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SINGAPORE
Parasites and Paradise
By Jheri St. James
“According
to Malay legend, a Sumatran prince encountered a lion—considered
a good omen—on Temasek, prompting him to found Singapura,
or Lion City. It mattered little that lions had never inhabited
Singapore (more likely the prince had seen a tiger); what
did matter was the establishment of the region as a minor
trading post for the powerful Sumatran Srivijaya Empire,
and as a subsequent vassal state of the Javanese Majapahit
empire in the mid-13th century.
“Singapore might have remained a quiet backwater if not for Sir Stamford
Raffles’ intervention in 1819. The British had first established a presence
in the 18th century when the East India Company set out to secure and protect
its line of trade from China to the colonies in India. Fearing the Dutch—which
had been the dominant European trading power in the region for nearly 200 years—Raffles
argued for an increased British presence, which he was promptly given. Singapore’s
forlorn reputation as a fetid, disease-ridden colony was soon forgotten. Migrants
attracted by a tariff-free port poured in by the thousands, and a flourishing
colony with a military and naval base was established, and continued into the
20th century. Then Japan briefly invaded the colony in 1941, defeating the British;
later surrendering in 1945 having seriously marred the British presence. Following
approximately 20 years of the formulation of self-government, in 1965 Singapore
became independent and once again the economic success story of the region.” (www.lonelyplanet.com)
The Republic of Singapore is a democratic city/state, formerly part of Malaysia.
It is located at the very tip of the southern end of the Malay Peninsula. Singapore
is notable for its immaculate, wealthy surroundings—no slums, unemployment,
crime or poverty. Crime control is so complete there that one can be fined for
chewing gum and hung for drugs. Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the
world. Between 1965 and 1998 Singapore’s GNP grew 15 times. The people
of Singapore are highly educated; the literacy rate of the total population is
92.5 percent. There is no farming. Life expectancy in Singapore is among the
world’s highest—81.62 years. Like Amsterdam, Singapore is building
polders—reclaiming land from the sea to expand its shore.
One
of the four East Asian Tiger Nations (Singapore, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, South Korea; sometimes also referred to as Asia’s
Four Little Dragons), Singapore was noted for maintaining
high growth rates and rapid industrialization in the early
1960’s and 1990’s. East Asian Tigers pursued
an export-driven model of economic development, developing
goods for export to highly industrialized nations. Domestic
consumption was discouraged through government policies such
as high tariffs. The East Asian Tigers singled out education
as a means of improving productivity by upgrading the education
system at all levels. Since they were relatively poor during
the 1960’s, these nations had an abundance of cheap
labor which, when added to educational reform, resulted in
an inexpensive, yet productive workforce. Also, the relatively
authoritarian political system, trade surplus, high level
of U.S. bond holdings, and high savings rate resulted in
the rapid expansion of this tiny land, only 3.5 times the
size of Washington, D.C.
*
* *
Sir
Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (6 July 1781 – 5 July
1826) was the founder of Singapore and is the best known
of the many Britons who at one time created the largest empire
in the world. Starting as a clerk in London for the British
East India Company, the quasi-government trading company
that shaped much of England’s overseas conquests, in
1805 he was sent to what is now Penang in Malaysia, then
called Prince of Wales Island, starting a long association
with Southeast Asia. On 29 January 1819, he established a
free-trade post at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula—the
site that became Singapore. Raffles declared the foundation
of what was to become modern Singapore on 6 February of that
year, securing transfer of control of the island to the East
India Company. He was also responsible for the Raffles Plan
of Singapore. By the time he left for good in 1823, the city
was on its way to becoming the largest port in the world.
Raffles was also a founder and first president of the Zoological
Society of London. He was knighted in 1817. In Singapore,
his name lives on in Raffles Junior College, Raffles Institution,
Raffles Girls’ School (Secondary), Raffles Girls’ Primary,
Raffles Hotel, Stamford Road, Stamford House, Raffles City,
Raffles Place MRT Station and the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity
Research.
Sir
Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles is also remembered in the
name of the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia. Several
species of Rafflesia grow in the jungles of Southeast Asia,
all of them threatened or endangered. Rafflesia arnoldii
is the largest, its blossom attaining a diameter of nearly
a meter and weighing up to 11 kg. Not only is it the world’s
largest flower, it is one of the most bizarre and improbable
organisms on the planet.
It produces no leaves, stems or roots but lives as a parasite
on the Tetrastigma vine, which grows only in primary (undisturbed)
rainforest. Only the flower or bud can be seen; the rest of the
plant exists only as filaments within its unfortunate host. The
blossom is pollinated by flies, which are attracted to its scent,
resembling that of carrion.
The Rafflesia is rare and fairly hard to locate. It is especially
difficult to see in bloom; the buds take many months to develop
and the blossom lasts for just a few days. How many of these
strange plants still survive is unknown, but the last of them
can be expected to vanish as the remaining primary forests of
Borneo and Sumatra are burned.
Could
this “Queen of Parasites”, named after the British
founder of Singapore, be on a parallel path to extinction
similar to that of the shrinking British Empire?
*
* *
Today’s
Singapore residents are successful at the form of symbiosis
called multicultural living, celebrating Chinese, Hindu and
Muslim festivals throughout the calendar year: Chinese New
Year in January, Vesak Day in May (Buddha’s birth,
enlightenment and death), the Dragon Boat Festival in May
or June (Chinese patriotism), Chinese Festival of the Hungry
Ghosts in September, Muslim Ramadan in November, and the
Hindu festival of Thaipusam. The residents of the world could
take a lesson from Singpore, which also manages to have at
least six religions living harmoniously together in successful
social symbiosis.
Our
soil collector in Singapore was a gentleman named Humphrey
Chang, who picked up his sample from the back yard of his
home on Old Holland Road in Singapore, where family and friends
have shared many memories. This was in May of 2005. Thank
you, Humphrey, for your efforts on behalf of Common Ground
191.
With all its laws and prosperity, Singapore prospers and survives as a remarkable
multicultural success, having overcome the domination of the man-eating plant
called foreign domination, the former parasite of paradise.
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