A Country Report on Singapore

OVERVIEW

Singapore is a rich city-state located in Southeast Asia. It was once the trading post for the British colonial and is now thriving to be the global financial hub of the world and pursuing to become the economic tiger of Asia. The company is well-known for its conservatism and strict laws while it prides itself on its security and stability. The country is densely populated with Chinese, Malay and Indian making up the composition of its population. The people mostly live in public-housing tower blocks. The country’s heavily dependent on foreign workers with its trade-driven economy. The country has forecasted that by 2030, the immigrants would make up about 50% of their total population. With 5.3 million population, the country is dominated since its independence by the People’s Action Party (PAP) (BTI Project Organization). The country is currently facing challenges of the rising cost of living, income inequality, immigration population rising. The president of Singapore is a member of the Muslim Malay minority and is also the first female president of the country. Halimah Yacob was sworn in 2017. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is the son of the founding father of Singapore who has been in office since 2004. He is also a Cambridge educated mathematician and a former army officer (BBC News).

The country Singapore is the most urbanized and industrialized state in the ASEAN and is fully electrified. The national policy of the country is dedicated to maintaining the balance between economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability, and energy security. The country has the national goal of reducing their energy intensity by 35% by 2030 making 2005 the baseline year (Allan, Yujia and Hung).

The industrial outlook of the country shows a good rating regarding agriculture, financial services, services, and food sectors. The consumer durables, Chemicals and Pharma, Engineering, Metals, Paper, and Textiles are ranked as a fair rating regarding their credit risk situation. The country faces a poor credit risk situation regarding its construction materials, construction, automotive and transport, and steel industries. The 2018 economic year is expected to be impacted by the weaker demand from China, and lower domestic demand because of weaker residential construction. The country is dependent on China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia and to the USA for its export goods. For its imports, it looks up to China, Malaysia, the USA, Taiwan, and Japan (Atardius).

The PAP government, which has been in government since the Singapore independence is considered as business friendly. The fragmented and weak opposition along with the limited opportunities to present themselves in public is no match for the ruling party. The economic expansion in 2018 is expected to moderate. However, the reduced demand for Chinese imports and the weak residential construction, reducing the domestic demand is going to affect the economy. The government is going to upgrade its walkways, and renovate their sports halls, community centers, and police stations in the coming two years. Even though with all the economic slowed activity and the authoritarian nature of democratic government, it remains one of the strongest countries in the world regarding their macroeconomic fundamentals and their sovereign risk (Atardius).

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:

The economy of Singapore is heavily dependent on trade. Singapore has long been an advocate of international efforts to reduce the barriers to trade. In 2016, the country has the second highest trade to GDP ratio of 318% in the world. It makes the country vulnerable to opposition against globalization and free trade. The domestic market of the country is relatively small; however it ranks as the top transshipment hub in the world. The country is dependent on its primary exports of pharmaceutical products, electronics, petroleum products, mineral products, and industrial machines and equipment.

The country’s foreign policy shows that as a small state, it has no illusions of its position in the region or the world. The country needs to maintain a deterrent and credible military defense to underpin its foreign policy. It is dedicated to working for good relations with its neighbors in all spheres. The country is open to being friends to whichever country wants to be friends with it. It is fully committed to and supports tASEAN It feels responsible for its role in maintaining a peaceful environment in its region and Southeast Asia region. The country is a promoter of open and free multilateral trading systems. It maintains an open market economy and is open to any state for mutual benefit. It also supports and is active in an international organization like the United Nations (Embassy of the Republic of Singapore).

Singapore is considered as one of the Pacific Four countries along with Chile, New Zealand, and Brunei which started negotiation in 2008 that led to Trans-Pacific Partnership. The country has several free trade agreements with eleven of the TTP countries, with the US and with China as well. Even though the US and Singapore ties are still close, the Donald Trump trade policies have seen a drawback on the trade-dependent country of Singapore. The Prime Minister of Singapore has openly criticized the unilateral tariffs on China, which is the top trading partner of Singapore. The country sees the negative impact of the clash between the two world economies on Singapore.

Traditionally, being a small country with close ties with both economic giants in the US and China, Singapore has had to remain extremely cautious of its steps. The US and Singaporean militaries conduct exercise regularly while the US Navy uses Singapore as support for its Southeast Asia operations. The country is not a treaty ally, but it is poised to become the only and the first state to field the highly advanced fighter aircraft of US.

On the other hand, it has always been pursuing warm ties with China as well. However, their relationship has seen some difficult times as well. Recently, China has caused a wedge between Taiwan and Singapore because it considers Taiwan as a breakaway territory. Because of the same tensions, the Prime Minister of Singapore was not invited on the Belt and Road Forum inauguration. The country has now started to refrain from commenting on any of the issues of the two great powers. In hopes of improving its relationship with China, the country has not criticized the militarization of the South China Sea islands of which Singapore is the claimant state. The relationship between China and Singapore extends from political and cultural ties to economic ties.

Other than these two countries, Singapore maintains close ties with Southeast Asian countries who are a member of ASEAN. It is also a member of the Commonwealth and coordinates on the military matters with Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Other than these, the country Singapore has been an active proponent of the environmental changes as it is a major threat to Singapore (Panda).

POLITICS/IDEOLOGIES

Singapore is the country which gained independence in 1963 from the British colonial rule as part of the Federation of Malaya. The country separated from the Federation in 1965. The country Singapore is a parliamentary republic with unicameral legislation. The parliament of Singapore is composed of elected members with tenure of five years. The country is divided into 29 constituencies, of which 16 are grouped constituencies, and 13 are of single constituencies. Since the year 1991, the President is the elected head of the state of the Republic of Singapore. PAP came to power in 1959, because of its experience in legal matters, political finesses and apparent dedication to the development of Singapore (Hawksford Group Services Limited).

The party also used undemocratic measures to continue to assume needed policies and for the Singapore economic survival. The classic example of such undemocratic measures is that of the Operation Cold Store which occurred in 1963 in which 100 labor leaders, opposition party leaders, and activities were arrested by the PAP government. Since 1961, when the Barisan Sosialis Party boycotted the first general election of Singapore and PAP won every seat in the parliament, it has only continued its dominance. The founding father Lee Kuan Yew of PAP died in 2015. Under his rule, Singapore saw economic growth, making it a developed country in the world (Wong).

The country’s leadership has been successful in integrating its Chinese, Malays and Indian community in the society since their independence. The governments have not faced large-scale demonstrations against it as like its neighboring countries of Indonesia and Malaysia faced. Economic growth has remained slow and is expected to remain modest in the future. The leadership is facing challenges of the maturing economy. The country is going to face an uncertain leadership transition as the prime minister, son of the founding father, Lee Hsien Loong is going to retire (Wong).

The Democratic institutions have been manipulated by the governments to the extent that their renewal looks as impossible. The limits on speech make the policymaking as per the demands of its public to be more difficult. The criticism of the state policies is deemed as the criticism of the system. The political liberalization has not been very long lived however; it has become more competitive. In the 2015 election, all seats were contested, which was for the first time: the constant significant opposition vote and the popular discourse of the public show that the public wants to have a check-in system with the government power and its policies even if it considers PAP to be competent.

The city-state of Singapore is strong and is not challenged for its monopoly on their use of force by the country. The nature of the city-state makes it easier for the government to maintain their authority as compared to any territorial state. Most disputes with the neighboring countries on territory have been resolved. The country has signed an agreement with Indonesia on the maritime border between Pulau Nipa and Sultan Shoal. However, a small part of the maritime border with Malaysia remains unresolved (Heffernan).

The ethnic composition of Singapore is very heterogeneous with 74%, making up of Chinese. The Malays and Indians represent the other majority groups. The government has been successful in promoting the identity of citizenship and has managed to remain away from cultural conflicts. The race is now institution zed by showing it on the identification cards. The country has been very open to foreign immigrants, low skilled and professional labor. This practice has caused the population of Singapore to swell to 5.31 million. The rising inequality, the longest working hours of any of the developed worlds and the least happy workers of the world, with half of its population desiring to emigrate, show another story for the successful city-state. The country has been portraying the image of a successful, rich developed nation; however, the public is not exactly as it is portrayed on reality (Heffernan).

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY:

Singapore is a highly successful and developed free market economy. The economy is an open and corruption-free environment with per capita GDP higher than any of the developed countries and stable prices. The unemployment in Singapore is very low, and the economy of Singapore is highly dependent on the exports of information technology products, electronics products, optical devices, and medical devices. The company also is very developed in pharmaceutical products, transportation, and financial service sectors. The global financial crisis in 2009 caused the economy to contract by 0.6% but has since grown (Forbes).

The country’s growth was slower in 2014 to 2016 than the last decade, which was under 3% per year. It was mostly because of the low demand for exports and slow economic growth in the manufacturing sector of the economy. The government has now started to lower their dependence on foreign labor and is increasing the Singaporean wages and addressing their weak productivity growth. The country has attracted investment in the areas of medical technology production, pharmaceutical, and financial services. The country wants to maintain the position of being the technology and the financial services hub for Asia. The country has formed the economic community of ASEAN with other ASEAN members (Forbes).

The country has a GDP growth of 2%, while its GDP per Capita of $53,000. Trade Balance is 19% to Public Debt/GDP of 113%. The company has an unemployment rate of 2.1% with inflation of -0.5% (Forbes). The 70% of the nominal GDP of Singapore is generated by the services industry. The stock of the Singapore Direct Investment Abroad during the year 2017 shows a total investment of Singaporean $815.5 Billion. The direct investment is directed towards the countries of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cayman Islands, and the United Kingdom. The stock of the foreign direct investment in Singapore in 2017 was Singaporean $ of 1584.4 billion with the United States the major contributor. The Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Netherlands, and Japan come later (Department of Statistics Singapore).

The labor of Singapore is 65% employed by SMEs while 35% by now-SMEs while the SMEs make up 99% of all enterprises. All the enterprises are mostly owned by the local enterprises while 15% are foreign owned. Total exports of Singaporean $ of 515 billion were reported in 2017, while S$ 967.1 billion of total merchandise trade occurred. China is the largest trading partner with S$ 137.1 billion of trade with Malaysia, EU 28 and the United States following in line. For the Services Trade EU 28 is the largest trading partner with the United States, Japan, Australia, and China as trading partners as well. The country has 2.3 million of the resident labor force and 17.4 million of international visitor arrivals which earned S$26.8 billion of Tourism Receipts (Department of Statistics Singapore).

The third and fourth quarter of 2018 has suggested economic growth is going to decelerate as the manufacturing PMI has also declined as the one year lowest in October showing the slower growth in China is impacting demand and the consequences of trade protectionism. The electronics PMI also declined, which was accompanied with the decline in the electronic exports. It shows the feeble performance of the electronics sector in 2018. The country has been involved in trade agreements with CPTPP countries to encourage free trade. The agreements will take effect by 2018 end. The weakened contribution of the manufacturing sector is expected to cause slowed momentum in 2019 (Focus-Economics.Com).

However, the strong domestic demand is expected to keep the growth robust. The prolonged dispute between China and the US is causing a notable slowdown in the Chinese economy weighing on the outlook for Singapore as well. The 2019 Singaporean economy is expected to grow at 2.6%, which is unchanged from this year. The analysts consider the economy to further slow to 2.4% in 2020 (Focus-Economics.Com).

SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS ASPECTS

Singapore is a country of diverse cultures and religions. It is a living example of how people belonging from entirely different backgrounds can co-exist in peace. They are capable of practicing their religions and follow their customs and traditions while living in the same place. Its history influences this variety of cultures as some different ethnic groups moved to the country in the past.

The Culture of Singapore:

 A wonderful range of different traditions and cultures are observed in the country called Singapore. It is rightfully known as the place where the cultures of the East meet the Cultures of the West. It is due to its rich history that its culture is a fusion of numerous customs and traditions followed in the world, mainly influenced by Chinese, Malay, Indian and British groups that migrated to the country sometime in the past. However, a large number of Japanese, Australian, Dutch and Portuguese communities also live in Singapore (Santa Grand).

Singaporeans are proud individual proud of their mixed heritage and culture as they are one of the rare countries of the world where the achievements of the people are based on merit. There exists absolutely or almost no racism because all the different cultures are regarded as same as they contributed equally to making up the country. The name of the country reflects the pride of its people as it means the City of the Lion (Santa Grand).

The language of Singapore:

Singapore is a country of multiple languages. The four official languages are Malay, Tamil, Mandarin, and English. English is the language that unites all the different ethnic groups. Although English is most common among all and is used as an instruction tool in institutes as well students are also taught their mother languages to keep them in contact with their original traditions.  This trend has given birth to another language in the country that is known as Singlish. It is a mixture of different languages combined with English. Almost everyone in the country has command on more than one language. Singaporean English, i.e. Singlish is mostly influenced by Hokkien and Malay. People speaking Singlish mostly end their sentences with distinctive terms such as leh, lah or mah (Singapore Expats).

Religion of Singapore

The religions found in the country are as diverse as its people. The state entertains ten major religions of the world. They include Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and more.  The country observes public holidays for a range of religious traditions.  Some people are even found to accept two or more faiths. An individual might follow whatever religion, but he is bound to respect other faiths as well. That is why it is obligatory for people to practice certain rules in different places of worship of different religions. For example, one should take off his shoes before entering a temple or a mosque; he should wash his feet and hands before entering the temple of Hindus, women are obligated to dress properly, i.e. hide their body if they wish to visit a mosque or a temple and so on (Inter Nations). Some of the major religions that are practiced by most of the country’s population are mentioned below (Guruswamy).

• Buddhism

The major parts, i.e. more than three-fifths of the people living in Singapore follow Buddhism. They follow the teachings of concentration, morality, and wisdom. Kong Meng San Phor Kar See Monastery is the largest Buddhists’ temple found in the country.

• Taoism

Taoism is the second most common religion in Singapore. The people who follow Taoism practice the religious philosophy of the Chinese Philosopher known as Lao Tzu. They believe it is the existence of heaven and remain compassionate towards everyone who lives under heaven.

• Islam:

Sixteen people of the total population of Singapore follow Islam. They believe in the existence of one God and follow the teachings of their Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Book called the Quran. The followers of Islam are mostly Malays.

• Christianity:

Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and thus, they follow his teachings. The oldest Christian church, also called The American Church was made in 1835 in the country.

• Hinduism:

The believers of Hinduism that is the oldest religion to ever exist in the world believe in the existence of many Gods called Krishna, Rama, Ganesha, Hanuman, Morgan, Mariamman, Lakshmi, and Durga.

• Others:

Around 15000 people in the country follow Sikhism, and almost 300 people are Jews (Guruswamy).

Public Holidays:

National day, New Year’s Day and Labor Day are three secular holidays in Singapore. Other holidays are associated with a particular group or religion. They include Buddhist Vesak Day, Good Friday, Christian, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Muslim Eids, Hari Raya Hajj, Hindu Diwali, Hari Raya Puasa, and Deepavali. Along with these days, another celebration linked with different cultures is carried out in the country throughout the year (Santa Grand).

The Food:

The multiculturalism in Singapore results in a variety of delicious dishes. Along with the food particular to each ethnic group, the diversity of cultures has also given birth to amazing fusions and adaptations. Special dishes associated with special occasions are also made on specific days (Santa Grand).

The Social Classification:

Although some castes with a lot of wealth differences exist in the country the most differentiation that occurs is by ethnicity rather than by class. But education is one thing through which a group can move upwards and improve its position in the country. Singapore is believed to be a meritocracy country in this regard (Everyculture.Com).

Social Welfare Programs:

The public saving schemes, called the Central Provident Fund, is responsible for financing the social welfare in the country. All the employees whose age is less than 55 contribute to the fund by transferring a fixed amount of their salary to the CPF’s administration account. It is how the country provides security for older people. Independent social workers also exist who conduct different social services on their own (Everyculture.Com).

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

The environmental issues of Singapore are of great importance to it. The current environmental issues include industrial pollution, limited natural freshwater resources, limited land availability for waste disposal problems, and seasonal smoke from the forest fires in Indonesia. The most pressing and important issues of environment for Singapore include Acidification which is the lowering of the water pH and soil because of the acid deposition and precipitation. The process disrupts the ecosystem and kills freshwater plants and fish. Acid rain is another important environmental issue which causes the harmful level of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in the rain and the soil (Index Mundi).

The air and water of Singapore are generally clean; however, the expatriates in Singapore, Asia, Japan, and Malaysia show those were the cleanest. India, Vietnam, Philippines, China and Hong Kong are regarded on the other hand, as the dirtiest of the countries in the world. The environmental issues of Singapore have caused it to get into international agreements to climatic change, biodiversity, climatic Change-Kyoto Protocol, Law of the Sea, Endangered Species, Ship Pollution, Hazardous waste, desertification, and Ozone Layer Protection. Singapore is ranked among the lowest ranked countries on the environmental sustainability index to 9^th rank. The government is now taking the initiative to manage these environmental issues better. The people of Singapore are given tax breaks for using green or environmentally friendly cars like the ones with fuel cells. The coral reefs of the Southeast Asian seas in Singapore are 85% threatened by overfishing and pollution (Hays).

The study has shown that most of the Singaporeans have the knowledge on the impact of the climatic change in their lives and worry about it however they do not consider it their responsibility and does not think that third actions matter. The country is not big regarding land; however, each person here produces carbon emissions, which are much bigger than the citizens of countries like France, Switzerland, and Britain. A survey has shown that in 2016 the thirty of the respondents of Singapore supposed that their actions for environmental change would not matter for making a difference in the climate change. However, 9 out of 10 considered the impact environment would have on their future generations. The government has created a year-long initiative for climatic action which is focused on raising awareness on climatic change. Now, individuals can pledge to recycle and also walk or cycle or use public transport.

Furthermore, the organizations can also pledge to raise their office temperature by 1 to 2 degrees. The initiative has caused more than 210 pledges. A portal for the environmental blog has been set up to guide the ones who are looking for ways to cut their carbon footprint. The government has been working on raising awareness of the companies and the individual’s contribution will impact greatly on the environmental sustainability campaign of the government (Tan).

The government alone cannot tackle this situation and consider that collective and individual actions would be needed to fight the climate change for a better sustainable Singapore. Singapore contributes to the 0.11 percent of the global emissions and is ranked 26^th from the 142 countries regarding the per capita emissions as the 2015 data. The country has been a strong advocate of environmental sustainability efforts (Tan).

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