Singapore boasts one of the highest living standards in the world. It had attracted, and also surprised, me and my husband on our first visit there almost four decades back when we had a chance to explore this island state. It was our first stop on our honeymoon to the Far East, which was then uncharted by most Pakistanis.
While there are parts of the city that retain links to its past, Singapore offers the most Western of all Asian experiences; it is one of the world’s flattest islands, the highest point being the forested Bukit Timah where I went a few times to watch my granddaughters’ after-school riding lessons as our son and his family call Singapore their home now.
In 1959, Singapore was granted internal self-government by the British. Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) was its first prime minister. In 1963 Singapore united with Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah to form Malaysia, but on Aug 9, 1965, it separated from this federation to become an independent state.
The Chinese, Malay, Peranakans (Singaporeans of mixed Chinese and Malay marriage) and Tamils form Singapore’s 3.25 million population, of which the bulk are Chinese, while the rest of the 2.2m people — of a total of around 5.2m — are immigrants from the world over, making it a truly cosmopolitan society.