SINGAPORE FACTS
4 Officials Languages: English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil.
4 Official Scripts: English Alphabet, Malay Alphabet, Simplified Chinese and Tamil Script.
Government: Parliamentary Republic
Total Area: 274 sq miles
Total Population: 5.1 million
Formation: Founding (6 Feb 1819); Self Government (3 Jun 1959); Independence from United Kingdom (31 Aug 1963); Merger with Malaysia (16 Sept 1963); Separation from Malaysia (9 Aug 1965).
The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia, August 17, 2011
Officially the Republic of Singapore, this beautiful country is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 85 miles north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, 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.
Singapore is one of the Four Asian Tigers.
Singapore is a world leader in several areas: it is the world’s fourth leading financial centre, the world’s second biggest casino gambling market, the world’s third oil refining centers. The port of Singapore is one of the five busiest ports in the world. The country is home to more US dollar millionaire households per capita than any other country. The World Bank notes Singapore as the easiest place in the world to do business.
Singapore is a parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The People’s Action Party (PAP) has won every election since the British grant of internal self-government in 1959.
As of 2010, 5.1 million people live in Singapore, of whom 3.2 million (64%) are Singapore citizens. 2.9 million people (57%) were born in Singapore while the rest are foreign-born. The median age of Singaporeans is 37 years old and the average household size is 3.5 persons. In 2010, the total fertility rate was 1.1 children per woman, the third lowest in the world and well below the 2.1 needed to replace the population. To overcome this problem, the Singapore government is encouraging foreigners to immigrate to Singapore. The large number of immigrants has kept Singapore’s population from declining.
About 40 percent of the population are foreigners, the sixth-highest percentage in the world. The government is considering capping these workers, although it is recognised that they play a large role in the country’s economy. Foreign workers make up 80% of the construction industry and up to 50% in the service industry.
In 2009, 74.2% of residents were of Chinese, 13.4% of Malay, and 9.2% of Indian descent.
| Religion in Singapore | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| religion | percentage | |||
| Buddhism | 33% | |||
| Christianity | 18% | |||
| No religion | 17% | |||
| Islam | 15% | |||
| Taoism | 11% | |||
| Hinduism | 5.1% | |||
| Others | 0.9% | |||
Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in Singapore, with 33% of the resident population declaring themselves adherents at the most recent census. The next largest religions, in order of size, are Christianity, Islam, Taoism and Hinduism. The proportion of Christians, Taoists and non-religious people increased between 2000 and 2010 by about 3% each, while the proportion of Buddhists decreased. Other faiths remained largely stable in their share of the population.
There are monasteries and Dharma centres from all three major traditions of Buddhism in Singapore: Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. Most Buddhists in Singapore are Chinese and are of the Mahayana tradition. Chinese Mahayana is the most predominant form of Buddhism in Singapore, with missionaries from Taiwan and China for several decades. However, Thailand’s Theravada Buddhism has seen growing popularity amongst the people (not only the Chinese) in the past decade. Soka Gakkai International, a Japanese Buddhist organisation, is practised by many people in Singapore, but by mostly those of Chinese descent. Tibetan Buddhism has also made slow inroads into the country in recent years.
Languages
Native Languages of Singaporeans |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
language |
% of first language speakers |
|||
Chinese |
49.9% |
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English |
32.3% |
|||
Malay |
12.2% |
|||
Tamil |
3.3% |
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The world’s first wildlife park built for visits at night, the Night Safari is not like any ordinary zoo illuminated by the night or a modern version of nocturnal houses found in many zoos around the globe. Nestled in 40 hectares of lush secondary forest, the Night Safari offers guests the unique experience of exploring wildlife in a tropical jungle at night. Through the use of subtle lighting technique, guests are able to view over 1,000 nocturnal animals of 100 species in vast naturalistic habitats. The birth of the Night Safari is a result of a combination of factors. The overwhelming response to night tours conducted at the Zoo in the late 1980s indicated a demand for wholesome night entertainment. Displaying tropical animals at night seemed ideal since 90% of them are nocturnal and, therefore, most active after dusk. 
