Fast facts on... Singapore, host country for the summit
• Singapore is in South-east Asia, at the tip of the Malay peninsula. Its nearest neighbours are Malaysia and Indonesia.
• Singapore is generally thought to have been founded in 1819 when Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles arrived on its shores and set up a British colony. Its history precedes this, however, to the 13th century, when it was known as Temasek, and earlier.
• Singapore gained independence in 1965 when it separated from Malaysia following a two-year merger. Its government is run by a Cabinet of ministers helmed by the prime minister. Its head of state, the president, has a largely ceremonial role but also acts as a check on the Cabinet and Parliament.
• With a population of 5.61 million on a 721.5 sq km island, this little red dot's trade is three times its gross domestic product.
• About three-quarters of the resident population are Chinese, with Malays making up around 13 per cent, Indians 9 per cent and other races, such as Eurasians, comprising the remainder. Malay is the national language, while English is the working language.
FAST FACTS ON...
WHERE VVIPs TOUCH DOWN
While Mr Kim's flight landed on Sunday at Changi Airport - where most of Singapore's air traffic passes - Mr Trump's plane touched down at Paya Lebar Air Base. The 800ha airbase was opened in 1955. In the 1960s, it had one of the longest runways in Asia - 9,000ft (2,743m) then. When the civilian airport was relocated to Changi in 1981, it closed to civilian traffic and became a military airbase under the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Former US presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama touched down in Paya Lebar on their state visits. Changi Airport, which sits on a 13 sq km site, handled record passenger traffic of 62.2 million last year. There will be restrictions on flights in and out of Singapore during the summit.
SUMMIT VENUE
The summit is being held on Sentosa in Capella hotel (above), located in the midst of 12ha of lawn and rainforest. The whole island of Sentosa, as well as waters off its south-west beaches, has been gazetted as a "special event area" from June 10 to 14. Also gazetted earlier is the Tanglin area surrounding the Shangri-La Hotel. Sentosa was formerly known as Pulau Blakang Mati (which in Malay means the "island of death from behind"). Its name today means "peace and tranquillity" in Malay. The buildings of Capella, designed by renowned British architect Norman Foster, used to house the British officers of the Royal Artillery and their families in the 1880s. In 2009, it opened as a luxury hotel with 112 guest rooms and villas.
FAST FACTS ON... GETTING AROUND SINGAPORE
• Singapore, measuring just 50km from east to west, is served by a public transport system that includes the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) network.
• The nearest MRT station to Sentosa, where the summit will be held, is HarbourFront, though one must take the monorail or bus RWS8 from VivoCity mall to get to the island.
• Orchard MRT station is the closest to the Tanglin area, where Mr Trump and Mr Kim are expected to stay
• The nearest MRT station to the F1 Pit Building, where the summit's international media centre will be located, is Promenade.
MORE FAST FACTS...
NORTH KOREANS IN SINGAPORE
•Singapore established diplomatic relations with North Korea in November 1975 but has no mission in Pyongyang.
• The Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, led by ambassador Kim Chol Nam, operates out of an office in High Street Centre, near Clarke Quay.
• There are around 20,000 South Koreans living in Singapore, but official figures for their North Korean counterparts are not available.
• Singapore has suspended trade relations with North Korea since November last year, when the United Nations tightened sanctions in response to the North's launch of a ballistic missile. In March, it revoked all work permits held by North Korean citizens on its soil and said it would grant no new ones.
• The Singapore Government said last Thursday that the trade sanctions will be lifted from June 9 to June 14 to facilitate the upcoming summit.
• Singapore-based non-governmental group Choson Exchange runs economics, business and legal training programmes in North Korea and has trained some 20,000 North Koreans since 2007.
• North Koreans have been required to get a visa to enter Singapore since mid-2016.
AMERICANS IN SINGAPORE
• US relations with Singapore go back to 1836, when Joseph Balestier was appointed as the first consul-general. He owned the 405ha Balestier sugarcane plantation, from which the Balestier Road area takes its name.
• The US embassy, built at an estimated cost of US$30 million (S$40 million), sits in Napier Road, near Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other embassies.
• About 30,000 Americans reside in Singapore. There are numerous associations for these expatriates, including the 100-year-old American Association of Singapore and The American Club.
• US multinational corporations have more money sunk into Singapore than into China and Japan combined, according to data released last year by the US Department of Commerce. It showed that American companies' direct investment in Singapore exceeds an estimated US$258.9 billion.
• The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore has more than 5,000 members representing 750 companies.
FAST FACTS ON... SOUVENIR COINS
Souvenirs for the summit have already been minted.
The Singapore Mint unveiled last Tuesday three commemorative coins - of gold, silver or base-metal - featuring a handshake between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with their national flags in the background. The other side features a peace dove and the national flowers of both countries. The public can pre-order the coins at Singapore Mint retail outlets and its e-store at www.singaporemint.com.
Last month, the White House communications agency also struck a commemorative coin with the profiles of the two leaders, with their respective flags in the background. The coins became the "deal of the day" at the White House gift shop after Mr Trump briefly cancelled the summit on May 24.
OLIVIA HO
