EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL. A city-state known for its safety and squeaky clean image, vying with Hong Kong for the title of Asia's financial hub. But Singapore is undergoing an uncomfortable transformation. A wave of new arrivals crowding streets and straining infrastructure. Casinos and ritzy new apartment blocks draw wealthy foreigners, pricing locals out of the market. Now Singaporeans engaged in a rare protest against government plans to boost the state's population by 30 percent over the next 17 years. While its financial services reputation remains intact, the rumbles of discontent mean political risk is appearing in a city long seen as a haven of stability in a fast-growing but shaky region. (SOUNDBITE) (English) POLITICAL ANALYST, SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY, BRIDGET WELSH, SAYING: "There hasn't been a recognition of kind of the social transformations that are taking place on the street. And many of those who come from the outside don't really engage with the society." Swiss Money manager Hans Goetti has been living in Singapore for nearly two decades. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, FINAPORT, HANS GOETTI, SAYING: "Singapore has become a global city. I would say it's a metropolis. Some changes have to be for the better. Some changes have to be for the worse. Again, overcrowding being one of them. And cost of living has gone up dramatically as well." Other scandals engulfing Singapore point to a society under strain. Allegations the city is a hotbed of illegal gambling at the center of a global soccer match-fixing scandal. The high speed crash of a Ferrari driven by a Chinese national goes viral and sparks a wave of anti-foreign sentiment on the Internet. As the city's first and longest-serving prime minister Lee Kwan Yew nears 90 years of age. The outcome of his vision to transform this 'little red dot' into an economic powerhouse looks less certain than ever. Four thousand may seem a small number of protesters. But it's the largest in the city's post-colonial history. ENDS