Responding to Globalization
Nation, Culture and Identity in Singapore
Publication Year: 2007
Published by: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Cover
Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
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pp. xi-xii
My family left a small village in Tamil Nadu to a modern and multicultural city-state of Singapore in search of a better life. As with all migrants, my parents’ primary goal was to provide a good education for their children. It is through their sacrifice and support that I have come this far. I am deeply indebted to my parents...
Introduction: Globalization and the Nation-State
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pp. 1-19
The first of these quotes comes from a section in Hannerz’s book, Transnational Connections, where he examines the cultural role of world cities in the context of contemporary globalization. Hannerz suggests that Singapore and Hong Kong...
1. The Making of the Singapore Nation-State and the Quest for a National Identity
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pp. 20-51
In this chapter I present an historical background to Singapore’s national development from colony to early nationhood, and detail the various nation-building strategies employed by Singapore’s ruling PAP. The first section of the chapter offers a critical...
2. The Rhetoric of Asian Values and the Embracing of a “New Asian” Identity
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pp. 52-81
In Chapter 1, I examined the particular ways in which the construction of national identity began to take shape in post-independent Singapore. This early phase of nation-building was as much about creating a unique national-societal identity as it was about reworking the nation-state norm to suit the local context...
3. Creating National Citizens for a Global City
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pp. 82-118
Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s quote provides a typically colourful account of the latest set of perceived challenges facing Singapore. Continuing my exploration into the national response to globalization in Singapore, this chapter turns its attention to the government’s project of “globalizing” the nation...
4. Re-Branding Singapore: Cosmopolitan Cultural and Urban Redevelopment in a Global City-State
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pp. 119-158
Once again, Goh Chok Tong’s colourful and tantalizing image of Singapore in the new millennium has all the hallmarks of the PAP’s developmentalism, efficiency, and orderliness written over it. At the same time, it also speaks of a new kind of Singapore which is lively, innovative, fun, and exciting. The idea of Singapore...
5. At 'Home" in a Globalized City-State?
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pp. 159-201
In Chapters 3 and 4, I examined the specific positioning of Singapore within the globalized space of flows and the ways the Singapore government has approached the processes of globalization. The 1990s saw a significant change in the way Singapore articulated its relationship to the rest of the world...
Conclusion
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pp. 202-210
Just as I was writing this conclusion, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong delivered his 2003 National Day Rally speech on 17 August. In this annual address, which has become a platform for re-assessing the year’s significant events (in this case: the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, the global...
Bibliography
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pp. 211-232
Index
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pp. 233-238
About the Author
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p. 239-239
E-ISBN-13: 9789812307170
Print-ISBN-13: 9789812304216
Page Count: 239
Publication Year: 2007
Edition: 1
