148-673: Nandambakkam ( Tamil : நந்தம்பாக்கம் ) is a western neighbourhood of Chennai , India . It is known for the Chennai Trade Centre and the Surgical Instruments Factory. In 2011 Nandambakkam was included to Chennai district by the Government of Tamil Nadu. Nandambakkam is situated at a distance of 13 kilometres south-west of Chennai on the Mount-Poonamallee Road . It is bound by Alandur and St Thomas Mount to
296-479: A Vietnamese source from the same time period. The name possibly means Sea Town , being derived from the Malay tasek , meaning 'sea' or 'lake'. The Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan visited a place around 1330 named Danmaxi ( Chinese : 淡馬錫 ; pinyin : Dànmǎxí ; Wade–Giles : Tan Ma Hsi ) or Tam ma siak , depending on pronunciation; this may be a transcription of Temasek , alternatively, it may be
444-549: A hinterland , the nation rapidly developed to become one of the Four Asian Tigers . As a highly developed country , it has one of the highest GDP per capita (PPP) in the world. It is also identified as a tax haven . Singapore is the only country in Asia with a AAA sovereign credit rating from all major rating agencies . It is a major aviation , financial , and maritime shipping hub and has consistently been ranked as one of
592-468: A lexical root to which one or more affixes are attached. Most Tamil affixes are suffixes . Tamil suffixes can be derivational suffixes, which either change the part of speech of the word or its meaning, or inflectional suffixes, which mark categories such as person , number , mood , tense , etc. There is no absolute limit on the length and extent of agglutination , which can lead to long words with many suffixes, which would require several words or
740-524: A snap election ). The 14th and current Parliament has 103 members; 93 were directly elected from the 31 constituencies , nine are nonpartisan nominated members appointed by the president, and three are non-constituency members from opposition parties who were not elected in the last general election but appointed to the legislature to increase opposition party representation. In group representation constituencies (GRCs), political parties assemble teams of candidates to contest elections. At least one MP in
888-480: A , as with other Indic scripts . This inherent vowel is removed by adding a tittle called a puḷḷi , to the consonantal sign. For example, ன is ṉa (with the inherent a ) and ன் is ṉ (without a vowel). Many Indic scripts have a similar sign, generically called virama , but the Tamil script is somewhat different in that it nearly always uses a visible puḷḷi to indicate a 'dead consonant' (a consonant without
1036-740: A 2001 survey, there were 1,863 newspapers published in Tamil, of which 353 were dailies. Tamil is the primary language of the majority of the people residing in Tamil Nadu , Puducherry , (in India) and in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka . The language is spoken among small minority groups in other states of India which include Karnataka , Telangana , Andhra Pradesh , Kerala , Maharashtra , Gujarat , Delhi , Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India and in certain regions of Sri Lanka such as Colombo and
1184-427: A Brahmin girl called Brinda Muthaayi. They lived together atop a hill. The hill was called Brinda Maala because she made garlands from the flowers in the hill. The name later corrupted to become Parangi Malai which is presently called as St. Thomas Mount . Knowing that Sri Rama is passing through his place here, Bringi Rishi went and invited Sri Rama to stay with him for few days before proceeding. Sri Rama agreed to be
1332-530: A GRC must be of an ethnic minority background. All elections are held using first-past-the-post voting . MPs host weekly political surgeries , called " Meet-the-People Sessions ", where they help constituents resolve personal issues which can be related to housing, financial assistance, and immigration. The People's Action Party occupies a dominant position in Singaporean politics, having won large parliamentary majorities in every election since self-governance
1480-601: A Muslim state, the soldiers rebelled, killing their officers and several British civilians before the mutiny was suppressed by non-Muslim troops arriving from Johore and Burma . After World War I , the British built the large Singapore Naval Base as part of the defensive Singapore strategy . Originally announced in 1921, the construction of the base proceeded at a slow pace until the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Costing $ 60 million and not fully completed in 1938, it
1628-481: A candidate needs to be a person at least 45 years of age who is no longer a member of a political party, to either have held public office for at least 3 years in a number of specific public service leadership roles, or to have 3 years experience as chief executive of a fully profitable private sector company with at least S$ 500 million in shareholders' equity , be a resident in Singapore for at least 10 years, not have
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#17328866315261776-567: A combination of the Malay Tanah meaning 'land' and Chinese xi meaning 'tin', which was traded on the island. Variations of the name Siṃhapura were used for a number of cities throughout the region prior to the establishment of the Kingdom of Singapura . In Hindu–Buddhist culture , lions were associated with power and protection, which may explain the attraction of such a name. The name Singapura supplanted Temasek sometime before
1924-597: A communist takeover. On 27 May 1961, Malaya's prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman , made a surprise proposal for a new Federation called Malaysia , which would unite the current and former British possessions in the region: the Federation of Malaya , Singapore, Brunei , North Borneo , and Sarawak . UMNO leaders believed that the additional Malay population in the Bornean territories would balance Singapore's Chinese population. The British government, for its part, believed that
2072-575: A criminal record, and more. Candidates must also "satisfy" the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) that he or she is a person of integrity, good character and reputation. From 2017, the Constitution requires that presidential elections be " reserved " for a racial community if no one from that ethnic group has been elected to the presidency in the five most recent terms. Only members of that community may qualify as candidates in
2220-455: A cut from customers. In response, amendments were made to the Women's Charter by the government in 2019 to legislate more serious punishments for traffickers, including imprisonment of up to seven years and a fine of S$ 100,000. Singapore has a highly developed market economy , based historically on extended entrepôt trade. Along with Hong Kong , South Korea , and Taiwan , Singapore is one of
2368-511: A family of around 26 languages native to the Indian subcontinent . It is also classified as being part of a Tamil language family that, alongside Tamil proper, includes the languages of about 35 ethno-linguistic groups such as the Irula and Yerukula languages (see SIL Ethnologue ). The closest major relative of Tamil is Malayalam ; the two began diverging around the 9th century CE. Although many of
2516-513: A handful of Chinese . By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, more than half being Chinese . Many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations. In 1867, the Straits Settlements were separated from British India , coming under the direct control of Britain . Later, in the 1890s, when the rubber industry became established in Malaya and Singapore,
2664-458: A local medical degree can opt to defer their draft. Though not required to perform military service, the number of women in the SAF has been increasing: since 1989 they have been allowed to fill military vocations formerly reserved for men. Before induction into a specific branch of the armed forces, recruits undergo at least nine weeks of basic military training. Because of the scarcity of open land on
2812-517: A maritime emporium known as Temasek and subsequently a major constituent part of several successive thalassocratic empires. Its contemporary era began in 1819, when Stamford Raffles established Singapore as an entrepôt trading post of the British Empire . In 1867, Singapore came under the direct control of Britain as part of the Straits Settlements . During World War II , Singapore
2960-630: A mezzanine floor of MacDonald House exploded, killing three people and injuring 33 others. It was the deadliest of at least 42 bomb incidents which occurred during the confrontation. Two members of the Indonesian Marine Corps , Osman bin Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun bin Said , were eventually convicted and executed for the crime. The explosion caused US$ 250,000 (equivalent to US$ 2,417,107 in 2023) in damages to MacDonald House. Even after
3108-691: A newly independent country. After being expelled from Malaysia, Singapore became independent as the Republic of Singapore on 9 August 1965, with Lee Kuan Yew and Yusof bin Ishak as the first prime minister and president respectively. In 1967, the country co-founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Race riots broke out once more in 1969. Lee Kuan Yew's emphasis on rapid economic growth, support for business entrepreneurship, and limitations on internal democracy shaped Singapore's policies for
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#17328866315263256-591: A number of apparent Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew dating to before 500 BCE, the oldest attestation of the language. Old Tamil is the period of the Tamil language spanning the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The earliest records in Old Tamil are short inscriptions from 300 BCE to 700 CE. These inscriptions are written in a variant of the Brahmi script called Tamil-Brahmi . The earliest long text in Old Tamil
3404-650: A number of skeletons were found buried in earthenware urns dating from at least 696 BCE in Adichanallur . Some of these urns contained writing in Tamil Brahmi script, and some contained skeletons of Tamil origin. Between 2017 and 2018, 5,820 artifacts have been found in Keezhadi . These were sent to Beta Analytic in Miami , Florida , for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating. One sample containing Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions
3552-512: A number of sound changes, in particular, a tendency to lower high vowels in initial and medial positions, and the disappearance of vowels between plosives and between a plosive and rhotic. Contact with European languages affected written and spoken Tamil. Changes in written Tamil include the use of European-style punctuation and the use of consonant clusters that were not permitted in Middle Tamil. The syntax of written Tamil has also changed, with
3700-528: A part of the then Chingleput district at least since India's independence in 1947. In 1948, a proposal was floated to settle tappers in Nandambakkam and imparting training in hand weaving to them. The shrine of St Thomas Mount , established in 1523, is located nearby in the locality of Parangimalai . Later, the growth of Nandambakkam dates from the post-independence era. In 1952, the Madras War Cemetery
3848-588: A reserved presidential election. In the 2017 presidential election , this combination of stringent requirements and a reserved election that required the candidate to be of the 13% Malay ethnic group led to the PEC approving a single candidate for the presidency; Halimah Yacob , considered part of the Malay community, won in an uncontested election. She also became Singapore's first female president. Members of Parliament (MPs) are elected at least every five years (or sooner with
3996-649: A sentence in English. To give an example, the word pōkamuṭiyātavarkaḷukkāka (போகமுடியாதவர்களுக்காக) means "for the sake of those who cannot go" and consists of the following morphemes : போக pōka go முடி muṭi accomplish Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore , is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia . The country's territory comprises one main island , 63 satellite islands and islets , and one outlying islet . It
4144-620: A small number speak the language. In Reunion where the Tamil language was forbidden to be learnt and used in public space by France it is now being relearnt by students and adults. Tamil is also spoken by migrants from Sri Lanka and India in Canada , the United States , the United Arab Emirates , the United Kingdom , South Africa , and Australia . Tamil is the official language of
4292-421: A strange beast on the island that he took to be a lion. Seeing this as an omen, he established the town of Singapura where he encountered the beast. The second hypothesis, drawn from Portuguese sources , postulates that this mythical story is based on the real life Parameswara of Palembang . Parameswara declared independence from Majapahit and mounted a Lion Throne. After then being driven into exile by
4440-595: A subject of study in schools in the French overseas department of Réunion . In addition, with the creation in October 2004 of a legal status for classical languages by the Government of India and following a political campaign supported by several Tamil associations, Tamil became the first legally recognised Classical language of India. The recognition was announced by the contemporaneous President of India , Abdul Kalam , who
4588-458: A variety of dialects that are all collectively known as Brahmin Tamil . These dialects tend to have softer consonants (with consonant deletion also common). These dialects also tend to have many Sanskrit loanwords. Tamil in Sri Lanka incorporates loan words from Portuguese , Dutch , and English. In addition to its dialects, Tamil exhibits different forms: a classical literary style modelled on
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4736-438: A vowel). In other Indic scripts, it is generally preferred to use a ligature or a half form to write a syllable or a cluster containing a dead consonant, although writing it with a visible virama is also possible. The Tamil script does not differentiate voiced and unvoiced plosives . Instead, plosives are articulated with voice depending on their position in a word, in accordance with the rules of Tamil phonology . In addition to
4884-622: Is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia . It is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India , along with Sanskrit , attested since c. 300 BCE. The language belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian language family and shares close ties with Malayalam and Kannada . Despite external influences, Tamil has retained a sense of linguistic purism, especially in formal and literary contexts. Tamil
5032-932: Is about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator , off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula , bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south along with the Riau Islands in Indonesia , the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor along with the State of Johor in Malaysia to the north. Singapore's history dates back at least eight hundred years, having been
5180-803: Is also a founding member of The Forum of Small States (FOSS) , a voluntary and informal grouping at the UN. Singapore maintains membership in other regional organisations, such as Asia–Europe Meeting , the Forum for East Asia-Latin American Cooperation , the Indian Ocean Rim Association , and the East Asia Summit . It is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the United Nations and
5328-805: Is also a member of the United Nations , the World Trade Organization , the East Asia Summit , the Non-Aligned Movement , and the Commonwealth of Nations . The English name of "Singapore" is an anglicisation of the native Malay name for the country, Singapura ( pronounced [siŋapura] ), which was in turn derived from the Sanskrit word for 'lion city' ( Sanskrit : सिंहपुर ; romanised: Siṃhapura ; Brahmi : 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀳𑀧𑀼𑀭 ; literally "lion city"; siṃha means 'lion', pura means 'city' or 'fortress'). Pulau Ujong
5476-457: Is based on the dialect of Jaffna . After Tamil Brahmi fell out of use, Tamil was written using a script called vaṭṭeḻuttu amongst others such as Grantha and Pallava . The current Tamil script consists of 12 vowels , 18 consonants and one special character, the āytam . The vowels and consonants combine to form 216 compound characters, giving a total of 247 characters (12 + 18 + 1 + (12 × 18)). All consonants have an inherent vowel
5624-401: Is deemed unlikely by Southworth due to the contemporary use of the compound 'centamiḻ', which means refined speech in the earliest literature. The Tamil Lexicon of University of Madras defines the word "Tamil" as "sweetness". S. V. Subramanian suggests the meaning "sweet sound", from tam – "sweet" and il – "sound". Tamil belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian languages ,
5772-588: Is enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape national policies in education, housing, and politics. Singapore is a parliamentary republic in the Westminster tradition of unicameral parliamentary government, and its legal system is based on common law . While the country is de jure a multi-party democracy with free elections , the government under the People's Action Party (PAP) wields widespread control and political dominance . The PAP has governed
5920-563: Is extensively described in the oldest known grammar book for Tamil, the Tolkāppiyam . Modern Tamil writing is largely based on the 13th-century grammar Naṉṉūl which restated and clarified the rules of the Tolkāppiyam , with some modifications. Traditional Tamil grammar consists of five parts, namely eḻuttu , col , poruḷ , yāppu , aṇi . Of these, the last two are mostly applied in poetry. Tamil words consist of
6068-501: Is found in Tholkappiyam , which is dated as early as late 2nd century BCE. The Hathigumpha inscription , inscribed around a similar time period (150 BCE), by Kharavela , the Jain king of Kalinga , also refers to a Tamira Samghatta ( Tamil confederacy ) The Samavayanga Sutra dated to the 3rd century BCE contains a reference to a Tamil script named 'Damili'. Southworth suggests that
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6216-405: Is generally taken to have been completed by the 8th century, was characterised by a number of phonological and grammatical changes. In phonological terms, the most important shifts were the virtual disappearance of the aytam (ஃ), an old phoneme, the coalescence of the alveolar and dental nasals, and the transformation of the alveolar plosive into a rhotic . In grammar, the most important change
6364-409: Is generally used in formal writing and speech. For instance, it is the language of textbooks, of much of Tamil literature and of public speaking and debate. In recent times, however, koṭuntamiḻ has been making inroads into areas that have traditionally been considered the province of centamiḻ . Most contemporary cinema, theatre and popular entertainment on television and radio, for example,
6512-410: Is in koṭuntamiḻ , and many politicians use it to bring themselves closer to their audience. The increasing use of koṭuntamiḻ in modern times has led to the emergence of unofficial 'standard' spoken dialects. In India, the 'standard' koṭuntamiḻ , rather than on any one dialect, but has been significantly influenced by the dialects of Thanjavur and Madurai . In Sri Lanka, the standard
6660-614: Is maintaining security in Southeast Asia and surrounding territories. An underlying principle is political and economic stability in the region. It has diplomatic relations with more than 180 sovereign states. As one of the five founding members of ASEAN , Singapore is a strong supporter of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the ASEAN Investment Area (AIA); it is also the host of the APEC Secretariat. Singapore
6808-771: Is not always consistently applied. ISO 15919 is an international standard for the transliteration of Tamil and other Indic scripts into Latin characters. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of Brahmic consonants and vowels to Latin script , and thus the alphabets of various languages, including English. Apart from the usual numerals, Tamil has numerals for 10, 100 and 1000. Symbols for day, month, year, debit, credit, as above, rupee, and numeral are present as well. Tamil also uses several historical fractional signs. /f/ , /z/ , /ʂ/ and /ɕ/ are only found in loanwords and may be considered marginal phonemes, though they are traditionally not seen as fully phonemic. Tamil has two diphthongs : /aɪ̯/ ஐ and /aʊ̯/ ஔ ,
6956-527: Is predominantly spoken in Tamil Nadu , India, and the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka . It has significant speaking populations in Malaysia , Singapore , and among diaspora communities . Tamil has been recognized as a classical language by the Indian government and holds official status in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Singapore. The earliest extant Tamil literary works and their commentaries celebrate
7104-695: Is regarded as a key factor behind Singapore's political stability, economic growth, and harmonious social order. In 2021, the World Justice Project 's Rule of Law Index ranked Singapore as 17th overall among the world's 193 countries for adherence to the rule of law . Singapore ranked high on the factors of order and security (#3), absence of corruption (#3), regulatory enforcement (#4), civil justice (#8), and criminal justice (#7), and ranked significantly lower on factors of open government (#34), constraints on government powers (#32), and fundamental rights (#38). Singapore's stated foreign policy priority
7252-409: Is the Tolkāppiyam , an early work on Tamil grammar and poetics, whose oldest layers could be as old as the late 2nd century BCE. Many literary works in Old Tamil have also survived. These include a corpus of 2,381 poems collectively known as Sangam literature . These poems are usually dated to between the 1st century BCE and 5th century CE. The evolution of Old Tamil into Middle Tamil , which
7400-464: Is the right policy and that there is "clear evidence" of serious deterrence , and that the law should be looked at upon in the wider context of "saving lives", particularly citizens. In 2004, Amnesty International claimed that some legal provisions of the Singapore system for the death penalty conflict with "the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty". The government has disputed Amnesty's claims, stating that their "position on abolition of
7548-772: Is used as one of the languages of education in Malaysia , along with English, Malay and Mandarin. A large community of Pakistani Tamils speakers exists in Karachi , Pakistan , which includes Tamil-speaking Hindus as well as Christians and Muslims – including some Tamil-speaking Muslim refugees from Sri Lanka. There are about 100 Tamil Hindu families in Madrasi Para colony in Karachi. They speak impeccable Tamil along with Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi. Many in Réunion , Guyana , Fiji , Suriname , and Trinidad and Tobago have Tamil origins, but only
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#17328866315267696-583: The 1964 race riots . On 7 August 1965, Malaysian prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, seeing no alternative to avoid further bloodshed (and with the help of secret negotiations by PAP leaders, as revealed in 2015) advised the Parliament of Malaysia that it should vote to expel Singapore from Malaysia. On 9 August 1965, the Malaysian Parliament voted 126 to 0 to move a bill to amend the constitution, expelling Singapore from Malaysia, which left Singapore as
7844-428: The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami . Since 2009, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has deployed ships to the Gulf of Aden to aid in countering piracy efforts as part of Task Force 151 . The SAF also helped in relief efforts during Hurricane Katrina , and Typhoon Haiyan . Singapore is part of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA), a military alliance with Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and
7992-490: The Commonwealth . While Singapore is not a formal member of the G20 , it has been invited to participate in G20 processes in most years since 2010. Singapore is also the location of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Secretariat. In general, bilateral relations with other ASEAN members are strong; however, disagreements have arisen, and relations with neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia have sometimes been strained. Malaysia and Singapore have clashed over
8140-441: The Digital and Intelligence Service . It is seen as the guarantor of the country's independence, translating into Singapore culture, involving all citizens in the country's defence. The government spent 2.7% of the country's GDP on the military in 2024, the highest in the region. After its independence, Singapore had only two infantry regiments commanded by British officers. Considered too small to provide effective security for
8288-438: The Javanese , he usurped control over Temasek . He may have rechristened the area as Singapura , recalling the throne he had been driven from. Under Japanese occupation , Singapore was renamed Syonan-to ( Japanese : 昭 南 , Hepburn : Shōnan ) , meaning 'light of the south'. Singapore is sometimes referred to by the nickname the "Garden City", in reference to its parks and tree-lined streets. Another informal name,
8436-410: The MATADOR anti-tank weapon. The SAF is being developed to respond to a wide range of issues in both conventional and unconventional warfare. The Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) is responsible for procuring resources for the military. The geographic restrictions of Singapore mean that the SAF must plan to fully repulse an attack, as they cannot fall back and re-group. The small size of
8584-402: The Pandiyan Kings for the organization of long-termed Tamil Sangams , which researched, developed and made amendments in Tamil language. Even though the name of the language which was developed by these Tamil Sangams is mentioned as Tamil, the period when the name "Tamil" came to be applied to the language is unclear, as is the precise etymology of the name. The earliest attested use of the name
8732-420: The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) maintains a number of overseas bases in Australia , the United States , and France . The RSAF's 130 Squadron is based in RAAF Base Pearce , Western Australia , and its 126 Squadron is based in the Oakey Army Aviation Centre , Queensland . The RSAF has one squadron—the 150 Squadron—based in Cazaux Air Base in southern France. The RSAF's overseas detachments in
8880-403: The Speakers' Corner . In the Corruption Perceptions Index , which ranks countries by "perceived levels of public sector corruption", Singapore has consistently ranked as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, in spite of being illiberal. Singapore's unique combination of a strong, soft authoritarian government with an emphasis on meritocracy is known as the "Singapore model", and
9028-401: The Strait of Malacca has been a cause of concern for all three countries. Close economic ties exist with Brunei , and the two share a pegged currency value, through a Currency Interchangeability Agreement between the two countries which makes both Brunei dollar and Singapore dollar banknotes and coins legal tender in either country. The first diplomatic contact with China was made in
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#17328866315269176-471: The University of Madras , was one of the earliest dictionaries published in Indian languages. A strong strain of linguistic purism emerged in the early 20th century, culminating in the Pure Tamil Movement which called for removal of all Sanskritic elements from Tamil. It received some support from Dravidian parties . This led to the replacement of a significant number of Sanskrit loanwords by Tamil equivalents, though many others remain. According to
9324-439: The most expensive cities to live in for expatriates and foreign workers . Singapore ranks highly in key social indicators: education , healthcare , quality of life , personal safety , infrastructure , and housing , with a home-ownership rate of 88 percent. Singaporeans enjoy one of the longest life expectancies , fastest Internet connection speeds , lowest infant mortality rates , and lowest levels of corruption in
9472-401: The " Little Red Dot ", was adopted after an article in the Asian Wall Street Journal of 4 August 1998 said that Indonesian President B. J. Habibie referred to Singapore as a red dot on a map. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals , the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama . Although the historicity of the accounts as given in the Malay Annals is
9620-439: The "benevolent" yet "highly authoritarian" colonial system of governance inherited from Britain rather than forging a full democracy. A conservative ideology of " Asian values " evolved to replace British rule, based on "communal loyalty, distrust of government, and avoidance of individual or collective responsibility for wider public interests", with less regard for human rights in the nascent Western sense. The fact that "neither
9768-435: The 11th century, retain many features of the Vaishnava paribasai , a special form of Tamil developed in the 9th and 10th centuries that reflect Vaishnavite religious and spiritual values. Several castes have their own sociolects which most members of that caste traditionally used regardless of where they come from. It is often possible to identify a person's caste by their speech. For example, Tamil Brahmins tend to speak
9916-422: The 15th century, after the establishment of the Kingdom of Singapura on the island by a fleeing Sumatran Raja (prince) from Palembang . However, the precise time and reason for the name change is unknown. The semi-historical Malay Annals state that Temasek was christened Singapura by Sang Nila Utama , a 13th-century Sumatran Raja from Palembang . The Annals state that Sang Nila Utama encountered
10064-532: The 1970s, with full diplomatic relations established in the 1990s. China has been Singapore's largest trading partner since 2013, after surpassing Malaysia. Singapore and the United States share a long-standing close relationship, in particular in defence, the economy, health, and education. Singapore has also increased co-operation with ASEAN members and China to strengthen regional security and fight terrorism, and participated in ASEAN's first joint maritime exercise with China in 2018. It has also given support to
10212-549: The Chennai Trade Centre was inaugurated at Nandambakkam in January 2001. Spread over an area of 25 acres (100,000 m), the Chennai Trade Centre, a joint venture of ITPO and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), was designed to conduct trade fairs in the city. The area is one of the 163 notified areas (megalithic sites) in the state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil language Sri Lanka Singapore Malaysia Canada and United States Tamil ( தமிழ் , Tamiḻ , pronounced [t̪amiɻ] )
10360-401: The East", and military discussions often referred to the base as simply " East of Suez ". However, the British Home Fleet was stationed in Europe, and the British could not afford to build a second fleet to protect their interests in Asia. The plan was for the Home Fleet to sail quickly to Singapore in the event of an emergency. As a consequence, after World War II broke out in 1939, the fleet
10508-427: The Indian state of Haryana , purportedly as a rebuff to Punjab , though there was no attested Tamil-speaking population in the state, and was later replaced by Punjabi , in 2010. In Malaysia, 543 primary education government schools are available fully in Tamil as the medium of instruction . The establishment of Tamil-medium schools has been in process in Myanmar to provide education completely in Tamil language by
10656-469: The Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the 22 languages under schedule 8 of the constitution of India . It is one of the official languages of the union territories of Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands . Tamil is also one of the official languages of Singapore . Tamil is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, along with Sinhala . It was once given nominal official status in
10804-513: The Japanese changed its image in the eyes of Singaporeans. British Military Administration ended on 1 April 1946, and Singapore became a separate Crown Colony . In July 1947, separate Executive and Legislative Councils were established and the election of six members of the Legislative Council was scheduled for the following year. During the 1950s, Chinese communists , with strong ties to
10952-514: The PAP drop to 61% of the vote, while the Workers' Party took 10 of the 93 seats, the highest number ever won by another party. On 15 May 2024, Lawrence Wong became Singapore's fourth Prime Minister; he is the first prime minister born after independence. Singapore is a parliamentary republic based on the Westminster system . The Constitution of Singapore is the supreme law of the country, establishing
11100-563: The People's Action Party has led to Singapore being described by academics as an illiberal democracy , or a soft-authoritarian state in which the PAP faces little to no feasible political competition to its rule of the country. The multi-party democratic process of Singapore has been described as "minimal" in comparison to the state's focus on economic development and social order. According to Gordon P. Means, professor emeritus of political science at McMaster University , Singapore reinvented
11248-697: The Singapore Government to create the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from scratch, and Israeli instructors were brought in to train Singaporean soldiers. Military courses were conducted according to the IDF's format, and Singapore adopted a system of conscription and reserve service based on the Israeli model . Singapore still maintains strong security ties with Israel and is one of the biggest buyers of Israeli arms and weapons systems, with one recent example being
11396-585: The Tamil language, Kannada still preserves a lot from its roots. As part of the southern family of Indian languages and situated relatively close to the northern parts of India, Kannada also shares some Sanskrit words, similar to Malayalam. Many of the formerly used words in Tamil have been preserved with little change in Kannada. This shows a relative parallel to Tamil, even as Tamil has undergone some changes in modern ways of speaking. According to Hindu legend, Tamil or in personification form Tamil Thāi (Mother Tamil)
11544-621: The Tamils who settled there 200 years ago. Tamil language is available as a course in some local school boards and major universities in Canada and the month of January has been declared "Tamil Heritage Month" by the Parliament of Canada . Tamil enjoys a special status of protection under Article 6(b), Chapter 1 of the Constitution of South Africa and is taught as a subject in schools in KwaZulu-Natal province. Recently, it has been rolled out as
11692-465: The Temenggong's help, Raffles managed to smuggle Tengku Long back into Singapore. Raffles offered to recognise Tengku Long as the rightful Sultan of Johor, under the title of Sultan Hussein , as well as provide him with a yearly payment of $ 5000 and another $ 3000 to the Temenggong; in return, Sultan Hussein would grant the British the right to establish a trading post on Singapore. The Treaty of Singapore
11840-598: The US-led coalition to fight terrorism, with bilateral co-operation in counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation initiatives, and joint military exercises. As Singapore has diplomatic relations with both the United States and North Korea , and was one of the few countries that have relationships with both countries, in June 2018, it hosted a historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ,
11988-625: The United Kingdom. According to the 2024 Global Peace Index , Singapore is the 5th most peaceful country in the world. Capital punishment is a legal and enforced penalty in Singapore. The country is one of four in the developed world to retain the death penalty, along with the United States , Japan and Taiwan . Particularly, its use against drug trafficking has been a source of contention with non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch . The government has responded that it has "no doubts" that it
12136-741: The United States are: Luke Air Force Base in Arizona , Marana in Arizona, Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho , and Andersen Air Force Base in Guam . The SAF has sent forces to assist in operations outside the country, in areas such as Iraq , and Afghanistan , in both military and civilian roles. In the region, they have helped to stabilise East Timor and have provided aid to Aceh in Indonesia following
12284-442: The ancient language ( sankattamiḻ ), a modern literary and formal style ( centamiḻ ), and a modern colloquial form ( koṭuntamiḻ ). These styles shade into each other, forming a stylistic continuum. For example, it is possible to write centamiḻ with a vocabulary drawn from caṅkattamiḻ , or to use forms associated with one of the other variants while speaking koṭuntamiḻ . In modern times, centamiḻ
12432-577: The country continuously since full internal self-government was achieved in 1959, and holds a supermajority in Parliament . One of the five founding members of ASEAN , Singapore is also the headquarters of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Secretariat, and is the host city of many international conferences and events . Singapore
12580-602: The country's third prime minister. Lee Hsien Loong's tenure included the 2007–2008 financial crisis , the resolution of a dispute over land ownership at Tanjong Pagar railway station between Singapore and Malaysia, the introduction of the two integrated resorts (IRs), located at the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa , and the COVID-19 pandemic . The PAP suffered its worst ever electoral results in 2011, winning just 60% of votes, amidst debate over issues including
12728-670: The culture associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India, but it has also been related to the Harappan civilization . Scholars categorise the attested history of the language into three periods: Old Tamil (300 BCE–700 CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present). About of the approximately 100,000 inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India in India are in Tamil Nadu. Of them, most are in Tamil, with only about 5 percent in other languages. In 2004,
12876-744: The death penalty is by no means uncontested internationally" and that the report contains "grave errors of facts and misrepresentations". From 1938 to 2023, sexual relations between men were technically illegal under Section 377A of the Penal Code , first introduced during British colonial rule. During the last few decades, this law was mostly unenforced and pressure to repeal it increased as homosexuality became more accepted by Singaporean society. Meanwhile, sexual relations between women had always been legal. In 2022, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that Singapore would repeal 377A, effectively decriminalising homosexual behaviour. Nevertheless, he added that
13024-515: The delivery of fresh water to Singapore, and access by the Singapore Armed Forces to Malaysian airspace. Border issues exist with Malaysia and Indonesia, and both have banned the sale of marine sand to Singapore over disputes about Singapore's land reclamation. Some previous disputes, such as the Pedra Branca dispute , have been resolved by the International Court of Justice . Piracy in
13172-936: The dialect of Madurai , and iṅkaṭe in some northern dialects. Even now, in the Coimbatore area, it is common to hear " akkaṭṭa " meaning "that place". Although Tamil dialects do not differ significantly in their vocabulary, there are a few exceptions. The dialects spoken in Sri Lanka retain many words and grammatical forms that are not in everyday use in India, and use many other words slightly differently. Tamil dialects include Central Tamil dialect , Kongu Tamil , Madras Bashai , Madurai Tamil , Nellai Tamil , Kumari Tamil in India ; Batticaloa Tamil dialect , Jaffna Tamil dialect , Negombo Tamil dialect in Sri Lanka; and Malaysian Tamil in Malaysia. Sankethi dialect in Karnataka has been heavily influenced by Kannada . The dialect of
13320-399: The differences between Tamil and Malayalam demonstrate a pre-historic divergence of the western dialect, the process of separation into a distinct language, Malayalam, was not completed until sometime in the 13th or 14th century. Additionally Kannada is also relatively close to the Tamil language and shares the format of the formal ancient Tamil language. While there are some variations from
13468-634: The district of Palakkad in Kerala has many Malayalam loanwords, has been influenced by Malayalam's syntax, and has a distinctive Malayalam accent. Similarly, Tamil spoken in Kanyakumari District has more unique words and phonetic style than Tamil spoken at other parts of Tamil Nadu. The words and phonetics are so different that a person from Kanyakumari district is easily identifiable by their spoken Tamil. Hebbar and Mandyam dialects, spoken by groups of Tamil Vaishnavites who migrated to Karnataka in
13616-535: The east and Manapakkam to the west. It is bound by Ramapuram to the north and north-west and Pallavaram to the south. The township extends from the Madras War Cemetery on the east to the banks of the Adyar River on the west. As of 2001 India census , Nandambakkam had a population of 9093. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Nandambakkam has an average literacy rate of 81%, higher than
13764-579: The end of the 14th century, its ruler Parameswara was attacked by either the Majapahit or the Siamese, forcing him to move to Malacca where he founded the Sultanate of Malacca . Archaeological evidence suggests that the main settlement on Fort Canning Hill was abandoned around this time, although a small trading settlement continued in Singapore for some time afterwards. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down
13912-416: The factory constructed at the cost of Rs. 52.5 million and expected to manufacture 2.5 million pieces of surgical instruments on 1 September 1965. The surgical instrumentsplant, was later named IDPL, and now the production of surgical instruments was totally stopped in 1994, and a major portion the factory has been closed ' India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO)'s first fair infrastructure outside Delhi,
14060-457: The fighting for Singapore were heavy, with a total of nearly 85,000 personnel captured. About 5,000 were killed or wounded, of which Australians made up the majority. Japanese casualties during the fighting in Singapore amounted to 1,714 killed and 3,378 wounded. The occupation was to become a major turning point in the histories of several nations, including those of Japan , Britain , and Singapore. Japanese newspapers triumphantly declared
14208-765: The first-ever meeting between the sitting leaders of the two nations. It also hosted the Ma–Xi meeting in 2015, the first meeting between the political leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1950. The Singaporean military, arguably the most technologically advanced in Southeast Asia, consists of the Army , the Navy , the Air Force and
14356-545: The formal surrender of Japanese forces in the region from General Seishirō Itagaki on behalf of General Hisaichi Terauchi on 12 September 1945. Meanwhile, Tomoyuki Yamashita was tried by a US military commission for war crimes, but not for crimes committed by his troops in Malaya or Singapore. He was convicted and hanged in the Philippines on 23 February 1946. Much of the infrastructure in Singapore had been destroyed during
14504-753: The guest of Bringi Rishi and stayed here. Bringi Rishi created a small Nandavanam (means garden) for the comfort of Sri Rama and the place came to be known as Nandavanam itself, which later changed as Nandambakkam. The neighboring place to Nandambakkam is called Ramapuram , which is said to be named after Sri Rama's stay here. Textiles and Garments business clan namely "Nandam" have developed this region and thus name "Nandambakkam" has been established. More than 10,000 people were working for Nandam Handlooms during Vijayanagara dynasty (13th - 16th Century) and they were exporting textiles in South East Asian Region. The village of Nandambakkam has been in existence as
14652-699: The hill country . Tamil or dialects of it were used widely in the state of Kerala as the major language of administration, literature and common usage until the 12th century CE. Tamil was also used widely in inscriptions found in southern Andhra Pradesh districts of Chittoor and Nellore until the 12th century CE. Tamil was used for inscriptions from the 10th through 14th centuries in southern Karnataka districts such as Kolar , Mysore , Mandya and Bengaluru . There are currently sizeable Tamil-speaking populations descended from colonial-era migrants in Malaysia , Singapore , Philippines , Mauritius , South Africa , Indonesia, Thailand, Burma , and Vietnam . Tamil
14800-581: The influx of foreign workers and the high cost of living. On 23 March 2015, Lee Kuan Yew died , and a one-week period of public mourning was observed nationwide. Subsequently, the PAP regained its dominance in Parliament through the September general election , receiving 69.9% of the popular vote, although this remained lower than the 2001 tally of 75.3% and the 1968 tally of 86.7%. The 2020 election held in July saw
14948-432: The introduction of new aspectual auxiliaries and more complex sentence structures, and with the emergence of a more rigid word order that resembles the syntactic argument structure of English. In 1578, Portuguese Christian missionaries published a Tamil prayer book in old Tamil script named Thambiran Vanakkam , thus making Tamil the first Indian language to be printed and published. The Tamil Lexicon , published by
15096-439: The introduction of the non-constituency members of parliament in 1984 to allow up to three losing candidates from opposition parties to be appointed as MPs. Group representation constituencies (GRCs) were introduced in 1988 to create multi-seat electoral divisions, intended to ensure minority representation in parliament. Nominated members of parliament were introduced in 1990 to allow non-elected non-partisan MPs. The constitution
15244-532: The island became a global centre for rubber sorting and export. Singapore was not greatly affected by the First World War (1914–18), as the conflict did not spread to Southeast Asia . The only significant event during the war was the 1915 Singapore Mutiny by Muslim sepoys from British India, who were garrisoned in Singapore. After hearing rumours that they were to be sent to fight the Ottoman Empire ,
15392-406: The latter of which is restricted to a few lexical items. Tamil employs agglutinative grammar, where suffixes are used to mark noun class , number , and case , verb tense and other grammatical categories. Tamil's standard metalinguistic terminology and scholarly vocabulary is itself Tamil, as opposed to the Sanskrit that is standard for most Indo-Aryan languages . Much of Tamil grammar
15540-490: The legal tradition established during British rule and with substantial local differences. Criminal law is based on the Indian Penal Code originally intended for British India , and was at the time as a crown colony also adopted by the British colonial authorities in Singapore and remains the basis of the criminal code in the country with a few exceptions, amendments and repeals since it came into force. Trial by jury
15688-477: The main island, training involving activities such as live firing and amphibious warfare are often carried out on smaller islands, typically barred to civilian access. However, large-scale drills, considered too dangerous to be performed in the country, have been performed in other countries such as Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand and the United States. In general, military exercises are held with foreign forces once or twice per week. Due to airspace and land constraints,
15836-463: The merger would prevent Singapore from becoming a haven for communism. To obtain a mandate for a merger, the PAP held a referendum on the merger . This referendum included a choice of different terms for a merger with Malaysia and had no option for avoiding merger altogether. On 16 September 1963, Singapore joined with Malaya, the North Borneo, and Sarawak to form the new Federation of Malaysia under
15984-661: The merger, the Singaporean government and the Malaysian central government disagreed on many political and economic issues. Despite an agreement to establish a common market, Singapore continued to face restrictions when trading with the rest of Malaysia. In retaliation, Singapore did not extend to Sabah and Sarawak the full extent of the loans agreed to for economic development of the two eastern states. Talks soon broke down, and abusive speeches and writing became rife on both sides. This led to communal strife in Singapore, culminating in
16132-423: The name comes from tam-miḻ > tam-iḻ "self-speak", or "our own speech". Kamil Zvelebil suggests an etymology of tam-iḻ , with tam meaning "self" or "one's self", and " -iḻ " having the connotation of "unfolding sound". Alternatively, he suggests a derivation of tamiḻ < tam-iḻ < * tav-iḻ < * tak-iḻ , meaning in origin "the proper process (of speaking)". However, this
16280-588: The national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 77%. In Nandambakkam, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. During the Ramayana period a sage called Pandi Muni was residing here and he was suffering from serious disease. He made penance to be relieved of his suffering. After ten long years of continuous penance, some of which he stood on one leg, Lord Rama appeared before him. Lord Rama guided Pandi Muni to marry and find solace in married life. Following Lord Rama's advice, Pandi Muni married
16428-472: The new country, the development of its military forces became a priority. In addition, in October 1971, Britain pulled its military out of Singapore, leaving behind only a small British, Australian and New Zealand force as a token military presence. A great deal of initial support came from Israel , a country unrecognised by Singapore's neighbouring Muslim-majority nations of Malaysia and Indonesia. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commanders were tasked by
16576-731: The new port. The island was then nominally ruled by Tengku Abdul Rahman , the Sultan of Johor , who was controlled by the Dutch and the Bugis . However, the Sultanate was weakened by factional division: Abdul Rahman , the Temenggong of Johor to Tengku Abdul Rahman, as well as his officials, were loyal to the Sultan's elder brother Tengku Long , who was living in exile in Penyengat Island , Riau Islands . With
16724-407: The next half-century. Economic growth continued throughout the 1980s, with the unemployment rate falling to 3% and real GDP growth averaging at about 8% up until 1999. During the 1980s, Singapore began to shift towards high-tech industries, such as the wafer fabrication sector, in order to remain competitive as neighbouring countries began manufacturing with cheaper labour. Singapore Changi Airport
16872-531: The old aspect and time markers. The Nannūl remains the standard normative grammar for modern literary Tamil, which therefore continues to be based on Middle Tamil of the 13th century rather than on Modern Tamil. Colloquial spoken Tamil, in contrast, shows a number of changes. The negative conjugation of verbs, for example, has fallen out of use in Modern Tamil – instead, negation is expressed either morphologically or syntactically. Modern spoken Tamil also shows
17020-506: The population has also affected the way the SAF has been designed, with a small active force and a large number of reserves. Singapore has conscription for all able-bodied males at age 18, except those with a criminal record or who can prove that their loss would bring hardship to their families. Males who have yet to complete pre-university education, are awarded the Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship, or are pursuing
17168-640: The press as well as some civil and political rights. In 2023, Singapore was ranked 129th out of 180 nations by Reporters Without Borders on the global Press Freedom Index . Freedom House ranks Singapore as "partly free" in its Freedom in the World report, and the Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Singapore as a "flawed democracy", the second freest rank of four, in its " Democracy Index ". All public gatherings of five or more people require police permits, and protests may legally be held only at
17316-442: The public nor elites had experience with democracy" helped create Singapore's political culture, as dominated by status-focused hierarchies committed to economic development. The legacy of Asian values and the limited political culture within Singapore has led to the country being described as "classic illustration of soft authoritarianism", and "profoundly illiberal". The judicial system is based on English common law , continuing
17464-453: The repeal will not affect the recognition of "traditional familial and societal norms," including how marriage is defined, leaving the legal status of same-sex marriage unchanged for the time, although the possibility of civil unions was not officially ruled out. Lee described this as a compromise between the conservative (and often religious) and progressive elements of Singaporean society to prevent further political fracturing. The law
17612-694: The same sex were not wrong at all or not wrong most of the time, up from 10% in 2013. The survey found that 27% felt the same way about same-sex marriage (an increase from 15% in 2013) and 30% did so about same-sex couples adopting a child (an increase from 24% in 2013). In 2021, six Singaporeans protested for improved trans protections in the educational system outside the Ministry of Education headquarters at Buona Vista . Pimps often traffic women from neighbouring countries such as China , Malaysia and Vietnam at their brothels as well as rented apartments and hostels for higher profit margins when they get
17760-474: The settlement, and the island faded into obscurity for the next two centuries. By then, Singapore was nominally part of the Johor Sultanate . The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period after the 1641 Dutch conquest of Malacca . The British governor Stamford Raffles arrived in Singapore on 28 January 1819 and soon recognised the island as a natural choice for
17908-465: The standard characters, six characters taken from the Grantha script , which was used in the Tamil region to write Sanskrit, are sometimes used to represent sounds not native to Tamil, that is, words adopted from Sanskrit, Prakrit , and other languages. The traditional system prescribed by classical grammars for writing loan-words, which involves respelling them in accordance with Tamil phonology, remains, but
18056-433: The structure and responsibility of governance. The President is the head of state . The governance of Singapore is separated into three branches: The president is directly elected by popular vote for a renewable six-year term. Requirements for this position, which were enacted by the PAP government, are extremely stringent, such that only a handful of people qualify for the candidacy. These qualifications include that
18204-608: The subject of academic debates, it is nevertheless known from various documents that Singapore in the 14th century, then known as Temasek , was a trading port under the influence of both the Majapahit Empire and the Siamese kingdoms, and was a part of the Indosphere . These Indianised kingdoms were characterised by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. Historical sources also indicate that around
18352-515: The terms of the Malaysia Agreement . Under this Agreement, Singapore had a relatively high level of autonomy compared to the other states of Malaysia. Indonesia opposed the formation of Malaysia due to its own claims over Borneo and launched Konfrontasi ("Confrontation" in Indonesian) in response to the formation of Malaysia. On 10 March 1965, a bomb planted by Indonesian saboteurs on
18500-592: The trade unions and Chinese schools, waged a guerrilla war against the government, leading to the Malayan Emergency . The 1954 National Service riots , Hock Lee bus riots , and Chinese middle schools riots in Singapore were all linked to these events. David Marshall , pro-independence leader of the Labour Front , won Singapore's first general election in 1955. He led a delegation to London , and Britain rejected his demand for complete self-rule. He resigned and
18648-483: The two. It was thought that reuniting with Malaya would benefit the economy by creating a common market, alleviating ongoing unemployment woes in Singapore. However, a sizeable left-wing faction of the PAP was strongly opposed to the merger, fearing a loss of influence, and hence formed the Barisan Sosialis , after being kicked out from the PAP. The ruling party of Malaya, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO),
18796-623: The victory as deciding the general situation of the war. Between 5,000 and 25,000 ethnic Chinese people were killed in the subsequent Sook Ching massacre . British forces had planned to liberate Singapore in 1945/1946; however, the war ended before these operations could be carried out. After the Japanese surrender to the Allies on 15 August 1945, Singapore fell into a brief state of violence and disorder; looting and revenge-killing were widespread. British, Australian, and Indian troops led by Lord Louis Mountbatten returned to Singapore to receive
18944-410: The war, including those needed to supply utilities. A shortage of food led to malnutrition, disease, and rampant crime and violence. A series of strikes in 1947 caused massive stoppages in public transport and other services. However, by late 1947 the economy began to recover, facilitated by a growing international demand for tin and rubber. The failure of Britain to successfully defend its colony against
19092-517: The word for "here"— iṅku in Centamil (the classic variety)—has evolved into iṅkū in the Kongu dialect of Coimbatore , inga in the dialects of Thanjavur and Palakkad , and iṅkai in some dialects of Sri Lanka . Old Tamil's iṅkaṇ (where kaṇ means place) is the source of iṅkane in the dialect of Tirunelveli , Old Tamil iṅkiṭṭu is the source of iṅkuṭṭu in
19240-487: The world. It has the third highest population density of any country in the world , although there are numerous green and recreational spaces as a result of urban planning . With a multicultural population and in recognition of the cultural identities of the major ethnic groups within the nation, Singapore has four official languages : English , Malay , Mandarin , and Tamil . English is the common language , with exclusive use in numerous public services . Multi-racialism
19388-517: Was occupied by Japan in 1942 and returned to British control as a separate Crown colony following Japan's surrender in 1945. Singapore gained self-governance in 1959 and, in 1963, became part of the new federation of Malaysia , alongside Malaya , North Borneo , and Sarawak . Ideological differences led to Singapore's expulsion from the federation two years later; Singapore became an independent sovereign country in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and
19536-526: Was a Tamilian himself, in a joint sitting of both houses of the Indian Parliament on 6 June 2004. The socio-linguistic situation of Tamil is characterised by diglossia : there are two separate registers varying by socioeconomic status , a high register and a low one. Tamil dialects are primarily differentiated from each other by the fact that they have undergone different phonological changes and sound shifts in evolving from Old Tamil. For example,
19684-494: Was abolished in 1970. Singapore is known for its strict laws and conservative stances on crime; both corporal punishment (by caning ) and capital punishment (by hanging ) are retained and commonly used as legal penalties. The right to freedom of speech and association is guaranteed by Article 14(1) of the Constitution of Singapore , although there are provisions in the subsequent subsection that regulate them. The government has restricted freedom of speech and freedom of
19832-420: Was amended in 1991 to provide for an elected president who has veto power in the use of past reserves and appointments to certain public offices. In 1990, Goh Chok Tong succeeded Lee and became Singapore's second prime minister. During Goh's tenure, the country went through the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2003 SARS outbreak. In 2004, Lee Hsien Loong , the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew , became
19980-586: Was claimed to be dated to around 580 BCE. John Guy states that Tamil was the lingua franca for early maritime traders from India. Tamil language inscriptions written in Brahmi script have been discovered in Sri Lanka and on trade goods in Thailand and Egypt. In November 2007, an excavation at Quseir-al-Qadim revealed Egyptian pottery dating back to first century BCE with ancient Tamil Brahmi inscriptions. There are
20128-526: Was constructed on the eastern fringes of Nandambakkam. During the 1950s and early 1960s, a number of social welfare schemes were launched here. During the Chief Ministership of K. Kamaraj , proposals were made for establishing a surgical instruments factory at Nandambakkam with Russian collaboration. This project undertaken by the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited culminated in the inauguration of
20276-528: Was created by Lord Shiva . Murugan , revered as the Tamil God, along with sage Agastya , brought it to the people. Tamil, like other Dravidian languages, ultimately descends from the Proto-Dravidian language , which was most likely spoken around the third millennium BCE, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were of
20424-533: Was fully occupied with defending Britain, leaving Singapore vulnerable to Japanese invasion . During the Pacific War , the Japanese invasion of Malaya culminated in the Battle of Singapore . When the British force of 60,000 troops surrendered on 15 February 1942, British prime minister Winston Churchill called the defeat "the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history". British and Empire losses during
20572-456: Was granted in 1959. The PAP, self-described as pragmatic, have a syncretic ideology combining free-market principles , civil nationalism , and welfarism . Despite promulgating restrictions on civil liberties, Singapore under the PAP has seen consistent economic growth and political stability. The most represented and popular opposition party is the centre-left Workers' Party , which holds 8 seats in Parliament. The long-standing hegemony of
20720-403: Was nonetheless the largest dry dock in the world, the third-largest floating dock , and had enough fuel tanks to support the entire British navy for six months. The base was defended by heavy 15-inch (380 mm) naval guns stationed at Fort Siloso , Fort Canning and Labrador, as well as a Royal Air Force airfield at Tengah Air Base . Winston Churchill touted it as the " Gibraltar of
20868-510: Was officially repealed on 3 January 2023. Pink Dot SG , an event held in support of the LGBT community, has drawn thousands of people annually since 2009 with increasing attendance. According to a survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies in 2019, Singaporean society has become more liberal on LGBT rights. In the survey, more than 20% of people said that sexual relations between adults of
21016-399: Was one of the earliest references to Singapore Island, which corresponds to a Chinese account from the third century referred to a place as Pú Luó Zhōng ( Chinese : 蒲 羅 中 ), a transcription of the Malay name for 'island at the end of a peninsula '. Early references to the name Temasek (or Tumasik) are found in the Nagarakretagama , a Javanese eulogy written in 1365, and
21164-488: Was opened in 1981 and Singapore Airlines was formed. The Port of Singapore became one of the world's busiest ports and the service and tourism industries also grew immensely during this period. The PAP has remained in power since independence. Some activists and opposition politicians see the government's strict regulation of political and media activities as an infringement on political rights. In response, Singapore has seen several significant political changes, such as
21312-512: Was replaced by Lim Yew Hock in 1956, and after further negotiations Britain agreed to grant Singapore full internal self-government for all matters except defence and foreign affairs on 3 June 1959. Days before, in the 30 May 1959 election , the People's Action Party (PAP) won a landslide victory. Governor Sir William Allmond Codrington Goode served as the first Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Head of State). PAP leaders believed that Singapore's future lay with Malaya, due to strong ties between
21460-427: Was signed on 6 February 1819. In 1824, a further treaty with the Sultan led to the entire island becoming a part of the British Empire . In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements , then under the jurisdiction of British India . Singapore became the regional capital in 1836. Prior to Raffles' arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with
21608-410: Was staunchly anti-communist, and it was suspected UMNO would support the non-communist factions of PAP. UMNO, initially sceptical of the idea of a merger due to distrust of the PAP government and concern that the large ethnic Chinese population in Singapore would alter the racial balance in Malaya on which their political power base depended, became supportive of the idea of the merger due to joint fear of
21756-504: Was the lingua franca for early maritime traders, with inscriptions found in places like Sri Lanka , Thailand , and Egypt . The language has a well-documented history with literary works like Sangam literature , consisting of over 2,000 poems. Tamil script evolved from Tamil Brahmi, and later, the vatteluttu script was used until the current script was standardized. The language has a distinct grammatical structure, with agglutinative morphology that allows for complex word formations. Tamil
21904-451: Was the emergence of the present tense. The present tense evolved out of the verb kil ( கில் ), meaning "to be possible" or "to befall". In Old Tamil, this verb was used as an aspect marker to indicate that an action was micro-durative, non-sustained or non-lasting, usually in combination with a time marker such as ṉ ( ன் ). In Middle Tamil, this usage evolved into a present tense marker – kiṉṟa ( கின்ற ) – which combined
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