Little red dot

The term "Little red dot" is a nickname often used to talk about Singapore. This name comes from how the country looks on maps — like a small red dot. Singapore is a country and a city-state made of one big island and many small islands. It is about 750 square kilometres.

At first, other countries used this name in a way that was not very kind. But the people of Singapore and their leaders took pride in it. They saw it as a sign of their success, even though Singapore is very small compared to the countries around it. In 2015, Singapore celebrated 50 years since it became a country. This was called the Golden Jubilee, and the red dot was used with the term "SG50."

Origin and subsequent developments

The nickname "little red dot" began when the third Indonesian president, B. J. Habibie, spoke about Singapore in 1998. He showed a map and said Singapore looked like a small red dot next to big Indonesia. Some people felt he was not very kind to Singapore by saying this.

The then-Prime Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, replied in a speech. He spoke about the hard times Indonesia was facing, with big issues in their economy and banking. He said that even though Singapore was small, it wanted to help Indonesia in any way it could.

In 2006, Habibie said he did not mean to be rude. He explained that he wanted to inspire Indonesian young people by showing how much Singapore had done even though it was very small.

Popular usage

The name "little red dot" is used in Singapore to show pride in the 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.