choice of bus and taxi services.

Getting Around
Singapore’s public transport is plentiful and varied. You have the option of using metered taxis (although rickshaws are really only in Chinatown and the back streets), the MRT subway system or the convenient bus services. On the water, you can get around by ferry or bumboat.

bus
Singapore has a comprehensive bus network with frequent services; it’s cheap and simple to use.

car
There are branches of all major rent-a-car companies in Singapore. Daily rates can be prohibitively high, but weekly rates are reasonable.

taxi
There is a good supply of taxis and all are metered. Taxis can be flagged down on the street or found at taxi stands near major hotels and shopping centres. During heavy rain, peak hours or late at night, however, taxis can be almost impossible to get in many parts of the city centre.

ferry
Regular ferry services operate from the World Trade Centre to Sentosa and other islands, including Batam in Indonesia.

underground rail
Singapore has a convenient Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) subway system that won’t cost you a fortune or tax your brain too much.

small boat
You can charter bumboats (motorised sampans ) to take various tours on the Singapore River, while luxurious junk tours can be taken around the harbour.

cycle taxi
Rickshaws have all but disappeared from Singapore’s main streets but can still be found operating for tourists in Chinatown and some central city streets; agree on a fare beforehand.

Disabled Travellers
If you’re confined to a wheelchair, travelling around Singapore will be a chore, though the government recently embarked on a long-term programme to make the island wheelchair-friendly. The sight or hearing impaired should have an easier time. Check out Access Singapore , a useful guidebook for the disabled, produced by the Singapore Council of Social Services. It is available from STB (tourist info) offices or you can contact the National Council of Social Services (tel: 6336 1544.)

Singapore: History
Pre-20th-Century History
According to ancient Malay legend, a Sumatran prince encountered a lion – considered a good omen – on Temasek, prompting him to found Singapura, or the ‘Lion City’. It mattered little that lions had never inhabited Singapore (more likely he saw a tiger); what did matter was the establishment of the region as a minor trading post for the powerful Sumatran Srivijaya empire and subsequently as a vassal state of the Javanese Majapahit empire in the mid-13th century.

Singapore might have remained a quiet backwater if not for Sir Stamford Raffles’ intervention in 1819. The British had first established a presence in the Straits of Melaka (now called Malacca) in the 18th century, when the East India Company set out to secure and protect its line of trade from China to the colonies in India. Fearing another resurgence of