Singapore is the little country with big impact. It is one of the smallest countries in the world yet it’s one of the most powerful and influential and its citizens enjoy one of the comfortable and affluent (affluent means you have got enough money to spend on luxury items and treats) lifestyles in the world. Plus, the country is not even 50 years old yet! Like London, it has a mixture of many different people from all over the world with many different languages, religions, traditions and fashions.
We will be mainly studying the history of Singapore and its physical and human geography. We can learn about science through the physical geography of the Singapore and learn about R.E., Art and D.T. through the human geography of the island.
Read the information below, and follow the links, to learn more.
Physical Geography
Location
Singapore is in South-East Asia, near to Malaysia and Indonesia. It is an island, like Britain, and it is extremely small. Because it is an island, Singapore has lots of coastline which means that lots of boats sail to the island – we will learn why this is important later.
Climate
Singapore lies almost exactly on the Equator, which means that it is always hot there. This means all day and all night, and every day of the year it is hot. It does not have seasons – so no winter and no summer. Every day there is 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of night time, the sun rises and sets at the same time. All you can say about changes in the weather is that ‘sometimes it will rain and sometimes it won’t’ but all the time it will be hot.
Human Geography
People
Singapore has a very big mix of people that originally came from all over the world and whose family, at some point, decided to migrate there. A lot of people’s families in Singapore originally came from China, Malaysia and Indian, and there is also a lot of people who have recently migrated from Europe, America and Australia – it is a big mix of people, just like London. In fact, in Singapore there is a group of people known as the Peranakan community which can only be found in and around the city-state. And this big mix of people is the key to understanding life in Singapore.
Religion
Because there is such a big mix of people from all over the world there is a big mix of religions as well. In Singapore, there are a lot of Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Taoists (it is a religion originally from China). It is very tolerant of different religions and people of faith get along easily.
Food
The big mix of people leads to a big mix at the dinner table. Eating is a national sport in Singapore! The delicious food comes from all over the world, just like its citizens, with peranakan food a particular highlight.
Art
There are a lot of modern Asian artistic trends visible in Singapore. Modern Asian art mixes traditional artistic trends (often Chinese in origin) with modern themes to produce something new. We will focus on peranakan artwork and in particular we will focus on peranakan plates.
Design Technology
Singapore is home to some breath-taking architecture and lots of exciting design trends can be seen just by walking around the island.
History
Britain and Singapore
Singapore celebrates its 50th birthday this year (on August 9th); it is 50 years since Singapore gained independence from Britain. The island used to be an important part of the British Empire for many years, but before the British arrived Singapore used to be rainforest and almost no-one lived there. The British – led by Sir Stamford Raffles – created an island where people could buy and sell things, this is what has made Singapore a successful country.
Singapore and WW2
During WW2, the Japanese Army invaded and occupied the island for 3 years. This was humiliating for the British, who ruled the country at the time. After the Japanese were defeated at the end of WW2, Singapore decided to become independent but it took until 1965 for the country to become fully independent.
Lee Kuan Yew
One man has completed dominated life in Singapore – Lee Kuan Yew. He died in March this year and he was mourned by millions of Singaporeans. Although Singapore is a democracy, Lee has dominated politics so much that he ruled for over 30 years and now his son rules the country. He is credited with building Singapore into a strong and wealthy country.
If you’d like to learn more about International Week activities from previous years, click on the links below:
Click here for information about Nepal
Click here for information about China
Click here and here for information about Mexico
Click here for information about Ghana