racy as it was for its mythology.
             Singapore's modern history began with the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles of the British East India Company who landed there in 1819 in search of establishing a trading site. It was quickly transformed into a legitimate British colony, not recognized as property by anyone. Singapore was declared a city by a royal British charter and it quickly created a municipal colony. (Marshall, 1970) With this colony, Singapore was to become a prosperous industrial trade nation. Perhaps it's most alarming attribute to success is the growth in population, comprising mainly Singapore citizens and permanent residents. What I mean by citizens is the medley of races making up Singapore's resident base; they consist of the Chinese, Malays, Indians, Arabs, Persians, and Europeans. The population in the early years was probably not more than a few hundred thousand.
             Today, the number, and ethnicity, of people have risen almost a ten-fold. With all of the dramatic increases in populations of immigrants came the influx of different languages, and cultures, too. Singapore's officially-recognized languages are Malay, Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil, and English; which is considered the administrative language, the social conglomerate.
             Singapore's mainstay of British authority lasted around a hundred-fifty years before its brief accommodation with Malaysia. Despite being a small, resource-poor island, Singapore gained its full independence in 1965. This new Singapore, staunchly anticommunist, was finally free to pursue capitalism with vigor and determination that set new standards for nations of the Rim.
             Singapore faced a problem that was similar to other former colonies: how to take the disparate cultures and blanket of colonial European influences and weave them into a free, modern state. Singapore was spared the problem of traditionally hostile indigenous cultures bound together by u...