History of Singapore
During World War 2, Singapore was conquered and occupied by the Japanese Empire from 1942 to 1945. When the war ended, Singapore reverted to British control, with increasing levels of self-government being granted, culminating in Singapore's merger with the Federation of Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963. However, social unrest and disputes between Singapore's ruling People's Action Party and Malaysia's Alliance Party resulted in Singapore's expulsion from Malaysia. Singapore became an independent republic on 9 August 1965.
Land reclamation in Singapore
After the turn of the century (particularly from 1919 to 1923), Singaporean land reclamation was primarily the result of a need for increased public utilities (such as roads and railways) and military coastal protection. Such development was interrupted by World War II, when the Japanese occupied Singapore and directed focus away from an improved Singapore and towards an extended Japanese culture. There was thus a lull in industrialization in Singapore during this period, which continued throughout the 1950s and early 1960s (during which time Singapore experienced extensive political change) until the city-state's participation in the founding of Malaysia in 1963. As part of Malaysia and continuing after independence in 1965, Singapore benefitted from economic development programs, which both enabled and required significant land reclamation projects. Rapidly increasing demand for industrial, infrastructural, commercial, and residential land resulted in projects that reclaimed hundreds of hectares (acres) at a time. The Jurong Industrial Estate began development in the early 1960s to meet industrial land needs, and by 1968 already housed 153 factories, with another 46 under construction. The original landscape of the region was greatly changed and is now restricted to the areas around the Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Pandan. Also in the early 1960s, Singapore's central business district was extended into land reclaimed from the sea. Post-war industrialization and land reclamation transformed Singapore's weak economy.
In 1981, Singapore Changi Airport opened after the clearing of roughly of swampland and the introduction of over of land- and seafill. As Changi Airport maintains a policy of continual development in preparation for the future, a third airport terminal was planned from the beginning, and was opened on January 1, 2007.