The British first founded the island nation of Singapore, located between Malaysia and Indonesia, in 1918. Unlike other colonies, Singapore did not it was founded as an overflow center for excess people, but rather was strategically chosen due to its extremely advantageous position being on two of the “major trade routes”. The East India Trading Company (EITC), which was British, was the first to establish ports in Singapore. At the time, the EITC was facing considerable competition in the Asian market from the Dutch and saw an opportunity to assert its dominance over the Asian trade market through the establishment of ports in Singapore. The EITC continued to use Singapore's trading posts in this way until the Company's demise in 1874. After their British counterparts were no longer a force in Singapore, the government and native Singaporean population continued to trade inland of the Asian market. The Singapore government has used both the island nation's position and established trade relationships to strengthen Singapore's global position. This tactic proved fruitful, and by 1916, Singapore was “the seventh largest port in the world.” These many decades of prosperous trade have allowed Singapore to become exceptionally wealthy and, currently, a paradise for foreigners. This influx of foreigners has taken a toll on Singapore's native population as they believe foreigners are stripping away Singapore's ethnic identity. This lack of identity has been prevalent at a lower level for quite some time and has plagued Singapore and the way the nation was formed since its days as a colony. Furthermore, Singapore was largely affected by its tumultuous political landscape, namely the people......paper centre......ngapore separated from the Malayan Federation in 1965, Malaysia sought to exclude Singapore from trade. Malaysia believed that by doing so Singapore would fail as a country and Malaysia would be able to better control Singapore's economy. Singapore, a nation of rich wealth and liberal policies, has endured scrutiny and pressure from the United States and Malaysia while maintaining one of the highest statuses in the world financial market. The case of Singapore is no different, and a difficult government, divided between democracy and communism, has laid the foundation for disputes within the state itself. For many decades, the People's Action Party, or PAP, was the main political party in Singapore. The PAP was founded in 1954, but effectively took control of the Singapore government in 1959.