Little red dot

The term "Little red dot" is a nickname often used in the media and casual conversation to refer to Singapore. This name comes from how the country appears on many maps as a small red dot. Singapore is a sovereign country and city-state, made up of the main island and all its smaller islands, covering about 750 square kilometres.

At first, other countries used the term in a negative way to describe Singapore. However, Singaporeans and their leaders embraced it with pride, seeing it as a symbol of their success and prosperity even though the country is very small compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia. In 2015, Singapore celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence, known as the Golden Jubilee, with the term "SG50" shown inside a red dot.

Origin and subsequent developments

The nickname "little red dot" started being used after the third Indonesian president, B. J. Habibie, talked about Singapore in 1998. He pointed to a map and said Singapore looked like just a small red dot compared to large Indonesia. Some people thought he was being unkind to Singapore by saying this.

The then-Prime Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, answered this in a speech. He talked about how tough things were for Indonesia at that time, with big problems in their economy and banking. He reminded everyone that Singapore was also small but wanted to help Indonesia as much as it could.

Later, in 2006, Habibie said he didn’t mean to be rude. He explained that he was trying to encourage Indonesian youth by pointing out how much Singapore had achieved despite being so small.

Popular usage

The name "little red dot" is used by people in Singapore to show pride in their country's achievements, even though it is very small. This name has been used in different ways, such as:

• Little Red Dot, a magazine for primary school students started in 2005 by The Straits Times.
• The Little Red Dot, a book from 2005 edited by Tommy Koh and Chang Li Lin about Singapore's success, told by 50 of its diplomats.
• Storybooks for young students made by Nexus, including titles like Little Red Dot and Little Red Dot Bounces Back, focusing on themes like teamwork and unity.
• Little Red Dot Academy, a company for aviation training started in 2004.
• Little Red Dots, a design group formed in 2004.
• Treasures of the Little Red Dot, a project by Creativeans to celebrate Singapore's culture.
• On the Red Dot, a news programme on Channel NewsAsia that began in 2012.