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. "