Singapore
Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore in 1819 as a trading post of the British East India Company. After the company's collapse in 1858, the islands were ceded to the British Raj as a crown colony. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from the UK in 1963 by federating with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but separated two years later over ideological differences, becoming a sovereign nation in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce.
Representative democracy in Singapore
A fully elected Legislative Assembly was finally established in 1958, when Singapore relinquished its colonial status to become a self-governing state. Its powers extended to areas not previously under its purview, such as defence and foreign policy. This situation remained throughout merger with Malaysia in 1963, and after separation from Malaysia and full independence in 1965. In the Proclamation of Singapore contained in the Independence of Singapore Agreement 1965 entered into between Malaysia and Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew proclaimed on behalf of the people and Government of Singapore that as from 9 August 1965 Singapore "shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of her people in a more just and equal society".