Singapore, formally the Republic of Singapore (; Chinese: , Pinyin: Xīnjiāpō Gònghéguó; , ), is an island city-state and the smallest country in Southeast Asia. It is located on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, south of the Malaysian state of Johor, and north of the Indonesian Riau Islands. Its coordinates are , just 137 kilometres (85 miles) north of the Equator.

The site of several ancient port cities and a possession of several empires in its history, Singapore was a Malay fishing village when it was colonised by the United Kingdom in the 19th century. It was further occupied by the Japanese Empire in World War II, and was later part of the merger which established the Federation of Malaysia. When Singapore acquired independence, having few natural resources, it was sociopolitically volatile and economically undeveloped. Foreign investment and rapid government-led industrialisation has since created an economy which relies on exports of electronics and manufacturing primarily from its port.

More than 90% of Singapore's population lives in housing estates constructed by the Housing Development Board and nearly half uses the public transport system daily . As a result of public transport and environmental initiatives by government ministries, Singapore's pollution is mostly confined within the heavy industry area on Jurong Island. The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore established the city-state as a representative democracy. Singapore initially undertook a democratic socialist policy shortly after its independence, adopting a welfare system. However, the government has since become more conservative than it was at the founding of the republic. Singapore faces criticism for being a reduced democracy because of its dominant-party system and has attracted controversy for some of its policies.

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L.A. Times - Food & Dining

Cookbook politics: Democrats, Republicans in the kitchen
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Out on the fringes of the campaign trail, the partisan cookbook is a perennial candidate. Want a cookie? "NOT ONLY do I eat, I also am a Democrat," wrote Frank Sinatra in an intro to 1960's "Many Happy Returns: The Democrats' Cook Book, or How to Cook a G.O.P. Goose" (the sales of which helped buy TV air time for candidates). "Not only should every Democrat own a copy of this book, but he should load up all his or her friends, and even smuggle some copies into Pasadena and other points where the enemy is strong and square."
Ripe time for Southern California's pick-your-own farms
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Grab your kids and some baskets and head out to the nearest U-pick farm for the freshest fruits and vegetables. ON A recent Sunday, a friend and I watched as our kids pulled a wooden wagon through a Ventura County field, pausing to gather black-eyed peas and sun-ripened heirloom tomatoes. They ran down rows of raspberry bushes, filling their hats with the ripe fruit. The air rustled the leaves of a row of peach trees; bees hummed on the periphery. Two hours later, the contents of our wagon (weighed out and paid for at the market stand) held enough produce for dinner, for dinners all week. The kids, faces browned by dirt and sunlight, were eating tomatoes as if they were apples; they didn't want to leave.
Review: Gordon Ramsay restaurant at the London hotel, West Hollywood
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The 'Hell's Kitchen' chef offers sophisticated fare in a glamorous setting. Everything you've learned about British superstar chef Gordon Ramsay on television is a crock. On his hit television shows, "Hell's Kitchen" and especially "Kitchen Nightmares," the three-star Michelin chef hams it up, cajoling and bullying some of the most exasperating cooks and restaurateurs on the planet into doing better work. The histrionics make for riveting television, but give the wrong impression about Ramsay's own cooking.

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