Greenland: A ‘we-first’ society journeying towards self-determination

VISITING Greenland in the week leading up to Singapore’s SG60 National Day added deeper personal layers to my reflections on this remote part of the Arctic north.

Thinking about the situation of this island, very much in the headlines in recent weeks, my mind was taken back to comparisons with Singapore just after 1959.

Greenland is an autonomous territory integrated into the kingdom of Denmark, after Denmark’s 1953 Constitution ended Greenland’s status as a colony. After the 1979 referendum, Greenland was granted home rule. After the 2008 referendum, it gained self-government, with the Danish government retaining control of citizenship, monetary and security policies, and foreign affairs.