Is Singapore a Nation?

When you think of capital of Singapore, you will think of the myriad of international awards and global benchmark this city-state has achieved within its first 50 years of independence. It is commendable her success that is. Having attained self-governance in 1959 and subsequently independence in 1965, her economic miracle in the decades to come is deserving of world looked upon as an economic model of success. Her emergence came as a shock as she was expelled from Malaysia in 1965 due to clashing political ideologies, and nobody knew what to expect. The emergence of the imperiled Singapore brewed much uncertainty and anxiety in a Chinese land in the sea of Malays environment.Certainly though, Singapore has come so far into cosmos what she is today. As we slowly transit into a new political era and hand over the political reins to fresher and younger batch of Singapores fourth-generation leaders, it is worth to freeze and reflect. Having gone through 50 years of independence, ca n it be truly said that Singapore is a nation? Has she become a nation, or is she keep mum in the process of nation-building a nation-in-progress?This essay will discuss at large with regards to where Singapore stands in this issue. Before proceeding any further, it is crucial to draw out the term nation.Defining the term nationNation has never had a concrete definition owing to its broad and complex nature. Scholars, nonetheless, have attempted to define the term nation for hard-nosed purposes. As argued by Dawisha Adeed, nation is a form of identity. That individuals identify with their nations the same way they identify with other forms of collective identity. Rupert Emerson also argued that nation is a socio-cultural idea than a political concept. It is the sniff out of belonging to a friendship who share the same heritage, and the same future.It is thus agreeable that nation is essentially a sense of belonging to a country. A sense of pride, and a measure of a persons loy alty to a country. In the words of Benedict Anderson, nation is an imagined political community because members may not know most of their fellow members, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion. In this regard, it is in my interest to highlight the conflict between a state and a nation. As brought up earlier, Singapore is not a nation as of yet on the grounds that Singaporeans do not feel as intense a sense of belonging to Singapore.