Singapore

Singapore, an island city-state off southern Malaysia, is a global financial center with a tropical climate and multicultural population. Its colonial core centers on the Padang, a cricket field since the 1830s and now flanked by grand buildings such as City Hall, with its 18 Corinthian columns. In Singapore's circa-1820 Chinatown stands the red-and-gold Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, said to house one of Buddha's teeth.

History
Singapore or as its also known as "Lion City" was originally developed as a British port by the late Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Overtime it grew under a colonial rule, that was until the brutal takeover by the Japan during WW2. After achieving independence, it joined the Malay Federation, but was expelled two years later due to racial differences between the Malay-chauvinist Malaysia government and the predominantly Chinese island. When Hong Kong fell apart, many companies and people fled to Singapore, but only the ones with college degrees or usable skills were allowed in. Of course, they get plenty of people sneaking in, but usually the police find them pretty fast.

Singapore is run by a freely elected government, but they still have an iron-fist. The government, the People's Action Party, has ruled with an overwhelming majority since the 1960s, and has made Singapore a model city, with a minimum of crime and pollution. The down side is that the press is tightly controlled, dissent is highly discouraged, and individual freedom are suppressed. They have dress codes on the books, and even chewing gum is banned. The corporations actually don't interface very much, since the government always has the corporate interest in mind, more so than the average citizen. Of course, since the people keep voting for the PAP, one must assume that the sheep enjoy their pen. Imagine a beavertown that covers a whole island, and you have Singapore.

Economy
Singapore is second wealthiest in the Pacific Rim, with only Japan being ahead of it. Trade, shipping, banking, and high-tech industries dominate this city. The Straits of Malacca is the prime shipping route between the Pacific Rim and Europe/Africa. When Hong Kong was brought down to destruction, most of the companies that weren't already in Singapore followed Merrill, Asukaga &amp; Finch's lead, this was to feast at the banking haven and powerful stock market. The government has always had a pro-business from the beginning, and it also has been known for having everything a corpo would want.

For the most part everyone living here is pretty well off, and anything that's not illegal is very easy to get, so there's very little black market trade around Singapore. What little there is takes place on the north end of the island, where the newcomers live.

That being said NetCrime and data smuggling are the lucrative markets. The Government of Singapore has found it nearly impossible to regulate all the broadcast Vids, and not to mention the Net. The sheer volume of activity makes policing it almost completely impossible. Every company has its own uplinks for teleconferencing, then there is travel between companies.

Headquarters:
Singapore

Regional Offices:
Hong Kong, Night City, Kobe, Bombay, Bangkok, Shanghai, Hanoi.

Name and Location of Major Shareholder:
Haw Xiong, Singapore. Owns 24% of stock.

Employees Worldwide:
19,872

Overview:
TMC started out as the two Haw brothers, Chinese immigrants in Burma, who learned many herbal remedies, and started marketing them in the late 1800s. The main product, Tiger Balm, became very popular as a cure-all ointment in the region- and in the US. They branched out into other herbal medicines, using traditional Chinese remedies. Their sales among overseas Chinese alone keep them rich, and their goods are very popular in Europe and America. Now, TMC is the main competition for Biotechnica in the medical field. TMC has brought large tracts of Borneo and South China rainforest, for the biodiversity, and have been consulting with local tribes as to uses. TMC had to abandon its Laotian research center in the face of Khmer annihilation. They are always on the lookout for the next big product.

Geography
Singapore is a very small, heavily urbanised, island city-state in Southeast Asia, located at the end of the Malayan Peninsula between Malaysia and Indonesia. Singapore has a total land area of 724.2 square kilometres (279.6 sq mi).

The Singapore area comprises mainland and other islands. The mainland of Singapore measures 50 kilometres (31 mi) from east to west and 27 kilometres (17 mi) from north to south with 193 kilometres (120 mi) of coastline. These figures are based on 2.515 metres (8 ft 3.0 in) High Water Mark cadastral survey boundaries.[1] It has an exclusive economic zone of 1,067 km2 (412 sq mi). Singapore is separated from Indonesia by the Singapore Strait and from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor.

Climate
Singapore is situated near the equator and has a typically tropical climate, with abundant rainfall, high and uniform temperatures, and high humidity all year round. Many of its climate variables, such as temperature and relative humidity, do not show large month-to-month variation. However, many variables exhibit prominent diurnal (or daily) variations from hour to hour, indicating the strong influence that solar heating has on the local climate.

Singapur