Towards Independance

Modern History
The decades after the war saw a political awakening amongst the local populace and the rise of nationalist and anti-colonial sentiments. Singapore was moving slowly towards self-government by the 1950s.

In 1959, the People's Action Party was elected with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister (a position he would continue to hold for the next 31 years). A union was formed with Malaya (now Malaysia) in 1963, which proved short-lived. Almost unwillingly, Singapore became a sovereign, democratic and independent nation on the 9th of August 1965 – a date that has since been celebrated as National Day.

Independent Singapore was admitted to the United Nations on 21 September 1965, and became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations on 15 October 1965. On 22 December 1965, it became a republic, with Yusof bin Ishak as the republic's first President. Shrewd and pragmatic, then-PM Lee Kuan Yew formed a government around strict social order and a heavy emphasis on a Confucian belief system.

With the British Government's decision in 1967 to withdraw its armed forces from Singapore by the end of 1971, Singapore set out to build up its own defense forces. The Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute was established in 1966 and compulsory National Service for men was introduced in 1967. A Singapore Air Defense Command and a Singapore Maritime Command were set up in 1969. In August 1967, Singapore joined Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand to form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Early obstacles that Singapore faced included having to survive and prosper despite having almost no natural resources and the creation of a national identity despite a diaspora of immigrants. Despite this, Singapore took advantage of its strategic location and the favorable world economy to become a model of economic success in the region.

Public housing was given top priority during these years. New towns sprang up and Housing and Development Board (HDB) apartments were sold at a low cost. To encourage home ownership, Singaporeans were allowed to use their Central Provident Fund savings to pay for these apartments.

In 1990, Lee Kuan Yew was replaced as Prime Minister by Goh Chok Tong, which signaled a governmental shift towards consultation and liberalization.

Recent History
After enjoying an extended period of rapid economic growth and prosperity, the Southeast Asian economic downturn of the late-1990s hit Singapore extremely hard. In one 3-month period, unemployment in the country doubled. The real estate industry, too, as with other industries was severely affected.

The new millennium has seen the city-state slowly recuperating from the crash. The real estate market, too, has slowly been warming up with the private housing market flourishing. Yet, the new millennium has also brought new challenges to Singapore's door; with declining birth rates and trained young professionals leaving the country for greener pastures being hot sources of debate.