Nature Contained: Environmental Histories of Singapore ed. by Timothy P. Barnard (review)

This collection of essays consists of an Introduction by the Editor and nine scholarly contributions by authors (including the editor) who have the credentials that qualify them to write the chapters. The book’s argument centres on how Singapore’s location in the Malay Archipelago, a region of extraordinary biodiversity, historically influenced the economic, political and social history of the Malay/Indonesian realm (Nusantara and Malay Archipelago). The contributors’ focus on environmental issues against the backdrop of European and Asian capitalist development and the Age of New Imperialism underlies the rationale for Singapore’s incorporation into the world economy and global trade. This approach provides better insights and an important depth of understanding of the creation of ‘family’ farms by Chinese settlers that led to the sustained exploitation of Singapore Island’s natural environment and its enhanced role in its trading economy.

Significantly, the chapters also address the colonial government’s contribution to the study, control, classification and advancement of scientific understanding, as conveyed through the establishment of museums, research institutions and learned societies. After Independence, the national government ‘reconstructed’ the Singapore vision as an integrated and disciplined urban space in the context of the state as an urban garden city. The editor’s inclusion at the commencement of each chapter of either excerpts from travellers’ accounts or primary sources and eyewitness descriptions also correlates with the environmental heritage and the presence of tigers. The positioning of the Singapore government’s ‘greening’ of the state within the wider environmental story further provides a basis for an understanding of Singapore’s pre-colonial and colonial past.

I have one reservation. I note that accounts of indigenous fishing communities and Chinese farming enterprises in Singapore’s early economic and social landscape have been covered by the contributors, but the role of Indian dairy farmers and the raising of cattle, especially near the Rochore River, has not been included. Did the cattle trade also lead to environmental problems and the ‘disciplining’ of dairy farmers?

Notwithstanding this observation, the comparisons between the different periods combine detailed scholarship on specific case histories, showing how social history scholarship enlightens past and present understanding of contemporary social and environmental issues. Overall, Nature Contained: Environmental Histories of Singapore provides new insights into Singapore’s changing environment and environmental history and demonstrates the growing interest in environmental history globally.