There seems to be no clear answer to the above often asked question, but who cares? Those who have lived and worked in this place in south-east Asia, or have even just visited, describe it as Paradise on earth. It's rich, stable, safe, clean. It even seems to be immune to natural disasters such as earthquakes, that often happen in the neighboring islands of Indonesia. How cool is that?
Education and healthcare are excellent,compared to western standards; so is the overall economic situation, despite the lack of natural resources. On the 'democracy' level it's ranked rather low as there's only one political party , and there are restrictions on certain civil rights. (Well, one can't have it all).
I felt the urge to write this short post on Singapore after recently reading in the newspapers that an indian Imam (islamic worship leader) was fined and expelled for remarks against christians and jews in his Friday sermon at a mosque.
It should be said, that the population of Singapore is made up of three main layers: Chinese (the majority), Malays (the indigenous), and Indians. Christianity as a religion comes only fourth after islam, buddhism, and hinduism; the jews are very few in number. However, the principle is important here. The incident with the Imam shows that ethnical and religious harmony is regarded by the authorities as crucial, and rightly so.
I' ve read somewhere that Singapore is on the list of 'nations in transit'. I don't really know what it means for a nation to be in transit; it seems to me Singapore should keep things as they are now. Change could be bad for its future.
On the whole, I think the world can learn a lot from the position and prosperity of Singapore.