Tuesday, 13th. Dear G-L, Part 1:" Singapore´s economic growth since independence until now." Founded as a British Trading colony in 1819, Singapore became an independent state in 1965. At the time of its independence Singapore was faced with terrible economic and social crisis. Unemployment was high increasing. There was also an acute shortage of housing, inadequate health facilities compounded by a high population growth rate of 4.4 per cent per annum between 1947 and 1957. For the first two decades of its independence, Singapore enjoyed continuous high economic growth, largely outperforming the world economy. It´s GDP growth rate never fell below 5 per cent and rose in some years as high as 15 per cent. At the same time, Singapore managed to maintain an inflation rate below world averages. Singapore´s GDP grew 15 times in one generation, from 3 billion US dollars in 1965 to an astronomical 46 billion US dollars in 1997. Annual per capita income grew from less than 1000 US dollars at the time of independence to nearly 30,000 US dollars at present, the eighth highest in the world in 1997/98. The general literacy rates have increased by 20 per cent for males and 46 per cent for females. The literacy rate today is over 90 per cent, one of the highest rates in Asia. Singapore´s economic growth in the last 35 years occurred in the context of a unique combination of political, economic and social factors. A tiny island without natural resources, inadequate water supply or a defense capable of its own, Singapore was gripped by uncertainty over it´s survival at the time of independence. The three and a half years of Japanese occupation in 1942 to 1945 were alive in the memory of Singapore´s first -generation leaders, whose decision-making was largely predicated in the struggle for survival. The fear of being swallowed and the cold-war atmosphere influenced the domestic political climate. Part 2, coming up on Thursday, 14th we will be looking into the major forces and the man behind Singapore´s success story. Until then! Thanks for sharing! SS.Jawara Stockholm, Sweden. SS.Jawara ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~