ABSTRACT
The quest for survival, order, and prosperity is a dominant theme of contemporary Singaporean politics. Surrounded by countries hundreds of times larger in area, with populations twenty to fifty times greater, this island city-state is in many respects a speck in a region of giant nations—even tiny Hong Kong is twice its size. As an urban entrepôt with virtually no agricultural base, Singapore stands alone, bereft of the resources and land of its Southeast Asian neighbors.
