Ministry of Defence (Singapore)

The Ministry of Defence (Abbreviation: MINDEF; Malay: Kementerian Pertahanan; Simplified Chinese: 新加坡国防部; Tamil: தற்காப்பு அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore entrusted with overseeing the national defence needs of the Republic of Singapore. It is the headquarters of the Singapore Armed Forces. It has a policy of Total Defence which consists of Military Defence, Civil Defence, Economic Defence, Social Defence and Psychological Defence.

History

The Ministry of Defence, together with the Ministry of Home Affairs was created on 11 August 1970 by splitting up the then-Ministry of Interior and Defence.

Mission

The SAF's declared mission statement is to "enhance Singapore's peace and security through deterrence and diplomacy, and should these fail, to secure a swift and decisive victory over the aggressor."

Defence policy

The aim of MINDEF's defence policy is to ensure that Singapore enjoys peace and stability, and that Singapore's sovereignty and territorial integrity are protected. Hence, diplomacy and deterrence form the twin pillars of defence. MINDEF develops and maintains good relations with other countries through diplomacy. These diplomatic efforts are wide-ranging and span many fields, not just in defence. At the same time, deterrence is presented by contributing to regional resilience and through the concept of Total Defence.

Singapore

Singapore (ⁱ/ˈsɪŋɡəpɔːr/), officially the Republic of Singapore, and often referred to as the Lion City, the Garden City, and the Red Dot, is a global city in Southeast Asia and the world's only island city-state. It lies one degree (137 km) north of the equator, at the southernmost tip of continental Asia and peninsular Malaysia, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south. Singapore's territory consists of the diamond-shaped main island and 62 islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23% (130 km²), and its greening policy has covered the densely populated island with tropical flora, parks and gardens.

The islands were settled from the second century AD by a series of local empires. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded modern Singapore as a trading post of the East India Company; after the company collapsed, the islands were ceded to Britain and became part of its Straits Settlements in 1826. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from Britain in 1963, by uniting with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but was expelled two years later over ideological differences. After early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian tiger economy, based on external trade and its human capital.

Ministry of Defence

A Ministry of Defence or Defense (see spelling differences), also known as a Department of Defence or Defense, is the common name for a part of the government found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments, responsible for matters of defence. Such a department usually includes all branches of the military, and is usually controlled by a Defence Minister, Minister of Defence, or Secretary of Defense.

Historically, such departments were referred to as a Ministry of War or Department of War, although such departments generally had authority only over the army of a country, with a separate department governing other military branches. Prior to WWII, most "Ministries of War" were Army ministries, while the Navy and the Air Force, if it existed as a separate branch, had their own departments. As late as 1953, for example, the Soviets for instance had a "Ministry of War" alongside a "Ministry of the Navy".

The tendency to consolidate and rename these departments to highlight their purpose as providing "defence" arose after World War II. In India, for example, "the name of the War Department was found objectionable in the sense that the concept had an aggressive aspect which was inconsistent with Indian traditions".