singapore was founded by stamford raffles, an english colonial officer, in 1819 and became a british crown colony ... in 1957 it joined the new state of malaysia (a former british colony) but decided to become independent a few years later, in 1965 ... the 'sirlion' is singapore's national symbol ... quite a few buildings survived from the colonial era, including a cricket club (of course), schools, the famous raffles hotel and even a cathedral ...
