Singapore The Lion City

S ingapore derives its name        Visa is not required if visitors   from the Malay words singa      plan to stay no more than 14       (lion) and pura (city)          days; most tourists are given a    which is why it is also known as      14-day Social Visit Pass on        the Lion City. Folklore has it        arrival at Changi International    that Malay a prince named Sang        Airport.                           Nila Utama saw a lion as the                                             first living creature on the          CLIMATE                            island and decided to name it         Singapore’s climate is             Singapura as a result.                equatorial, warm and humid all                                           year round with intermittent       The Lion City was originally a        rains throughout the year.         British trading colony in 1819                                           and joined the Malaysian              LANGUAGE                           Federation in 1963; however,          Several languages are spoken in    Singapore separated two years         Singapore but majority speak       later and became independent. It      Mandarin and English including     subsequently became one of the        Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese,         world's most prosperous countries     Teochew, Tamil and other Chinese   with strong international trading     dialects.                          links (its port is one of the                                            world's busiest in terms of           CURRENCY                           tonnage handled) and with per         The currency unit is the           capita GDP equal to that of the       Singapore dollar (S$).             leading Western European nations.     Approximately S$1.50 = US$1                                                                                 ENTRY REGULATIONS                     DOMESTIC TRANSPORT                 All who enter Singapore require a     Singapore’s Metro Rail Transit     passport valid for at least 6         and the Light Rail Transit         months beyond date of departure.      services serve domestics travel.   Air-conditioned taxis and buses       monopoly privatized in 1992,       regularly ply the city.               SingTel divested its postal                                              operation SingPost in 2003 and     COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES             now concentrates on providing      International Direct Dial Country     internet service provider, mobile  Code = 65                             phone and fixed line telephony     Fixed Lines = 2,000,000               services.                          Mobile Cellular = 4,500,000                                                                                    Other cellular service providers   Singapore Telecommunications          in Singapore are MobileOne,        Limited SGX, commonly known as        SingTel 1800 and Starhub.          SingTel is Singapore's largest                                           telecommunications company and        Several prepaid calling card and   the largest mobile network            phone card companies are           operator in Asia Pacific outside      available to call both to and      of the People's Republic of           from Singapore.                    China. A former government             About the Author: Josiah William works in marketing for Cheap Phone Cards, Deal King,Snap Mobile and eCellular. Read more articles by: Josiah William Article Source: www.iSnare.com