UK's queen ends Singapore jaunt

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, a keen horse breeder and racing fan, was set to end her three-day state visit to former British colony Singapore yesterday with an afternoon at the track and present the winner's cup at a race named after her.

The monarch, who became queen half a century ago when Singapore was a malaria-infested backwater, said on Friday during her first visit since 1989 that she admired the Southeast Asian city-state's transformation into a "center for excellence in Asia."

Singapore and Britain "are natural partners in so many ways, and I firmly believe this will continue and strengthen in the years ahead," the queen said at a state banquet at the country's colonial-era presidential palace.

Since its independence in 1965, Singapore has transformed itself into an ultramodern Asian financial hub and high-tech manufacturing center with one of Asia's wealthiest populations.

The queen, who had earlier met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍), said that the two countries' strong political ties were underscored by a shared belief in fighting terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and that both economies were increasingly linked through trade and investment.

On Friday afternoon, about 400 cheering schoolchildren waving Singaporean and British flags greeted her at Singapore's national library, where she viewed an exhibit of photos by young people and stopped to chat with student Cliff Tan, 18, whose photo showed a dragon boat race -- an old tradition among Singapore's majority ethnic Chinese.

"When she saw my picture, she said, `Dragon boats. That's still practiced here?'" Tan recounted. "She said, `That's so dangerous, all of these boats crammed together.' She's so friendly."

The queen, in a jade-green jacket, silk dress and matching hat, was accompanied by a delegation of British and Singaporean officials. She later laid a wreath at the Cenotaph, a monument to those who died in World Wars I and II, and spoke briefly to veterans.

"I'm very happy to see her as I've always borne an allegiance to her majesty," said 82-year-old T.S. Zain, a sergeant in the British military police during World War II.

The queen was ceremonially welcomed earlier on Friday at the presidential palace, where she inspected a Singapore military guard of honor.

Police quickly removed an animal rights protester -- dressed as a bear and holding a sign saying "God Save the Bears" -- who appeared outside the palace gates.

The protester said the queen's Buckingham Palace guards should use fake fur instead of bearskin for their famous hats.

Queen Elizabeth, who arrived in Singapore on Thursday from Australia, was accompanied by her husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

The queen was due to tour the city state's race course and meet the jockeys taking part in the Queen Elizabeth II race yesterday afternoon.

She was also due to present the winning rider, owner and trainer with the cup before flying home to Britain.

Singapore was touted as an impregnable fortress of the British Empire before it fell swiftly to Japanese forces on Feb. 15, 1942 -- one in a succession of territories taken by the Japanese as they swept across Asia.