Singapore: About Singapore
From ExecutivePlanet.com
About Singapore
Singapore is an island nation situated at the southern tip of the West Malaysian Peninsula and approximately 137 kilometers north of the equator. The climate in Singapore is therefore tropical. Its current size of 704.0 km² is a moving target due to tremendous efforts in land reclamation which is adding significant usable space to this smallest country in South East Asia. Established as a trading post by the British East India Company in 1819, it was at the time merely a small Malay Fishing Village. During the Second World War, Singapore was briefly occupied by Japan and reverted back to British Rule in 1945. In 1963, Singapore was merged with what was then Malaya to form Malaysia (hence the “s” in that country’s name up to today). Less than two years later, it split from the federation and became an independent nation. The population of Singapore is approximately 4.5 million and, out of those, roughly 1 million are foreigners working in Singapore under various forms of work or employment passes. English is the administrative language; however, Malay, Hindi, Mandarin as well as a multitude of various Chinese dialects are spoken in the country as well. Singapore as a Representative Democracy has been dominated and ruled by the People’s Action Party (PAP), which has won every election since 1959. Under its rule, Singapore has outpaced basically all other countries in the region in economic terms and lists under the top twenty in the world in terms of per capita GDP. Government institutions, which would be the most relevant to the foreign businessman or woman are, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Ministry or Trade and Industry (MTI) as well as the Economic Development Board (EDB). The Singapore economy is traditionally based on electronics manufacturing, petrochemicals, tourism, shipping and financial services. However, more and more emphasis has been placed on white, rather than blue, collar businesses. This, on one side, is driving more labor intensive businesses out of Singapore and into neighboring countries and China, but ,on the other hand, attracting more sophisticated businesses into the country with biotech and environmental engineering being some of the later additions. The country’s official currency, the Singapore Dollar (SGD), is a well established and stable major currency, which in the past has appeared to be more closely linked to the USD than it does today, having resisted the downturn of the US currency to a certain extent, which suggests a higher influence of Europe onto the overall trade Singapore does with the rest of the world. Current exchange rates are 1.34 SGD to the USD and 2.15 SGD to the EUR. Singapore boasts a hefty foreign exchange reserve of over 170 billion USD ranking 8th worldwide.
Climate
The climate in Singapore is divided into two main seasons, the Northeast Monsoon and the Southwest Monsoon. Temperatures vary little with lows between 23 and 26 degrees centigrade and highs between 30-34 degrees centigrade. Humidity is usually high between the mid 80’s up to an extreme of 100 % during periods of high precipitation. There is no distinct wet or dry season as such, however most rainfall occurs in December and April with drier months such as February and July.
Religion
Singapore is a multicultural society and most major faiths are followed here. All major Christian denominations are present together with Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism, just to mention the major ones.
Legislation
Singapore's legal system is based on the English common law. All Singapore citizens are equal before the law regardless of race, religion or creed. Singapore's law is founded on the Constitution, legislation, subsidiary legislation and judge-made law. The Constitution lays down the fundamental principles and basic framework for the three organs of state, namely, the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. It also enshrines the fundamental rights of the individual vis-à-vis the state.
Singapore is very business friendly, making it pretty easy and straightforward to open a business here. Corporate and individual taxation is moderate with a maximum rate for individuals capped at 20 % (lower rates apply for income below 160 KSGD) and corporate taxes of 18 % (some tax incentives however may apply here as well). GST (Goods and Services Tax) is currently (2008) at 7 %.
