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The Social Organization of Singapore

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The Social Organization of Singapore
Social Organization of Singapore
Kenneth Cline
ANT 101
Jo Macek
November 7, 2010

My research will be based on Political, Economic, and Social Organization of Singapore—an industrialist city-state. Even though Singapore 's history dates from the 11th century, the island was little known to the West until the 19th century. Singapore is one of the World 's largest ports, because the city of Singapore has become a major port, with trade exceeding that of Malaya 's, Malacca and Penang combined. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the advent of steamships launched an era of prosperity for Singapore as transit trade expanded throughout Southeast Asia (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2010). Singapore is a very multicultural country, but education through social studies has brought the country into a social cohesive unit (Ho, 2009). Singapore is a Republic—a one-house Parliament makes the county’s laws. A prime minister leads a Cabinet, which carries out the operations of the Government. “The ruling political party in Singapore, reelected continuously since 1959, is the People 's Action Party (PAP), headed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong” (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2010). The president (chief of state) previously exercised only ceremonial duties. As a result of 1991 constitutional changes, the president is now elected and exercises expanded powers over legislative appointments, government budgetary affairs, and internal security matters. The PAP believes that rationalism and expertise is the proper approach to social and economic problems that may arise (Bellows, 1985). “The PAP has held the overwhelming majority of seats in Parliament since 1966, when the opposition Barisan Sosialis Party (Socialist Front), a left-wing group that split off from the PAP in 1961, resigned from Parliament, leaving the PAP as the sole representative party” (Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2010). “Singapore



References: Bellows, Thomas J.  Bureaucracy and development in Singapore. Asian Journal of Public Administration, 7(1):55-69, 1985 Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (2010). Background Note: Singapore. Retrieved November 7, 2010, from U.S Singapore Centre for Applied and Policy Economics (SCAPE). Paper No. 2006/06 – 31 March 2006 Ho, L. (2009). Global Multicultural Citizenship Education: A Singapore Experience.  The Social Studies, 100(6), 285-293.  Retrieved November 8, 2010, from Research Library ID: 2076344941). Tan, K. (2004). The legal and institutional framework and issues of multiculturalism in Singapore Toh M & Low L. (1993) ed. Regional Cooperation and Growth Triangles in ASEAN, Times Academic Press, Singapore. Unkown (n.d.). THE SOCIAL SYSTEM. Retrieved November 7, 2010, from Library of Congress website: http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11815.html

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