The AWARE Saga: Civil Society and Public Morality in Singapore
Terence Chong (ed.)
Singapore: NUS Press, 2011
ISBN: 9789971695514

In March 2009, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) was briefly taken over by a Christian faction. Their coup was overturned within a matter of weeks, but the episode highlighted a variety of issues, including the role of religion in civil society, sex education, homosexuality, state intervention and media engagement. Although the immediate issue was control of an activist group concerned with women's rights, it has implications for the agendas and concerns of NGOs, 'culture wars', the processes of citizenry mobilization, mass participation and noisy democracy, and liberal voices in contemporary Singapore.

In this book, academics and public intellectuals examine the AWARE saga within the context of Singapore's civil society, considering the political and historical background and how the issues it raised relate to contemporary societal trends. In addition to documenting a milestone event for Singapore's civil society, the authors offer provocative interpretations that will interest a broad range of readers.

Churchill and the Lion City: Shaping Modern Singapore
Brian P. Farrell (ed.)
Singapore: NUS Press, 2011
ISBN: 9789971695651 / 9789971695521

British imperialism profoundly influenced the development of the modern world order. This same imperialism created modern Singapore, shaping its colonial development, influencing its post-colonial reorientation. Winston Churchill was British imperialism's most significant 20th-century statesman. Churchill never visited Singapore, but their two stories heavily influenced each other. Singapore became a symbol of British imperial power in Asia to Churchill, while Singaporeans later came to see him as symbolizing that power. The fall of Singapore to Japanese conquest in 1942 was a low point in Churchill's war leadership, one he forever labelled by calling it "the worst disaster in British military history". It was also a tragedy for Singapore, ushering in three cruel years of occupation. But the interplay between these three historical forces -- Churchill, empire, and Singapore -- extended well beyond this most dramatic conjuncture. No single volume critically examines that longer interplay. This collection does so by analysing Churchill's understanding of empire, his perceptions of Singapore and its imperial role, his direction of affairs regarding Singapore and the Empire, and his influence on the subsequent relationship between them.

Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered
Barry Desker & Chong Guan Kwa (eds.)
Singapore: WOrld Scientific, 2011
ISBN: 9789814291385

A crucial founding father of independent Singapore, Dr Goh Keng Swee has his distinguished and unparalleled stint in public service hitherto reduced to dates and designations. The book is the first to collect and present a broad range of historical material commemorating Dr Goh's public career. This book is not a biography of Dr Goh's life. Instead, it commemorates his public career and attempts to portray a more personal and candid perspective of the principal architect of independent Singapore. This is done by pulling together a variety of historical sources, ranging from Dr Goh's public statements and speeches, and existing and fresh oral interviews with his former colleagues to archival documents and imagery. This book is an important contribution not only to Singapore's history in general, providing valuable historical context to the challenges of ensuring the sustainability and survival of a young nation at the highest levels of policy-making, but also a tribute to Dr Goh - how he is remembered, respected and revered by some of his closest peers and colleagues.

Fortress Singapore: The Battlefield Guide (Revised Edition)
Yap Siang Yong, Romen Bose, and Angeline Pang (Revised by Kuldip Singh, Lisa Lim and Germaine Foo)
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814351195

The strongest British bastion east of Suez falls to the Empire of the Rising Sun, after only 70 days.
 --The Mail, Feb 16, 1942

This and many other headlines greeted shocked readers all over the world on that fateful day. Singapore - the "impregnable fortress" with its massive fortifications and defended by over 100,000 men fell to the conquering Japanese forces in only a week.

Fortress Singapore: The Battlefield Guide captures the essence of what Singapore was like during World War II when desperate battles were fought throughout the island. Sirens, bombs, massacres, epidemics, shortages, concentration camps and POW centres were part of everyday life. Many of the original battle sites still remain in Singapore today.

This updated authoritative day-to-day account of the battle for Singapore includes two additional battle sites and numerous revised maps. More than 100 photographs capture the shock of war, the terror of occupation and the joy of liberation. A pictorial tour takes the reader to the war sites from battlefield to POW camps. It is through understanding what happened here that these sites come alive again, never letting us forget the brutalities of war; and the faith and inspiration of the people that laid foundations of modern Singapore. With information on how to visit these locations, this is the definitive guide to the Singapore battlefield.

The Stolen Child
Colin Cheong
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814346641

A search for a dream. Wing Cheong discovers that there are many roads to a single dream. He wants to fly - but his dream is suddenly shattered. As he searches for a meaning in life and other dreams to replace his first love, Wing experiences the trials and tribulations of change - in his family, friends and most of all, himself.

A powerful and moving story about growing up, innocence and love, toughness and courage. A search across time and space - from the wonders of childhood to the strident urges of young manhood; from the landscape of the mind to the realm of the heart.

Within Changi's Walls: A Record of Civilian Internment in World War II
George L. Peet
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814328852

When the Japanese captured Singapore in February 1942, the European population was rounded up and sent to internment camps, where they were kept till the end of the war. This is the story of one such internee - George L. Peet - whose diaries and records preserve a stunningly vivid portrait of the triumph of the human spirit in those trying times.

Interned first at Changi Goal, then at Sime Road Camp, Peet paints a detailed and moving picture of the world behind walls. The internees - mostly British and mostly the top-tier of pre-war Singapore society - find themselves in vastly reduced circumstances, dispossessed and humiliated. Fortunately, their Japanese wardens, while enforcing strict security, left the running of the camps to the internees. And so, drawing on their respective skills from their peace-time occupations, the internees soon organized themselves into an elaborate functioning microcosm of society. Those who had been doctors served as camp doctors. Those who had been in the Department of Agriculture grew vegetables. The engineers saw to water and sanitation. The chemists made yeast for bread. And experts from every conceivable field took turns to lecture at the official, in-house Changi University. In the author's own words: a veritable war-time "Swiss Family Robinson" indeed.

With a sympathetic eye, Peet reveals the strength as well as the ugliness of human nature. Food, comfort, survival, morale, and a longing to be reunited with his wife and children - fortunately evacuated to Australia - form the main part of the author's thoughts, as well as the backbone of this riveting record.

The Gopal Baratham Collection
Gopal Baratham
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814351140

This exciting collection brings together 39 of the late Dr. Gopal Baratham's characteristic and revered pieces. In his usual blunt, strong and controversial style, Baratham's socio-political critiques are 'peopled' by characters from virtually every background and class - with their frustrated hopes, wild illusions and excesses. Paired with a stylistic and evolving narrative voice, as seen in dialogue that fluctuates from poetic to quirky, this writer's ambivalent medium is also his message. Readers are drawn into the depth of his work, and left with a sympathetic, sensitive understanding of events, people, actions and the complexities of relationships.

Women Artists in Singapore
Bridget Tracy Tan
Singapore: Select Publishing, 2011
ISBN: 9789814022781

Women Artists in Singapore showcases Singapore's women artists and their contributions. Bridget Tracy Tan's selection of 37 artists and artworks offer interesting and much-needed insights about the role women have played, and continue to play, in Singapore's art history.

The styles and mediums of artists from different generations are creatively juxtaposed to highlight the sheer diversity of their output and influences, as well as their international character. The book contains commentary on the late doyenne Georgette Chen, who specialised in oils, as well as contemporary installation and performance artists Amanda Heng and Suzann Victor, just to name three.

The question of what it means to be both an artist and a woman lies at the heart of Women Artists in Singapore. Enlivened by colourful artwork images from the national collection as well as private and artist collections, this book presents a visual feast, attractive to art lover and lay person alike.

The Fullerton Heritage: Where the Past Meets the Present
Ilsa Sharp
Point Reyes Station, CA: ORO Editions, 2010
ISBN: 9780982060780

Singapore is among the world's very few great cities blessed with an equally great, historic waterfront. The Fullerton Heritage Precinct, Singapore's downtown necklace of heritage gems, stretching from Collyer Quay along Raffles Quay to Shenton Way, captures this jewel within a ritzy 21st century setting. 'Fullerton' was the name given to this site from the settlement's earliest days, with the establishment there of the British colonial government's great Fort Fullerton in 1829, circled by a battery of defensive cannon (hence the name 'Battery Road', just across from The Fullerton). The Fort was named after Sir Robert Fullerton, Singapore's British Governor from 1826 to 1830 in which year he left Singapore and then died in London. Now a new energy informs this most celebrated of Eastern ports, recreating heritage monuments, presenting new views, vistas and visions.

Surprising Singapore: 101 Things to Do
Adeline Loh and Edwin Tam
Point Reyes Station, CA: ORO Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9780981985701

Surprising Singapore: 101 Things to Do gets you discovering the many faces of Asia's garden city in its most vibrant neighbourhoods. With 101 activities introducing you to quintessentially Singaporean experiences, Surprising Singapore will delight anyone who enjoys heading off the beaten track to experience a slice of Singapore life. Surprising Singapore takes you through the heritage districts of Chinatown, Little India, Katong, Geylang Serai, Arab Street and Bugis; the historical Colonial District, the wining and dining precincts of The Quays, Marina Bay, Fullerton Heritage, Dempsey Hill, Holland Village and Buona Vista; the islands off Singapore's shores, Sentosa and Pulau Ubin; off the beaten track Changi and Alexandra, and shop-till-you-drop Orchard Road. Get ready to explore this Southeast Asian powerhouse which has fascinated the world with its melting pot of Asian cultures, legendary cuisines and endless shopping.

Voting in Change: Politics of Singapore's 2011 General Election
Kevin Y.L. Tan & Terence Lee (eds.)
Singapore: Ethos Books, 2011
ISBN: 9789810890964

Singapore's 2011 general election will go down in history as its most significant since independence. This volume offers a snapshot of the heady days leading up to Polling Day on 7 May 2011, and the immediate aftermath that saw seven ministers leave the cabinet. Nine established scholars evaluate the impact of this historic election from the perspectives of law, history, politics, media, and sociology.

Diplomacy: A Singapore Experience
S. Jayakumar
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2011
ISBN: 9789814266949

After more than four decades of independence, Singapore has built up a significant corpus of norms, principles and experiences that form the bedrock of its foreign policy. Many of these milestone events and watershed moments in MFA's history are known only to a handful of ministers and officials. There is a need to always remember the fundamentals of our key foreign policy interests. In Diplomacy: A Singapore Experience, Prof. S. Jayakumar records his reflections of selected episodes and events where he was involved as Minister or as Permanent Representative to the UN. They illustrate how Singapore created diplomatic and economic space for itself, and its proactive diplomacy in the UN and ASEAN. The author also recounts Singapore's responses to moves by other countries that were inimical to its national interests, resolving disputes in an amicable manner through third party settlement, now an important feature of Singapore's foreign policy. Included are episodes in bilateral relations with Malaysia, Indonesia and China which demonstrate that such relations must be on the basis of equals respecting each other's sovereign status, and also in compliance with international law and international agreements.

A Watershed Election: Singapore's GE 2011
Catherine Lim
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814351706

Political observer Catherine Lim reflects on Singapore's 16th General Election in her own inimitable way.

As she describes it:
"On a personal note, I cannot adequately describe my joy at witnessing this transformation in our society. It is of course early days yet, and many Singaporeans will continue to have a cautious wait-and-see attitude. Well, I have waited for 17 years and I am seeing, for the first time, signs of real change."

This volume consists of six new commentaries and two previously published pieces, "The PAP and the Great Affective Divide" and "One Government, Two Styles".

The Colin Cheong Collection
Colin Cheong
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2011
ISBN: 9789814346382

This volume comprises three published novellas and 23 short stories by acclaimed writer Colin Cheong. Set in Singapore with singularly male protagonists, the stories in this collection are sensitive in their evocation of the male psyche in the various stages of life, and explore the human themes of love and the initiating rites of passage to adulthood with all its expectations and frustrations.