Singapore on This Day in History

This day in history: Singapore separates from the Federation of Malaysia and gains its independence on this day in 1965. However, the real story is that Singapore was expelled from Malaysia and became the only country to date to gain independence unwillingly. It all worked out though as the Singapore economy is now known as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, most dynamic and the most business-friendly.

Singapore is also one of only three surviving city-states in the world. The other two are Monaco and Vatican City. Singapore has four official languages: English, Chinese, Tamil, and Malay. Buildings in Singapore cannot be higher than 280 metres. Singapore has taken extreme measures to reduce vehicle usage. A Certificate of Entitlement (COE) is required, costing more than S$80,000 to successful bidders. This permits ownership of the vehicle for a period of 10 years after which the vehicle must be scrapped or another COE paid for allowing an additional 5 or 10 years of usage. Certain roads and expressways in Singapore are subject to the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system. COEs and the ERP system are intended to encourage people to use public transport such as the Mass Rapid Transit and public buses instead of driving.