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Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

author:History of Wakatakushi
Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

Singapore is the only developed country in Southeast Asia and is known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers". If Southeast Asia is compared to a country, then Singapore must be the "capital" of Southeast Asia.

Singapore is only 724.4 square kilometers, but it has a population of 5.7 million, of which 74% are Chinese. Although the land area is small, Singapore is famous for its prosperity.

From the founding of the country to the present, it only took 58 years for Singapore to complete the counterattack and firmly occupy the position of the richest man in Southeast Asia.

A tragic past

On 9 August 1965, Singapore was proclaimed a nation. However, on this day, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Fai burst into tears on the spot. These tears do not represent joy, but sadness.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

Because before that, Singapore did not want independence, because Singapore was poor and dilapidated, just a small fishing village. Its only advantage is that it relies on the Strait of Malacca, where residents can earn some hard-earned money on boats coming and going.

As a small place, he could only rely on his neighbor Malaysia, so after freeing itself from British colonial rule, Singapore immediately joined the Federation of Malaysia. But unexpectedly, it didn't take long for Malaysia to kick Singapore out directly, which forced Singapore to have nowhere to go and could only become an independent country.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

Singapore is a Chinese country, and before the arrival of the Chinese, it was originally a stronghold of the Malay Islands, usually rarely inhabited, and it was not until the 14th century that a large population began to appear.

Of course, this is also the credit of Zheng He's voyage to the West, which opened up the Maritime Silk Road and opened a precedent for immigration, because some Chinese stayed in the local area with Zheng He's voyage to the West. These people intermarried with the locals and produced children known as Baba Nyonya.

By the 17th century, it had become a Dutch colony. The Dutch East India Company occupied the area for 150 years until the arrival of the British.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

In 1824, it became a British colony, and the British were initially not optimistic about Singapore, but only built some urban infrastructure here, using it as a port.

However, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, due to the war and the oppression of the Qing Dynasty, a wave of immigration was triggered. Countless Chinese came here across the sea, and finally took root here, forming a huge Chinese community.

The British took advantage of this trend and gained a large number of laborers, so they set out to make Singapore a bustling port city.

Under the construction of the British, Singapore gradually took the shape of a city, with railways and public facilities, from a sparsely populated fishing village to a small city.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

In 1942, as a result of World War II, Japan occupied Singapore and wreaked havoc on it, destroying the hard-earned gains of the British.

After World War II, the British drove out Japan, reoccupied Singapore, and rebuilt it. But after the war, Singapore is no longer the same Singapore.

It's full of struggles, positions, religions. Every reason is preventing Singapore from sliding back into colonial rule. At this time, a political party emerged in Singapore, called the Singapore People's Action Party.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

In this organization, there is an important figure, Lee Kuan Yew, who led Singapore on the road to prosperity. The Singapore People's Action Party was established in 1954 and has grown very much by 1959 with the aim of fighting for Singapore's independence from any colonial rule.

That year, Lee Kuan Yew, founder of the People's Action Party, became Singapore's prime minister to the cheers of the people. Thanks to the efforts of the Singaporean people, Singapore finally established a self-governing government.

After independence, Singapore faced a major crisis about how to become rich and strong. This is not an easy task for the people of Singapore.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

At this time, Singapore turned its attention to its neighbor Malaysia, and after reaching an agreement with Malaysia, Singapore, Malaysia, Sarawak, North Borneo and other countries formed the Federation of Malaysia.

But in just a few years, Singapore and Malaysia were at odds. The reason is that the core values of the two countries are very different.

Singapore's population is predominantly Chinese, while Malaysia's is predominantly Malay. Malaysia pursued Malay policies and sought to change Singapore's political system.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

Singaporeans have just emerged from centuries of colonial history, and if they are allowed to listen to the Malaysians, they will undoubtedly fall into another colonial rule.

In the face of Malaysia's unreasonable demand, the Singapore government flatly rejected the request, so Malaysia joined other regimes and convened a conference to unilaterally kick Singapore out of the federation.

Later, the Federation of Malaysia published the news in the headlines, and the striking "Singapore is out" deeply stung the hearts of Singaporeans.

After being withdrawn from the Union, Singapore had to fend for itself, at this time Singapore can be said to have nothing, and Singapore's small land area means that their arable land area is pitiful.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

The whole country depends on imports for food, fresh water also depends on imports, and it is really very difficult for Singapore to achieve a counterattack, and Lee Kuan Yew, then Prime Minister of Singapore, felt anxious.

Lee Kuan Yew once wrote in his autobiography: "In the archipelago of more than 100 million Malay Muslims, our Chinese population is simply insignificant. Singapore is a Chinese island in the Malay Sea, how can we survive in such a hostile environment? ”

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

After being abandoned by Malaysia, Singapore was suppressed by Indonesia. In desperation, Singapore had to ask for international help.

The rebirth of the country

In 1965, after withdrawing from the Federation of Malaysia, Singapore joined the United Nations and joined the Commonwealth at the same time. To ensure its own safety, Singapore turned to the United States for help, purchased a batch of weapons in the United States, and stationed the US Navy at Changi Harbour Naval Base.

In fact, there was no way for Singapore to move closer to the United States, when Singapore withdrew from the Federation of Malaysia and was met with crazy retaliation from Malaysia.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

The Malays looked down on the Chinese and repeatedly provoked trouble, so riots often broke out on the streets of Singapore, and the Chinese could not even protect their own lives.

Because of Singapore's ethnic complexity and the fact that many Malaysian and Indonesian spies were mixed in, Singapore had to look for foreign aid.

The reason why the United States helps Singapore is also because of Singapore's geographical location, Singapore is at the entrance and exit of the Strait of Malacca, and has a natural, irreplaceable resource status.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

After enlisting help from abroad, Lee Kuan Yew began to develop Singapore's economy, issuing Singapore's trade ports and attracting investment. Seizing the opportunity of business transfer from Europe and the United States has created business opportunities for Singapore.

Lee Kuan Yew intends to learn from Western countries and replicate the path to prosperity in the West. Singapore didn't get rich in a day, and Lee Kuan Yew had a hard time on the road. He did not rush to make a quick profit, but first to earn the first pot of gold for Singapore.

Therefore, the first batch of merchants introduced by Lee Kuan Yew were not competitive resources, but some backward production capacity abroad. These merchants are moving bases just in time for Singapore to deliver olive branches.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

As a result, Singapore soon had its first merchants, textiles, garments, mosquito coils, wigs and other polluting heavy industries blooming all over Singapore.

Between 1965 and 1967, more than 100 new factories were built in Singapore, and a financial market dominated by Citibank emerged. It also means that Singapore's economy is on track.

With the start of heavy industry, Singapore quickly achieved self-sufficiency and lifted itself out of poverty. After completing the first phase of the upgrade, Singapore attracted a second business opportunity.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

This time, Lee Kuan Yew chose heavy industries such as shipbuilding, ship repair, and refining equipment for Singapore. This directly led Singapore's GDP to soar from S$3.3 billion to S$5.5 billion.

After the economic recovery, Lee Kuan Yew began to build his own blueprint, and he began to build Singapore, building hospitals, shopping malls, banks, schools and other infrastructure.

With the basic urban framework, Singapore has begun to build a framework for gas, water, electricity, transportation and so on. Lee Kuan Yew once said he wanted to make it a garden city.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

In the 70s and 80s of last century, Singapore began to transform into technology, network, information, computer related industries, catching up with the boom of the times Singapore has become a prosperous region in Southeast Asia, ranking among the "Asian Four Tigers".

From a small country to this point, Singapore has not been easy. "We have developed the island into a country without a hinterland, and we can only fight to the death. It is the globalization of the world that has helped Singapore, so we regard Singapore as a hinterland," said Lee Kuan Yew proudly, looking at the bustling city in front of him.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

Lee Kuan Yew should indeed be proud, although Singapore is indeed a desperate life, but it can have today's prosperity, Lee Kuan Yew is indispensable, without him, there would be no such a developed Singapore. Even Deng Xiaoping praised Lee Kuan Yew by saying, "You have a beautiful city, a garden city."

The reason why Singapore has been able to ride the dust is first of all that Singapore has a very talented ruler, and a complete set of rigorous, meticulous and perverted legal regulations.

Moreover, it is because of the bilingual reform that Singapore has truly opened up channels of communication. With language, there is education. After that, talent is introduced and retained, and talent is the hope of a country.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

In addition to these, the most important decision is to attract investment, which is an important decision that determines Singapore's economic system. Singapore provides the most comprehensive and favorable business environment for merchants in the world, and these merchants give back a bright future for Singapore.

After years of development, Singapore's GDP was once the same as Malaysia's, and the two countries also have the Strait of Malacca, but Malaysia's development is not as good as Singapore's, while Singapore is far behind other countries in Southeast Asia.

Today's Singapore has long been diversified manufacturing, wholesale, business services, financial industry, etc. should become the mainstream of Singapore.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

We all know that the main language of Singapore is English, and the second language is the other language, and although there are 74% Chinese here, the relationship between Singapore and China is not as good as imagined.

In our eyes, Singapore is a "Chinese city", but in the eyes of Singaporeans, they do not see themselves as Chinese, and China is just an ordinary country, at best the homeland of their ancestors.

In fact, the relationship between Singapore and China is not very good, and their government is a more pragmatic government, because Singapore is too small to maintain the status quo.

Chinese-ruled Singapore has become a model for snake-swallowing elephants, or may become the "capital" of Southeast Asia

Lee Kuan Yew had worried that once Singapore's leader was mediocre, Singapore would soon disappear. This is something that worries him not only but all Singaporeans.

In the 70s, Singapore made a very important decision, that is, to promote English education and abandon Chinese language education. As a result, there are fewer and fewer people in Singapore who can speak Chinese.

The decision to Westernize completely determines the future of Singapore to a large extent, and good relations with Britain and the United States are also the key to Singapore's development into a prosperous city.

Singapore's development is inseparable from the right people at the right time and place, and they must always remain sober and hope that they can maintain this prosperity forever.

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