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Yeo, Hwee-Ying --- "Singapore: Maintaining a Law and Regulation for a Modern Trading State" [2012] ELECD 180; in Burling, Julian; Lazarus, Kevin (eds), "Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Research Handbook on International Insurance Law and Regulation

Editor(s): Burling, Julian; Lazarus, Kevin

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849807883

Section: Chapter 26

Section Title: Singapore: Maintaining a Law and Regulation for a Modern Trading State

Author(s): Yeo, Hwee-Ying

Number of pages: 25

Extract:

26 Singapore: maintaining a law and regulation for a
modern trading state
Hwee-Ying Yeo



1. INTRODUCTION

Singapore was an obscure fishing village1 with a small indigenous population when the
British recognised the strategic importance of the island's location and decided in 1819 to
establish a free port there to serve the ships plying the maritime trade routes between India
and China. Merchants and immigrant workers thereafter flocked to this trading post
which grew rapidly to overtake the other ports (such as Penang and Malacca) in the
Malayan archipelago. The thriving community in this new colony required insurance to
cover their merchandise against fire hazards and shipping risks, and there was a steady
increase in the number of agency houses and local branches of British insurance
companies2 operating in Singapore which soon emerged as the centre of entrepôt trade in
South-East Asia.
After gaining independence in 1965, Singapore boldly embarked on long-term eco-
nomic development programmes which helped the resources-deprived island to weather
the turbulent period of nation-building. The earlier success of Singapore as a regional
hub for commerce and communications naturally led to efforts to transform the city state
into a financial centre3 (including, for example, initiatives to offer reinsurance and
arbitration services to the region and beyond). In addition, the government's aggressive
efforts to attract foreign investments spurred the growth of the manufacturing sector
which has progressed over the years from low-productivity textile factories to high-
technology semiconductor plants. Concomitant ...