பேச்சு:சிங்கப்பூர்
கட்டற்ற கலைக்களஞ்சியமான விக்கிபீடியாவில் இருந்து.
To be translated:
பொருளடக்கம் |
[தொகு] அரசியல்
Main article: Politics of Singapore
Singapore has a Westminster-style constitution. There is an appointed figurehead president, with true executive power resting with the prime minister who leads the majority party in the elected parliament.
In practice, politics is dominated by the People's Action Party which has ruled since Independence. Over the years the PAP has instituted several harsh laws that discourage and impede the creation and success of effective opposition parties. The mode of government is perhaps closer to authoritarianism than true democracy. Paradoxically (for political scientists), Singapore has a highly successful, corruption-free, and transparent market economy.
[தொகு] பொருளாதாரம்
Main article: Economy of Singapore
Singapore enjoys a highly developed and successful free-market economy, characterised by a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and one of the highest per capita GDPs in the world. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing, and was hard hit in 2001 by the global recession and the slump in the technology sector. In 2001, GDP contracted by 2.2%. The economy is expected to recover in 2002 in response to improvements in the US economy, and GDP growth for 2002 is projected to be 3% to 4%. In the longer term the government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle than the current export-led model, but is unlikely to abandon efforts to establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub.
The Economic Review Committee (ERC), set up in December 2001, made key recommendations to remake Singapore into:
- a globalised economy where Singapore is the key node in the global network, linked to all the major economies;
- a creative and entrepreneurial nation willing to take risks to create fresh businesses and blaze new paths to success; and
- a diversified economy powered by the twin engines of manufacturing and services, where vibrant Singapore companies complement MNCs, and new startups co-exist with traditional businesses exploiting new and innovative ideas.
[தொகு] நிலவியல்
Main article: Geography of Singapore
Singapore's main territory is a diamond-shaped piece of land that would be an island, if it was not connected to the city of Johor Bahru in the state of Johor (Malaysia) by a man-made causeway to the north. This causeway is set to be replaced through the construction of a new bridge to Johor Bahru. There is also a second link in the form of a bridge to Johor to the west in the Tuas area. Singapore also has dozens of smaller islands, of which Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the largest. Since Singapore basically consists of only one city, there are no further administrative divisions.
[தொகு] Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Singapore
Apart from the much smaller Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated independent country in the world. 85% of the population live in public housing provided by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). Source: Dept of Statistics
Singapore's population is diverse. Chinese account for 76.8% of the population, Malays 13.9% who were the indigenous or native group of the country. Indians are the third largest ethnic group at 7.9%. Source: Singapore Department of Statistics Census 2000.
The official languages are English, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Malay is also Singapore's national language but this is largely symbolic, being the language of the national anthem. The ruling PAP (People's Action Party) has preferred to promote English as the country's lingua franca, with Malay being confined largely to its native speakers, with relatively few of the majority Chinese and Indian Singaporeans speaking it.
[தொகு] பண்பாடு
Main article: Culture of Singapore
Since Singapore is a small and relatively modern amalgam of Chinese, Malay and Indian settlers, there appears little in the way of specifically Singaporean culture. In an entirely unique fashion, the various ethnic groups continue to celebrate their own cultures. It is probably the only place in the world where you can find a Malay Wedding taking place beside a Chinese wedding at a void deck, for example. The major holidays reflect how the local culture celebrate this diversity. Unlike many other multi-cultural societies, major public holidays include the Georgian Calendar New Year, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Haji and Deepavali.
- Design in Singapore
- Music of Singapore
[தொகு] சட்டங்கள்
Laws are often strict (there is a saying "Singapore is a 'fine' country", where the "fine" is of the monetary kind):
- The sale of chewing gum was forbidden for 12 years until May of 2004. However, those that buy chewing gum must show their ID and give their name. If the pharmacist that sells the gum does not take the name of the buyer, they face a $3,000 fine.
- Heavy fines and community service are levied on people who litter or discard items in public areas.
- Car ownership is curbed through a government scheme in which car owners must bid for a Certificate of Entitlement (COE).
- Eating and drinking on buses and metro trains (also known as the Mass Rapid Transit system) also carries heavy fines.
- Vandalism and graffiti are punishable by mandatory caning.
- There is tough (by western standards) censorship:
- Some foreign newspapers and magazines, such as the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review have had their circulation or sale restricted. Malaysian newspapers are not allowed to be sold in Singapore (and vice versa)
- pornography is not allowed; depiction of sex and nudity is restricted, e.g. Playboy and certain other 'adult' magazines such as Cosmopolitan Magazine are not allowed. Sex and nudity, if allowed at all, must be relevant to the context; movies containing nudity, sex or high levels of violence are usually categorised as Mature 18 (M18).
- It is of note that the government has shown some interest in laxing these standards, and has in recent times introduced a new movie category allowing 18-year-olds to view more mature content (M18).
- Private ownership of satellite dishes is banned, and international TV broadcasts (such as CNN, BBC, etc) can only be received by cable.
- Certain political material is not allowed.
- Material which may disturb religious and racial harmony is not allowed.
- Narcotics laws are very strict.
- Anyone caught with more than or equal to 13-14 g (0.5 ounces) of heroin, 28 g (1 ounce) of morphine or 480 g (17 ounces) of cannabis faces mandatory capital punishment. From 1991-2004, 400 people have been hanged in Singapore, mostly for drug trafficking, the highest execution rate in the world relative to population. See Singapore Government's response to its capital punishment.
- Sex deemed by the Government to be "against the order of nature", including oral sex and homosexual penetration, is illegal.
In 2003, the Censorship Review Committee recommended that the ban on Cosmopolitan Magazine be lifted but that the one on Playboy be continued because the Singaporean community is not ready for Playboy's liberal use of sexually explicit photographs.
In recent years, the Singaporean government relaxed some of the stricter laws. For example, bungie jumping is no longer illegal. Film censorship has also been relaxed. There are also signs that the government is considering relaxing a number of laws concerning sex.
It is of note that while some strict (and to the point of being ludicrous) laws exist in theory, the government (usually) does not deliberately enforce these laws. For instance, while possession of pornography is illegal, no known checks have been made. Neither has the government tried to enforce a rule stating that oral sex be performed only as a precursor to sexual intercourse.
[தொகு] மரண தண்டணை
The Singapore government has released figures giving a breakdown of the numbers of executions that have taken place over the past five years. Executions by hanging occur every Friday morning in Changi prison; relatives are informed of the date of the execution four days before it is scheduled to take place, seven to fourteen days beforehand in the case of foreigners as is detailed in the Singapore government's response to Amnesty International on the subject.
[தொகு] Trivia
- Traffic drives on the left.
- Officially, the English used is modelled on British English (spelling and grammar), though some American English vocabulary and other influences are present. (As an example, British newspapers have "sport pages" while they are called "sports pages" locally.) The local version of English, Singlish, a combination of English with Hokkien accents and a smattering of words from other local languages, is popular, but frowned upon in official contexts.
- Date format: DD/MM/YYYY
- Postal code: 6 digits.
- Telephone prefixes: 6xxx-xxxx land lines; 8xxx-xxxx (from April 2004) and 9xxx-xxxx mobile lines.
- System of units: SI (Metric)
- Voltage: 220-240V, 50 Hz; Power connector: 3-pin rectangular (British)
[தொகு] நானாவித தலைப்புகள்
- Communications in Singapore
- Transportation in Singapore
- Military of Singapore
- Education in Singapore
- Foreign relations of Singapore
- Tourism in Singapore
- Changi International Airport
[தொகு] உசாத்துணை
- This article incorporates public domain text from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.