It was under his leadership that Singapore developed from a poor third-world fishing town, to the prosperous and affluent nation it is now. This was a very important development, as Lee Kuan Yew became the first prime minister of Singapore. Two years later Singapore separated itself from Malaysia over ideological differences, and became a sovereign, independent city-state (Mykura, n.d.). Singapore merged with Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia. Anti-colonial and nationalist movements eventually led to the country’s independence. Despite the large numbers of British military, the allied forces had to surrender to the Japanese. After the war, the island was handed back to the British Military Administration, but the trust in Britain was demolished. With the establishment of several institutions, the city continued to grow (Silver Media, n.d.).ĭuring the second world war, Singapore was attacked by Japan. In the 19th century, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore as a trading post of the British East India Company. This was only the beginning of the immense harbor activities taking place in the Port of Singapore today, which is ranked the world's maritime capital (Lim & Swaminathan, 2017). When a prince from Palembang founded a city, at the place where he caught an unknown animal, he called it Singapura, “The Lion City” (Van de Waal, 2018). During this period the city flourished as a trading post for ships, which turned Singapore into a fishing town as seen on figure 1 below. Legend says that it wasn’t until the 14th century that Singapore earned its official name. The settlement was known as Temasek, which means Sea Town. The earliest records of Singapore are from when the first settlements were established in AD 1298-1299.
In order to really understand the position Singapore holds in the world-system nowadays, we first have to look at its history. How is it possible that Singapore grew so much, in such a short period of time? To try and answer this question, I will look at the history of Singapore and how through economic, cultural and political globalization it grew to be a core nation, a center of the world. Learning about the history and then minutes later walking through the business center, got me thinking. The entire history of Singapore is exhibited there, from its start as a fishing town to the thriving megapolis it is now. During my visit to the city-state Singapore in December 2017, I went to the Singapore City Gallery.