Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It is located about one degree of latitude 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, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor to the north. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet; the combined area of these has increased by 25% since the country's independence as a result of extensive land reclamation projects. It has the second 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 lingua franca, with its exclusive use in numerous public services. Multi-racialism is enshrined in the constitution and continues to shape national policies in education, housing, and politics.
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football in Singapore. Established in 1892 as the Singapore Football Association (SFA), it is the oldest football association in all of Asia. The FAS is also one of the founding members of both the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). It has been affiliated with FIFA since 1952.
Yeo Cheow Tong is a former Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he served in the Cabinet from 1990 to 2006, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) of Hong Kah SMC from 12 December 1984 to 17 August 1988 and MP of Hong Kah GRC from 24 August 1988 to 19 April 2011 for almost 27 years.
Abdullah bin Tarmugi is a Singaporean former politician who served as Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore between 2002 and 2011.
General elections were held in Singapore on 6 May 2006. President S.R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 20 April 2006 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong three weeks before the election. The People's Action Party (PAP) won 66.6% of the overall votes and gained 82 out of 84 seats. The PAP held the office of Prime Minister for a twelfth consecutive term. The general election was held under the first-past-the-post system. On Nomination Day, the PAP gained 37 seats in divisions which were uncontested by other parties. The main election issues included employment, cost of living, housing, transport, education, the need for an effective opposition voice in parliament, and the quality of the candidates.
Lee Yi Shyan is a Singaporean politician. In 2020, Lee retired and did not stand in the 2020 Singaporean general election.
Teo Ser Luck is a Singaporean former politician who served as Minister of State for Manpower between 2015 and 2017, Minister of State for Trade and Industry between 2011 and 2015 and Mayor of North East District between 2009 and 2017. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Punggol South ward of Pasir Ris–Punggol GRC between 2006 and 2011 and the Punggol Central ward between 2011 and 2020.
A group representation constituency (GRC) is a type of electoral division or constituency in Singapore in which teams of candidates, instead of individual candidates, compete to be elected into Parliament as the Members of Parliament (MPs) for the constituency. The Government stated that the GRC scheme was primarily implemented to enshrine minority representation in Parliament: at least one of the MPs in a GRC must be a member of the Malay, Indian or another minority community of Singapore. In addition, it was economical for town councils, which manage public housing estates, to handle larger constituencies.
Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, commonly known as Singdarin or Singnese, is a Mandarin dialect native and unique to Singapore similar to its English-based counterpart Singlish. It is based on Mandarin but has a large amount of English and Malay in its vocabulary. There are also words from other Chinese languages such as Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew as well as Tamil. While Singdarin grammar is largely identical to Standard Mandarin, there are significant divergences and differences especially in its pronunciation and vocabulary.
Matthias Yao Chih is a Singaporean former politician. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was a Member of Parliament (MP) representing Marine Parade GRC between 1991 and 1997, and MacPherson SMC between 1997 and 2011.
Women in Singapore, particularly those who have joined Singapore's workforce, are faced with balancing their traditional and modern-day roles in Singaporean society and economy. According to the book The Three Paradoxes: Working Women in Singapore written by Jean Lee S.K., Kathleen Campbell, and Audrey Chia, there are "three paradoxes" confronting and challenging the career women of Singapore. Firstly, Singapore's society expects women to become creative and prolific corporate workers who are also expected to play the role of traditional women in the household, particularly as wife and mother. Secondly, Singaporean women are confronted by the "conflict between work and family" resulting from their becoming members of the working population. Thirdly, Singapore's female managers are still fewer in number despite their rising educational level and attainments when compared to male managers.
Adrian Tan Cheng Bock is a Singaporean politician and medical doctor. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayer Rajah SMC between 1980 and 2006. After leaving the PAP, Tan founded the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), serving as secretary-general between 2019 and 2021 and as chairman since 2021.
Alex Yam Ziming is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Mayor of North West District since 2020. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Yew Tee division of Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC since 2011.
Masagos Zulkifli bin Masagos Mohamad is a Singaporean politician who has been serving as Minister for Social and Family Development and Second Minister for Health since 2020, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he serves as the Vice Chairman in the party Central Executive Committee (CEC) since 2018 and had been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Tampines West division of Tampines GRC since 2006.
Saktiandi bin Supaat is a Singaporean politician and economist. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Toa Payoh East division of Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC since 2015.
Kok Heng Leun is a former Singapore Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) who represented the arts sector in Singapore. He was appointed by the President of Singapore in March 2016. He steps down as Co-Artistic Director of Singaporean theatre company Drama Box in 2022, and continue his practice in the company as an Artist, Founder. He is a member of the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre Programme Committee, and is part of the arts advisory panel of the National Arts Council, Singapore.
In Singapore, a town council (TC) is an entity formed by at least one elected Member of Parliament (MP) and appointed residents who are responsible for the day-to-day operations in managing the common property of the Housing and Development Board (HDB) residential flats and commercial property within the town. The sizes and structure of a town council can be changed due to political electoral changes. It is often considered a very limited form of local government that are strictly limited to estate management, and where their members have no separation of powers from the national government. As of November 2020, there are 17 town councils operating in Singapore.
