Singapore Myths: #1 "From fishing village to global city"
Singapore's spectacular waterfront at night. © 2020 Tan Keng Yang Origin of Fishing Village to Global City It is unclear who actually made this claim and when. But it has been so oft repeated through the state-controlled media and the national education program in schools that it has become gospel for the less questioning sectors of the population. Even foreign correspondents who failed to do due diligence have perpetuated this myth beyond the island’s shores. The following are a sampling of foreign takes on the fishing village narrative: “…from an impoverished fishing colony…” YouTube channel VisualPolitik EN (19 Jan 2022, timeline at 11:24). "... the transformation of Singapore from a mosquito-ridden colonial trading post and military base to a proud and prosperous – if somewhat antiseptic – Asian tiger." The Telegraph in its obituary of Lee Kuan Yew's death. "... just how did this tiny country go from swamp to one of the region's leading economies? BB