A Quick Lesson

Me: "I'm going to Singapore!"

Joe: "Nice, dude." (Translation: "Where the hell is Singapore you freakin' weirdo?")

Well, Joe, Singapore is here. It's a small island nation located on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Here are a few more things you might not know about Singapore:

• English is an official language.
  
• Chinese represent a majority of the population, which is about 4.6 million.
• It's the 6th wealthiest country in the world in terms of GDP per capita.
• "Singapore" is roughly translated to "Lion City", even though lions have never lived there.
• The time is 15 hours ahead of that in California.
• It was a British colony until WWII, when the Japanese took control after the Battle of Singapore. Winston Churchill called it "Britain's greatest defeat".
• It's consistently rated the least corrupt country in Asia and among the world's ten most free from corruption by Transparency International.
• Singapore is very conservative, operating on mostly British laws. There are no jury trials, and there are laws restricting freedom of speech. Capitol punishment is often enforced for drug trafficking and first-degree murder.
• It consists of 63 islands, including mainland Singapore. 
• There's an urban landscape, with a real downtown and everything! 
• It's located only 85 miles north of the equator. 
• It has a tropical rainforest climate, with no distinctive seasons. Temperatures range from 72-93 degrees F. On average, the relative humidity is 90% in the mornings and 60% in the afternoons. During prolonged heavy rain, relative humidity often reaches 100%.
• Singapore is the busiest port in the world in terms of tonnage-shipped. 
• It is the world's fourth largest foreign exchange trading center after London, New York City, and Tokyo. 
• Wi-Fi is free and accessible across the main island.
• The currency is the Singapore Dollar (SDG).
• The Jemaah Islamiyah, a radical Islamic terrorist organization recognized by the United Nations as being linked to al-Qaeda or the Taliban has close ties to Singapore. 
• Male citizens have to join the military for at least 2 years when they turn 18.
• Most of the media is either directly or indirectly controlled by the government.

Now ya know.