Is Singapore a Nation?

When you think of capital of Singapore, you will think of the myriad of foreign awards and global benchmark this city-state has achieved within its first 50 years of independence. It is praiseworthy her success that is. Having attained self-governance in 1959 and subsequently independence in 1965, her stinting miracle in the decades to come is deserving of being looked upon as an economic feign of success. Her emergence came as a shock as she was expelled from Malaysia in 1965 overdue to clashing political ideologies, and nobody knew what to expect. The emergence of the imperiled Singapore brewed much doubtfulness and anxiety in a Chinese land in the ocean of Malays environment.Certainly though, Singapore has come so far into being what she is today. As we slowly transit into a new political era and draw over the political reins to fresher and younger batch of Singapores fourth-generation leaders, it is worth to forfeit and reflect. Having gone through 50 years of independenc e, can it be truly said that Singapore is a nation? Has she become a nation, or is she still in the process of nation-building a nation-in-progress?This essay will debate at large with regards to where Singapore stands in this issue. Before proceeding some(prenominal) further, it is crucial to unpack the term nation.Defining the term nationNation has never had a concrete definition owing to its broad and complex nature. Scholars, nonetheless, have attempted to condition the term nation for pragmatic purposes. As argued by Dawisha Adeed, nation is a form of identity. That individuals identify with their nations the same way they identify with other forms of collective identity. Rupert Emerson also argued that nation is a socio-cultural concept than a political concept. It is the sand of belonging to a community who share the same heritage, and the same future.It is frankincense agreeable that nation is essentially a common sense of belonging to a country. A sense of pride, and a measure of a persons loyalty to a country. In the words of Benedict Anderson, nation is an imagined political community because members whitethorn not know most of their fellow members, yet in the minds of separately lives the image of their communion. In this regard, it is in my interest to highlight the diversion between a state and a nation. As brought up earlier, Singapore is not a nation as of yet on the railway yard that Singaporeans do not feel as intense a sense of belonging to Singapore.