Singapore thumps chest on 30th anniversary

Singapore thumps chest on 30th anniversary

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore yesterday celebrated 30 years of independence with a chest-thumping display of patriotic fervor and economic triumph, tinged with nagging doubts about its long- term future.

The multiracial city-state of three million people was awash in red and white flags as thousands thronged the central Padang parade grounds to attend an evening extravaganza highlighting the republic's rise to developed status.

Air force helicopters and fighter jets, parachute teams and mobile armored columns were part of the program, which included performances by schoolchildren and community representatives.

A spectacular fireworks display was to top off the festivities watched by President Ong Teng Cheong, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, his cabinet colleagues and members of parliament.

The capacity 16,000-strong crowd reserved the biggest applause for the arrival of Senior Minister and elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew, 71.

The small island was a sleepy trading port populated mostly by Chinese, Malay and Indian migrants and their descendants when it split from Malaysia in 1965.

Thirty years later, it is a thriving regional financial and industrial hub ranked among the 10 richest nations in terms of its citizens' purchasing power, awaiting graduation to the ranks of developed nations next year.

Prime Minister Goh outlined Singapore's economic achievements and the challenges facing it in a traditional address on the eve of national day

The 54-year-old premier said Singapore was "not yet truly developed" and urged citizens to work harder and not slacken, warning that "the going will get tougher."

"We are still behind the developed countries in education, technology and cultural attainments," he said.

But in 30 years since independence, one generation of Singaporeans had completely transformed Singapore, and "now we have the resources, the talent and the ability" to make Singapore a more attractive society, he said.

In a national day statement, Education Minister Lee Yock Suan told the country's youth: "We value our way of life which blends traditional Asian values with a modern outlook open to change and progress."

"We also enjoy freedom of expression and choice," he said in an apparent reference to outside criticism of Singapore's centralized political system.

U.S. President Bill Clinton, whose country was briefly at loggerheads with Singapore last year over the caning of an American teenager for vandalism, was among the world leaders who greeted the country.

"I look forward to further advancing our relationship in the coming year," said Clinton, wishing Singapore "peace, progress and prosperity."

The Business Times newspaper said in an editorial yesterday that Singapore had achieved "a feat that has to be celebrated" but warned that "no city-state in history has survived for more than a few generations."

It added, however, that "although history is not on its side, Singapore can continue to thrive in spite of the odds -- as it did in the last 30 years. "