It Came Up From the Swamp

Singapore in the 1950s

Singapore is a city-state that values its cleanliness. No gum, no smoking in public, no spitting, of course no littering, and heaven forbid that you forget to flush the toilet in a public lavatory. Its population is among the world's wealthiest. But it wasn't always like that. Before Singapore became an independent state, 50 years ago this year, "It was a hard life," recalls Manjit Kaur, whose niece is the author of this first-person piece looking at Singapore's history. "There was no water, no healthy water. We lived a simple life, our neighbours were simple. We looked after each other and we had the same goal—to survive." At that time, most of the population lived in wooden shacks, still others in slums. Many had never seen a flush toilet or clean water from a tap. Then along came independence, and with it a nation-building campaign and the Housing Development Board: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31626174