Five questions about Singapore – Quick Quiz answers

By Kay McMahon, 26 October 2010

We asked you five quick trivia questions about Singapore. Here are the answers:

1. Singapore is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of what?
   Johor. The Singapore Strait separates Singapore from the Indonesian island of Batam.
2. Singapore was named after the Malay word for which animal?
   Lion. Singapura is Malay for “Lion City”, ultimately from Sanskrit. However, lions probably never lived there – the animal seen by Singapore’s founder, Sang Nila Utama, was probably a tiger.
3. In which year did Singapore officially gain sovereignty?
   1965. It had already obtained self-government from Britain for all but foreign and defence matters in 1959, and joined Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah in forming the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 – but was expelled from the Federation on 9 August 1965, making it possibly unique among modern states in having become sovereign and independent against its wishes.
4. What is the dominant religion of Singapore?
   Buddhism – just over 40% of Singapore’s residents are Buddhist, with most of that 40% being Chinese Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”) Buddhists.
5. In which year was the prestigious Raffles Hotel opened?
   1887, by the Armenian Sarkies brothers who’d opened the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang two years earlier.

How did you get on? Why not let us know?