1.
Chinese name
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Chinese personal names are names used by those from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora overseas. Prior to the 20th century, educated Chinese also utilized a courtesy name or style name called zi by which they were known among those outside of their family and closest friends. From at least the time of the Shang dynasty, the Han Chinese observed a number of naming taboos regulating who may or may not use a given name. In general, using the given name connoted the speakers authority, peers and younger relatives were barred from speaking it. Owing to this, many historical Chinese figures – particularly emperors – used a half-dozen or more different names in different contexts and those possessing names identical to the emperors were frequently forced to change them. Although some terms in the ancient Chinese naming system, such as xìng and míng, are used today, they were used in different. Commoners possessed only a name, and the modern concept of a surname or family name did not yet exist at any level of society.3 billion citizens. In fact, just the top three – Wang, Li, and Zhang – cover more than 20% of the population. This homogeneity results from the majority of Han family names having only one character. Chinese surnames arose from two separate traditions, the xìng and the shì. The original xìng were clans of royalty at the Shang court, the shì did not originate from families, but denoted fiefs, states, and titles granted or recognized by the Shang court. Apart from the Jiang and Yao families, the original xìng have nearly disappeared, xìng is now used to describe the shì surnames which replaced them, while shì is used to refer to maiden names. The enormous modern clans sometimes share ancestral halls with one another, nonetheless, however tenuous these bonds sometimes are, it remains a minor taboo to marry someone with the same family name. In modern mainland China, it is the norm that a woman keeps her name unchanged. A child usually inherits his/her fathers surname, though the law explicitly states that a child may use either parents or the grandparents. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to both parents surnames. In the older generations, it was common for a married woman to prepend her husbands surname to her own. This practice is now almost extinct in mainland China, though there are a few such as the name change of Gu Kailai, but survives in some Hong Kong, Macau
2.
Chinese surname
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Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities. In ancient times two types of surnames existed, namely xing or lineage names, and shi or clan names, Chinese family names are patrilineal, passed from father to children. Women do not normally change their surnames upon marriage, except in places with more Western influences such as Hong Kong, traditionally Chinese surnames have been exogamous. The colloquial expressions laobaixing and bǎixìng are used in Chinese to mean ordinary folks, prior to the Warring States period, only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames. Historically there was also a difference between clan names or xing and lineages names or shi, Xing were surnames held by the noble clans. They generally are composed of a nü radical which has taken by some as evidence they originated from matriarchal societies based on maternal lineages. Another hypothesis has been proposed by sinologist Léon Vandermeersch upon observation of the evolution of characters in oracular scripture from the Shang dynasty through the Zhou, the female radical seems to appear at the Zhou period next to Shang sinograms indicating an ethnic group or a tribe. This combination seems to designate specifically a female and could mean lady of such or such clan, prior to the Qin Dynasty China was largely a fengjian society. In this way, a nobleman would hold a shi and a xing, after the states of China were unified by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC, surnames gradually spread to the lower classes and the difference between xing and shi blurred. Many shi surnames survive to the present day, according to Kiang Kang-Hu, there are 18 sources from which Chinese surnames may be derived, while others suggested at least 24. The following are some of the sources, Xing, These were usually reserved for the central lineage of the royal family. Of these xings, only Jiang and Yao have survived in their form to modern days as frequently occurring surnames. Royal decree by the Emperor, such as Kuang, state name, Many nobles and commoners took the name of their state, either to show their continuing allegiance or as a matter of national and ethnic identity. These are some of the most common Chinese surnames, name of a fief or place of origin, Fiefdoms were often granted to collateral branches of the aristocracy and it was natural as part of the process of sub-surnaming for their names to be used. An example is Di, Marquis of Ouyangting, whose descendants took the surname Ouyang, there are some two hundred examples of this identified, often of two-character surnames, but few have survived to the present. Names of an ancestor, Like the previous example, this was also a common origin with close to 500 or 600 examples,200 of which are two-character surnames, often an ancestors courtesy name would be used. For example, Yuan Taotu took the character of his grandfathers courtesy name Boyuan as his surname. Sometimes titles granted to ancestors could also be taken as surnames, seniority within the family, In ancient usage, the characters of meng, zhong, shu and ji were used to denote the first, second, third and fourth eldest sons in a family
3.
Chen (surname)
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Chen is one of the most common East Asian surnames of Chinese origin. It ranks as the 5th most common surname in China as of 2007, Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hong Kong. It is the most common surname in Xiamen, the hometown of many overseas Hoklo. Besides 陳/陈, an uncommon Chinese surname 諶/谌 is also romanized as Chen and it is usually romanised as Chan in Cantonese, most widely used by those from Hong Kong, and sometimes as Chun. The spelling, Chan, is used in Macao and Malaysia. In Min, the name is pronounced Tan, in Hakka and Taishanese, the name is spelled Gin. Some other Romanisations include Zen, Ding and Chern, Chen can be variously spelt as Tan, Chan or Chin in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. Chen is commonly spelled Chang in Peru, the Korean surname 진 is the Korean pronunciation of the same character. In Japanese, the surname is transliterated Chin, in Vietnam, this surname is written in Quốc Ngữ as Trần and it is the second most common surname. Chen was derived from Gui, the surname of the descendants of the sage king Emperor Shun. When King Wu of Zhou established the Zhou dynasty in 1046/45 BC, Gui Man was said to be a descendant of Emperor Shun, at the State of Chen, in modern Huaiyang County, Henan Province. Chen was conquered by Chu in 479 BC, and the people of Chen adopted the name of their state as their surname. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, Chen Baxian established the Chen Dynasty, the fourth and the last of the Southern dynasties, which was eventually destroyed by the Sui Dynasty
4.
President of Singapore
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The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapores head of state. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was chosen by Parliament, in November 2016, further amendments provide for reserved elections for a particular racial group - if that community has not been represented for five presidential terms. The first President elected by the majority of the people was Ong Teng Cheong, the current President of Singapore is Tony Tan Keng Yam. The Presidents official residence is the Istana, the office of President was created in 1965 after Singapore became a republic upon its secession from the Federation of Malaysia that year. It replaced the office of Yang di-Pertuan Negara, which had created when Singapore attained self-government in 1959. The last Yang di-Pertuan Negara, Yusof Ishak, became the first President, after his death he was replaced by Benjamin Sheares, who served until his death in 1981, when he was succeeded by Chengara Veetil Devan Nair. Owing to personal problems, Nair stepped down in 1985 and was replaced by Wee Kim Wee, in January 1991, the Constitution was amended to provide for the popular election of the President, a major constitutional and political change in Singapores history. Under the revision, the President is empowered to veto the use of the countrys past reserves and he or she can also examine the administrations enforcement of the Internal Security Act and Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, and authorise corruption investigations. The first popularly elected President was Ong Teng Cheong, a cabinet minister. He served as President from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999, the sixth President was S. R. Nathan. He was not elected by the people in a vote, and his first term of office was from 18 August 1999 to 31 August 2005. He was re-elected after a walkover on 17 August 2005 and stepped down in August 2011, Tony Tan won the 27 August 2011 presidential election by a narrow 0. 34% margin. He was sworn in as the seventh President of Singapore on 1 September 2011, the President is the head of state of Singapore. The executive authority of the nation is vested in the President, as a component of the legislature together with Parliament, the President is also jointly vested with the legislative power of Singapore. The Presidents primary role in the exercise of power to make laws is assenting to bills passed by Parliament. The words of enactment in Singapore statutes are, Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows. The President usually opens each Parliamentary session with an address drafted by the Cabinet setting out the Governments agenda for the session, the President has been called Singapores No.1 diplomat. Ambassadors and high commissioners accredited to Singapore present their credentials to him, in addition, he or she contributes to the nations external relations by undertaking overseas trips on Cabinets advice
5.
Lee Hsien Loong
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Lee Hsien Loong is a Singaporean politician and the current Prime Minister of Singapore. In 2004, Lee became the third prime minister after taking over the leadership of the Peoples Action Party when former prime minister Goh Chok Tong stepped down from the position. Lee subsequently led his party to victory in the 2006,2011 and 2015 general elections and he began his current term on 15 January 2016. Lee is the eldest son of Singapores first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, Lee graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge University, as Senior Wrangler in 1974 and later earned a Master of Public Administration at Harvards Kennedy School of Government. From 1971 to 1984, he served in the Singapore Armed Forces where he rose to the rank of brigadier general and he won his first election for Member of Parliament in 1984, contesting as a member of the Peoples Action Party. Under Singapores second prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, Lee served as the Minister for Trade and Industry, Minister for Finance and Deputy Prime Minister. The eldest child of Singapores first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew and his wife Kwa Geok Choo and his paternal grandmother, Chua Jim Neo, was a Hokkien Nyonya, and his mother has ancestry from Tongan District, Xiamen, Fujian, China. Lee studied at Nanyang Primary School and received his education at Catholic High School. In 1971, he was awarded a Presidents Scholarship and Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Scholarship by the Public Service Commission to study mathematics at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. He was senior wrangler in 1973, and graduated in 1974 with first-class honours on a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, in 1980, he completed a Master of Public Administration at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Lee joined the Singapore Armed Forces in 1971, and served as an officer from 1974 to 1984, Lee rose quickly through the ranks in the Singapore Army, becoming the youngest brigadier-general in Singaporean history after his promotion in July 1983. Notably, he was put in command of the operations following the Sentosa Cable Car Disaster. Lee left the SAF in 1984 to pursue civilian politics, following the 1984 general election, all of the old Central Executive Committee members resigned on 1 January 1985, except for Lee Kuan Yew himself. Lee was first elected Member of Parliament for the Teck Ghee Single Member Constituency in 1984 and he has since been re-elected seven times, most recently as an MP for the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency in 2015. Later, when he was working under the prime minister Goh Chok Tong, he was appointed the Deputy Prime Minister in 1990. The committees recommendations included reductions in corporate and personal taxes and the introduction of a consumption tax, in 1986, Lee was appointed the acting minister for Trade and Industry. In 1987, he became a member of the Cabinet as the minister for trade and Industry. Lee was the chairman of the PAP Youth Committee, the predecessor to the Young PAP, the PAP had been undergoing leadership transition, and many of its key leaders were aging, with younger replacements scarce
6.
S. R. Nathan
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Sellapan Ramanathan, DUT, PJG, BBM, PPA, usually referred to as S. R. Nathan, was the sixth President of Singapore from 1999 to 2011, having been elected in uncontested elections in 1999 and 2005. In 2009, he surpassed Benjamin Sheares to become Singapores longest-serving President, Nathan experienced a troubled youth – his father committed suicide, his three brothers died at an early age, he was twice expelled from school, and he ran away from home. This was followed by a career in the Singapore Civil Service. Between 1962 and 1966 he was seconded to the National Trades Union Congress and he served as First Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry from 1979 to 1982. Nathan left the Civil Service in 1982 to take up the chairmanship of the Straits Times Press. Between 1988 and 1996 he served as Singapores High Commissioner to Malaysia and Ambassador to the United States and he died in 2016 and was accorded the honour of a state funeral by the Government. Sellapan Ramanathan, of Tamil Indian descent, was born in Singapore on 3 July 1924 and he spent his childhood with his parents, V. Sellapan and Abirami, and two older brothers in Muar, Johor, in a house overlooking the sea. Nathan would eventually be one of seven siblings, his three brothers died in childhood. Nathans father accrued debts and eventually committed suicide when Nathan was eight, returning to Singapore, Nathan received his primary education in Anglo-Chinese Primary School and Rangoon Road Afternoon School, and his secondary education at Victoria School. However, he was expelled from school twice and, after quarrelling with his mother, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, Nathan learned Japanese and worked for the Japanese Kempeitai as a translator. Nathan began his career in the Singapore Civil Service as a social worker in 1955. He was appointed Seamens Welfare Officer the following year, in 1962, he was seconded to the Labour Research Unit of the National Trades Union Congress, first as Assistant Director and later as Director of the Labour Research Unit until January 1966. Nathan negotiated Singapores membership of the Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation and he later served as a member of the NTUCs Board of Trustees from 1983 to April 1988. In February 1966, Nathan was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he served as Assistant Secretary and rose to be Deputy Secretary before being appointed Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs in January 1971. On 6 August of the year, Nathan moved to the Ministry of Defence where he was Director of the Security. For his bravery, in August 1974 he was awarded the Pingat Jasa Gemilang, the appointment was viewed dimly by journalists who felt that the Government was trying to limit freedom of the press, they wore black armbands in protest. According to Nathan in a 2010 interview, hen they saw I was not doing what they expected me to do and he held a directorship in the Singapore International Media between September 1996 and August 1999. He was Chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Singapore, a ship-repairing and engineering joint venture with the Mitsubishi Group of Japan, from 1983 to April 1988, Nathan was Chairman of the Hindu Endowments Board
7.
Halimah Yacob
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Halimah Binti Yacob is a Singaporean politician. A member of the countrys governing Peoples Action Party, she is currently the ninth Speaker of Parliament and she is the first woman to hold this post in the Republics history. She is the third consecutive Speaker belonging to a minority race, after Abdullah Tarmugi and she also served as Minister of State at the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports from 2011 to 2013. She has been a Member of Parliament representing the Jurong Group Representation Constituency between 2001 and 2015 and Marsiling-Yew Tee Group Representation Constituency since 2015. Halimah Yacob was educated at Singapore Chinese Girls School and Tanjong Katong Girls School and she was called to the Singapore Bar in 1981. In 2001, she completed an LLM degree at the National University of Singapore, Halimah entered politics in 2001 when she was elected as an MP for the Jurong Group Representation Constituency. Following the 2011 general election, Halimah was made a Minister of State at the Ministry of Community Development, Youth, Halimah has also served as the Chair of the Jurong Town Council. Halimah has been involved in the Malay community. For example, she contributes to the Malay Knowledge-Based Economy Advisory Committee, in recognition of her contributions, she was conferred the Berita Harian/McDonalds Achiever of the Year Award in 2001 and the Her World Woman of the Year Award in 2003. She also speaks out actively against radical Islam in particularly condemning and disassociating from the Islamic State of Iraq, on 8 January 2013, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong nominated Halimah Yacob to succeed former Speaker Michael Palmer. She was fully supported by all the MPs of the ruling Peoples Action Party and all the opposition Workers Party and she was elected Speaker of Parliament on 14 January 2013. Halimah has served at the National Trades Union Congress as the Deputy Secretary General, Director of the Legal Services Department and she has also served as the Executive Secretary of the United Workers of Electronics and Electrical Industries. Halimah has also served on the body of the Geneva-based International Labour Organization. She was elected as the Workers Vice-Chairperson of the Standards Committee of the International Labour Conference in Geneva in 2000,2001 and 2002 and 2005, in 2003 and 2004, she was the Workers Spokesperson for the ILC Committee on Human Resources Development and Training. Halimah is married and has five children and her Indian-Muslim father was a watchman who died when she was eight years old. She is the first woman, and the second Muslim to serve as the Speaker Parliament of Singapore, mdm Halimah Yacob at parliament. gov. sg Halimah Yacob on Facebook http, //www. jrtc. org. sg/
8.
Co-ordinating Minister for National Security
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Co-ordinating Minister for National Security is an appointment in the Cabinet of Singapore, currently held by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. The position was created on 1 August 2003, at that time, it was called the Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Defence. The position was held by Tony Tan Keng Yam, then the Deputy Prime Minister, on 1 September 2005, Shunmugam Jayakumar took over the position that was renamed as Co-ordinating Minister for National Security. Its responsibility is to oversee counter-terrorism in Singapore, by co-ordinating efforts in different government agencies
9.
Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
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The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the deputy head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The role of Deputy Prime Minister is the second highest post, the holder will sometimes assume the role of Acting Prime Minister when the PM is temporarily absent from Singapore. Since the mid-1980s, Singapore has usually had two Deputy Prime Ministers at a time, only Ong Teng Cheong and Tony Tan served under more than one Prime Minister during their time as Deputy Prime Minister. Toh Chin Chye was the deputy first prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1968, Prime Minister of Singapore Prime Ministers Office Cabinet of Singapore Prime Ministers Office
10.
Goh Chok Tong
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Goh Chok Tong is a Singaporean politician. He subsequently served as Senior Minister until May 2011, and as Chairman of the Monetary Authority Of Singapore and he continues to serve as a Member of Parliament representing the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency and holds the honorary title of Emeritus Senior Minister. Gohs father was from Yongchun County, Fujian province, China, Goh studied at Raffles Institution from 1955 to 1960. He was a competitive swimmer in his younger days and was given the nickname Bold. Goh earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with first class honours in economics from the University of Singapore, after his studies, Goh returned to Singapore to serve in the Administrative Service. Gohs dream of getting a PhD was disrupted, as the government would not transfer his bursary bond to the university, where he had signed on as a research fellow after graduation. In 2015, Goh was awarded the highest recognition from his alma mater, NUS, the degree of Doctor of Laws. In 1969, Goh was seconded to the shipping company Neptune Orient Lines as the companys Planning and his career advanced quickly and by 1973, he became the Managing Director and led NOL to achieve impressive financial results during his tenure. Here Goh worked under Muhammad Jalaluddin Sayeed, with whom he maintained close ties, in the 1976 Singapore general election, at the age of 35, Goh was elected as Member of Parliament for Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency, as a Peoples Action Party candidate. He was appointed a Senior Minister of State for Finance, in 1981, he was promoted to Minister for Trade and Industry and later served in other appointments including Minister for Health and Minister for Defence. In 1985, Goh became the first Deputy Prime Minister and began to assume the responsibility of the government in a carefully managed leadership transition, on 28 November 1990, Goh became the second Prime Minister of Singapore, taking over from Lee Kuan Yew. Lee remained a member of his Cabinet, holding the post of Senior Minister. The 1991 general elections, the first electoral test for Goh, in 1992, Lee Kuan Yew handed over the post of Secretary General of Peoples Action Party to Goh, successfully completing the leadership transition. As Prime Minister, Goh promised a more open-minded and consultative style of leadership than that of his predecessor. As Secretary General, Goh led the PAP to three general election victories in 1991,1997, and 2001, in which the party won 61%, 65% and 75% of the votes respectively. After the general election in 2001, Goh indicated that he would step down as Prime Minister after leading the country out of the recession and his announcement drew a strong backlash from conservatives of the island nation but nevertheless reinforced Gohs image as an open-minded leader. On 12 August 2004, Goh stepped down as Prime Minister, on 20 August 2004, Goh assumed the post of Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. On 1 February 2005, Goh was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia, Australias highest civilian honour, for eminent service to Australia/Singapore relations
11.
Ong Teng Cheong
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Ong Teng Cheong, was a Singaporean politician and businessman who was President of Singapore from 1993 to 1999. Prior to taking office as President, he was a member of the ruling Peoples Action Party and he was Singapores first directly elected president, serving a six-year term from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999. Born in 22 January 1936, Ong was the second of five children from a middle-class Singaporean family, Ong graduated with distinctions from The Chinese High School in 1955. Having received a Chinese-language education, Ong saw little opportunity for advancing his studies in the University of Malaya, in 1956, with the help of his fathers friends, Ong ventured abroad. Those years were to both his beliefs and passions. Ong studied architecture at the University of Adelaide along with his sweetheart and future spouse. Both Ong and Ling met each other during a Christmas party while they were studying in secondary school. After graduation, Ong worked as an architect in Adelaide, Australia, Ong and his wife occasionally recite Chinese poetry and verses they learnt during their younger days. In 1965, Ong received an Colombo Plan scholarship to pursue a degree in urban planning at the University of Liverpool. In the same year, he joined the Ministry of National Development as a town planner, after four years of civil service, Ong resigned from his government profession and started his own architectural firm, Ong & Ong Architects, with his wife. Ongs political career spanned 21 years and he was a member of parliament, Cabinet Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, before he resigned to become the first elected President of Singapore in 1993. Ong began his career through his involvement in grassroots activities in Seletar. He was then introduced to Singapores first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, the Peoples Action Party soon fielded him as a candidate in Kim Keat in the 1972 General Election. His first political appointment came just three years later when he was made Senior Minister of State for Communications, at that time, Ong pushed for the development of the Mass Rapid Transit System, the largest construction project in Singapores history. During his tenure as the Minister of National Development, Ong was a proponent and he later became the Second Deputy Prime Minister in 1985. In 1983, Ong replaced Lim Chee Onn as Secretary General of the National Trades Union Congress. but had forced to resign in 1980. However, the style of Lim and other newer top NTUC leaders had increasingly alienated elements of the union grassroots. The United Workers of Petroleum Industry and NTUC Triennal Delegates Conference publicly opposed the attempts to make house unions the norm
12.
Wong Kan Seng
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Wong Kan Seng is a former Singaporean politician. A member of the governing Peoples Action Party, He is a Member of Parliament representing the Bishan-Toa Payoh Group Representation Constituency, Wong served as the countrys Deputy Prime Minister from 2005 to 2011. He also held the Cabinet portfolios of Minister for Community Development, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Home Affairs, Wong entered politics in 1984 after working as a teacher in the Singapore Civil Service and the private sector. Wong was elected a Member of Parliament representing the Kuo Chuan constituency in Toa Payoh at the 1984 general election and he has since been re-elected as an MP representing the Group Representation Constituencies of Toa Payoh, Thomson and Bishan-Toa Payoh. Wong was appointed the Acting Minister for Community Development in 1986 and he was made a full member of the Cabinet as Minister for Community Development by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1987. He was concurrently appointed the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1988, in 1994, he became the Minister for Home Affairs. Wong also served as the Leader of the House in Singapores Parliament from 1991-2007, on 1 September 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appointed Wong as one of two Deputy Prime Ministers following the retirement of Tony Tan. On 1 November 2010, Wong was appointed the Co-ordinating Minister for National Security, Wong retired from the Cabinet following the 2011 general election. He remains a Member of Parliament and also Special Adviser to Economic Cooperation until 2015, on 27 February 2008, alleged Jemaah Islamiyah leader Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre, leading to the largest manhunt in Singapore. Wong expressed his regret in Parliament the day after the occurrence and he revealed that Mas Selamat escaped when he was taken to the toilet before a meeting at the detention centres family visit room. Wong was criticised because news of Mas Selamats escape was not disseminated to the public until four hours after its occurrence, there were calls for Wong to step down, given the severity of the security lapse. Mas Selamat was eventually recaptured in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on 1 April 2009, by Malaysian authorities, Wong was then responsible for co-ordinating the inter-ministerial nationwide effort to counter the SARS epidemic. Certain measures were taken to contain the virus, including mandatory home quarantine measures, health screening at immigration checkpoints, schools and hospitals, on 31 May 2003, Singapore was taken off the World Health Organisations list of SARS-affected countries. Wong received his education at Outram Secondary School. Wong is married to Ruth Lee Hong Geok, official website of Wong Kan Seng Wong Kan Seng at parliament. gov. sg
13.
Ministry of Defence (Singapore)
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The Ministry of Defence is a ministry of the Government of Singapore entrusted with overseeing the national defence needs of the Republic of Singapore. It is the headquarters of the Singapore Armed Forces and it has a policy of Total Defence which consists of Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence and Psychological Defence. The Ministry of Defence, together with the Ministry of Home Affairs was created on 11 August 1970 by splitting up the then-Ministry of Interior and Defence. The SAFs declared mission statement is to enhance Singapores peace and security through deterrence and diplomacy, the aim of MINDEFs defence policy is to ensure that Singapore enjoys peace and stability, and that Singapores sovereignty and territorial integrity are protected. Hence, diplomacy and deterrence form the pillars of defence. MINDEF develops and maintains relations with other countries through diplomacy. These diplomatic efforts are wide-ranging and span many fields, not just in defence, at the same time, deterrence is presented by contributing to regional resilience and through the concept of Total Defence. Defending Singapore In The 21st Century states that two key thrusts in the years will be to, Strengthen dialogue, confidence-building and co-operation in the region. As Singapores neighbouring nations continue to evolve, they recognise the value of efforts to promote confidence-building, co-operation, MINDEF thus develops extensive links with armed forces in the region and beyond. In light of a new security environment, Singapore faces a range of new. To tackle these challenges, all five tenets of Total Defence will thus be strengthened, the SAF will continue to maintain its conventional capabilities to ensure that the military component of Total Defence remains strong. At the same time, it will more closely with other government agencies to develop an effective defence against new security challenges
14.
Teo Chee Hean
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Teo Chee Hean is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing Peoples Action Party, he is currently the countrys Deputy Prime Minister, Co-ordinating Minister for National Security and he oversees the National Population and Talent Division and the National Climate Change Secretariat, and is Chairman of the National Research Foundation. He has previously served as the Minister for Home Affairs Minister for Defence, Minister for Education and he has been a Member of Parliament since 1992. Prior to entering politics, Teo was a Rear Admiral in the Republic of Singapore Navy, Teo enlisted in the Singapore Armed Forces in 1972 and received his commission as a naval officer at the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute in 1973. He went on to various command and staff appointments in the Republic of Singapore Navy. Teo assumed command of the RSN as Chief of Navy in 1991 and was promoted to the rank of Commodore in July 1991, on 7 December 1992, Teo left the RSN to seek election into Parliament. Teo was elected as a Member of Parliament for the Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency in the Marine Parade by-election on 19 December 1992, following his election, Teo served as a Minister of State in the Ministries of Finance, Communications and Defence. In April 1995, Teo was appointed the Acting Minister for the Environment, in January 1996, he was appointed Minister for the Environment and Second Minister for Defence. At the 1997 general election, Teo was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris GRC, in the subsequent Cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed the Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence. At the 2001 general election, Teo was elected as an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and re-appointed as Minister for Education, on 1 August 2003, he was appointed the Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service. At the 2006 general election, Teo was re-elected as an MP for Pasir-Ris Punggol GRC and he led the team six-member PAP team to victory in the constituency with 68. 7% of the votes. On 26 March 2009, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appointed Teo as one of two Deputy Prime Ministers with effect from 1 April 2009 and he held this appointment alongside his roles of Minister for Defence and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service. At the 2011 general election, Teo led the PAP team in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC to victory with 64. 79% of the votes, on 18 May 2011, Teo was appointed the Minister for Home Affairs and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security. He remains as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister-in-charge of the Civil Service, within the PAP, Teo is the First Assistant Secretary General on the partys Central Executive Committee. Teo serves in leadership and advisory roles in several organisations in Singapore. He served as the President of the Singapore National Olympic Council from 1984-2014 and he is also the advisor to the Singapore Dragon Boat Association. Teo Chee Hean went to Saint Michaels School and Saint Josephs Institution and he was awarded the Presidents Scholarship and the Singapore Armed Forces Scholarship in 1973. Teo is married to Chew Poh Yim and she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in 1977
15.
Lee Kuan Yew
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Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH, SPMJ, informally known by his initials LKY, was the first Prime Minister of Singapore, governing for three decades. Lee is recognised as the founding father, with the country described as transitioning from the third world to first world in a single generation under his leadership. After briefly attending the London School of Economics, Lee graduated from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, in 1950, he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and practised law until 1959. Lee co-founded the Peoples Action Party in 1954 and was its first secretary-general until 1992, leading the party to eight consecutive victories. After Lee chose to step down as Prime Minister in 1990, he served as Senior Minister under his successor, Goh Chok Tong until 2004, then as Minister Mentor until 2011, in total, Lee held successive ministerial positions for 56 years. He continued to serve his Tanjong Pagar constituency for nearly 60 years as a Member of Parliament until his death in 2015, from 1991, he helmed the 5-member Tanjong Pagar GRC, and was returned unopposed for a record five elections. Lee campaigned for Britain to relinquish its colonial rule, and eventually attained through a referendum to merge with other former British territories to form Malaysia in 1963. But racial strife and ideological differences led to its separation to become a sovereign city-state two years later, with overwhelming parliamentary control at every election, Lee oversaw Singapores transformation from a bustling British crown colony with a natural deep harbour to an Asian Tiger economy. In the process, he forged a system of meritocratic, highly effective and incorrupt government, many of his policies are now taught at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Lee eschewed populist policies in favor of pragmatic long-term social and economic measures, Lees rule was criticised, for curtailing civil liberties and bringing libel suits against political opponents. He argued that such measures were necessary for political stability. On 23 March 2015, Lee Kuan Yew died of severe pneumonia, in a week of national mourning,1.7 million residents and guests paid tribute to him at his lying-in-state at Parliament House and at community tribute sites around the island. Lees English-educated parents named him Kuan Yew, which stands for light and brightness and his paternal grandfather gave him the English name Harry. Lee was a fourth-generation Singaporean of Hakka and Chinese Hokkien descent and his Hakka great-grandfather, Lee Bok Boon, born in 1846, emigrated from Dabu County, Guangdong province, China, to Singapore in 1863. He married a daughter, Seow Huan Nio, but returned to China in 1882, leaving behind his wife. He died just two years after his return, Lee Kuan Yews grandfather Lee Hoon Leong, was born in Singapore in 1871. He was educated in English at Raffles Institution to standard V, while working as a purser, Lee Hoon Leong, age 26, married Ko Liem Nio, age 16, in Semarang, Java, Dutch East Indies. It was a marriage, as was then the custom
16.
Goh Keng Swee
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Goh Keng Swee, DUT was the second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1984, and a Member of Parliament for the Kreta Ayer constituency for a quarter of a century. Born in Malacca in the Straits Settlements into a Peranakan family, from 1945 onwards he worked for the Department of Social Welfare, eventually rising to become its Director. In 1958 he resigned from the Civil Service to work full-time for the Peoples Action Party, upon Singapores independence on 9 August 1965, Goh became the nations first Minister for the Interior and Defence. He subsequently served as Finance Minister, Minister for Defence and Minister for Education. M, Rothschild & Sons Ltd. and Vice-Chairman of Hong Leong Asia Ltd. In 1972, Goh was the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Services, following his retirement from politics, in 1985 Goh was awarded the Darjah Utama Temasek, First Class, Singapores highest civilian honour. He was also made the first Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Development Board Society in 1991, Goh was diagnosed with bladder cancer in September 1983 and he retired from politics in December 1984. He kept a low profile but remained active with various organisations where he served on the board or as an adviser, after he married Phua Swee Liang in 1991, the couple travelled widely to places such as Australia and Hawaii. However, a series of strokes in the late 1990s and early 2000s took a toll on him. He was bedridden in his years and died on 14 May 2010. Goh Keng Swee was born in Malacca in the Straits Settlements on 6 October 1918 into a middle-income Peranakan family, Goh was given the Christian name Robert, which he disliked and refused to respond to. When he was two old, his family moved from Malacca to Singapore where his maternal grandparents owned several properties. The Gohs later relocated to the Pasir Panjang rubber estate when his father work there. In common with many Peranakan families, the Gohs spoke both English and Malay at home, church services were held at home on Sundays in Malay, Goh himself attended this church as well. He then joined the colonial Civil Service as a tax collector with the War Tax Department but, shortly after the start of World War II, he joined the Singapore Volunteer Corps, a local militia, but returned to his previous work after the fall of Singapore. Goh married Alice Woon, a secretary who was a colleague, in 1942 and they had their child, Goh Kian Chee. In 1945 he relocated his family to Malacca, but they returned to Singapore the following year after the Japanese occupation ended. That year, he joined the Department of Social Welfare, and was active in post-war administration and he became supervisor of the Departments Research Section six months later. Goh won a scholarship enabled him to further his studies at the London School of Economics
17.
Parliament of Singapore
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The Parliament of the Republic of Singapore and the President jointly make up the legislature of Singapore, which is based on the Westminster system. Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament, following the 2015 general election,89 MPs and three NCMPs were elected to the 13th Parliament. Nine NMPs were appointed during the first session of this Parliament, the first sitting of the 13th Parliament took place on 15 January 2016. Between 1819, when modern Singapore was founded, and 1867, the authorities were the British government in India. After the Straits Settlements became a Crown colony, this function was taken over by the Settlements Legislative Council, following World War II the Straits Settlements were dissolved and Singapore became a colony in its own right with its own Legislative Council. In 1948 the Constitution was amended to allow for six seats in the Council to be elected, self-government was negotiated with the Colonial Office in London in 1956–1957, and became a reality in 1959. In the 1959 general elections, the Peoples Action Party swept to power, Singapore gained independence from Britain by joining Malaysia in 1963, but became a fully independent republic on 9 August 1965. Its Legislative Assembly was renamed the Parliament of Singapore, the Speaker of Parliament has overall charge of the administration of Parliament and its secretariat, and presides over parliamentary sittings. Some of Parliaments work is carried out by committees made up of small numbers of MPs. In addition, selected PAP backbenchers sit on Government Parliamentary Committees that examine the policies, programmes, the main functions of Parliament are lawmaking, controlling the nations finances, and ensuring ministerial accountability. Parliament convenes when it is in session, the first session of a particular Parliament commences when Parliament meets after being formed following a general election. A session ends when Parliament is prorogued or dissolved, the maximum term of each Parliament is five years, after which Parliament automatically dissolves. A general election must then be held three months. The quorum for a Parliamentary sitting is one quarter of the number of MPs. An MP begins a debate by moving a motion and delivering a speech explaining the reasons for the motion. The Speaker then puts the motion in the form of a question, after that, the mover may exercise a right of reply. When the debate is closed, the Speaker puts the question on the motion to the House, voting is generally done verbally, and whether the motion is carried depends on the Speakers personal assessment of whether more MPs have voted for than against the motion. MPs votes are formally counted if an MP claims a division
18.
Sembawang Group Representation Constituency
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Sembawang Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency located in the northern area of Singapore. The GRC consists of Sembawang, Woodlands, Admiralty, Canberra and it also encompasses a section of Singapores northern territorial waters in the Straits of Johor. Since its creation in 1988, the GRC has been held by the Peoples Action Party, the Group Representation Constituency was led by Tony Tan until his retirement in 2006. The largest number of voters meant that the constituencies are split into Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC in 2001, Nee Soon GRC in 2011, Nee Soon GRC had handed back Simpang to Sembawang GRC to allow further development in 2015. Currently, Sembawang GRC is led by Transport Minister and PAP chairman Khaw Boon Wan
19.
Khaw Boon Wan
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Khaw Boon Wan is a Malaysian Singaporean politician. Since October 2015, he has been the Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and he is also the Chairman of the governing Peoples Action Party since 2011. He was previously the Minister for Health from August 2004 to May 2011 and he has been a Member of Parliament since 2001. Khaw began his career in the Singapore Civil Service, working in the Ministry of Health in 1977, from 1985 to 1987, Khaw served as the first Chief Executive Officer of the National University Hospital. He also worked in the Kandang Kerbau Womens and Childrens Hospital, from 1992 to 1995, Khaw served as the Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong From 1995 to 2001, he served as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Khaw has been a Member of Parliament since 2001 and he represented Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency from 2001 to 2006, and Sembawang GRC since 2006, taking over from Dr Tony Tan. Khaw was appointed as Minister for Health in August 2004, as Minister for Health, Khaw played a key role in combating the SARS epidemic which tested the Singapores public health resources. He was also noted for his role in handling the National Kidney Foundation scandal and this was quoted by news reports and a public outcry ensued. Khaw subsequently clarified that his statement was quoted out of context by the media, following the 2011 general election, Khaw was appointed the Minister for National Development. In his new appointment, he gave assurance that he will make housing affordable and accessible to all Singaporeans. ”Though the relative prices of BTO flats have fallen since Khaws speech, the prices of new flats remain high despite six rounds of cooling measures. In January 2013, a round of property cooling measures was introduced to moderate the increase in residential and industrial prices. Khaw received his education in Chung Ling High School and Anglo Chinese School in Penang. In 1973, he was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship from Singapore to study a degree program in Engineering. He graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Commerce, Khaw is married to a retired pharmacist with three daughters. He professes to be a man in parliament. In 2010, Khaw underwent a bypass operation and after his recovery, it was reported that he has switched to a vegetarian diet, avoiding all meat, fish. Profile of Khaw Boon Wan at cabinet. gov. sg Profile of Khaw Boon Wan at parliament. gov. sg
20.
Singapore
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Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub, the country has also been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four languages on the island, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has also been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was part of the Johor Sultanate. The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations
21.
Straits Settlements
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The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Originally established in 1826 as part of the controlled by the British East India Company. The colony was dissolved in 1946 as part of the British reorganisation of its Southeast Asian dependencies following the end of the Second World War, the Straits Settlements originally consisted of the four individual settlements of Malacca, Dinding, Penang and Singapore. The Penang territory included Penang Island, formerly known as Prince of Wales Island, christmas Island and the Cocos Islands were also included. The island of Labuan, off the coast of Borneo, was incorporated into the colony with effect from 1 January 1907. Most of the territories now form part of Malaysia, from which Singapore separated in 1965, the Cocos Islands were transferred to Australian control in 1955. Christmas Island was transferred in 1958 and their administration was combined in 1996 to form the Australian Indian Ocean Territories. This resulted in the exchange of the British settlement of Bencoolen for the Dutch colony of Malacca, the Settlements were largely Chinese in population, with a tiny but important European minority. Their capital was moved from Penang to Singapore in 1832 and their scattered nature proved to be difficult and, after the company lost its monopoly in the china trade in 1833, expensive to administer. During their control by the East India Company, the Settlements were used as penal settlements for Indian civilian and military prisoners, the years 1852 and 1853 saw minor uprisings by convicts in Singapore and Penang. As there was little or no vernacular press in the Settlements, such an act seemed irrelevant, earlier, on 4 February 1867, Letters Patent had granted the Settlements a colonial constitution. Penang and Malacca were administered, directly under the governor, by resident councillors, the Dindings, which included Pangkor Island as well as the towns of Lumut, and Sitiawan, were ceded by Perak to the British government under the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. Province Wellesley, on the mainland opposite the island of Penang, was ceded to Great Britain in 1800 by the Sultan of Kedah, on its northern and eastern border, the boundary with Kedah was rectified by treaty with Siam in 1867. It was administered by an officer, with some assistants. About a tenth of the area was covered by low hills with thick jungle. Large quantities of rice were grown by the Malay inhabitants, the governor of the Straits Settlements was also High Commissioner for the Federated Malay States on the peninsula, for British North Borneo, the sultanate of Brunei and Sarawak in Borneo. Since the administration of the colony of Labuan, which for a period was vested in the British North Borneo Company, was resumed by the British government he was governor of Labuan. During World War II, the Japanese invaded Malaya and the Straits Settlements by landing on Kelantan on 8 December 1941, on 16 December Penang became the first Straits Settlement to fall into Japanese hands
22.
People's Action Party
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The Peoples Action Party is a centre-right political party in Singapore. Having been the ruling party since 1959, it is Singapores longest-ruling party. Since the 1959 general elections, the PAP has dominated Singapores parliamentary democracy and has been central to the rapid political, social. In the 2015 Singapore general election, the PAP won 83 of the 89 constituency elected seats in the Parliament of Singapore, the PAP was formed on 21 November 1954 by Lee Kuan Yew, an English-educated middle-class professional lawyer who had returned from university education in the United Kingdom. He had a vision of independence for Singapore, and was joined by Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan despite their ideological differences. In April 1955, Lim Chin Siong was elected as Assemblyman for the Bukit Timah constituency, then 22 years old, he was and remained the youngest Assemblyman ever to be elected to office. The following year, Lim and Lee represented the PAP at the London Constitutional Talks, which ended in failure, on 7 June 1956, David Marshall, disappointed with the constitutional talks, stepped down as Chief Minister, and was replaced by Lim Yew Hock. The PAP first contested the 1955 elections, in which 25 of 32 seats in the legislature were up for election. The party won three seats, one by its leader Lee Kuan Yew, and one by co-founder of the PAP, Lim Chin Siong, David Marshall was vocally anti-British and anti-colonialist, and the British found it difficult to come to an agreement or compromise. Eventually, after failing to reach any agreement about a plan for self-government, he resigned in 1956. Lim Yew Hock, another Labour Front member, took his place and he pursued a largely anti-communist campaign and managed to convince the British to make a definite plan for self-government. Quee also states that Lim Yew Hock deliberately provoked the students into rioting, the result was successful for the PAP under Lee Kuan Yews control who won the 1959 election. The 1959 election was also the first election to produce a fully elected parliament, the party has won a majority of seats in every general election since then. After gaining independence from Britain, Singapore joined the federation of Malaysia in 1963, although the PAP was the ruling party in the state of Singapore, the PAP functioned as an opposition party at the federal level in the larger Malaysian political landscape. At that time, the government in Kuala Lumpur was controlled by a coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation. However, the prospect that the PAP might rule Malaysia agitated UMNO, the clash of personalities between PAP leader Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman resulted in a crisis and led to Rahman forcing Singapore to leave Malaysia on 9 August 1965. Those with the now non-existent party applied to register Peoples Action Party, Malaya, in the general elections of 1968,1972,1976, and 1980, the PAP won all of the seats in an expanding parliament. Although opposition parties managed to get back into Parliament in 1984, in the beginning, there were about 500 so-called temporary cadre appointed but the current number of cadres is unknown and the register of cadres is kept confidential
23.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
24.
National University of Singapore
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The National University of Singapore is an autonomous university in Singapore. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest institute of learning in Singapore, as well as the largest university in the country in terms of student enrolment. NUS is a research-intensive, comprehensive university with an entrepreneurial dimension, NUS is ranked as Asias top university in both the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2016. According to the latest 2016 QS World University Rankings, NUS is placed 12th in the world, NUS also fared well in the 2016–17 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, coming in 24th in the world and 1st in Asia. NUSs main campus is located in South-West Singapore adjacent to Kent Ridge, the Bukit Timah campus houses the Faculty of Law, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and research institutes, while the Duke-NUS Medical School Singapore is located at the Outram campus. Tan, who was the first president of the Straits Chinese British Association, managed to raise 87,077 Straits dollars, on 3 July 1905, the medical school was founded, and was known as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School. In 1912, the school received an endowment of $120,000 from the King Edward VII Memorial Fund. Subsequently, on 18 November 1913, the name of the school was changed to the King Edward VII Medical School, in 1921, it was again changed to the King Edward VII College of Medicine to reflect its academic status. In 1928, Raffles College was established to promote arts and social sciences at tertiary level for Malayan students, two decades later, Raffles College was merged with the King Edward VII College of Medicine to form the University of Malaya on 8 October 1949. The two institutions were merged to provide for the education needs of the Federation of Malaya. In 1960, the governments of then Federation of Malaya and Singapore indicated their desire to change the status of the divisions into that of a national university. Legislation was passed in 1961 establishing the former Kuala Lumpur division as the University of Malaya while the Singapore division was renamed the University of Singapore on 1 January 1962, the National University of Singapore was formed with the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University in 1980. This was done in part due to the desire to pool the two institutions resources into a single, stronger entity, and promote English as Singapores main language of education. The original crest of Nanyang University with three intertwined rings was incorporated into the new coat-of-arms of NUS, NUS began its entrepreneurial education endeavours in the 1980s, with the setting up of the Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship in 1988. In 2001, this was renamed the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre, NUS has a semester-based modular system for conducting courses. It adopts features of the British system, such as small group teaching, students may transfer between courses within their first two semesters, enrol in cross-faculty modules or take up electives from different faculties. NUS has 16 faculties and schools, including a Music Conservatory, NUS has been ranked among the best in the Asia by two international ranking systems, the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The QS World University Rankings 2016–17 ranked NUS 12th in the world and 1st in Asia, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016–17 placed NUS at 24th in the world and 1st in Asia, while its 2015–16 reputation rankings placed it at 24th globally
25.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, often cited as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. Researchers worked on computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II, post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian. The current 168-acre campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile along the bank of the Charles River basin. The Institute is traditionally known for its research and education in the sciences and engineering, and more recently in biology, economics, linguistics. Air Force and 6 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT, the school has a strong entrepreneurial culture, and the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh-largest economy in the world. In 1859, a proposal was submitted to the Massachusetts General Court to use newly filled lands in Back Bay, Boston for a Conservatory of Art and Science, but the proposal failed. A charter for the incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rogers, a professor from the University of Virginia, wanted to establish an institution to address rapid scientific and technological advances. The Rogers Plan reflected the German research university model, emphasizing an independent faculty engaged in research, as well as instruction oriented around seminars, two days after the charter was issued, the first battle of the Civil War broke out. After a long delay through the war years, MITs first classes were held in the Mercantile Building in Boston in 1865, in 1863 under the same act, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded the Massachusetts Agricultural College, which developed as the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 1866, the proceeds from sales went toward new buildings in the Back Bay. MIT was informally called Boston Tech, the institute adopted the European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. Despite chronic financial problems, the institute saw growth in the last two decades of the 19th century under President Francis Amasa Walker. Programs in electrical, chemical, marine, and sanitary engineering were introduced, new buildings were built, the curriculum drifted to a vocational emphasis, with less focus on theoretical science. The fledgling school still suffered from chronic financial shortages which diverted the attention of the MIT leadership, during these Boston Tech years, MIT faculty and alumni rebuffed Harvard University president Charles W. Eliots repeated attempts to merge MIT with Harvard Colleges Lawrence Scientific School. There would be at least six attempts to absorb MIT into Harvard, in its cramped Back Bay location, MIT could not afford to expand its overcrowded facilities, driving a desperate search for a new campus and funding. Eventually the MIT Corporation approved an agreement to merge with Harvard, over the vehement objections of MIT faculty, students. However, a 1917 decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court effectively put an end to the merger scheme, the neoclassical New Technology campus was designed by William W. Bosworth and had been funded largely by anonymous donations from a mysterious Mr. Smith, starting in 1912. In January 1920, the donor was revealed to be the industrialist George Eastman of Rochester, New York, who had invented methods of production and processing
26.
University of Adelaide
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The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia, the University is associated with five Nobel laureates and 104 Rhodes scholars. It is a member of the Group of Eight and the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the University is also a member of the Sandstone universities, which mostly consist of Colonial-era Universities within Australia. The University of Adelaide is composed of five faculties, with each containing constituent schools, the University of Adelaide is widely regarded as one of Australias leading Universities, and it has considerably impacted the public life of South Australia. Many of the states leading businesspeople, lawyers, medical professionals and it has a sixth campus, the Ngee Ann – Adelaide Education Centre, in Singapore. The university operates several associated and independent research institutes and groups and these include the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies, the Hanson Institute for Medical Research, and the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. SAHMRI is based at the health and biomedical precinct on North Terrace, the University of Adelaide was established on 6 November 1874 after a £20,000 donation by grazier and copper miner Walter Watson Hughes, along with support and donations from Thomas Elder. The first Chancellor was Sir Richard Hanson and the first vice-chancellor was Dr Augustus Short, the first degree offered was the Bachelor of Arts and the university started teaching in March 1876. John Davidson was the first Hughes professor of English literature and mental and moral philosophy, the University has a long history of championing the rights of women in higher education. Its first female graduate was Edith Emily Dornwell, who was also the first person in Australia to receive the degree of Bachelor of Science, the university also graduated Australias first female surgeon Laura Fowler. Ruby Davy was the first Australian woman to receive a doctorate in music, the University was also the first to elect a woman to a University Council in Australia, Helen Mayo. On 2 July 2010, the University officially implemented its Smoke-Free Policy, security have the right to eject people smoking within the University buildings and also fine people smoking in the gardens or walkways. Also, It is the first higher institution in South Australia to institute a smoke-free policy. The main campus of the University is on North Terrace, the vast majority of students and staff of the University are based at the North Terrace campus, where the majority of courses are taught and schools are based. The central administration of the University and the library, the Barr Smith Library, are both located on this campus. Bonython Hall, the Mitchell Building, the Elder Hall, the Napier building, bonython Hall is one of the many historic and heritage listed buildings located at the North Terrace campus. Others include the Mitchell Building, Elder Hall, and the Reading Room of the Barr Smith Library, in 2016, the university commenced work on a $1 billion, 20-year Masterplan for its three campuses. At North Terrace, the Schulz building will be repurposed as a residential college, with accommodation
27.
Simplified Chinese characters
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Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
28.
Traditional Chinese characters
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Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
29.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
30.
Singaporeans
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The vast majority of Singaporeans descend from the people of China, Malay Archipelago and India. In 1819, the port of Singapore was established by Sir Stamford Raffles, many immigrants from the region settled in Singapore. By 1827, the population of the island was composed of people from ethnic groups. According to the 2006 AsiaBarometer survey, a majority of Singaporeans identify themselves as Singaporean, currently, the population of Singaporeans stands at 3,343,000 and the population of overseas Singaporeans stands at 212,000. A small Malay kingdom, known as the Kingdom of Singapura, was founded in 1299 by a fleeing Srivijayan prince, Sang Nila Utama, who was crowned as the Raja of the new state. After the fall of the kingdom in 1398, the island fell under the suzerainty of various regional empires, prior to the arrival of Raffles, there were hundreds of indigenous Malays living on the island under the Johor Sultanate. Most of the indigenous Malays came from the Malay Archipelago, the majority of Singaporeans today are descendants of immigrants that settled on the island when Singapore was founded as a British trading port by Raffles in 1819. After six months of Singapores founding as a port, the population increased to 5,000. Today, Singaporean citizenship is granted by birth, by descent, although provided for in the Constitution, citizenship by naturalisation is no longer granted. The government instead uses the constitutional provision for citizenship by registration to grant citizenship to resident aliens. Singaporeans of Chinese descent make up 74. 1%, Malays make up 13. 4%, Indians make up 9. 2%, other minority groups in Singapore include, Arab, Armenians, Chitty, Eurasians, Peranakans and Sri Lankans. There are also many foreign/expatriate communities in the including the Australians, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans. Singaporean culture is a mix of Asian and European cultures, with influences from the Malay, Indian, Chinese, Singapore is the worlds most religiously diverse nation, with Singaporeans following various religious beliefs and practices due to the countrys diverse ethnic and cultural mix. Dharmic religions have the highest number of adherents in Singapore, with 33% of the population practising Buddhism and 5. 1% of the population practising Hinduism. Many Singaporeans are also adherents of Abrahamic religions, with 18. 3% of the population identifying as Christian, other prominent faiths practised by Singaporeans include Taoism, Chinese folk religion, and other Dharmic religions like Sikhism and Jainism. A small percentage of Singapores population practices Zoroastrianism and Judaism, only 0. 9% of Singaporeans identify as atheist. Singapore has four official languages, English, Malay, Mandarin, Malay is the ceremonial national language of the country and is the home language to 13% of the population. Singapore English is the language spoken by Singaporeans
31.
Singaporean presidential election, 2011
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The Singaporean presidential election of 2011 was the fourth Singaporean presidential election, held on 27 August 2011. Nomination Day for eligible candidates was held on 17 August 2011, Nathan, the previous President of Singapore, stepped down on 31 August 2011 when his term drew to a close. He could have sought re-election, as there is no term limit, four candidates were issued certificates of eligibility by Singapores Presidential Elections Committee, and all four were nominated on Nomination Day. This was the first contested election since the 1993 election and the first presidential race with more than two candidates in Singaporean history, with 2,153,014 local votes and 3,375 overseas votes cast, this was also the biggest democratic exercise in Singapore to date. All four eligible candidates are Chinese Singaporeans, and by coincidence, the election was a close contest, with the winner Tony Tan winning by 0. 35%. The president is the head of state of Singapore, the current system of holding elections for the Presidency began with the 1993 election. Before then, the president was selected by Parliament, there are strict requirements for prospective election candidates, and whether a candidate meets the qualifications or not is decided by the Election Department. The Presidency is, by the rules of the Constitution, nonpartisan, on 11 March 2010, the Government tabled three bills in the parliament to amend the Constitution, the Presidential Elections Act and the Parliamentary Elections Act. A one-day cooling-off day was implemented, during which campaigning was forbidden, internet campaigning was also formally legalised as a legitimate means of political campaigning. On 26 April 2010, the amendments to the Constitution were passed by a vote of 74–1 after a debate on the bill. He submitted the presidency forms on 22 July, Tan Kin Lian, former NTUC Income Chief Executive Officer and former PAP Branch Secretary for Marine Parade, said on 3 June 2011 that he may stand for president, but will only confirm at a later date. He later confirmed that he would be running on 7 June 2011 and he submitted the eligibility forms on 7 July. Tan also announced that he would resign from his posts at the GIC and he submitted his presidential eligibility forms on 7 July. Tan Jee Say, a civil servant and Singapore Democratic Party member. He said that he did so as many Singaporeans want a non-PAP President whose independence of the PAP is clear, obvious and he submitted the eligibility forms on 3 August. He picked up the forms on 27 July and he was found to be ineligible, with the same reason as the 2005 race, in that his position as CFO of JTC Corporation was not comparable to those of a Chief Executive Officer. Ooi Boon Ewe, former leader of the Peoples Liberal Democratic Party, President S. R. Nathan was reportedly considering re-election, but announced on 2 July 2011 that he would not run for re-election. Despite speculations that former Senior Minister S. Jayakumar was considering a run and he later called himself a free spirit and said that he did not feel that he was temperamentally suited for such a job
32.
Prime Minister of Singapore
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The Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The President of Singapore appoints as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew was the first prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. Lee was succeeded by Goh Chok Tong and was conferred the title of Senior Minister in the Prime Ministers Office, Goh retired on 12 August 2004 and was succeeded by Lee Kuan Yews son Lee Hsien Loong. Goh was appointed Senior Minister, and the elder Lee Minister Mentor, Lee and Goh resigned in 2011. The role of Deputy Prime Minister is the second highest post, the holder will sometimes assume the role of Acting Prime Minister when the PM is temporarily absent. Since the mid-1980s, Singapore has usually had two Deputy Prime Ministers at a time, only Ong Teng Cheong and Tony Tan served under more than one Prime Minister during their time as Deputy Prime Minister. In the cabinet of Goh Chok Tong in the 1990s to 2004, President Tony Tan, currently, the deputy prime ministers in office are Mr Teo Chee Hean and Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam. Prime Ministers Office Cabinet of Singapore Spouse of the Prime Minister of Singapore Prime Ministers Office
33.
OCBC Bank
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Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, abbreviated as OCBC Bank, is a publicly listed financial services organisation with its head office in Singapore. Although publicly listed, OCBC Banks largest shareholder is the Lee Group of Companies, OCBC was founded by Lee Kong Chian in 1932, and his son Lee Seng Wee also served as chairman. OCBC Bank has assets of more than 224 billion SGD, based on Bloomberg, in 2011 OCBC is the number one of the worlds strongest $100 billion assets banks. The Oversea-Chinese usage leads many to believe mistakenly that the name is misspelled. The banks global network has grown to comprise subsidiaries, branches and it has retail banking subsidiaries in Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and China, and branches in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, the UK and US. OCBCs Indonesia subsidiary, Bank OCBC NISP, has 630 branches and offices, in 1932, three banks – Chinese Commercial Bank, Ho Hong Bank, and Oversea-Chinese Bank, merged to form Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation under the leadership of Tan Ean Kiam and Lee Kong Chian. In the subsequent decades, the bank expanded its operations and became the largest bank in South East Asia, in 1942 during World War II, all the local banks in Singapore closed briefly during the early days of the Japanese Occupation. By April 1942 most banks, including OCBC, had resumed normal operations, in Indonesia, the Japanese occupation authorities closed OCBCs branches in Sumatra. During the war, the bank moved its office to Bombay, India. OCBCs branch in Xiamen survived the war and in the 1950s, after the war, OCBC re-established its branches in Djambi, Jakarta, and Surabaya. However, in 1963 conflict between Indonesia and Malaya, resulted in the closure of OCBCs branches there and that same year the revolutionary government in Burma nationalised OCBCs two branches there, which became Peoples Bank No.14. The bank was criticised for not expanding fast enough to meet the needs of the post-war Chinese business community, one of the critics was Tan Khoo Teck Puat, who subsequent resigned to set up Malayan Banking. By 1970, OCBCs total assets exceeded 1 billion SGD, making OCBC the largest financial institution with the biggest deposit base in Singapore, in 1972, OCBC acquired Four Seas Communications Bank, the oldest surviving bank in Singapore. The bank had been founded in 1906 as the Sze Hai Tong Bank, the bank had branches in Hong Kong and in Bangkok, where it had become the first Chinese bank there when it opened its branch in 1909. The next major acquisition occurred in 2001, when OCBC Bank acquired Keppel Capital Holdings and all its subsidiaries, including Keppel TatLee Bank, Keppel Securities, the next year OCBC operationally and legally integrated Keppel TatLee Bank. In 2003 OCBC merged OCBC Finance into OCBC Bank, the official opening of e2 Powers Cyberjaya Office occurred in 2004. The same year saw the opening of OCBC Banks new corporate HQ in Kuala Lumpur. OCBC opened a branch in Brunei
34.
GIC Private Limited
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With a network of nine offices in key financial capitals around the world, GIC invests internationally in equities, fixed income, money-market instruments, real estate and special investments. GIC is one of a few global firms with the highest corporate credit ratings by both Standard & Poors and Moodys, of AAA and Aaa respectively. Its investment portfolio is managed by its three subsidiaries, GIC Asset Management Pte Ltd, GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd and GIC Special Investments Pte Ltd, in 2008, The Economist reported that Morgan Stanley had estimated the funds assets at US$330 billion. In addition to GIC, the Government of Singapore owns another sovereign wealth fund, Temasek Holdings and he was advised by a foreign merchant bank, N M Rothschild & Sons, and established the GIC. The government then embarked on a change in investment policy by investing the bulk of its reserves in longer-term, high-yielding assets rather than in liquid. An undisclosed number of those who left the MAS in 1981 went to work for the new GIC, in the late 1990s, four of its most senior positions were held by former Monetary Authority of Singapore officers. Traditionally, GIC has kept a low profile in its investments, during the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–2010, however, a number of its investments attracted controversy. In 2013, according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, the GIC was one of the most active SWF investors for the year. In 2006, at the height of the US real estate bubble, it made a US$200 million investment in the equity of Stuyvesant Town—Peter Cooper Village, the largest apartment complex in Manhattan. The management of the complex, Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty, defaulted on their loan in 2010, in late 2007, during the first phase of the crisis, GIC invested $11 billion Swiss francs for a 7. 9% stake in the Swiss bank UBS. The loans were converted into equity in 2010, with an estimated 70% loss of value, GIC had acknowledge that the timing for the investment could have been better. It also stated that investments made at that time have had positive returns which offset the losses on UBS. GICs total portfolio has fully recovered to its value prior to the financial crisis. In 2008, GIC invested US$6.88 billion for a 9% stake in Citigroup, in 2009, it pared its stake to less than 5%, realising a $1.6 billion profit, with another $1.6 billion paper profit on its remaining holding. As of 2013, GIC holds around 44% of its portfolio in North and South America, 25% in Europe, the consortium includes Snam an Italian gas storage and transport operator, Singapores GIC and EDF. GIC has the ability to invest across a spectrum of financial assets, from sovereign debt to infrastructure. GIC does not disclose the amount of funds it manages and its annual profit, revealing the exact amount would expose the full size of Singapores financial reserves and make it easier for speculators to attack the Singapore dollar during periods of vulnerability. It included two composite portfolios and volatility statistics to reflect the level of risk and to offer perspective in reading the 5-year and 10-year figures
35.
Singapore Press Holdings
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Singapore Press Holdings Limited is a media organisation in Singapore with businesses in print, Internet and new media, television and radio, outdoor media, and property. SPH has over 5,000 employees, including a team of approximately 1,000 journalists, the company is one of the countrys blue-chip counters on the Singapore Stock Exchange, and makes about S$480–500 million worth of profits every year. Singapore Press Holdings Limited was formed on 1 January 1984 through a merger of three organisations, The Straits Times Press, Singapore News and Publications Limited and Times Publishing Berhad, in 2009, SPH celebrated its 25th anniversary and for the first time, changed its corporate logo. The new logo was launched on 30 March 2009 by former President S. R. Nathan and chairman Tony Tan Keng Yam, like all newspaper companies in Singapore, SPH is regulated by the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act of 1974 and issues both management and ordinary shares. There are close ties between the directors of SPH and the Singapore Government, the immediate former Chairman of SPH, Tony Tan was Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore from 1994 to 2005 and President of Singapore from 2011–present. Dr Lee Boon Yang is the current chairman of Singapore Press Holdings, in Singapore, SPH publishes 18 newspaper titles in four languages. On an average day,3.05 million individuals or 76 per cent of people above 15 years old, the Straits Times The Sunday Times Business Times The Business Times Weekend The New Paper The New Paper Sunday tabla. – free English language newspaper for the Indian community,30,000 copies distributed each Friday at 7-Eleven outlets, SPH also publishes and produces more than 100 magazine titles in Singapore and the region, covering a broad range of interests from lifestyle to information technology. Beyond print, the Internet editions of SPH newspapers enjoy over 360 million page views with 23 million unique visitors every month. Apart from AsiaOne, SPHs online and new initiatives include ST701. SPH also launched The Straits Times iPad and enhanced iPhone applications, SPHs Chinese flagship newspaper Lianhe Zaobao has also launched its digital editions which include a web application, as well as online and PDF versions. SPH soon afterwards launched two channels, Channel U and Channel i, on 31 December 2004, SPH sold its television operation to MediaCorp, restoring its former monopoly status. Channel i was shut down on 1 January 2005, but Channel U continues to operate, through a merger, SPH retains a 20% stake in MediaCorps television operational, as well as 40% stake in Today newspaper. In the radio business, SPH Radio Pte Ltd, which operates entertainment stations UFM100.3 in Mandarin, as well as Kiss 92FM, SPH Multimedia Ltd has 13. 94% shareholding in M1 Limited and has a joint venture with Axiata and Keppel Telecoms. SPHs events arm Sphere Exhibits organises innovative consumer and trade events and exhibitions as well as large scale conferences in Singapore, in addition, SPH has ventured into out-of-home advertising through its digital out-of-home platform SPHMBO. SPHs subsidiaries, Straits Times Press and Focus Publishing, produce quality books and periodicals in English, SPH Buzz, a modern retail convenience chain with a network of stores around Singapore. SPH has a 22 per cent stake in preschool and enrichment provider MindChamps, SPHs latest retail development project, The Seletar Mall, began operations in late 2014. SPHs wholly owned subsidiary, Times Development Pte Ltd, has developed a 43-storey upmarket residential condominium, Sky@eleven
36.
Tan Cheng Bock
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Tan Cheng Bock is a Singaporean politician and medical practitioner. He was formerly a member of Singapores governing Peoples Action Party and he was the first non-Cabinet minister elected into the PAP Central Executive Committee. He stood for the 2011 presidential election and won the second highest number of votes at 34. 85% among all four candidates and he was a backbencher in the Singapore Parliament from 1980 to 2006 as a member of the Peoples Action Party. In early May 2011 he resigned from the PAP to stand as a candidate in the 2011 presidential election, Tan has been the Medical Director of Ama Keng Medical Clinic in Jurong since 1971. Representing the Peoples Action Party, Tan was elected a Member of Parliament for Ayer Rajah Single Member Constituency in the 1980 general election and he was re-elected five times in 1984,1988,1991,1997 and 2001, winning by an average majority of 77%. His 88% share of the vote in the 2001 parliamentary elections was the PAP’s best score in 31 years and he was also a member of the GPCs for Communications and Defence and Foreign Affairs. Tan was the Leader of the Singapore-European Parliamentary Group between 1991–1996 and Singapore-SEA Parliamentary Group between 1997 -2006, from 1987 -1996, he was an elected member of the PAP Central Executive Committee, the highest ruling committee within the PAP. Tan stepped down as a Member of Parliament at the 2006 general election, as DPP candidate Tan Lead Shake received less than 12. Chief argument against the idea was that the use of such retirement savings may leave the account holder with an insufficient amount at the end of his working life, minister for Labour Lee Yock Suan said that there were alternatives available such as soft loan schemes which were interest free. His efforts however did not bear immediate fruits, later in October 2010, the SDC offered to cap the entry charge at a concession rate of S$3. Tan actually voted against his own party despite the Whip not lifted regarding the NMP scheme, on grounds that MPs had to be elected by the people and he received a warning for his action. In 1985, he made in Parliament about no more blank cheque for the party which he revisited on his blog in May 2011. Tan Jee Say had stood for election as a Singapore Democratic Party candidate in Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency, Tan Jee Say later resigned from his party to stand in the 2011 presidential election. Tan’s appointment as non-executive Chairman of Chuan Hup Holdings Ltd in 1991 was unusual at the time, is it to use him to open doors in Singapore. People know that he was my classmate, and would they use him to take advantage of his relationship with me. I would regard that as natural initial reservations and you should not lobby any public officer in the course of your business. You have often spoken publicly on the state of the property market, and it has not always been clear whether you were speaking as an MP, or in your private or professional capacity. Goh later confirmed that neither Tan nor his company had tried to take advantage of his position
37.
Saint Patrick's School, Singapore
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Saint Patricks School is a Lasallian Roman Catholic boys secondary school in East Coast Road, Singapore. It is more commonly referred to as St Pats, SPS or St Patricks, students and old boys call themselves Patricians or Sons of St. Patricks. The school is known for its Military Band, which has performed internationally. In keeping with the schools Roman Catholic nature, students recite the Apostles Creed in the morning, the school was founded in 1933 as a temporary branch school of Saint Josephs Institution, another Catholic boys school in Singapore. It was built on land acquired by the La Salle Brothers in 1898, but Brother Stephen Buckley saw the population growth in the eastern side of the island and petitioned the La Salle Brothers to build a school on this piece of land. The main school building was completed in 1932, and Saint Patricks became a school in its own right in 1933, during World War II, the school was used by the British as a hospital and later by the Japanese as an administrative building. It was returned to the Brothers in 1946, in 1957, the primary section of the school was separated and became Saint Stephens School. The school went co-educational with the introduction of pre-university classes in 1969, but this was phased out in 1978, in 2002, former Changkat Changi vice principal and educator of 38 years, Mr. Lucas Lak Pati Singh, was posted in. During his tenure of office, he brought in measures to raise academic standards. The full history of St. Patricks School and its alumni can be viewed either on the school website, Mr. Lak, the schools longest-serving principal, was succeeded in 2012 by Mr. Adolphus Tan, the former principal of Shuqun Secondary School. The school has six houses named after former principals of the school. Students buy House T-shirts of their houses, which carry the slogan I Love St. Pats. Other than inter-house games, other events are also organised. Every year, selected students participate in the Inter-class football league, a notable CCA at St Patricks is its Military Band, which has won gold medals in competitions locally and abroad, under the baton of their resident conductor, Mr David Anthony Glosz, since 1984-2016. In the 2005 Singapore Youth Festival, the band won Gold with Honours and this was the first year such an award was introduced into the SYF grading scheme. In the 2007 SYF, the SPSMB achieved a Gold with Honours, in the 2009 SYF, the Band again won Gold with Honours, its tenth consecutive Gold award in the SYF and its third consecutive Gold with Honours. And in 2011 SYF, the Band achieved Gold with Honours, its 11th consecutive Gold award, on special occasions, the schools Military Band plays a live version of the School Rally as opposed to the audio recording which is usually played every morning. The tradition took place particularly at the opening ceremony of the Patrician Annual Enrichment Festival
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