Singapore 2065: Leading Insights on Economy and Environment from 50 Singapore Icons and Beyond
Euston Quah (ed.)
Singapore: World Scientific, 2015
ISBN: 9789814663373 / 9789814663366

As Singapore enters its 50th year of independence, it is a time for introspection to look back at the successes and challenges of the past, but is also a crucial time to consider what the future holds for the nation.

Singapore 2065: Leading Insights on Economy and Environment from 50 Singapore Icons and Beyond is one such key contribution to the endeavour of thinking about what lies ahead. While many forthcoming projects and books take a more retrospective approach reflecting upon Singapore's past, this book adopts a forward-looking perspective, contemplating Singapore's distant future, which is important for posterity. This book is a collection of key insights from 50 iconic individuals of Singapore and beyond, and contains reasoned arguments, speculations and visionary expectations of Singapore's future in 50 years' time.

The book discusses the distant future of Singapore's economy and the environment. What will Singapore's economic and environment landscape be like 50 years from now? Are there trends or scenarios common to the various discussions contained in this book? If there are, how big would be the impact of some of these trends? What and how should the government respond to these projections, expectations and informed visions of tomorrow? In sum, what would Singapore's economy and environment be like in 2065? The book explores a range of possible answers to these questions and more.

Not only will the generations of today be able to gain much insight into Singapore's future by reading this book, but future generations, specifically 100 years after Singapore's independence, will be able to understand and affirm what and how today's generations think about their time. The book is a key contribution to envisioning Singapore's future, which is also vital for understanding what shapes Singapore's landscape today.

Liveability in Singapore: Social and Behavioural issues
David Chan
Singapore: World Scientific, 2015
ISBN: 9789814667876

Cities and countries around the world are focused on enhancing their living conditions through ways that go beyond the brick and mortar of urban planning. Just like in other highly-urbanised cities, life and living in Singapore is highly dependent on many other dimensions such as health, access to various services, social interactions, inter-group relations and community bonds. Social and behavioural factors will need to be incorporated when designing and implementing policies and interventions to enhance liveability.

This invaluable book, based on the proceedings at the Behavioural Sciences Institute Conference 2014, documents an exchange of ideas among practitioners, academics and public intellectuals on liveability in Singapore. The book is organized into four parts. Part I provides an overview of liveability issues. Part II examines liveability from the perspectives of health and urban planning. Part III analyses the relationships linking quality of life to social class and social services. Part IV addresses specific questions on liveability in terms of public transport, cost of living, government's public communications, role of free market values in town planning, civil society, citizen well-being and whether there is a psychological gulf between government and people.

This book will provide the reader valuable perspectives, an increased understanding of issues related to the liveability in Singapore and many potential applications to reflect on.

Can Singapore Survive?
Kishore Mahbubani
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2015
ISBN: 9789814342971

This book poses the question that Singaporeans must wrestle with: can we survive as an independent city-state? Kishore Mahbubani believes that Singaporeans must always ask the question because constant reflection and self-examination should be a part of the core DNA of all Singaporeans. His goal in this book is to create and enhance this culture of reflection among all Singaporeans. He gives three answers in this book: Yes, No & Maybe. With these answers, he attempts to sketch three different scenarios for Singapore's future.

There is logic behind this, as we cannot predict the future. We can, however, prepare for the future by telling stories about what the future could be like.

Besides his substantive introduction, this book offers some of Kishore's best essays on Singapore, taken from his Think-Tank and Opinion columns in The Straits Times, as well as contributions to Guardian News, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, Davos World Economic Forum's Forum News Daily, and the "Innovations for Successful Societies" Oral History Project of Princeton University.

Immigration in Singapore
Norman Vasu, Yeap Su Yin, & Chan Wen Ling (eds.)
Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2014
ISBN: 9789089646651

This study traces the socio-political effects of immigration on Singapore and its population, a topic that has been the subject of intense debate in the nation as its population grows increasingly diverse. Beyond the logic of economic imperatives, the book aims to explore the larger consequences of taking in large number of immigrants, and its analysis should appeal to scholars of migration, social change, and public policy.

Intraco: Blazing a Trail Overseas for Singapore?
Faizal Bin Yahya
Singapore: World Scientific, 2014
ISBN: 9789814623865

Through the lens of the now-defunct Singapore government-linked company (GLC) called International Trading Company (INTRACO), this book offers a historical analysis of the country's economic development strategy. Since its Independence in 1965, GLCs like INTRACO were introduced by the former Deputy Prime Minister, the late Dr Goh Keng Swee, a pioneer of Singapore's remarkable transformation from Third World to First, to fulfil strategic economic objectives. As the country's "lifeblood" has been entreport trade, INTRACO was created to "blaze a trail overseas" by facilitating commercial ties behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. The eventual divestment of INTRACO highlights the same way in which the Singaporean state is acutely responsive to changing global economic and geopolitical trends. This book is useful to academics, students, and the interested lay reader for its insights into the role of the state in economic development in post-colonial countries.

Singapore National Wages Council: An Insider's View
Lim Chong Yah
Singapore: World Scientific, 2014
ISBN: 9789814525749

Written by Emeritus Professor Lim Chong-Yah, founding chairman of the tripartite National Wages Council (NWC), this unique volume offers readers an insider's view of the genesis and the evolution of the wage determination mechanism and system in Singapore under the aegis of the NWC. As a tripartite body dealing with wages, wage policies and wage-related matters and promoting Growth with Equity, the NWC played a critical role in transforming industrial relations in Singapore from the then confrontational approach to that of mutual understanding, esprit de corps and social co-partnership. Drawing from his 30-year experience as NWC Chairman (1972–2001), Singapore's eminent economics professor shares with readers the important process and problems of seeking equitable wage increases through tripartite consensus based on a yearly national wage guideline system. The book also chronicles the role of the NWC in crisis management in 1974, 1985 and 1998, and in economic restructuring, 1979–1981. The structure and operation of this unique Singapore institution and the interesting problems of securing unanimity of support from the three tripartite partners are revealed in the book. Some important NWC personalities and their concerns and unique contributions are interestingly covered, anecdotally.

Straight Talk: Reflections on Singapore Politics, Economy & Society
Raymond Lim
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2013
ISBN: 9789814342551

This is a collection of speeches and essays spanning Former Minister Raymond Lim’s 20 years in journalism, finance and politics. The issues he addressed then are still very much alive today.

He lays out his views on Singapore society, politics, the economy, entrepreneurship, foreign affairs and the Asian financial crisis.

One Man's View of the World
Lee Kuan Yew
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2013
ISBN: 9789814342568

Born in 1923, Singapore’s former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has spent a lifetime being intimately involved in international affairs. He has met every major Chinese leader from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping and hobnobbed with American presidents from Lyndon Johnson to Barack Obama.

In this book, Lee draws on that wealth of experience and depth of insight to offer his views on today’s world and what it might look like in 20 years. This is no dry geopolitical treatise. Nor is it a thematic account of the twists and turns in global affairs. Instead, in this broad-sweep narrative that takes in America, China, Asia and Europe, he parses their society, probes the psyche of the people and draws his conclusions about their chances for survival and just where they might land in the hierarchy of tomorrow’s balance of power. What makes a society tick? What do its people really believe? Can it adapt?

In spare, unflinching prose that eschews political correctness, he describes a China that remains obsessed with control from the centre on its way to an unstoppable rise; an America that will have to share its pre-eminence despite its never-say-die dynamism; and a Europe that struggles with the challenges of keeping its union intact. His candid and often startling views – on why Japan is closed to foreigners, why the Arab Spring won’t bring one man, one vote to the Middle East, and why preventing global warming is not going to be as fruitful as preparing for it – make this a fresh and gripping read.

Lee completes the book by looking into the future of Singapore – his enduring concern – and by offering the reader a glimpse into his personal life and his view of death. The book is interspersed with a Q&A section in each chapter, gleaned from conversations he had with journalists from The Straits Times.

Inside Out: Conversations About Leadership and Innovation in a New Global Economy
So-Young Kang
Singapore: Awaken Group, 2012
ISBN: 9789810744823

Every leader is on a unique journey. Every person has their own story. Too often, people look at leaders and focus on their accomplishments and successes. Inside Out takes a look into what they were like before they became leaders. Who are they as a person? What was their journey like for them? What are their passions outside of work?

Inside Out is about what leaders really care about - including what drives them, what their fears are, and what they feel are required to succeed in the changing global landscape. The book takes a look at the more 'human' side of leadership, gaining a glimpse into each person's personal journey.

In the book, 12 business and government leaders, many of whom have made significant contributions to Singapore’s society and beyond, offer insights into the country's unique voice around global leadership and innovation.

Goh Keng Swee: A Legacy of Public Service
Emrys Chew & Kwa Chong Guan (eds.)
Singapore: World Scientific, 2012
ISBN: 9789814390750

Dr. Goh Keng Swee's extensive career as a public servant was dynamic as well as distinguished, in many ways decisively instrumental in the making of the Republic of Singapore. This distinctive collection of essays attempts an assessment of the long-term influence and significance of Dr. Goh's major contributions.

Envisaged as a companion volume to Goh Keng Swee: A Public Career Remembered, this volume brings together an exceptional team of Singaporean scholars whose interdisciplinary expertise and cross-generational perspectives offer a balanced analysis and nuanced appraisal of Dr. Goh's lifetime of public service. The book's contributors argue that Dr. Goh's past endeavours bequeathed an enduring legacy, meriting fresh examination and careful evaluation in order to appreciate the heroic scale of such achievement.

Particularly instructive are the examples of Dr. Goh's thinking patriotism, fiscal prudence, strategic pragmatism, and creative imagination at work - technocracy at its finest - which could be of immediate, practical benefit to a wider ‘nation of technocrats’. Further illumination comes from the insights of those contributors who had worked with the former Deputy Prime Minister and knew him personally. For a half-century that witnessed key turning points and phases of development in Singapore's transformation from colonial port city to independent global city, Dr. Goh played a leading role in the crafting and conduct of public policy, as with the creation of public institutions, which made the difference between survival and success.

The organization of this volume reflects both a thematic approach and a chronological arrangement of material, the focus and the order of chapters corresponding to the historical sequence of public offices that Dr. Goh held: social welfare; political and constitutional evolution; development economics and finance; the armed forces and defence industry; the education system, from schools through higher education to the research institutes; Chinese studies, from Confucianism to ‘China watching’; and cultural development, with special emphasis on the creation of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Goh Keng Swee: A Legacy of Public Service will be read by present and future generations of public servants, by Singaporeans in general, and by all students and laypersons with an interest in the modern history of Singapore — social, economic, political, military, and cultural — to which a characteristically simple and frugal Dr. Goh contributed both decisively and unreservedly.

Where Lions Fly: 100 Years of Aviation in Singapore
Goh Yong Kiat
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2012
ISBN: 9789814342179

Epic flights by daring aviation pioneers...
Rapid-fire developments during the tumultuous events of World War II...
The uncertainty and anxiety that surrounded Singapore's post-independence air defence...
The boom and excitement of Singapore's rapid ascension as a global air hub...

All these and more are brought together in one comprehensive volume in Where Lions Fly, the first book to undertake the monumental task of collating all the trials and thrills of Singapore's aviation history.

Aviation is a key component of the Singapore economy, and its development is of great national significance. March 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of aviation in Singapore. Where Lions Fly traces both the technological developments in aviation and their economic and social impact in Singapore.

This book is a celebration of decades of achievements and records for posterity the pioneering spirit and innovative planning that will set us towards another 100 years of aviation development and economic growth.

Behavioural Economics and Policy Design: Examples From Singapore
Donald Low
Singapore: World Scientific, 2011
ISBN: 9789814366007

Analysts of government have frequently noted how Singapore's policies are grounded in rigorous economics thinking. Policies are designed to be economically efficient even if they are not always popular. This pioneering book takes a different approach. It aims to demonstrate how successful policies in Singapore have integrated conventional economic principles with insights from the emerging field of behavioural economics even before the latter became popular. using examples from various policy domains, it shows how good policy design often requires a synthesis of insights from economics and psychology. Policies should not only be compatible with economic incentives, but should also be sensitive to the cognitive abilities, limitations and biases of citizens. Written by policy practitioners in the Singapore government, this book is an important introduction to how behavioural economics and the findings from cognitive psychology can be intelligently applied to the design of public policies. As one of the few books written on the subject, it promises to stimulate wider interest in the subject among researchers, policmakers and anyone interested in the design of effective public policies.

Beyond the Myth: Indian Business Communities in Singapore
Jayati Bhattacharya
Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2011
ISBN: 9789814311366

This book is a macro-study of Indian business communities in Singapore through different phases of their growth since colonial times. It goes beyond the conventional labour-history approach to study Indian immigrants to Southeast Asia, both in terms of themselves and their connections with the people's movements. It looks at how Indian business communities negotiated with others in the environments in which they found themselves and adapted to them in novel ways. It especially brings into focus the patterns and integration of the Indian networks in the large-scale transnational flows of capital, one of the least studied aspects of the diaspora history in this part of the world. The complexities and overlapping interests of different groups of traders and businessmen form an interesting study of various aspects of these trading bodies, their methods of operation and their trade links, both within and outside Singapore. The book also charts their mobility and progress, in terms of both business and social status. The research aims to construct linear threads of linkages through generations and situate them in the larger framework and broader paradigms of business networks in Singapore.

In shedding light on aspects of Indian connectivities to Southeast Asia, the narrative is particularly relevant in the context of India's economic rise. This study raises economic, social and cultural issues regarding the transition.

Heart Work 2: EDB & Partners: New Frontiers for the Singapore Economy
Singapore: Straits Times Press, 2011
ISBN: 9789814342018

Heart Work 2 continues the narrative from where Heart Work (published in 2002) leaves off, into the unfamiliar challenges that EDB encountered during the first decade of the 21st century, in its effort to chart new frontiers for Singapore's economic development.

Fifty years is a solid milestone for any organisation. For the Singapore Economic Development Board, it is a time to recharge for the challenges ahead, but also to reflect on core values and the course of its evolution. The agency's drive and determination are derived from a resilience embedded in its organisational culture – in particular, the exercise of leadership at all levels, from the formulation of strategy to adroitness on the ground in anticipating and meeting the needs of investors and rallying the necessary partners from all quarters. Looking to the next half-century, as new frontiers are crossed, the focus shifts to fostering an even deeper connectedness to Singapore. The city-state is being enhanced, in every  way feasible, as a "home" in Asia, in all its senses, for business, innovation and talent. The Republic's well-honed and well-known key attributes of trust, knowledge, connectedness and high standard of living make it very well-placed to be a "living lab" to develop new sustainable solutions for tomorrow's global opportunities in emerging areas such as the urban environment, health and wellness, lifestyle and entertainment.

Singapore is aiming to equip itself to be always ready to be a home for the high-growth industries of the future. And, so long as the EDB and its partners keep in touching distance of the most promising new frontiers, Singapore should remain "future-ready".

Singapore: From Place to Nation [2nd ed.]
Lee Soo Ann
Singapore: Pearson Education, 2011
ISBN: 9789810686840

This book chronicles Singapore's tumultuous journey from a newly established British settlement to the developed city-state as it is today. With a particular focus on Singapore's economic development, this book is divided into two parts: Understanding the Present by examining the history leading up to Singapore's independence, and Living for Today, which chronicles the country's post-independence growth.

The book covers topics such as the growth of commercial banking and currency use in 19th century, commodity exports, nationalisation and industrialisation in the post-World War II era, the history of the Singapore dollar, as well as the push for manufacturing growth and welcoming multinational companies in Singapore. 

This is a useful reference volume about Singapore’s modern history, written in an easy-to-read and succinct manner that is appealing to educators and students alike.

Milestones of the China-Singapore Connection: Friendship and Cooperation: Growing From Strength to Strength, 1965-2010
Pitt Kuan Wah (ed.)
Singapore: National Archives of Singapore, 2011
ISBN: 9789810881009

This publication highlights major milestones in China-Singapore relations since 1965 and complements the exhibition, 'Milestones of the China-Singapore Connection: Friendship and Cooperation, Growing From Strength to Strength' that was jointly organised by the National Archives of Singapore and State Archives Administration of China in 2010 to mark the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Tracing the growing and multi-faceted ties between China and Singapore, this publication hopes to contribute to a better understanding of China-Singapore relations from a historical perspective

Brand Singapore: How Nation Branding Built Asia's Leading Global City
Koh Buck Song
Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Business, 2011
ISBN: 9789814328159

Reputation is precious. Top talent and hot money gravitate only to the most attractive, respected nations. For a country as small and as young as Singapore, its brand is its most valuable asset.

Singapore's stunning ascent from Third World to First World in a matter of 30 years was spearheaded by a concerted, closely-coordinated programme of nation building. Brand Singapore helped to attract the investments, business, trade, tourism and talented human resources that are the lifeblood of a successful nation. Today, the city-state is known internationally as a dynamic, safe, corruption-free place to do business, a Garden City, and increasingly, a vibrant city of culture and the arts. In global surveys of quality of life, Singapore regularly tops the charts.

How did Singapore create this country brand, cultivate and guard it, sell it to its "shareholders", and make it known to the world? Drawing on two decades in the nation branding game, Koh Buck Song offers an illuminating inside look at - and candid critique of - a country brand that is as rich in resource as it is potent with promise.

Economic Diplomacy: Essays and Reflections by Singapore's Negotiators
C.L. Lim and Margaret Liang (eds.)
Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2011
ISBN: 9789814324632

Singapore, a small Southeast Asian country with limited resources, transformed itself from a trading post to a successful, cosmopolitan nation with one of the most impressive growth rates in the world. Less well known, however, has been its role in regional and global trade negotiations. This book is a collection of sixteen essays written by a group of diplomats, policy-makers, and professors who became involved in international economic affairs, notably in GATT/WTO, regional and bilateral free trade negotiations. Here, they reveal their thoughts about the world economy and trading system, reflect on their experiences, and explain how they promoted national interests while advancing the global trade agenda. This book will appeal not only to professional diplomats, but to anyone interested in how international economic diplomacy works and Singapore's role and perspective as an open trading nation.

Dynamics of the Singapore Success Story: Insights by Ngiam Tong Dow

Ngiam Tong Dow

Singapore: Cengage Learning Asia, 2011

ISBN: 9789814336079

Singapore's success story has been widely read. How and why this transformation came about, however, has seldom been publicly analyzed and articulated. Very few insiders with firsthand experience have chosen to illuminate the fundamental public policies guiding Singapore's social and economic growth. Yet it is this aspect of the Singapore story that most intrigues outside observers.

Based on his rich, firty-year experience as a senior Singapore civil servant, Ngiam Tong Dow manages to present a clear picture in this book of Singapore's  path toward success. It is a collection of his speeches, interviews, and articles delivered and written between 2004 and 2010. According to Ngiam, what lies behind Singapore's spectacular achievements from 1959 onward is the island nation's relentless pursuit of knowledge as the critical lever for development. Singapore is the forerunner of knowledge-based economies emerging in this new millennium.

Road to Recovery: Singapore's Journey Through the Global Crisis
Sanchita Basu Das
Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2010
ISBN: 9789814311052

Singapore has been one of the nations severely affected by the 2008-09 global financial and economic crisis. The city state came under pressure through the financial, trade, and confidence channels. To counter these shocks, Singapore policymakers undertook unprecedented monetary and fiscal policy measures. They subsequently charted a revival strategy that would help the country emerge stronger after the crisis. These all-encompassing policies together with the global economic recovery in 2009 helped the city state bounce back faster and stronger than many other regional economies. This book provides an insight into the events that occurred during the crisis ad Singapore's successful navigation to economic recovery.