Friday, August 19, 2016

Why Singapore may see fresh debate over Christmas Island...

Singaporeans are absolutely thrilled as an athlete has won the first ever Olympic gold medal for the city-state.

Following the historic feat of Joseph Schooling, who beat swimming legend Michael Phelps in 100m butterfly in the Rio games, Singapore has seen a surge in patriotic sentiment among the public.

The sudden rise in nationalist feelings in the city might give a new lease of life to the almost dying debate among the citizens as to whether they should reclaim their lost overseas territory of the Christmas Island, which is now ruled by Australia.

Lying around 500 kilometers south of Indonesia, Christmas Island is only one-tenth of the size of Hong Kong with a population of just a little over 2000, most of whom are ethnic Chinese and Malaysians.

First discovered in 1643 by the English captain William Mynors with the British East India Company, the island had remained uninhabited for more than 200 years until it was proven that it was highly rich in phosphate in the 19th century. After that, the East India Company began to import foreign labor, mostly Chinese, to the island to work in the phosphate mines. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Christmas Island's red crabs on the march...
  2. How red crabs on Christmas Island speak for the tropics...
  3. Children detained on Christmas Island to attend Catholic-run education centre...
  4. Christmas Island's crab invasion!!!
  5. Why Christmas Island crabs dash for the beach...

No comments:

Post a Comment