ACHIEVEMENTS OF SINGAPORE

Since her independence in 1965, Singapore has gone through many changes and progressed from an ex-British colony to a city state that is known as one of the Four Asian Tigers (together with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan) due to its highly developed economies. This came about as a result of her rapid industrialisation from the day of her independence till the 1990s. By the 21^st century, Singapore has developed into a city state with an advance and high-income economy.

Here is a list of some things which Singapore has achieved since her independence:

• It is one of the cleanest cities in the world.
• It is a green city - greenery all over the city. Appropriately, it is also called a 'garden city'.
• It's airport - Changi Airport - has been voted as the best airport in the world for the last 10 years.
• It's airline - Singapore Airlines - has been voted as the best airline in the world for more than 14 years.
• It's port is the busiest port in the world - handling about 19 million TEU's (Twenty Footer Equivalents) per Annum.
• It's housing policy is among the best in the world as about 95% of citizens have their own home.  Furthermore, the houses are quite spacious, have all the amenities nearby, e.g., market, supermarkets, multi-stall eating centres, library, swimming pool, bus stop, car park, school, etc.
• It has an excellent public transport system which comprised of buses, trains & taxis.
• It's infrastructure is one of the best in the world. This includes the world's best airport, world's busiest port, a very efficient and highly successful telecommunication service.
• It has an efficient water distribution system. There is clean water readily available to every home.
• Almost all Singaporeans can speak English, which is a huge plus in today's business world.
• It was awarded as the best city in Asia to do business in 1998, 1999.
• It has also been voted as freest economy in the world.

Today, we also see many landmarks around Singapore that is a reflection of her progress and development:

                                             

1) SINGAPORE LANDMARKS

2) THE MARINA BARRAGE

An engineering marvel. A dam in Singapore built across the bay, between Marina East and Marina South. It is also Singapore’s fifteenth reservoir.

The Marina Barrage was conferred the Superior Achievement Award - the highest honour of the competition for the best project entry - at the AAEE Annual Awards Luncheon held in Washington, DC, USA on 6 May 2009. The Marina Barrage beat 33 other entries to take home the top prize in the year's competition organised by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE), becoming the second project outside of USA to win the award, in the last decade! [source: wikipedia]

However not all is well with the beautiful city state. With the reality of the worsening economy around the world, Singapore is also starting to feel the impact. The recent downgrading of the U.S. debt by Standard & Poor is believed to have some serious repercussions on Singapore’s economy in the days to come, as the city state has been very dependent on many foreign investments to keep her economy going. Being a country with very little natural resources, and a shortage of manpower, the Singapore government has been greatly dependent on attracting foreign human resources into the country. This has caused some discontent among the locals, and with the recent flooding in Orchard Road (something that has not happened since the 1970s), as well as other social issues, the country is beginning to feel the strain even more.

REFERENCES CITED

Singapore's Achievements - http://www.singaporemirror.com/ab_achvmts.htm

Marina Barrage - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Barrage

The Four Asian Tigers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Asian_Tigers

EXERCISE

Would you consider Singapore to be experiencing its Golden Age now? Explain your answer.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF GREECE

Golden Age refers to a time in a specific culture where there is widespread peace and prosperity. The stability allowed scientific and artistic inventions to flourish in the society. Although great achievements in science and the arts were made throughout different times in history, there were a lot more achievements during the Golden Age than in any other times.

The term "Golden Age" comes from Greek mythology, and it a reference to the different "Ages of Humankind” (i.e. Golden, Silver, Bronze, Iron). The Golden Age of Greece began with the victory of the Greeks over Persians after the Greco-Persian Wars (546-479 BCE). Most of what we know about the wars comes from the works of Greek Historian Herodotus - He is regarded as the “Father of History”, as he was the first to document historical facts in proper.

During the Golden Age of Greece, there were tremendous achievements in the arena of government, philosophy, arts (literature, poetry, drama), science, medicine and astronomy.



Above - Athens, Greece - The birthplace of Democracy



Above - The early Greek theatre promoted some of its renowned playwrights



Above - Greek Philosophers whose ideas are still significant today
L- Socrates (c.469-399 BCE); R- Plato (c.427-347 BCE)

 

Above - Archimedes (c.287-212 BCE) – Greek Mathematician whose principle of buoyancy to displacement is still being used in Science today.

 


Above - Pythagoras (c.580-500 BCE) – Founded trigonometry (i.e. the Pythagoras’ Theorem)




Above - Hippocrates (c.460-377 BCE) – The “Father of Medicine” whose oath still governs the relationship between doctors and patients today.

Besides humanistic achievements, the Golden Age of Greece is also renowned for its architectural innovation and sculptures that are still being imitated today.

Top-The archaeological ruins of The Pathenon, Temple of Athena in Greece
Bottom L- The Supreme Court building in Singapore; Bottom R- The Supreme Court in Washington, DC

EXERCISE
Many of the government architectures of the western world are derived from Greek designs. Such designs can also be found in Singapore. Do you know why?