Singapore History

Singapore's early history is not much documented, although there are accounts mentioning the land dating back to the 3rd century. Legend has it that the country's name was coined by the prince Srivijaya, who landed on the island in the 13th century. The story goes that he met a lion, which he took as a sign of good fortune. Thus, he named the land as "Singapura", which means Lion City.

It was, however, in 1818 that the land's fortunes really begun to change, when it was turned into a major trading point by Sir Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company. As the years passed, it continued to grow, although its quickly increasing population became a problem for its massively understaffed administration. As a colony of Britain, it was transformed into a naval base, often touted then as the largest dry dock in the world. The problem was that it was a base without a fleet, as the Royal Navy is stationed in its home country. This was highly the reason for its fall during World War II, as it was a prime target for the Japanese for being a major Allied base in Southeast Asia. In fact, Singapore's fall was the largest surrender of British forces in history.

The event proved to be a turning point in Singapore's history, as it appeared to the locals that the British government is inadequate and will not be able to defend them from future attacks. This led to the Singaporeans clamoring for independence, until they finally got it in 1965. In the years that followed, the city-state begun to develop rapidly, embarking on a modernization program that saw the nation become one of the richest in the world, and is second only to Japan in Asia.