Singapore

When to go | Events | Attraction | History

Singapore has traded in its rough-and-ready opium dens and pearl luggers for towers of concrete and glass, and its steamy rickshaw image for hi-tech wizardry, but you can still recapture the colonial era with a gin sling under the languorous ceiling fans at Raffles Hotel. At first glance, Singapore appears shockingly modern and anonymous, but this is an undeniably Asian city with Chinese, Malay and Indian traditions from feng shui to ancestor worship creating part of the everyday landscape. It's these contrasts that bring the city to life. One day you're in a hawker stall melting over a bowl of Indian curry, the next you're enjoying high tea in whispered environs complete with air-con, starched linen table cloths and gliding waiters. Super-safe and mega-clean Singapore may be, but its sultry rhythms wash inexorably beneath the regimented beat of big-city life. In the crowded streets of Chinatown, fortune tellers, calligraphers and temple worshippers are still a part of everyday life. In Little India, you can buy the best sari material, freshly ground spices or a picture of your favourite Hindu god. In the small shops of Arab St, the cry of the imam can be heard from the nearby Sultan Mosque.

Area: 683 sq km Population: 4 million

Country: Singapore

Time Zone: GMT/UTC +8 (Standard Time) Telephone Area Code: There are no area codes in Singapore; just dial the eight-digit number.

Orientation Singapore is a city, an island and a country. Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore on the Singapore River, which is still the heart of the city, encompassing the central business district and the popular entertainment and dining precinct along the quays. Most of Singapore's tourist action is centred around Orchard Rd, Chinatown and Little India. When to Go Go anytime. Climate is not a major consideration, as Singapore gets fairly steady annual rainfall. Co-ordinate your visit with one of the various festivals and events: Thaipusam is a spectacular festival, occurring around February. If shopping and eating are major concerns, April brings the Singapore Food Festival and the Great Singapore Sale is held in June. Events The multicultural people of Singapore celebrate with the roar of a Chinese dragon at New Year, feasting for the living and the dead and dancing with the fervour of religious passion. Every phase of the lunar cycle brings a new opportunity for colour and festivity. Because they follow the lunar calendar, the dates of Chinese, Hindu and Muslim festivals vary from year to year. Chinese New Year, in January or February, is welcomed in with dragon dances, parades and much good cheer. Chinatown is lit up with fireworks and night markets. Vesak Day in May celebrates Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. It is marked by various events, including the release of caged birds to symbolise the liberation of captive souls. The Dragon Boat Festival, held in May or June, commemorates the death of a Chinese patriot who drowned himself as a protest against government corruption. It is celebrated with boat races across Marina Bay, accompanied by much eating of rice dumplings. The Chinese Festival of the Hungry Ghosts is usually celebrated in September. This is when the souls of the dead are released for feasting and entertainment on earth. Chinese operas are performed for them and food is offered; the ghosts eat the spirit of the food but thoughtfully leave the substance for the mortal celebrants. During Ramadan, food stalls are set up in the evening in the Arab St district, near the Sultan Mosque. Hari Raya Puasa, the end of Ramadan in November, is marked by three days of joyful celebrations. The festival of Thaipusam is one of the most dramatic Hindu festivals and is now banned in India. Devotees honour Lord Subramaniam with acts of amazing body-piercing - definitely not for the squeamish. In Singapore, devotees march in procession from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on Serangoon Rd to the Chettiar Hindu Temple on Tank Rd. Dates for the festival vary according to the lunar calendar. Public Holidays 1 Jan - New Year's Day Jan/Feb - Chinese New Year Feb/Mar - Hari Raya Haji Mar/Apr - Good Friday 1 May - Labour Day May - Vesak Day 9 Aug - National Day Oct - Deepavali 25 Dec - Christmas Day Attractions Arab St The Muslim centre of Singapore is a traditional textile district, full of batiks from Indonesia, silks, sarongs and shirts. Add to this mix rosaries, flower essences, hajj caps, songkok hats, basketware and rattan goods, and you have a fair idea of the products haggled over in this part of the city. The grand Sultan Mosque is the biggest and liveliest mosque in Singapore, but the tiny Malabar Muslim Jama-ath Mosque is the most beautiful. There's fine Indian Muslim food along nearby North Bridge Rd and the foodstalls on Bussorah St are especially atmospheric at dusk during Ramadan. Chinatown Chinatown is Singapore's cultural heart and still provides glimpses of the old ways with its numerous temples, decorated terraces and its frantic conglomeration of merchants, shops and activity. Gentrified restaurants and expensive shops are gradually overtaking the venerable incense-selling professions. Colonial Singapore The mark of Sir Stamford Raffles is indelibly stamped on central Singapore. By moving the business district south of the river and making the northern area the administrative centre, Raffles created the framework that remained the blueprint for central Singapore through generations of colonial rule and the republican years of independence. Places of interest include: Empress Place Building, an imposing Victorian structure, built in 1865, that houses a museum, art and antique galleries and a chic restaurant; the incongruous Padang, where flannelled cricketers once caught, bowled and batted in the searing heat; Raffles Hotel, a Singaporean institution which has become a byword for oriental luxury; and any number of imposing churches, such as St Andrew's Cathedral and the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. Jurong Jurong Town, west of the city centre, is a huge industrial and housing area that is the powerhouse of Singapore's economy. This might seem an unlikely spot for a number of Singapore's tourist attractions but it is home to the Haw Par Villa (an incredibly tacky Chinese mythological theme park), the beautifully landscaped Jurong Bird Park, Chinese Garden and the hands-on Singapore Discovery Centre. Little India This modest but colourful area of wall-to-wall shops, pungent aromas and Hindi film music is a relief from the prim modernity of many parts of the city. This is the place to come to pick up that framed print of a Hindu god you've always wanted, eat great vegetarian food and watch streetside cooks fry chapatis. Orchard Rd Dominated by high-class hotels this is the playground of Singapore's elite, who are lured by the shopping centres, nightspots, restaurants, bars and lounges. A showcase for the material delights of capitalism, Orchard Rd also possesses some sights of cultural interest where a credit card is not required. Sentosa Island The granddaddy of Singapore's parks, Sentosa Island is the city-state's most visited attraction. It has museums, aquariums, beaches, sporting facilities, walks, rides and food centres. If a day isn't enough to take in all the sites and activities, the island has a camping ground, hostel and luxury hotels. History According to Malay legend, a Sumatran prince encountered a lion - considered a good omen - on Temasek, prompting him to found Singapura, or Lion City. It mattered little that lions had never inhabited Singapore (more likely the prince had seen a tiger); what did matter was the establishment of the region as a minor trading post for the powerful Sumatran Srivijaya empire and as a subsequent vassal state of the Javanese Majapahit empire in the mid-13th century. Singapore might have remained a quiet backwater if not for Sir Stamford Raffles' intervention in 1819. The British had first established a presence in the Straits of Melaka (now called Malacca) in the 18th century when the East India Company set out to secure and protect its line of trade from China to the colonies in India. Fearing another resurgence of expansionism in the Dutch - which had been the dominant European trading power in the region for nearly 200 years - Raffles argued for an increased British presence, which he was promptly given. Under his tutelage, Singapore's forlorn reputation as a fetid, disease-ridden colony was soon forgotten. Migrants attracted by a tariff-free port poured in by the thousands, and a flourishing colony with a military and naval base was established. Singapore's inexorable growth continued into the 20th century. However, the outbreak of WWII brutally exposed the fallacy of British might: they suffered the ignominy of defeat when Japan invaded the colony in 1941. The British were welcomed back after Japan's surrender in 1945, but their right to rule was no longer assured. By the 1950s, burgeoning nationalism had led to the formation of a number of political parties as Singapore moved slowly towards self-government. The People's Action Party, with the Cambridge-educated Lee Kuan Yew as leader, was elected in 1959. Lee became prime minister, a position he was to hold for the next 31 years. In 1963, Singapore formed a union with Malaya (now Malaysia) but by 1965, the nascent federation was in tatters. Singapore became independent soon after and was once again the economic success story of the region. Shrewd and pathologically pragmatic, Lee fashioned a government heavy on strict social order and the suppression of political opposition. Lee Kuan Yew resigned as prime minister in 1990 and was replaced by Goh Chok Tong, a leader more inclined towards consultation and liberalism. The country's first presidential election was held in August 1993 - prior to that, presidents were elected by members of parliament. The most recent election was in September 1999 when the presidency, a largely ceremonial role, was won by SR Nathan. Economically, the southeast Asian region's late-1990s downturn (a euphemism if ever there was one) hit Singapore as hard as anywhere else - in one three-month period in late 1998, unemployment in the country doubled. The city-state is slowly bouncing back, however, and on the street things are lively as ever, though the exodus of well-trained professionals seeking glittering international opportunities is a growing concern.