{"id":5653,"date":"2015-08-09T22:13:38","date_gmt":"2015-08-09T21:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=5653"},"modified":"2015-08-09T22:13:38","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T21:13:38","slug":"singapore-turns-50-with-huge-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/singapore-turns-50-with-huge-parade\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore turns 50 with huge parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Singapore\"<\/a>Independent Singapore turned 50 Sunday with fireworks, a massive military parade and a tribute to late founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, who helped transform it from colonial backwater to regional powerhouse.
\nLee, the authoritarian ruler who died in March aged 91, was honoured with a video on his life and times at the beginning of the annual National Day Parade, the first he had ever missed.
\nThe crowd\u2014decked in the red and white Singapore colours and many in tears\u2014greeted the tribute with a robust round of applause.
\nThe festivities that followed featured about 2,000 marchers, 50 military aircraft, 177 tanks and other security hardware, underscoring the Singapore military\u2019s status as the best armed in the region.
\nOne of the highlights was a fly-past by a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 superjumbo adorned with the republic\u2019s red-and-white flag featuring a crescent and four stars. SIA became the first airline worldwide to operate the double-decker plane in October 2007.
\nThe crowd also cheered when 20 F-16 fighter jets formed the number \u201c50\u201d as they roared overhead. Minutes later, helicopters including Apache attack choppers flew by.
\nBattle tanks led the mobile column that showcased the city-state\u2019s powerful military arsenal, including ground-to-air missiles and drones.
\nAround 250,000 spectators were predicted to watch the celebrations centred on the historic Padang waterfront district, while thousands more at home followed the live broadcast which ended with a prolonged fireworks display.
\nThe procession was the high point of a jubilee year largely choreographed and funded by the government, which is expected to call a general election soon to extend its rule against a divided opposition.
\nSingapore became a republic on August 9, 1965, when it was ejected from the Malay federation following a stormy two-year union\u2014to face an uncertain future in a turbulent region.
\nThe tiny island with no natural resources has since surpassed vastly larger neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia in terms of development, with per capita gross domestic product of $56,284 in 2014.
\nBut critics say its success has come at a steep cost.
\nThe People\u2019s Action Party (PAP), which Lee co-founded and which has ruled uninterrupted since independence, has been criticised for silencing free speech, detaining political opponents or launching costly defamation lawsuits against them.
\nBut politics was put aside Sunday when sirens blared at 9:00 am before national TV and radio stations broadcast a 2012 recording of Lee Kuan Yew reading the original declaration of independence.
\nOn the eve of the parade his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said in a televised message that \u201cat 50 years, as we stand at a high base camp, we look back and marvel at how how far we have come\u201d.
\nThe premier was joined at the parade by leaders and top officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with officials from China, Australia and Japan.
\nFormer colonial ruler Britain was represented by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Prince Andrew, while the United States has sent former trade representative Ron Kirk.
\nLee Kuan Yew\u2019s death on March 23 triggered an unprecedented outpouring of grief. A bouquet was placed on his customary seat at the parade.
\nLee, a British-trained lawyer, came to power in 1959 as prime minister when Britain granted the island a degree of self-rule and stayed as premier until 1990.
\nHe handed over power to his deputy Goh Chok Tong, who in turn stepped down in favour of the former leader\u2019s son in 2004.
\nAnalysts expect elections to be held as early as September.
\nThe PAP suffered its worst electoral performance in 2011 when it won 60 percent of votes cast, its lowest ever, despite retaining 80 of the 87 seats in a block-voting system.
\nPopular opposition to immigration was blamed for the PAP\u2019s weakened showing at the last election, when the opposition Workers\u2019 Party wrested a five-seat constituency from the PAP for the first time.
\nSingapore\u2019s low birth rate, coupled with its rapidly greying population, prompted the government to liberalise immigration policy in the mid-2000s, with the population surging from 4.17 million in 2004 to 5.47 million last year — 40 percent of them foreigners.<\/p>\n

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