed, the demands of an increasingly complex monetary and banking environment necessitated a re-organisation and consolidation of functions, in order to facilitate the development of more dynamic and coherent policies on monetary and financial matters. In 1970, Parliament passed the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act, by which MAS came into being with the necessary powers to carry out its functions. MAS officially began operations on 1 January 1971, with the authority acting as a banker to and financial agent of the Singapore government. MAS was also entrusted with the mandate to promote monetary stability, and formulate credit and exchange rate policies conducive to the growth of the economy. In 1977, the government decided to bring the regulation of the insurance industry under the wing of MAS. The regulatory functions under the Securities Industry Act (1973) were also transferred to MAS in 1984. Following its merger with the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore (BCCS) on 1 October 2002, MAS further assumed the function of currency issuance. Currency Issuance The Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore (BCCS) was established as the sole currency issuing authority in Singapore by the enactment of the Currency Act on 7 April 1967.