Why Study in Singapore?

About Singapore

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres (85 miles) north of the equator, in the Southeast Asian region of the Asian continent. It is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north, and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. A city-state, Singapore is the world's fourth leading financial centre and a cosmopolitan world city, playing a key role in international trade and finance.

Singapore has a diverse population of 5 million people made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Caucasians, and Asians (of various descent).It has the sixth-highest percentage of foreigners in the world (42%), who make up 50% of the service sector.The country is the second most densely populated in the world after Monaco. Kearney names Singapore as the most globalised country in the world in its Globalization Index.

Even before independence in 1965, Singapore was one of the richest states in East Asia due to its strategic location as a port. Its GDP per capita in 1965 was $511, the third highest in East Asia after Japan and Hong Kong. After independence, foreign direct investment and a state-led drive for industrialization based on plans by former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Goh Keng Swee created a modern economy focused on industry, education and urban planning.

Singapore is the fourth wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita, and the twentieth wealthiest in terms of GDP (nominal) per capita. Despite Singapore's small size, it has the world's ninth largest foreign reserves.

The Economist Intelligence Unit in its "Quality-Of-Life Index" ranks Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and eleventh overall in the world. Today, the port of Singapore continues to be among the top five busiest ports in the world. The Singapore Armed Forces are the most technologically advanced and well-equipped in the region.

Geography and climate of Singapore

Singapore consists of 63 islands, including mainland Singapore. There are two man-made connections to Johor, Malaysia: the Johor-Singapore Causeway in the north, and the Tuas Second Link in the west. Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest of Singapore's many smaller islands. The highest natural point is Bukit Timah Hill at 166 m (545 ft).

Singapore has on-going land reclamation projects with earth obtained from its own hills, the seabed, and neighbouring countries. As a result, Singapore's land area grew from 581.5 km² (224.5 sq mi) in the 1960s to 704 km² (271.8 sq mi) today, and may grow by another 100 km² (38.6 sq mi) by 2030. The projects sometimes involve some of the smaller islands being merged together through land reclamation in order to form larger, more functional islands, as in the case of Jurong Island.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification system, Singapore has a tropical rainforest climate with no distinctive seasons, uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity, and abundant rainfall. Temperatures range from 22 to 34 °C (71.6 to 93.2 °F). On average, the relative humidity is around 90% in the morning and 60% in the afternoon. During prolonged heavy rain, relative humidity often reaches 100%. The lowest and highest temperatures recorded in its maritime history are 19.4 °C (66.9 °F) and 35.8 °C (96.4 °F).

May and June are the hottest months, while November and December make up the wetter monsoon season. From August to October, there is often haze, sometimes severe enough to prompt public health warnings, due to bush fires in neighbouring Indonesia. Singapore does not observe daylight saving time or a summer time zone change. The length of the day is nearly constant year round due to the country's position near the equator.

About 23% of Singapore's land area consists of forest and nature reserves. Urbanisation has eliminated many areas of former primary rainforest, with the only remaining area of primary rainforest being Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. A variety of parks are maintained, such as the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Economy

Singapore has a highly developed market-based economy, which has historically revolved around extended entrepôt trade. Along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, Singapore is one of the Four Asian Tigers. The economy depends heavily on exports and refining imported goods, especially in manufacturing, which constituted 26% of Singapore's GDP in 2005 and includes significant electronics, petroleum refining, chemicals, mechanical engineering and biomedical sciences sectors. In 2006 Singapore produced about 10% of the world's foundry wafer output. Singapore has one of the busiest ports in the world and is the world's fourth largest foreign exchange trading centre after London, New York and Tokyo. The World Bank ranks Singapore as the world's top logistics hub.

Singapore's economy has been ranked amongst the world's ten most open, competitive and innovative. Rated as the most business-friendly economy in the world, Singapore sees hundreds of thousands of foreign expatriates working in multi-national corporations. In addition, it also employs hundreds of thousands of foreign manual workers.

Alternative view of Singapore Central Business District (CBD)As a result of a global recession and a slump in the technology sector, the country's GDP contracted 2.2% in 2001. The Economic Review Committee (ERC) was set up in December 2001, and recommended several policy changes with a view to revitalising the economy. Singapore has since recovered from the recession, largely due to improvements in the world economy; the economy grew by 8.3% in 2004, 6.4% in 2005[64] and 7.9% in 2006.

Singapore introduced a Goods and Services Tax (GST) with an initial rate of 3% on 1 April 1994 substantially increasing government revenue by S$1.6 billion (US$1b, €800m) and stabilising government finances. The taxable GST was increased to 4% in 2003, to 5% in 2004, and to 7% on 1 July 2007.

Tourism

Singapore is a popular travel destination, contributing to the importance of its tourism industry. About 7.8 million tourists visited in 2006. Total visitor arrivals were 10.2 million in 2007. To attract more tourists, the government has decided to legalise gambling and to allow two casino resorts (euphemistically called Integrated Resorts) to be developed at Marina South and Sentosa in 2005. To compete with regional rivals like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, the government has announced that the city area would be transformed into a more exciting place by lighting up the civic and commercial buildings. Food has also been promoted as an attraction for tourists, with the Singapore Food Festival held every July to celebrate Singapore's cuisine.

Singapore is promoting itself as a medical tourism hub: about 200,000 foreigners seek medical care in the country each year, and Singapore medical services aim to serve one million foreign patients annually by 2012 and generate USD 3 billion in revenue. The government states that this could create some 13,000 new jobs within the health industries.

Currency

The currency of Singapore is the Singapore dollar, represented by the symbol S$ or the ISO abbreviation SGD. The central bank is the Monetary Authority of Singapore, responsible for issuing currency. Singapore established the Board of Commissioners of Currency in 1967 and issued its first coins and notes. The Singapore dollar was exchangeable at par with the Malaysian ringgit until 1973. Interchangeability with the Brunei dollar is still maintained. On 27 June 2007, to commemorate 40 years of currency agreement with Brunei, a commemorative S$20 note was launched; the back is identical to the Bruneian $20 note launched concurrently

Population

The population of Singapore has the sixth-highest percentage of foreigners globally. 42% of the population in Singapore are foreigners and foreigners make up 50% of the service sector. Most foreigners come from China, Malaysia, Philippines, North America, Middle East, Europe, Australia and India. The country is also the second most densely populated in the world after Monaco. According to government statistics, the population of Singapore as of 2009 was 4.99 million, of whom 3.73 million were Singaporean citizens and permanent residents (termed "Singapore Residents"). There were 3.2 million citizens in 2009. Various Chinese linguistic groups formed 74.2% of Singapore's residents, Malays 13.4%, Indians 9.2%, while Eurasians, Arabs and other groups formed 3.2%.

In 2008, the total fertility rate was only 1.28 children per woman, the 3rd lowest in the world and well below the 2.10 needed to replace the population. In 2008, 39,826 babies were born, compared to around 37,600 in 2005. This number, however, is not sufficient to maintain the population's growth. To overcome this problem, the government is encouraging foreigners to immigrate to Singapore. These large numbers of immigrants have kept Singapore's population from declining.

According to latest 2010 statistics, Singapore’s resident total fertility rate (TFR) reached a level of 1.22 in 2009. The Chinese TFR was (1.08), followed by Indians (1.14) and Malays (1.82). Malay fertility-rate is ~70% higher than chinese and Indians.

Languages

The Singapore government recognises four official languages: English, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil. English is the most dominant language in Singapore, unlike neighbouring countries Malaysia and Indonesia, where Malay is the dominant language. The forms of English spoken in Singapore range from Standard English to an English-based creole known as Singlish. Amongst Singaporeans, English has the largest number of speakers. This is followed by Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. The English used is primarily based on British English. For example, the word "tyre" is used over "tire". However, certain naming conventions in Singapore are a mixture of American and British spellings. For instance, local media have "sports pages" ("sport" in British English) and "soccer coverage". The use of English became widespread in Singapore after 1965 when it was implemented as a first language medium in the education system. At school, children are required to learn English and one of the three other official languages as a mother tongue.

Malay is the national language for symbolic and historical reasons, which is generally spoken by Singapore's Malay community. The Malay language is used in the national anthem "Majulah Singapura" and printing of coins. However, around 85% of Singaporeans do not speak Malay.

Mandarin (Chinese) is also spoken widely in Singapore. Mandarin has spread largely as a result of government-sponsored public campaigns and efforts to support its adoption and use over other Chinese languages.

Tamil is spoken by about 60% of Singapore's Indian community or 5% of all Singaporeans. Indian languages such as Malayalam and Hindi are also spoken by a small group of Singaporean Indians in Singapore.

Culture

Due to its diverse population and immigrant background, Singaporean culture has often been described as a mix of cultures – British, Malay, Chinese, Indian and Peranakan. Foreigners also make up 42% of the population in Singapore and they play an important role in influencing Singaporean culture.

Cuisine

Dining, along with shopping, is said to be the country’s national pastime. Singaporean cuisine is an example of the country's diversity and cultural diffusion; with significant influences from British, Chinese, Indian, Malay, Tamil cuisine, and Indonesian cuisine. Typical Singaporean food includes the satay, nasi lemak, fish and chips and the famed Hainanese chicken rice.

Domestic Transport

The domestic transport infrastructure has a well-connected island-wide road transport system which includes a network of expressways. The public road system is served by the nation's bus service and a number of licensed taxi-operating companies. The public bus transport has been the subject of criticism by Singaporeans, the majority of whom are dependent on it for their daily commuting.

Since 1987, the heavy rail passenger Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) metro system has been in operation. The MRT system has been further augmented by the Light Rail Transit (LRT) light rail system, and increases accessibility to housing estates. Established in 2001, the EZ-Link system allows contactless smartcards to serve as stored value tickets for use in the public transport systems in Singapore.