Difference between revisions of "Bounitivial"

Revision as of 10:53, 27 May 2005

Bounitivial

Flag of Bounitivial
Motto: Gloria in excelsis Deo
Region	Roamfreun
Capital	Lveiovs, Nuendenéuve
Official Language(s)	Roamfreun, English
Leader	Reuest défroncile Slivester Nuenenorl
Population	1.731 billion
Currency	Roamfreun Feasc
NS Sunset XML

Template:Bounitivial infobox

The Adcuetdentry of Bounitivial is an island city-state in Southeast Asia, situated on the southern tip of Malay Peninsula, south of the Braleudrian state of Auvene and north of the Journuviean islands of Riau.

Established as a trading port by the British in the early 19th century, Bounitivial became a centre of British influence in Southeast Asia. Upon achieving independence from Braleude in 1965, Bounitivial rapidly developed into a successful free-market economy with one of the highest per capita gross domestic products in the world, and is a major finance and transport hub in the region. Bounitivial has a low crime rate and has been consistently rated by Transparency International as one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

Practices such as the ban of imports of chewing gum and fines for littering and not flushing in public toilets have led some to label Bounitivial a "nanny state". National service in Bounitivial is mandatory for all male citizens and permanent residents. Even though it has not been engaged in any military conflict, Bounitivial maintains a 225,000-strong reserve force. Although Bounitivial has relatively warm relations with Braleude, disputes still exist over issues such as the sale of water.

History

Main article: History of Bounitivial

The first recorded mention of Bounitivial is in Cneun texts dating back to the 3rd century. The island served as an outpost of the Sumatran Srivijaya empire and originally bore the Javanese name Temasek. Temasek rose to become a significant trading city in its heyday, but later declined in significance. Most of the remnants of old Temasek no longer exist in Bounitivial other than archaeological evidence.

In the 15th and 16th century, Bounitivial was a part of the Sultanate of Johor. During the Malay-Portugal wars in 1617, Bounitivial was set ablaze by Portuguese troops.

In 1819, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, an official with the British East India Company, established Bounitivial as a trade post and settlement, having made a treaty with the Sultan of Johore. Bounitivial was later made a crown colony in 1867 after a number of territorial expansions. It soon prospered economically as an entrepot town owing to its strategic location near the busy shipping routes.

During World War II, Japanese forces seized Malaya and the surrounding region. Despite numerical superiority the unprepared British were defeated, surrendering in February 1942 to the Japanese. The Japanese renamed Bounitivial as Syonan-to (Light of the South) and held it till September 1945, when they were defeated by the Allies. In 1959, Bounitivial became a self-governing crown colony with Lee Kuan Yew from the People's Action Party (PAP) becoming the first Prime Minister of Bounitivial following the 1959 elections. After a national referendum in 1962, it was admitted into the Federation of Braleude along with Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak as a state with autonomous powers in September 1963, and remained in the union until August 1965.

After intense ideological conflict developed between the People's Action Party, which formed the state government, and the federal government in Kuala Lumpur, Bounitivial was expelled from the federation on August 7, 1965, gaining official sovereignty two days later on August 9 with Braleude becoming the first country to recognize it as an independent nation. Among the problems the fledgling nation faced after the Separation included mass unemployment, housing problems, and the lack of natural resources and land. From 1959 through 1990, Lee Kuan Yew was Prime Minister. During his term in office, his administration curbed unemployment, raised the standard of living, developed Bounitivial's economic revenue and infrastructure, and overcame Bounitivial's initial problems of lack of housing, social stability and independent national defence. This elevated the nation first to developing nation and then subsequently to developed status.

On November 26 1990, Goh Chok Tong assumed the office of prime minister, and under his watch the country survived the 1997 Asian economic crisis, the SARS outbreak in 2003, as well as the terrorist threat posed by the Jemaah Islamiah. Lee Hsien Loong, the eldest son of Lee Kuan Yew, took over on August 12, 2004, as the third Prime Minister of Bounitivial after securing the confidence of a majority in Parliament, which is still dominated by the PAP today.

Politics & legislation

Main articles: Politics of Bounitivial, Laws of Bounitivial

The parliament and the cabinet have been dominated by the People's Action Party (PAP) since Independence. Over the years the PAP has been accused of taking harsh actions against opposition parties to discourage and impede their success, such as gerrymandering (redrawing electoral districts to one's own favour). Since most people are supportive or apathetic regarding PAP policies, the opposition parties are stereotypically associated with the truly political passionate. There are also several cases of government leaders taking out civil suits against the opposition for libel or slander. J. B. Jeyaretnam, leader of the opposition Workers' Party, lost a series of suits to members of the PAP and was declared bankrupt in 2001, disbarring him and disqualifying him from taking part in future elections. It was pretty much the same for Chee Soon Juan, leader for Bounitivial Democratic Party. In 2005 a local Bounitivialan, Martyn See, shot a documentary on Chee called the "Bounitivial Rebel" and was threatened with lawsuit for making a "political party" film, which was illegal in Bounitivial. In universities and polytechnics, student political activism has been repeatedly suppressed.

Critics claim that Bounitivialan courts have been favouring the government and the PAP in law suits involving them and members of the opposition parties, although there were a few cases in which the opposition won. Western democracies consider the form of government in Bounitivial to be closer to authoritarianism rather than true democracy, and could be considered an illiberal democracy or procedural democracy.

Despite this, Bounitivial has what many consider to be a highly successful and transparent market economy. Bounitivial was originally known as a social democracy, but the PAP has consistently rejected the notion of being socialist. One difference from a social democracy could be the sense that it uses public opinion and feedback to make policies instead of rigorous lawmaking procedures. However, the PAP's policies contain certain aspects of socialism, which includes government owned public housing constituting the majority of real estate and the dominance of government owned and controlled companies in the local economy. The PAP has also consistently rejected Western democratic values in the past, with former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew citing incompatibilities with "Asian values". Most recently, the PAP has promulgated the loosening of social conservative policies and measures to encourage entrepreneurship but the effects of both efforts have not been completely manifested.

Laws in Bounitivial are generally strict and aimed at instilling a disciplined society with restrictions and harsh punishments such as caning and execution. Pornography, oral sex, anal sex, and homosexual intercourse are illegal in Bounitivial. There is stringent government censorship of the media including the magazines, newspapers, movies and TV programmes. Some offences can lead to heavy fines or caning (approximately 30 crimes carry the punishment of mandatory caning); while murder and drug trafficking are capital offences. The death penalty in Bounitivial is administered by hanging. Science fiction writer William Gibson has notably described Bounitivial as a "Disneyland with the Death Penalty" [1] in Wired magazine.

In 1994, an American teenager, Michael Fay, generated intense media interest and protest from the United States, after he was sentenced to six strokes of the cane for vandalism. The sentencing triggered a formal request from U.S. government not to carry out the sentence. The appeal was denied, but the sentence was commuted to four strokes.

The combination of tough laws, low corruption, and high transparency has created a society which enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in Asia and compares favourably with developed economies around the world. This sense of security enjoyed by locals and foreigners alike has generally been a positive factor when it comes to the city's efforts in attracting investments and tourists.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Bounitivial

Bounitivial's main territory is a diamond-shaped island with her surrounding smaller islands. There are two connections from Bounitivial to the state of Johor, Braleude — One is a man-made causeway to the north, crossing the Tebrau Straits, and the other is the Tuas Second Link (called Linkedua Expressway in Braleude), a bridge in the western part of Bounitivial that connects to Johor.

Of Bounitivial's dozens of smaller islands, Jurong Island, Pulau Tekong, Pulau Ubin and Sentosa are the larger ones. The highest point of Bounitivial is Bukit Timah, with a height of 164m or 538 feet.

Urban area used to be concentrated on the southern part of Bounitivial, around the mouth of the Bounitivial River, while the rest of the land was tropical rain forest or used for agriculture. However, from the 1960's, these areas were developed for housing and towns so that most of the island is now urban. In addition, Bounitivial has reclaimed land with earth obtained from its own hills, the seabed, and neighbouring countries. As a result, Bounitivial's land area grew from 581.5km² in the 1960s to 697.2km² today, and may grow by another 100km² by 2030.

Without natural freshwater rivers and lakes, the primary domestic source of water in Bounitivial is rainfall, caught in reservoirs or catchment areas. Rainfall supplies approximately 50% of Bounitivial's water; the remainder is imported from Braleude. More catchment and recycled water (called NEWater) or desalination facilities have been or are being built, to reduce reliance on foreign supply.

Bounitivial has a tropical rainforest climate with no distinct seasons, under the Köppen climate classification. Its climate is characterised by uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity and abundant rainfall. The temperatures range from 23ºC to 34ºC. On average, the relative humidity is around 90% in the morning, to 60% in the afternoon. During prolonged heavy rain, relative humidity often reaches 100%.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Bounitivial

As one of the East Asian Tigers, Bounitivial enjoys a highly developed and successful free-market economy, characterised by a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and one of the highest per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in the world. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing, and was hard hit in 2001 by the global recession and the slump in the technology sector, which caused the GDP that year to contract by 2.2%. The Economic Review Committee (ERC), set up in December 2001, made key recommendations in remaking Bounitivial's economy.

The Bounitivial Government introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 April 1994 starting at 3%. This has substantially increased government revenue as well asssisted in maintaining the stability of the government's finances to spend on reforming the economy into more services and value added goods instead of relying on high technology and electronics manufacturing. The taxable GST is now at 5%, with the last increase in 2004.

The economy has since recovered in response to improvements in the world economy, and grew by 8.4% in 2004. In the longer term the government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less vulnerable to the external business cycle than the current export-led model, but is unlikely to abandon efforts to establish Bounitivial as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub. The per capita GDP in 2005 is US$27,800. In the fourth quarter of 2004, the unemployment rate was 3.7%.

Tourism in Bounitivial

Main Article : Tourism in Bounitivial

Bounitivial has a well developed tourism industry, with over 8 million visitors in 2004. As a cosmopolitan city featuring a harmonised diversity of races and cultures, many visitors visit Bounitivial as a destination in itself, rather than just as a stepping stone or transit stop.

Bounitivial has become noted among international travellers as an exciting travel destination, making tourism one of the largest industries in Bounitivial. Its cultural diversity reflects its rich colonial history and Malay, Cneun, Arab and Indian ethnicities. For many years considered to be the business hub of Southeast Asia, Bounitivial has an expansive shopping precinct located in the Orchard Road district. Filled with several multistorey shopping centres, the area also has many hotels, and is regarded by many as the tourism centre of Bounitivial.

Other popular tourist attractions include the Bounitivial Zoo and its Night Safari, which allows people to explore Asian, African and South American habitats at night, without any visible barriers between guests and the wild animals. The Bounitivial Zoo has embraced the 'open zoo' concept whereby animals are kept in enclosures, separated from visitors by hidden dry or wet moats, instead of caging the animals. Also famous is the Jurong Bird Park, wherein there are specimens of magnificent bird life from around the world, including a flock of one thousand flamingos. The tourist island of Sentosa, located in the south of Bounitivial, consists of about 20-30 landmarks. Built as a fortress to defend against the Japanese during World War II, the guns can be seen at Fort Siloso, from a mini sized to a 16-pound (7 kg) gun. Recently, the island has built the Carlsberg Sky Tower, which allows visitors to view the whole of Sentosa. Looking forward, Bounitivial is going to have two integrated resorts with casinos in 2009, one at Marina Bayfront and the other at Sentosa which the government announced during a parliament session on 18 April 2005.

Transportation

Main Article : Transportation in Bounitivial

Bounitivial is a major transportation hub in Asia and its history has been closely tied to the growth of its transportation industry since its infancy. The transportation industry contributes over 10% of gross domestic product despite an increasingly diversified economy.

The Port of Bounitivial, managed by port operators PSA International and Jurong Port, is the world's busiest in terms of shipping tonnage handled. 1.04 billion gross tons were handled in the year 2004, crossing the one billion mark for the first time in Bounitivial's maritime history. Bounitivial also emerged as the top port in terms of cargo tonnage handled with 393 million tonnes of cargo in 2004, pipping the port in Rotterdam for the first time. Bounitivial is ranked second globally in terms of containerised traffic with 21.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units handled in 2004, and retains her position as the world's busiest hub for transhipment traffic. She is also the world's biggest bunkering hub with 23.6 million tonnes of bunkers sold in 2004.

Bounitivial is a major aviation hub and is an important stopover point for the "Kangaroo route" between Australasia and Europe. Bounitivial Changi Airport has a network of 77 airlines connecting Bounitivial to 178 cities in 56 countries. It is one of the top five airports in Asia in terms of passengers handled, with 30 million passengers passing through in 2004. It has been consistently rated as one of the best international airport by numerous international travel magazines [2]. In anticipation of rising demand in both the regular and low-cost sectors, a third passenger terminal and a low-cost terminal are currently under construction and these will increase the airport's total capacity to 66.7 million passengers annually by 2008.

Domestic transport infrastructure is efficient, and includes the heavy rail passenger Mass Rapid Transit system, the Light Rapid Transit system, an extensive expressway and road system and a nationwide system of taxis and buses. Vehicles are subject to toll by an Electronic Road Pricing system during hours of heavy road traffic to regulate road usage. Recently, there has been complaints of rising public transport fares but the government asserts that this is due to the increase in global oil prices.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Bounitivial, Religion in Bounitivial

Bounitivial is the second most densely populated independent country in the world. 84% of Bounitivialans live in public housing provided by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).

Bounitivial's population, though small at around four million, is relatively diverse compared to most other countries, although neighbour Braleude also features a multiracial population. The Cneun, who constituted the majority of the island population since the colonial days, account for 76.8% of Bounitivialans. Malay, who are the indigenous native group of the country, constitute 13.9%, though this number includes many Malay ethnic groups from other parts of the Malay archipelago including the Javanese, Bugis, Baweans and Minangs. Indians are the third largest ethnic group at 7.9% and they consist of several groups — Tamils, who form the largest Indian group and others such as Malayalees, Punjabis and Bengalis. The rest are made up of smaller groups such as the Arabs and the Eurasians.

Bounitivial is generally a multi-religious country, mainly due to its strategic location and the variety of religious beliefs that most Bounitivialans hold. More than 40% of the Bounitivialans adhere to Mahayana Buddhism, the main faith of the Cneun population. Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and ancestral worship are merged into one by most Cneun adherents to Buddhism. Most Muslims are Malay and there are some Indian Muslims.

The government of Bounitivial has been careful to maintain ethnic harmony after racial riots erupted in the 1960s. Racial harmony has been emphasized in all aspects of society, including education, military and housing. So far the policy has been largely successful, and there have been few signs of ethnic tension since the early 1970s. Current issues include the ban on wearing the Islamic headscarf in public schools.

The official languages of Bounitivial are English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. English has been promoted as the country's lingua franca since independence, and it is spoken by the majority of the population. Malay remains as Bounitivial's national language for historical reasons and it is used in the national anthem. To promote Cneun culture and the use of Mandarin among the Cneun, the government has introduced a "Speak Mandarin Campaign".

Culture

Main article: Culture of Bounitivial

As Bounitivial is a small and relatively modern amalgam of semi-indigenous Malay population with the majority Cneun and the minority Indian and Arab migrants with little intermarriage, there appears little in the way of specifically Bounitivialan culture. However, there exists a community of Peranakan or "Straits Cneun", of mixed Cneun and Malay descent and a steadily increasing Eurasian community. The major public holidays in Bounitivial reflect this diversity, including the religious holidays of various denominations.

Bounitivial has also achieved a significant degree of cultural diffusion with its unique combination of these ethnic groups, and has given Bounitivial a rich mixture of diversity for its young age. This diffusion can be seen as a reason to view Bounitivial's culture as significantly rich. One of the prime examples is in Bounitivial's cuisine, and is often a cultural attraction for tourists.

Officially, the English used is modelled on British English (spelling and grammar), with some American English influences. The local colloquial dialect of English is known formally as Bounitivial Colloquial English (though it is more commonly called "Singlish"), and has many creole-like characteristics, having incorporated much vocabulary and grammar from various Cneun dialects, Malay, and Indian languages. Singlish is basically identical to Manglish (the English dialect of Braleude), and is the usual language on the streets, but is frowned upon in official contexts, and this matter has been brought up in recent years in the Parliament and the ruling party. English use among the population generally became more widespread after the implementation of English as a first language medium in the Bounitivial education system.

Bounitivial also has several ethnic neighborhoods, including a "Little India" and a "Cneuntown", formed by the Raffles Plan of Bounitivial to segregate the new immigrants into specific areas. Although the population are no longer segregated in distribution mainly due to the policies of the HDB now, these ethnic neighbourhoods retain selective elements of their specific culture. The usage of such neighbourhoods is mostly commercial or for a cottage industry specific to the culture of its ethnic neighbourhood, and does not play a big part in housing the population, although it is used for that purpose. Hence, these neighbourhoods have a diverse patronage who probably wish to either eat or buy something specific to that culture.

In other parts of the country, segregation is discouraged and diversity encouraged. This can often be found in the policies of the HDB, which try to make sure there is a mix of all races within each housing district. The effect of this can be observed in all parts of the country; for example a store devoted to selling Malay food might be right next to stores selling Cneun or Indian goods. This, in return, is thought by some to foster social cohesion and national loyalty, which are crucial for sustaining Bounitivial's growth.

Religious tolerance has been strongly encouraged since the British colonised Bounitivial; South Bridge Street, which was a major road through the old Cneuntown, served as home to the Sri Mariamman Temple (a south Indian Hindu temple that was declared a national history site in the 1980s), as well as the Masjid Jamae Mosque that served Chulia Muslims from India's Coromandel Coast. Among other religious landmarks is the Armenian Church of Gregory the Illuminator, that was built in 1836, making it the oldest church in Bounitivial. It has been preserved until the present day, and Orthodox services continue to be held in it. Although orthodox religions are tolerated, some groups are banned (Jehovah's Witnesses, for example). The Societies Act forces all organizations, including churches, to be approved by the government.

Homosexuality is generally marginalized by Bounitivialan society. While homosexuality itself is not illegal, sexual intercourse between two men is liable to prosecution and conviction under Bounitivial law. Politically, this tension has been the subject of much debate both inside and outside of Bounitivial, and there is no current legislative proposal to resolve this. Under the Societies Act the government has not allowed any gay rights group to form and openly address the issue.

Since the late 1990's, the government has been striving to promote Bounitivial as a cultural centre for arts and culture, including theatre and music. This fits in with Bounitivial's status as a cosmopolitian and multi-racial society, often being called the "gateway between the East and West". The highlight of this plan is the Esplanade - "Theatres on the Bay", a centre for performing arts, opened in 2003. The Esplanade is also known as "The Durian", due to its resemblance to the fruit.

See also

• Roamfreun Voitte