The lay of the land - original and reclaimed land that is...

I figured I’d put down some basic facts about Singapore, (borrowed from my high-school atlas and the some-time oracle Wikipedia) to cover the period between the last time I was here, about 10 years ago until current day. As I said, it’s a forward moving nation, moving at some pace, so bear that in mind when reviewing these basics.
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsular, 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator. At 710.2 km² (274.2 sq mi), Singapore is the smallest nation in South-East Asia but is substantially larger than Monaco and Vatican City, the only other surviving sovereign city-states on the changing map of the world.
From taxi drivers that I’ve spoken to, I hear that in 1880 there were tigers and wild boars still roaming the island, although the british soldiers, an arsenal of muskets and a hundred released prisonners put pay to that, clearing the island of animal threats in the blink of a colonial eye.



Before European settlement, the island now known as Singapore was the site of a Malay fishing village at the mouth of the Singapore River. Malay refers to the racial group of people that live in the peninsular, covering mostly Malaysia, southern Thailand, most of the populations of Indonesia and Brunei as well as a minority in southern parts of the Phillipines. Several hundred indigenous Orang Laut people also lived along the nearby coast, rivers and on smaller islands. In 1819, the British East India Company, led by Sir Stamford Raffles, established a trading post on the island, which was used as a port along the spice route. Singapore became one of the most important commercial and military centres of the British Empire, and the hub of British power in South-East Asia, providing a rival port to the Dutch port of Malacca in Malaysia.



During the 2nd World War, the British colony was occupied by the Japanese after the Battle of Singapore, which Winston Churchill called "Britain's greatest defeat". Singapore reverted to British rule in 1945, immediately after the war. Eighteen years later, in 1963, the city, having achieved independence from Britain, merged with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia. However, the merger proved unsuccessful for Singapore, and, less than two years later, it seceded from the federation and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth of Nations on 9 August 1965. Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on 21 September of that year.



Since independence, Singapore's standard of living has risen dramatically. Amazingly for a population of so few, Singapore is now rated in the top ten wealthiest countries in the world in terms of gross domestic product per person. And of course with high income per capita comes a similar rating for being one of the most expensive cities in the world. You have to then remember that this is all built on the back of a country that was 18% smaller in terms of land mass in the 1960s than it is now. With a strong and on-going land reclamation program that takes earth from Singapore’s own hills, the seabed, and neighbouring countries it has grown to 710 km² today, and may indeed grow by another 100 km² by 2030. While Hong Kong and Japan have resolved to build skywards to house their massive populations, Singapore has just decided that if there isn’t enough land, it will make some more.
Logical really when you think about it. It’s like America in the 19^th century, boldly pushing west-wards towards uncharted territory, the promise of your own land, your own domain, except this time there are more diggers, dredgers and water pumps involved. See the fiberglass rocks in the picture on t he left. Singapore can build anything!
Shovel