History UsefulNotes / Singapore

Singapore, officially known as the '''Republic of Singapore''' ('''Malay:''' ''Republik Singapura''; '''Chinese:''' ''新加坡共和国 ''; '''Tamil:''' ''சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு''), is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, about 700 square kilometers in total land area, splitting from Malaysia in 1965, a state it still has some disputes with. Ties between the citizens of both countries remain extremely close, since almost everyone has friends, family, and/or business on the other side of the causeway.

Singapore, officially known as the Republic of Singapore ('''Malay:''' ''Republik Singapura''; '''Chinese:''' ''新加坡共和国 ''; '''Tamil:''' ''சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு''), is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, about 700 square kilometers in total land area, splitting from Malaysia in 1965, a state it still has some disputes with. Ties between the citizens of both countries remain extremely close, since almost everyone has friends, family, and/or business on the other side of the causeway.

* ''Literature/ClassicSingaporeHorrorStories'' from Singaporean ex-poet and writer, one of the most influential example of local Singaporean literature.

In addition to the humidity, hot sun, and mosquitoes, Singapore has garnered a fairly infamous reputation for being incredibly strict and conservative when it comes to its laws - with very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place had a population of ''4 million'' at the time), including for drug trafficking. (The crime rate in Singapore is pathetically low though, so depending on your point of view the death penalty may or may not be a neccessary evil or even a good thing to keep citizens in line. We'll mention the Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and leave it at that.) The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has several notably restrictive laws: discouraging homosexuality and banning same-sex marriages, issuing fines for intentional littering, outlawing the possession of porn, and banning [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the sale]][[note]]although not possession, so bringing in a stick or two for yourself or friends is acceptable unless you go around sticking wads of gum on public property[[/note]][[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking of chewing gum]], amongst others. Fortunately, the penalties for all but the first are simply fining and/or community service; the goal is to keep the city clean and safe, not to lock people up. Creator/WilliamGibson once memorably described the place as "[[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html Disneyland with the death penalty]]"[[note]]He was dissatisfied later that he managed to convey the city's "creepy anal retentive" authoritarianism better than its "unrelenting dullness"[[/note]], and the locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and two large casino resorts have been completed ([[InsistentTerminology though the term "Integrated Resort" is preferred]]). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

Singapore is ostensibly a representative democracy, although some political science professors would disagree rather vehemently. The primary political party, the People's Action Party (PAP), has dominated elections since self-government in 1959 much like Malaysia, but their lead slipped in the 2006 election. However, since the 2008 Malaysian election where opposition parties achieve significant gains, the PAP has become wary of changing political tides. In the 2011 election, the PAP's lead slipped once more, with various important constituencies nearly taken by the opposition [[note]] Ah, Marine Parade. The opposition won a good chunk of the votes and almost got the current Prime Minister's team to leave Parliament. Officially, it's because the opposition was just good. Unofficially, one of the PAP members in the running, a young woman named Tin Pei Ling, created a scandal with her apparent lack of intelligence and almost doomed the party. There are currently petitions for her to step down.[[/note]] There is speculation that Singapore might end up as a two-party system with the Worker's Party (WP), especially with the first leader of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and unofficial leader of PAP, finally retiring and then proceeding to die. Despite this, much of Singapore's influence and prosperity comes from initially unpopular policies started by the PAP. Politically, it is now one of the USA's best buds in the Pacific, especially in South-East Asia. In fact, it maintains good relationships with an abundance of other nations, generally ranging from 'friendly acquaintance' to BFF.

* ''VR Man'' - A short, one-season wonder featuring a pager which the titular hero used as a transformation device. It was very heavy on the {{narm}}.

* Singapore has been mentioned in at least one Film/JamesBond film. Seems like [[SecretIntelligenceService [=MI6=]]] has a tiny branch here in ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'', where the jamming signal from the Carver Media satellite gets picked up on.

Singapore is also a very secular society and have strong sense of religious tolerance, as there a wide variety of religions that Singaporeans practice. In fact, Singapore is one of the few states where their population does ''not'' have a majority religion (Buddhism, the most practiced religion in Singapore, is followed by roughly 33% of their population). The only religions that Singapore bans is the Jehovah Witnesses [[note]]Jehovah Witnesses core beliefs is that they refuse to serve the military or any nation and Singapore has a mandatory draft as mentioned above[[/note]] and Unification Church [[note]]The government considered their church to be a cult, and the fact that their founder, Sun Myung Moon, had made a lot of controversial statements relating to Judaism[[/note]]. Singapore also doesn't tolerate any material that encourages racism or religious discrimination, and ban materials that does so (such as ComicBook/ChickTracts).

Similarly, Singapore is not ''[[Music/RainDogs made of iron ore]]'', as Music/TomWaits would tell you, although it probably isn't a good idea to fall asleep while you're ashore.

In addition to the humidity, hot sun, and mosquitoes, Singapore has garnered a fairly infamous reputation for being incredibly strict and conservative when it comes to its laws - with very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place had a population of ''4 million'' at the time), including for drug trafficking. (The crime rate in Singapore is pathetically low though, so depending on your point of view the death penalty may or may not be a neccessary evil or even a good thing to keep citizens in line. We'll mention the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement and leave it at that.) The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has several notably restrictive laws: discouraging homosexuality and banning same-sex marriages, issuing fines for intentional littering, outlawing the possession of porn, and banning [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the sale]][[note]]although not possession, so bringing in a stick or two for yourself or friends is acceptable unless you go around sticking wads of gum on public property[[/note]][[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking of chewing gum]], amongst others. Fortunately, the penalties for all but the first are simply fining and/or community service; the goal is to keep the city clean and safe, not to lock people up. Creator/WilliamGibson once memorably described the place as "[[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html Disneyland with the death penalty]]"[[note]]He was dissatisfied later that he managed to convey the city's "creepy anal retentive" authoritarianism better than its "unrelenting dullness"[[/note]], and the locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and two large casino resorts have been completed ([[InsistentTerminology though the term "Integrated Resort" is preferred]]). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

* While not exactly Singaporean, Bolo Santosi from ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]]'' made waves across the internet solely from her cringe-worthy, exaggerated [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent Singaporean accent]] bordering on SoBadItsGood territory.

In addition to the humidity, hot sun, and mosquitoes, Singapore has garnered a fairly infamous reputation for being incredibly strict and conservative when it comes to its laws - with very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place had a population of ''4 million'' at the time), including for drug trafficking. (This is usually Justified, though; the crime rate is so pathetically low that the government had to put up posters reminding the population that there still is criminal activity at all. While the justice system can be harsh, it is incredibly useful at keeping the city clean and safe, while giving great freedom as long as one doesn't break the laws). The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has several notably restrictive laws: discouraging homosexuality and banning same-sex marriages, issuing fines for intentional littering, outlawing the possession of porn, and banning [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the sale of chewing gum]], amongst others. (Fortunately, the penalties for all but the first are simply fining and/or community service; the goal is to keep the city clean and safe, not to lock people up. And chewing gum itself is not banned; but bringing large amounts for the sake of capitalist sale is. Bringing in a few handfuls of gum to share with your friends or for yourself is perfectly fine, unless you stick the end result on public property.) Creator/WilliamGibson once memorably described the place as "[[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html Disneyland with the death penalty]]"[[note]]He was dissatisfied later that he managed to convey the city's "creepy anal retentive" authoritarianism better than its "unrelenting dullness"[[/note]], and the locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and two large casino resorts have been completed ([[InsistentTerminology though the term "Integrated Resort" is preferred]]). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

* Kevin Kwan's ''Crazy Rich Asians'' is about the lifestyle of the insanely rich in Singapore. It focuses on an Asian-American girl whose boyfriend takes her to his hometown in Singapore for his best friend's wedding where she discovers that he comes from an extremely wealthy and influential Singaporean OldMoney family who lives in a palace. Much of the country's culture is introduced here.

* ''AhBoysToMen'', is a series of Singaporean-Malaysian films about [[Main/{{Conscription}} National]] [[SingaporeansWithStealthFrigates Service]] in Singapore.

* ''Battlefield4'', a First-Person Shooter that features [[UsefulNotes/ChineseWithChopperSupport Chinese]]-[[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs occupied]] Singapore in one of its campaign missions.

* In the WWII RTS game ''[[Videogame/MenOfWar Men of War: Assault Squad]]'' and it's sequel, a 1940s Singapore is one of the scenarios, featuring the playable attacking [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese Army]] against the defending [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships Commonwealth forces]]. It is depicted as a lush jungle terrain map and the British forces in possession of ''far'' too many tanks stationed there at the time in real life (read: zero).

* Goh Min and Goh Xiulan, triad leaders of the 54 Immortals from the campaign of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps3''.

** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2'' has a Strike Force Mission take place within a futuristic Keppel Harbour, with the Singapore skyline visible in the background. The multiplayer map "Cargo" takes place at the aforementioned Harbour.
** In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps3'', a futuristic Singapore is featured prominently in the single-player campaign. The advanced, wealthy city has since declined rapidly since 2060 after an industrial accident contaminates most of the Central Business District and is now under quarantine. The 54 Immortals, a local triad gang continues to perform nefarious criminal operations within the containment walls after the government abandons reclamation efforts due to frequent typhoons hitting the region[[note]]As part of the futuristic consequences of climate change; the region has never seen a natural disaster of that scale since, ''ever''[[/note]].

In addition to the humidity, hot sun, and mosquitoes. Singapore has garnered a fairly infamous reputation for being incredibly strict and conservative when it comes to its laws. With very frequent use of the death penalty (400 hangings between 1991 and 2004 - note that the place had a population of ''4 million'' at the time), including for drug trafficking. (This is usually Justified, though; the crime rate is so pathetically low that the government had to put up posters reminding the population that there still is criminal activity at all. While the justice system can be harsh, it is incredibly useful at keeping the city clean and safe, while giving great freedom as long as one doesn't break the laws). The use of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore caning]] is also common as a punishment, as an American tourist by the name of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay Michael Fay]] found out the hard way in 1994 after being arrested for theft and vandalism. It has several notably restrictive laws - it discourages homosexuality and bans same-sex marriages, intentional littering leads to fines, the possession of porn, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the sale of chewing gum]], amongst others. (Fortunately, the penalties for all but the first are simply fining and/or community service; the goal is to keep the city clean and safe, not to lock people up. And chewing gum itself is not banned; but bringing large amounts for the sake of capitalist sale is. Bringing in a few handfuls of gum to share with your friends or for yourself is perfectly fine, unless you stick the end result on public property.) Creator/WilliamGibson once memorably described the place as "[[http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.04/gibson.html Disneyland with the death penalty]]"[[note]]He was dissatisfied later that he managed to convey the city's "creepy anal retentive" authoritarianism better than its "unrelenting dullness"[[/note]], and the locals make jokes about this - you can get T-shirts saying "Singapore is a [[IncrediblyLamePun fine city]]", enumerating most of the fines one is likely to incur for various misdemeanours. The government finally passed laws allowing controlled gambling a couple of years back, and two large casino resorts have been completed ([[InsistentTerminology though the term "Integrated Resort" is preferred]]). With the new tourism spike, the government is loosening some of their stricter laws.

The 15th wealthiest country per capita in the world (5th by purchasing power, 3rd if you go by IMF data), it is very densely populated, mostly of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian ethnicity. The general population is undergoing some interesting developments, with Singaporeans emigrating to other countries while [[MightyWhitey foreigners]] come to the country seeking high paying jobs. This has been of much talk among the local population, creating the saying "National Service for the locals, jobs for the foreigners", National Service referring to the mandatory 2 years of full-time military service for male Singapore citizens.

A British colony for a while, it was captured by the Japanese in 1942 after they came in via the jungle on bicycles - the naval guns were NOT pointed out to sea, as widely believed. They did not. however, have a lot of HE (High-Explosive) rounds, and the guns had to resort to firing ineffective armor-piercing rounds after these ran out. UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill called it the worst disaster in British history, which is wholly accurate in pure numeric terms. This event, and the subsequent war atrocities, is generally acknowledged as the [[ShockingDefeatLegacy trigger of the local awakening]] that the Western colonial powers [[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll weren't - and were never - invincible]], and when the British returned, the independence movement kicked into full gear with the UsefulNotes/ColdWar as a backdrop (the Malayan Emergency raged on as Communists attempted to overthrow the British-backed government), with self-governance being granted in 1959.

Clearly, the writers of ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' hadn't either... the place is depicted as a large town at the close of the era of pirates, when it was in fact a swampy island (which had ''formerly'' been a major trading hub until the Majapahit Empire had enough of ''that'' and started massacring people on the island) until being bought up at the start of the era of empires by Sir Stamford Raffles, who was just about the opposite of Lord Cutler Beckett and quite a guy[[note]]His deputy and co-founder of the British colony there, Major-General William Farquhar, would probably disagree given that Raffles sacked him as the Resident four years into his term, condemning him to a life of obscurity[[/note]]. To be fair, though, they got other things right: Chinese formed a big part of the population of Singapore when it did exist and the Straits of Malacca by which its sits are even today a (comparative) pirate hotspot. Also, prior to becoming a Crown Colony in the latter part of the 19th Century, it ''did'' have a reputation of being a WretchedHive with rampant crime, corruption and opium; a derisive nickname given to it at the time was "Sin Galore."

Clearly, the writers of ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' hadn't either... the place is depicted as a large town at the close of the era of pirates, when it was in fact a swampy island (which had ''formerly'' been a major trading hub until the Majapahit Empire had enough of ''that'' and started massacring people on the island) until being bought up at the start of the era of empires by Sir Stamford Raffles, who was just about the opposite of Lord Cutler Beckett and quite a guy. To be fair, though, they got other things right: Chinese formed a big part of the population of Singapore when it did exist and the Straits of Malacca by which its sits are even today a (comparative) pirate hotspot. Also, prior to becoming a Crown Colony in the latter part of the 19th Century, it ''did'' have a reputation of being a WretchedHive with rampant crime, corruption and opium; a derisive nickname given to it at the time was "Sin Galore."

* ''[[VideoGame/MedalOfHonor Medal of Honor: Rising Sun]]'' has a level set in Singapore during the Japanese Occupation, where OSS agents Joe and Tanaka attempts to infiltrate a secret Axis meeting held at Raffles Hotel while passing by old monumental landmarks such as Chinatown, Jamae Mosque and Sri Mariamman Temple.

Singapore, officially known as the Republic of Singapore ('''Malay:''' ''Republik Singapura''; '''Chinese:''' ''新加坡共和国 ''; '''Tamil:''' ''சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு''), is an island city-state in South-East Asia, about 700 square kilometers in total land area, splitting from Malaysia in 1965, a state it still has some disputes with. Ties between the citizens of both countries remain extremely close, since almost everyone has friends, family, and/or business on the other side of the causeway.

* In the WWII RTS game ''[[Videogame/MenOfWar Men of War: Assault Squad]]'' and it's sequel, a 1940s Singapore is one of the scenarios, featuring the playable attacking [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese Army]] against the defending [[BritsWithBattleships Commonwealth forces]]. It is depicted as a lush jungle terrain map and the British forces in possession of ''far'' too many tanks stationed there at the time in real life (read: zero).

* ''The Noose'' - Something of a FollowTheLeader to ''Series/TheColbertReport'' and ''TheDailyShow With John Stewart'', this spoof news program goes with demographical rather than political stereotypes, and content-wise comes close enough to crossing the line to last seven seasons thus far. The disclaimer before the OP helps.

* ''Series/SerangoonRoad'', a 2013 co-production between [[TheABC the Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] and HBO Asia. It's set in 1960s Singapore and focuses on an Australian expat and the Chinese woman who runs a detective agency he does casual work for.