In its early history—as early as 1819—Singapore was a port city under British control with the East India Company put in place to turn such a sparsely inhabited island into a “Southeast Asian trading perch”. Like other colonies, Singapore gained its independence after World War II (1939-1945), a tumultuous period in which it was invaded by Japan. In 1963, it briefly and unsuccessfully joined the Malaysian Federation until it became a sovereign state in 1965 with the People’s