Singapore

Starting as a small !shing village with a population of 150 during the 18th century, Singapore has grown to a thriving city-state with a population of 5.1 million as of 2011. There are four main ethnic groups in Singapore: Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian. The majority of Singaporeans are Chinese by ethnicity, making up 74.1 percent of the population. Malays make up 13.4 percent; Indians, 9.2 percent; and others, including Eurasians and Caucasians, 3.3 percent. Rapid economic expansion for the past three decades has transformed Singapore, a former British colony, from a developing country with high unemployment to a developed, highly industrialized and modernized country. Although embracing various aspects of globalization, industrialization, and modernization to become a First World nation following its independence in 1965, Singapore views the West's liberalism and individualism as problematic in"uences of globalization. To shield Singaporeans from these Western values, the Singaporean state promotes ideologies based on Confucian and communitarian values, which the state uses to guide Singaporeans' behaviors and lifestyles.